Tim Pawlenty is still making the rounds, with his latest stop being in the Southwest. During an appearance before Tea Party supporters, T-Paw associated three issues facing both the federal government and financially strapped states into the theme of a new “triangle of greed.”

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty says growing government, powerful unions and bailed-out businesses make up “a royal triangle of greed” in America.

The possible presidential candidate delivered his assessment Saturday to a large gathering of tea party supporters in Arizona.

You can watch a video of Pawlenty’s address here.

All three of these concepts have been getting some long overdue attention this year, and perhaps it’s time that a direct line be drawn between the three. In reverse order, when the government seeks to bail out businesses – or, as Ed recently described it, when they attempt to pick winners over the natural process of attrition in the market – they are wrong far more often than they are right and the taxpayer winds up footing the bill.

The union question is becoming more and more of a no-brainer, as recent non-stop news headlines demonstrate. When government gets in bed with very people they are supposed to be in an adversarial negotiating relationship with, we all wind up paying the price. And both of those tie into the excess cost – across many areas – of a continually expanding government bureaucracy with the various regulations and agenda driven interference (can you say “permitorium”?) that entails. Each is tied together and a comprehensive solution to the fiscal crisis should use this platform as a starting point.

While Pawlenty was in town, he took time out for a brief bit of humor.

Pawlenty drew cheers when he adapted the spoofed “the rent is too damn high” catchphrase of a longshot New York mayoral candidate. Pawlenty’s motto: “The government’s too damn big!”

As soon as he invoked Jimmy McMillan something clicked in my memory. Where else did I recently see the two of them in the same place talking about the same theme? Oh, that’s right. CPAC. (See video below.) Clearly a clever move by Jimmy to position himself as T-Paw’s running mate, allowing him to secure the crucial vote of the … errr… insane? Not sure if Pawlenty is in the market for that sort of support, though.