The Republican Party has a history of telling its base one thing and then doing another while in office. Take, for example, the Christian right. Leading Republicans tell thisAi??sizableAi??voting bloc to vote for them because they share their social values, but when the party actually gets into power, it pursues the agenda it really cares about: empowering economic elites.

Here’s one example of extreme cynicism from a leading Republican. In the summer of 2011, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty spoke at a Faith and Freedom Coalition event to thousands of Christian activists. He told them that he “went to Wall Street and told them to get their snout out of the trough, because they’re some of the worst offenders when it comes to bail outs and carve outs and special deals.” Watch it:

It’s hard to disagree with anything Pawlenty said. But unfortunately, today there’s this bit of news:

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will take over one of K Streetai??i??s most prestigious jobs as CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable.

The Financial Services Roundtable is one of the top lobbying outfits for Wall Street. Maybe Pawlenty just wanted Wall Street to get its snout of the trough long enough for him to stick his in it?