Path 2

News Thursday, Nov 1 2012

Mitt Romney: A Mass. Failure

Nov 01, 2012

Bay Staters already know the consequences of putting Mitt Romney in the executive office – stunted job creation, massive debt, smaller investments in education, and bigger tax breaks for millionaires. Read more about Mitt Romney here.

Supporting Facts:

In Romney’s Four Years As Governor Massachusetts Ranked 47th Out Of 50 In Job Growth. According to Marketwatch, “The Republican contender was the governor of Massachusetts from January 2003 to January 2007. And during that time, according to the U.S. Labor Department, the state ranked 47th in the entire country in jobs growth. Fourth from last. The only ones that did worse? Ohio, Michigan and Louisiana. In other words, two rustbelt states and another that lost its biggest city to a hurricane. The Massachusetts jobs growth over that period, a pitiful 0.9%, badly lagged other high-skill, high-wage, knowledge economy states like New York (2.7%), California (4.7%) and North Carolina (7.6%). The national average: More than 5%.” [Marketwatch, 2/23/10]

Romney Vetoed A Bill That Would Have Blocked Outsourcing State Jobs And Admitted Outsourcing State Jobs To India. According to the Boston Herald, “Romney, who is gearing up for a likely presidential run, appears to be backtracking on an earlier push to ship Bay State government work to companies that work overseas. He vetoed in June 2004 a bill that would have blocked outsourcing state jobs. GRAPHIC: Not working in Massachusetts; Gov. Mitt Romney admitted yesterday that he sent state jobs to India and then Utah.” [Boston Herald, 2/23/06]

Massachusetts Lost Nearly 40,000 Manufacturing Jobs Under Romney, Twice The National Average. According to Politifact, “In checking Obama’s claim about manufacturing jobs under Romney, PolitiFact National turned to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the government’s official source of employment data, and examined state-level, seasonally adjusted data for manufacturing jobs during Romney’s tenure — from January 2003 to January 2007. Over that period, Massachusetts manufacturing jobs declined from 336,000 to 298,200 — a difference of 38,000 jobs. So It’s not 40,000, but it’s close. As for the second part of the claim — the rate of decrease — Massachusetts manufacturing jobs fell by 11.3 percent over the four-year period. The drop for the nation was 5.8 percent. That means the Massachusetts decline was nearly twice that of the nation, as the ad claimed. So the Obama campaign is right about the manufacturing jobs numbers.” [Politifact, 6/14/12]

Romney’s Record As Governor Included Steep Budget Cuts To Education. According to The Boston Globe, “A review of Romney’s record on higher education as governor reveals several sweeping plans – a wholesale reform of the public system, steep budget cuts followed by dramatic funding proposals – that all ran into a buzz saw in the Democratic-controlled Legislature. Many were overshadowed by a high-profile battle with William Bulger, the former state Senate fixture who was then UMass president… Observers of Governor Romney’s early months might have expected higher education to be a top priority. In 2003, eight weeks into his term, he called it ‘my opportunity to be bold’ and proposed to overhaul the public college system. His plan, based on reports by old colleagues at Bain & Co., was filed amid a $1 billion-plus state deficit. It called for cutting $150 million from the public system and getting rid of not only the UMass president but his entire office. It proposed combining six state schools into three and consolidating 22 campuses’ back offices into seven.” [The Boston Globe, 6/20/12]

Romney Cut $37.8 Million For Higher Education. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, “Romney and public-college officials in Massachusetts have been at odds for much of the Republican’s four-year term, and there is little sign of detente, even though Mr. Romney leaves office in January. The latest flare-up came after the governor used his emergency fiscal powers to cut $425-million from the state budget, including $37.8-million for higher education. College officials said the cutbacks could delay capital improvements, reduce long-promised pay increases for faculty and staff members, and lead campuses to raise student fees to cover spring-semester costs. The reductions threaten to cancel much of a $64-million, or 7 percent, spending increase approved by the state legislature just four months ago, the first significant increase in several years for public colleges.” [Chronicle of Higher Education, 11/24/06]

Romney Increased Over 1000 Fees. According to Yahoo News, “In a new web ad released in conjunction with the speech, the Obama campaign playfully lists roughly half of the more than 1,000 fees raised or created under Gov. Romney. The campaign also created a website to publish all of the increases, which Democrats argue hit the middle class hardest.” [Yahoo News, 10/27/12]

Under Romney, Massachusetts’ Long-Term Debt Increased By 16.4 Percent Or $2.6 Billion. According to the Massachusetts Office of the Treasurer, Massachusetts had $16,063,162,000 in long-term debt as of January 1, 2003. As of October 1, 2006, shortly before Romney left the Governor’s Office, Massachusetts had $18,697,240,000 in long-term debt. This was an increase of $2,634,078,000 or 16.4%. [Massachusetts Office Of The Treasurer, p. A-22 , 2/28/03; Massachusetts Office Of The Treasurer, p. A-24, 11/10/06]

Under Governor Romney, Massachusetts Had The Highest Per Capita Debt Of Any State. According to Think Progress, “According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis (compiled by Connecticut’s chief analyst in 2009), Massachusetts had $10,504 in per capita bond debt in 2007, the highest total in the nation. No other state had more than $10,000 in per capita debt, and only one had more than $8,000. Massachusetts ranked second, behind only Alaska, in per capita debt as a percent of personal income, with debt making up more than 21 percent of each resident’s income.” [Think Progress, 05/16/12]

Romney Left Office With An Approval Rating Of 34%. According to Telegram & Gazette, “Romney was elected governor with 50 percent of the vote. His approval ratings topped 50 percent in public opinion polls at times duringhis one term. But by the October before he left office in 2007, Romney’s approval had dipped to 34 percent in a Boston Globe poll.” [Telegram & Gazette, 5/17/12]

As Of September, Obama Led Romney 64%-33% In Massachusetts. According to Suffolk University Polling, “Meanwhile Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, is lagging far behind Barack Obama in the presidential race here. Obama (64 percent) is leading Romney (31 percent) by 33 points among likely Massachusetts voters. Two other candidates will be listed on the Massachusetts ballot. Green Party nominee Jill Stein garnered 2 percent and Libertarian Gary Johnson 1 percent, with 4 percent undecided.” [Suffolk Poll, 9/17/12]

Read more about Mitt Romney here.


Published: Nov 1, 2012

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