We have known for some time that Mitt was “Lying for the Lord.” However Ann has joined her husband in promoting these lies and misconceptions. Appearing in the most important swing state, Ohio, Ann Romney declared that Mitt would not fail as president. Citing her knowledge of him as husband, father, businessman, governor she explained that he “gets the job done.” However nothing could be further from the truth when considering the job he did as Governor of Massachusetts. In a period of four short years, Mitt was able to leave Massachusetts worse off than when he took office. During his term as Governor:

1. Republicans lost seats in the midterm elections.

2. Romney stopped trying to work with Democrats. He told the Boston Globe, “it’s me-me-me.”

3. Romney bragged about the number of vetoes during his Governorship saying, “I like vetoes; I vetoed hundreds of spending appropriations as governor.” Romney in fact vetoes over 800 bills and the legislature overrode his veto almost every time, sometime unanimously.

4. Romney was so alienating to lawmakers while Governor that he had a poloiceman screen visitors and Romney didn’t allow lawmakers to use the elevators just outside his office. He was “aloof and not approachable.” Even the Republicans in the state House of Representatives said he didn’t even know their names.

5. By the end of Romney’s term as Governor his approval rating had dropped to 34%, one of the worst ratings in the country.

The failures of Romney as Governor included:

1. Jobs.

Massachusetts lost jobs during Romney’s term as Governor. The first year of his term, Massachusetts lost 44,700 jobs. By the end of his fourth year he has a net gain of jobs, but Massachusetts was only 47th in the nation in job growth during that time, only ahead of Michigan, Ohio, and Katrina –ravaged Louisiana.

2. Emergency response

In 2004 Romney vetoed funding for flood prevention in recently flooded Peabody, Mass. In 2005 when the city of Greenfield flooded Romney was too busyt traveling the nation planning to run for president, to appreciate the extent of the flooding or to declare a state of emergency.

3. Household Incomes

Deval Patrick became the Governor after Romney and explained that household income in Mass. declined during the Romney administration.

4. Education

Romney made deeper cuts to education than anywhere in the country.

5. Infrastructure

“Roads and bridges were crumbling” in Mass. and Romney made no effort to address the problems.

6. Higher Education

During the Romney term as Governor he slashed funding for higher education by $140 million dollars. As a result, student fees increased by 63%. This was cited as an example of just how “out of touch” Romney was.

7. Economic Conditions   

During Romney’s Governorship the economy of Massachusetts declined in several ways, including:

• Stagnant job growth: During Governor Romney’s term, Massachusetts fell from 36th to 47th out of 50 states in job creation, while the overall U.S. economy grew.

• Declining manufacturing: By the end of Governor Romney’s term, Massachusetts had lost more than 40,000 manufacturing jobs—a rate twice the national average.

• Higher taxes: Gov. Romney raised taxes on the middle class, but pushed through a tax cut that overwhelmingly benefited 278 of the wealthiest individuals in MA.

• Highest debt in the nation: Under Mitt Romney, Massachusetts’ debt burden grew to the highest per person in the nation.

• Increased government spending: State spending increased every year while Romney was in office, and he left behind a $1 billion deficit for the next governor.

• Jobs outsourced overseas: Governor Romney failed to protect good jobs in Massachusetts, and actually outsourced state jobs to India.

8. Women’s Issues 

During the Romney years, Romney’s leadership created a hardship for women. Here are the specifics:

. Romney’s judicial appointments consisted primarily of white men.

. . Romney vetoed a bill that would require hospitals to give emergency contraception to rape victims.

. On several occasions, Romney vetoed funds for breast and cervical cancer detection, treatment and prevention.

Romney was also “Not Familiar” with the Violence Against Women Act, and refused to say if he would have voted for the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay act.

Thus the only “job done” by Mitt Romney during the period he was Governor of Massachusetts was enough to get him fired, if the people of Massachusetts could have done so. The fact that Romney didn’t run for re-election reveals that he and Ann were aware of his failing. Yet they both speak on the campaign trail as if they are proud of his accomplishments. The reality is that he was a failure as a Governor, and would be a failure as a President.

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