ACTUALLY......when Mitt Romney was governor of Massachusetts his economic plan didn't turn out to be so great - I'm not sure what he's so proud of. Would it be to "cut back" on firefighters, policemen and teachers? He commented in December 2011, that the idea of the government keeping it's firefighters, police officers and school teachers in tact was not an effective way to grow the economy. So, he cut local aid and forced communities to lay off 14,500 local police officers, teachers and government workers. Just to be sure there were no other applicants for the police department, he increased police training fees by $200.00. The crime reports were steady, but arrest rates dropped, along with officer employment, because of Romney's cuts. He said to a retired firefighter "you knew what you were getting into, but I'm not going to promise you more money". He tried, unsuccessfully to veto $2.5 million for fire safety equipment and $1 million for fire education. He refused to rebuild a fire station as a living memorial to 6 local firefighters - for that he was deeply criticized by the community. He tried to strip union membership from thousands of government employees - that little move would have left the firefighters union without 1/3 of their memberships. O.K. This is a good one - he said he wasn't giving out "free stuff" when a firefighter asked about his state pension and Social Security benefits. In September, 2011, "he was not pleased with what he read about a plan to save 240,000 teachers". He enforced budget cuts that left some schools with no other option than to fire teachers.
The following are "fact checked" quotes from The Truth Team I'd like to share with you:
"Gov. Romney raised taxes and fees on the middle class while cutting taxes for millionaires like himself and 278 of the wealthiest individuals in Massachusetts."
"Under Mitt Romney, Massachusetts debt burden grew to the highest per person in the nation."
"State spending increased every year while Romney was in office, and he left behind a $1 billion deficit for the next governor."
"Mitt Romney promised to bring his experience from the corporate boardroom to Massachusetts, the same promise he's making now as a presidential candidate. But Romney economics isn't about creating jobs or helping the middle class. By the time Romney left office, state debt had increased, the size of government had grown, and Massachusetts had fallen behind almost every other state in job creation."
WHAT WAS HE THINKING??