SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT: THE BEFORE AND AFTER
Vast misrepresentation, lack of understanding, and omission of facts on his record as Governor. I think he did excellently.
Save us: "I know you're busy with the Olympics right now," said the message she left on his answering machine, "but when you get back please save the commonwealth."
The scenario: When Romney entered office in January 2003, Massachusetts was shedding jobs at a faster rate than the country as a whole. The state had ridden the dot-com boom to greater riches, but when the bubble burst, it struggled to stem the losses.
Massachusetts was in bad shape and it took a bull to turn it around!
This is an outstanding "Before" And "After"!!!
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BEFORE AFTER
Budget Deficit $3 B Surplus $1 B
$2 B Rainy Day Fund
Increase in median income $40,264 $47,559 (18% rise)
Companies considering Mass., sales force 13 288
Unemployment 5.6% 4.7%
Healthcare/insurance, no tax increase
see discussion below Broken Rescued
Streamlined state's permit process Byzantine Steamlined,
"One stop shopping"
Massachusetts tax burden dropped
National ranking 13th 17th (that's positive)
Massachusetts lost more jobs than
anywhere else in the country, before 50th 36th (see citations)
Trend in unemployment rate, 50th In the top 10 in nation (positive)
(7th most improved)
FACTORS
85% Democratic legislator
Cost of manufacturing very high, lost more jobs and made it hard to get manufacturing jobs.
High cost state, most new jobs go to low cost states ("the only two states with higher per-unit labor
costs than Michigan are Massachusetts and Maryland. And the advantage held by right-to-work
states has grown to an average of 6.4 points". Very high housing and energy costs and high
unemployment insurance costs for business strong deterrent to new employers..
Not a right to work state - Lowers growth rate
Business unfriendly state
Technology recovery rate (Its pre-recession numbers were disproportionally inflated by the
technology bubble. A lot of those tech jobs never came back and nobody could've made them come
back..
Slow overall growth, as people were leaving the state
PARTICULAR OTHER ACTIONS
Used tax incentive to lure Bristol-Myers Squibb to central Massachusetts
Extended the Investment Tax Credit during 2003.
Manufacturing tax relief (helped create new biotech jobs)
substantial increase in funding for the construction of thousands of new housing units
COMMENTS AND PERSPECTIVE
"Lord says Bristol-Myers Squibb is proof that Romney did more to help create jobs in Massachusetts than that 47th ranking suggests. Lord and others say what Romney did for the state’s economy can’t really be quantified. They say that ranking was affected by things outside of a governor’s control, like housing and energy costs and high unemployment insurance costs for business.
Between January 2003 and December 2006, Massachusetts was one of seventeen states to accelerate its job growth every year (creating more jobs each year than were created the year before), and one of only two states — Illinois being the other — to accelerate its job growth by at least 20,000 jobs each year. Massachusetts was one of the top ten most-improved states (seventh overall) in terms of job creation, going from 49th in the nation in the first year of the Romney Administration to 36th in the nation in the last year.”
NationalReview.com - Romney’s Jobs Record - Jun 21, 2011
"If you go back and look at the last 10 years, it was a lost decade for job growth in Massachusetts. The only bright spot was Mitt Romney’s term as governor. Both his predecessor and his successor posted job losses."
ROMNEYCARE - THE SOLUTION TO A PROBLEM
So-called Romney-Care was a brilliant design, based on principles recommended by conservatives for many years and getting much praise from them. He insisted it be done with no tax increases, only based on free market, with no additional costs to business. Out of all the legislators there were only 2 dissenters, so he got consensus. Later the Dems did monkey with it, plus the courts stuck in a few things.
