Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty now wants to be the Republican candidate for president.

When Pawlenty was thinking about running for governor for a third term, I decided to challenge him for the party’s endorsement. My challenge started with a simple statement and a list of grievances.

I said, “No more!” — and I do not apologize! Why no more? Because:

• He increased state spending by nearly 40 percent during his eight years in the Governor’s Office.

• He went along with the Democrats to increase property taxes by 12 percent over three years.

• He promised no new taxes and then chose to increase the cost of licenses and fees.

• He prides himself as strong on education. Yet, for 19 years he served as both a legislator and governor in the city of St. Paul, where current student proficiencies in math (46 percent), reading (51 percent), and science (21 percent) are among the lowest in the state.

• He seemed more interested in a position in Washington, D.C., than in improving educational achievement in his home state at large, where current student proficiencies in math (62 percent), reading (70 percent), and science (40 percent) are unacceptable.

• He claimed he wanted a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between one man and one woman. After elected, he never brought the marriage amendment up.

• He claims to support Second Amendment rights but has proposed no state constitutional amendment to guarantee the right to keep and bear arms.

• He has embraced global warming with the 2007 Next Generation Energy Act that mandated 25 percent of the total energy used in the state be derived from renewable energy resources by the year 2025.

• He misled Minnesotans by taking into account inflation when considering revenue but has not done the same for spending.

• He did not reduce spending or the size of government and only acted when required by law to balance the budget.

To me this is not a Republican standard of excellence.

Pawlenty’s announcement video is entitled: “A Time for Truth.” Well, you judge!

Phil Herwig

Milaca