N.H. should shun our fiscal phony (Mitt Romney)

Boston Herald ^ | Februrary 13, 2007 | Virginia Buckingham

[RWR8189]

Dear New Hampshire Republican Primary Voter:

It’s early yet, but I, for one, am pleased that your dominant role in the presidential primary process remains intact. The no-nonsense vetting, for which you are rightly recognized, of the people who wish to be our party’s nominee is needed more than ever before.

Why, you ask. Well, neighbor to neighbor, Republican to Republican, I feel compelled to confide in you: The newest official entrant into the 2008 race is a fiscal phony.

I covered Mitt Romney’s governorship for four years, from the singular vantage point of a former Republican operative turned journalist. You see, I was chief of staff to both of Romney’s Republican predecessors and no one was more thrilled than I when this businessman-turned-politician decided to run for governor. His election ensured that the Republican winning streak in this decidedly liberal state would continue for the foreseeable future. And his election ensured that the solid no-new-taxes policies of his predecessors would continue to shape the state’s fiscal debates.

So no one was more disappointed than I when Mitt Romney failed to live up to his billing. After an unremarkable four-year term, we have seen what happens when a Republican governor refuses to take a no-new-taxes pledge, and then, not surprisingly, raises taxes (and morphs into a social conservative and runs full time for president instead of governing.) A Democrat wins. Now in Massachusetts, we are in the pitiable position of being one of a handful of states whose governor won’t even issue a proclamation honoring former President Ronald Reagan’s birthday. To which we GOP’ers in the Bay State say: Thank you, Mitt!

Plenty has been written about Romney’s conservative conversion on social issues, but you in the New Hampshire GOP have historically been more concerned with how a candidate’s record affects your wallet than your bedroom. And on that score, Romney’s candidacy should give you pause.

Consider:

Your own governor, Democrat John Lynch scored better (receiving a B) on the annual fiscal report card issued by the libertarian Cato Institute than Romney (who got a C). The 2006 Cato report described Romney’s message that he was a governor who stood by a no-new-taxes pledge as “mostly a myth.”

“Rather than forcing the Legislature to close the budget gap through spending cuts alone, Romney raised some $500 million in fees.

“Romney raised corporate taxes by an estimated $210 million and only backed down under pressure from pushing for even higher taxes on business.

“Romney watered down a voter-approved immediate rollback of the income tax, by proposing to spread the final phase of the cut over two years.

“Romney flip-flopped on rebating capital gains taxes to taxpayers that had been collected unconstitutionally. ‘I’d far rather see tax cuts in the future than tax cuts applied in the past,’ he said as the state’s highest court wrestled with the issue.

“Until his presidential run, Romney had refused to back President Bush’s call to make federal tax cuts permanent.”

The Cato report on Romney concludes with this thought: “If you consider the massive costs to taxpayers that his universal health care plan will inflict once he’s left office, Romney’s tenure is clearly not a triumph of small-government activism.”

So New Hampshire, it’s up to you. Do you really want Mitt Romney to do for the country what he did for Massachusetts?

 Sincerely, Ginny.

[sopwith]

take a look at you house and senate

[NHResident]

Ginny:

Thank you very much for your excellent advice, and clear statement why Mitt is not a fit candidate to represent a conservative Republican party.

[HEY4QDEMS]

It's a good thing that Bucky didn't let her hormones cloud her brain like they did to Ann Coulter.

[mewzilla]

So New Hampshire, it’s up to you. Do you really want Mitt Romney to do for the country what he did for Massachusetts?

State braces for loss of congressional seat

Gee, what's not to love?

[rhombus]

Who does "Ginny" work for now? I'd think there would be plenty of political jobs up for grabs especially for an ex- "chief of staff" for the two previous Governors (Swift and Celluci?)

[Brilliant]

Singling Romney out as a fiscal phony is just a waste of breath. New England, and indeed all of America, is full of fiscal phonies.

The real question is whether you can find one who's NOT a fiscal phony.

[mewzilla]

Singling Romney out as a fiscal phony is just a waste of breath. New England, and indeed all of America, is full of fiscal phonies.

Anyone who votes for a pol MA (or NY) elects/elected to statewide office needs his/her head examined.

[dirtboy]

After an unremarkable four-year term, we have seen what happens when a Republican governor refuses to take a no-new-taxes pledge, and then, not surprisingly, raises taxes (and morphs into a social conservative and runs full time for president instead of governing.) A Democrat wins.

And what happens if someone like him or a pro-choice gun-grabbing former mayor runs for president? A Democrat wins.

Try telling that to the resurgent Rockefeller wing of the party.

[Stars&StripesNE]

Mitt was working with a legislature that was 89% Democrat. Doesn't Buckingham understand the rules in Massachusetts? Elect a Republican Governor and blame him for everything.

Keep in mind, Romney erased a $400 million dollar operating deficit that was there when he entered office.

[dashing doofus]

Yeah, the Mass healthcare plan is not the mark of a fiscal conservative, but Romney did attempt some tax reform in Mass, and a rollback in state personal income tax rates.

I think Giuliani is less of a fiscal conservative though.

Brownback: who?

Paging Newt Gingrich: your moment is here, please declare!

[HEY4QDEMS]

Keep in mind, Romney erased a $400 million dollar operating deficit that was there when he entered office.

By raising fees over $500 million per year, ($2 Billion over the four years he was in office), and refusing to roll back income tax as mandated by the voters.

[mewzilla]

'Rats. RINOs. No diff.

[mewzilla]

Do you really think that bluer-than-blue MA would vote for anything other than a RINO?!

People aren't bugging out of MA because Romney, along with their state legislature, were God's gift to good governance.

[Leisler]

Where you born yesterday?

"Keep in mind, Romney erased a $400 million dollar operating deficit that was there when he entered office."

Yeah, he raised nearly a billion a year in taxes, fees and fines....for each year. And now what? The Democrats spent the extra 3.5 billion and we have a billion dollar debt.(Who would of thought? I guess you have to go to somewhere other than Harvard to figure that out). No wonder he 'closed' the deficit. Did he cut taxes? Nope. Did he veto the budgets? Nope. Did he upset the temple and throw out the Democrat money(tax) changers? What I mean is did he rock the boat and go full out, or did he just 'manage' his governorship as a ladder rung to the presidency? Pick one of the two.

[tiger-one]

No sir, the REAL question is who is the REAL Conservative?

Answer, Duncan "the RINO" Hunter

[tiger-one]

Fees ARE Taxes

[massgopguy]

Ginny ran MASSPORT when some Muslims decided to fly some planes.

[HEY4QDEMS]

And your point is?

[Mr J]

The Romney-bot is programmed to win elections. That is the purpose of the Romney-bot.

The Romney-bot was constructed with Square Jaw(tm), Shiny Teeth(tm) and Good Hair(tm) technology. These features allow the Romney-bot to win votes from the Gullible Girl(tm) demographic.

Victory is inevitable for the Romney-bot. Join the winning camp -- get out there and vote Romney-bot!

[massgopguy]

Mitt did rock the boat. He backed 100+ Republican legislative candidates. We got our hats handed to us by a favorite son running for president. The lunatic Mihos used this as an example of Mitt not trying to work with the legislature.

[HEY4QDEMS]

The Romney-bot once tried to win Teddy's senate seat, must have had a programming glitch.

[LiveFree99]

Thanks for the reminder, I knew the name was familiar. Did he leave Massport on less than amicable terms with Mitt?

[HEY4QDEMS]

He's a she.

[tiger-one]

I need to spell it out?

[HEY4QDEMS]

I need to spell it out?

Not to me.

[Leisler]

Chris Rock, the black comedian, has a rift where he comments on black welfare mothers and fathers saying, "I take care of my chill-der-ins". To which Rock replies, what are you supposed to get credit for what you are suppose to do anyways?

Mitt didn't rock the boat. He did nada about the Big Pig Dig. Half the elected and 3/4 of appointed office holders are out an out right, paper bags stuffed with money crooks. He initiated zero corruption investigations. No one in the legislature saw him as a threat, all saw him patiently wanting to run for president and knew to lay low and wait for him to go away.

Mihos is what happens when your talent pool dries up to a two foot puddle. I don't even blame the poor freak. Intellectually and ideologically the Republican Party is as dead as White Russians are. It's all rather organic in a way, empires collapse, 100 year old Bull elephants die and get eaten by flies and hyenas. Massachusetts needs a hundred years of poverty to kill off the welfare state. And it will get it too.

[LiveFree99]

The best thing that can be said about Mitt as governor is that he was better than the alternative. He held back the liberal tide for a while, but now it's too late and the tide is rushing in. Perhaps, after 4 or 8 years of Governor Urkel, some sanity will return to the voters and real conservatism will make a comeback.

[Leisler]

I don't see it happening. The intellectual gene pool is getting tighter and tighter. With the exception of financial enclaves, and military and fedgov medical expenditure the future for Mass is Lowell/Lawrence/Holyoke. Mass is a elderly, depopulating state, bringing in tax consuming third world poverty where the largest employer in every town is the town, in every county is the county government. Young, self supporting working class families should, as they are, flee the state, where most of their money goes to support various government pathologies at the expense of their own children.

On the plus side, there are about a dozen of cities in Mass where housing is getting cheaper every year. Kind of like a bunch of mini Detroits. If you are hooked up in the 'revitalizing urban centers' industries there are probably decades of expenditures you can cut off the taxpayers flesh until the whole thing collapses.

[rhombus]

Couldn't she get a job with McCain or Rudy?

[highball]

I think Giuliani is less of a fiscal conservative though.

He's not much of a social conservative, either.

[Eclectica]

State braces for loss of congressional seat.

What'll you bet New Hampshire picks it up and votes the same way?

[Stars&StripesNE]

Mitt couldn't roll back the taxes that voters endorsed. That's just rhetoric. He needed the legislature to enact that.

In November 2000, Massachusetts voters elected to roll back the state income tax over three years from 5.75 percent to 5 percent, its traditional rate before the 1989 tax hike. In 2002, the Democrat controlled Legislature overrode that rollback vote and "froze" the rate at 5.3 percent, where it remains. In his proposed state budget, Governor Romney defrosted the rate for 2006, the second half of the coming fiscal year. The House Ways and Means Committee kept the higher rate in its version of the budget. House Republicans tried to amend that document to restore the 5 percent and lost, 135-21. Instead, House Democrats voted to "study" the impact of a potential rate reduction. Interestingly, there were no votes to study the impact of the amendments to spend the money on pork for legislators to assist in their reelection campaigns. There are rarely attempts to study the long-term impact of other spending programs, either.

89% Democrats in legislature. Enough said.

[mewzilla]

And do really think the folks who voted for that 89% 'Rat legistlature would then do a complete 180 and vote for a true conservative for gov? In bluer-than -blue MA? Jen's Mom, you just made my point for me...

[HEY4QDEMS]

Mitt couldn't roll back the taxes that voters endorsed. That's just rhetoric. He needed the legislature to enact that.

It was a ballot referendum, once passed it is the duty of the executive branch to enforce it.

Romney could have told the hill to bug off and forced it through with or without their approval but he decided against doing that because he was afraid he wouldn't get their cooperation in other matters.

[Stars&StripesNE]

Governor's don't have the power of issuing executive orders that a president has. He couldn't do it without the approval of the legislature. Don't be like a liberal and make it up as you go along.

[HEY4QDEMS]

Governor's don't have the power of issuing executive orders that a president has.

Ummm, a referendum is not an executive order.

[Stars&StripesNE]

I have lived in Massachusetts for 46 years. I understand the sad state of politics in this state. If you think in your wildest dreams, that a Ronald Reagan could have ever gotten off the ground here, you're dreaming. This is Kennedy country. And like it or not, a Republican Governor must deal with the Democrat controlled legislature the best he can. Low taxes in Massachusetts? Not as long as the fools here keep voting for anybody with a D next to their name

Now, all together, let's blame the Republican.

[HEY4QDEMS]

Don't be like a liberal and make it up as you go along.

Massachusetts Constitution Excerpts

Article V: .. All power residing originally in the people, and being derived from them, the several magistrates and officers of government, vested with authority, whether legislative, executive, or judicial, are their substitutes and agents, and are at all times accountable to them.

Article XXX: .. In the government of this commonwealth, the legislative department shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them: the executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or either of them: the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive powers, or either of them: to the end it may be a government of laws and not of men.


I'll dismiss the name calling on your part.

[HEY4QDEMS]

Oh and by the way, not that I declared they did or didn't, Massachusetts governors do possess authority to issue excutive orders.

[Stars&StripesNE]

Romney could have told the hill to bug off and forced it through with or without their approval but he decided against doing that because he was afraid he wouldn't get their cooperation in other matters.

State revenues up $317 million; Romney calls for tax rollback

''It's pretty clear that Massachusetts is back and firing on all cylinders," Romney said at a State House press conference. ''The numbers we're looking at from a revenue standpoint are just mind-numbing. . . . It's time to return to the taxpayers the tax rate they asked for and voted for." Leaders in the State House and Senate said they were cautiously optimistic about the revenue figures, but rejected Romney's argument that Massachusetts is hale enough financially to pass a tax cut that would drain $600 million a year in revenue. They cited the fiscal uncertainty of rising oil and natural gas prices and healthcare costs and the threat of steep cuts in federal Medicaid money. Boston Globe

[HEY4QDEMS]

All this does is prove my point.

Romney is a RINO with no spine.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

"Tax and spend" conscious voters are not going to be pleased.

[Miss Marple]

Well, since we have a 1600+ thread bashing Rudy and calling his supporters "treasonous liberals " and such, I guess it is now time to start in on Romney.

I will check back in and see how many vitriolic posts this thread collects.

What passes for political discussion on FR these days is pretty patheric. And YES, I am addressing YOU, HEY4QDEMS.

[mewzilla]

Now, all together, let's blame the Republican.

You'd have to find me one first.

[BillM]

YEAH!

He's a compelling man. The fact that a state with 89% dem representation would vote for him doesn't say he's a dem.

Voters look for leaders in the executive office. They really don't give a damn about who's in the legislature. They think they're all the same anyway.

Lookin at the National Republican Party and how it has acted with control of two houses, it would appear that those voters were right. There is no difference!

[HEY4QDEMS]

And YES, I am addressing YOU, HEY4QDEMS.

Obviously you are upset with me and my opinions, unfortunately my intentions here are not to partake in a cyber-fight.

If you think my views and or opinions are pathetic there isn't much I can do about it.

I'm sorry you feel so strongly about our disagreements.

God Bless.

[Miss Marple]

What I am telling you is that you need to do more to express your opinion than post "RINO" . That term has been used to describe everyone from John McCain to Peter King, who are poles apart in their political beliefs. The term means nothing except "this candidate doesn't agree with me so I will call him a name."

Sanctimonious talk doesn't swing it with me. Walk the walk if you talk the talk.

[HEY4QDEMS]

What I am telling you is that you need to do more to express your opinion than post "RINO"

That's really not fair, I have well over 6000 posts over 6 years and I would bet you'd be hard pressed to find 30 where I used the word RINO to describe anyone.

Also, the last thing I want to do is come off as "sanctimonious", self righteousness is a trait I try to avoid.

On this very thread I was accused of "making stuff up" for something I never even stated, what was most amusing was that the accuser was the one who made something up.

When I pointed it out to her, I got no apology or even an acknowledgment whatsoever.

As I said I'm not here for the confrontations.

IIRC you indicated that I somehow insinuated that anyone who votes for Rudy is not a Christian, as far as I can tell, I've had several people read my post and agreed with me that I no way said any such thing.

You however, interpreted it differently and for my part I apologized for offending you or anyone who may have interpreted it the same way.

Although I don't want a confrontation with you, I also am not about to grovel either. We have our differences, I've accepted that but apparently you can't and that's you're problem, not mine.