Gov. Tim Pawlenty to Accept Medicaid Money, but not Funds for 'Obamacare'

The same week Tim Pawlenty signed an executive order preventing Minnesota from accepting grant money available under the new health care law, the governor said he would accept $263 million in federal funding for state's Medicaid program.

Despite earlier describing the Medicaid money as a "bailout" of the states, Pawlenty said Wednesday that he would take the funds because it is "not Obamacare" and won't "further some stupid policy agenda," ThinkProgress reported.

In an interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the governor said, "We're going to take the money for those things that we were going to do anyhow and for the Medicaid (money), we were going to do that anyhow."

Pawlenty went on to tell the newspaper that Minnesota sends more money to Washington than it gets back, so "where it's appropriate and where it's wise and doesn't further some stupid policy agenda or otherwise concerns us or sign us up for something that is unsustainable or otherwise cause us a problem, we're going to apply for those other pots of money."

On Tuesday Pawlenty signed an order directing state agencies to not apply for grants available in the health care legislation, calling it "an intrusion by the federal government."