Pawlenty To Unveil Budget Plan

The Hill reports:

Likely GOP presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty said Tuesday he plans to unveil his own budget proposal — one that would tackle Social Security reform.

The former Minnesota governor echoed his previous praise of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for putting forth his budget proposal, but said that his plan would depart from Ryan's since it will offer a specific plan on Social Security and reform Medicare differently.

"I'm going to have my own plan that will have some differences than what he had. For example, he didn't address Social Security. I will," he said during an interview with Nevada political journalist Jon Ralston. "You can kick the can down the road and wait for the crisis to come just like we have now in these other programs. But there are reasonable steps ... that I know we can get a majority of the country on board with."

Pawlenty's plan will likely help fuel the debate over the nation's growing debt and deficits, which has taken a front seat as the 2012 presidential campaign begins to heat up.

Spokesman Alex Conant said that the plan would almost certainly be released sometime after he makes an official announcement.

"When we announced the exploratory committee, the governor said his campaign would include specific policy proposals. I would expect them in due course, likely after the formal announcement," he said.