noted that while both Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton had years of near five percent growth, their average over eight years was only about 3.5 percent.

"The last president to achieve consistent growth above 5 percent was John F. Kennedy a half-century ago, when the baby-boom generation was on the verge of entering the workforce," Kessler wrote. "Now, that generation is heading into retirement, leaving fewer workers to carry the burden."

"This plan isn't optimistic," The Washington Post's Ezra Klein wrote Tuesday. "It isn't a bit vague. It's a joke."

"I don’t know which is worse: The thought that Pawlenty knows that and went forward with this pandering, fantasy-based proposal anyway, or the thought that he doesn’t know it, and he really thinks this could work."