Pawlenty denounces stimulus, despite benefit to Minn.

Pawlenty spoke after touring Cirtronics, an electronics manufacturing company that itself indirectly received $935,000 in federal stimulus money.

Asked about the stimulus, Pawlenty acknowledged that many governments and businesses used the money.

“The real question is did it work,” Pawlenty said. “We had an economy that has not recovered substantially. We’ve got people who are experiencing unbearable levels of unemployment.

“It’s maybe had a little temporary effect,” Pawlenty said. “But it comes with big negative consequences down the road. It sets a really bad precedent.”

Pawlenty, like other Republican candidates, has often derided the stimulus — a $787 billion package of federal grants, benefits and tax breaks signed by President Obama in 2009. Pawlenty has called it “reckless,” “irresponsible,” and ineffective at creating new private sector jobs. But he has also used the money.

In Minnesota, where Pawlenty was governor until January, the state used $2.3 billion in federal stimulus money to balance its budget during the two-year budget cycle ending this June. The state received a total of $5.9 billion, including funding for programs, unemployment benefits and medical assistance, according to the Minnesota Management and Budget Office.

Pawlenty defended the use of the money, saying Minnesota only gets $0.72 for every $1 paid in taxes. “Anyone who says we’re not paying our fair share, or somehow President Obama bailed us out, what you have to look for is we’re actually subsidizing the rest of the country,” the former governor said.