Gov. Tim Pawlenty is calling the federal stimulus package “largely a waste of money” and says tax cuts would have been better for the economy.

The Minnesota Republican appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. He says the stimulus package failed to produce private sector jobs.

The Obama administration claims the legislation created about two million jobs, but Pawlenty says it didn’t reduce unemployment or prompt business growth.

When asked about the 12,000 jobs created in Minnesota, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports Pawlenty said they were “mostly government jobs.”

Pawlenty says the best way to stimulate the national economy is the approach he supports in Minnesota, tax cuts. Specifically, he called for cuts to payroll taxes and capital gains.