WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following release was issued today by the Democratic National Committee:
South Carolina Republicans beware.... The Mitt Romney you see this week may bare little resemblance to the Romney you saw last year. After losing in Iowa and New Hampshire, smooth talking Mitt Romney retooled his message in order to reposition himself as a champion of working families. In reality, not only did Millionaire Mitt have to redefine the "middle class" before he could offer working families any relief, but Mitt's mismanagement left a major mess in Massachusetts. On his watch, Massachusetts saw unemployment rise, jobs leave, higher taxes and fees, and increased cost of living. Not only is he promising to bring that brand of change to Washington, he's flip-flopped and morphed himself into a Bush Republican on taxes, promising to extend the Bush tax cuts he once refused to support, and endorsing tax cuts he previously said were for "fat cats."
If Romney's record as governor is bad, his business record may be even more troubling. Romney made a personal fortune running a management consultant company that developed a reputation for milking "jaw-dropping" consulting fees out of companies, sometimes just shortly before those companies collapsed and workers lost their jobs. [Los Angeles Times, 12/16/07] Romney also advised companies on how to use offshore tax havens to "avoid paying U.S. taxes." [Los Angeles Times, 12/17/07]
"Millionaire Mitt's latest attempt to smooth talk the voters into thinking he's a champion of working families can't hide the fact that a vote for Mitt Romney is a vote for four more years of the failed Bush economy," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera. "After eight years of Bush Republicans refusing to confront the health care crisis in America, skyrocketing energy costs, stagnating wages, and soaring unemployment, the last thing America can afford is a third Bush term."
Mitt Romney's Real Economic Record: Redefining the Middle Class...
Romney's Claims His Plan Allows Middle-Class American Families to Save, but in reality, Families earning $200,000 benefit the most. The Washington Post said that under Mitt Romney's tax proposal "families making below $50,000 a year would see no benefit" and that "families at or near $200,000 would reap far more benefits than those earning around $70,000." [Washington Post editorial, 10/16/2007]
Reality: Vast Majority of Americans that Would Benefit Are the Wealthy. "Critics pointed out that while many families would benefit, the vast majority of the total dollar savings would go to the wealthy, who own the most stocks, have the biggest bank accounts, and reap the most capital gains from real estate and other investments." [Boston Globe, 9/8/2007]
Flip-Flopping on Tax Cuts...
OLD MITT: I Will Not Enter Written Tax Pledge; Called Pledge "Government by Gimmickry." Romney "said that while he opposes all tax increases in principle, he will not make such a pledge in writing." He explained, "I am not in favor of increasing taxes. At this stage, I am inclined to make that position as clear as I can, but not to enter into a written pledge of some kind, and that's true on this and other issues." Romney's campaign called written pledges "government by gimmickry." [Boston Globe, 3/28/02]
NEW MITT: I Just Signed One for Grover Norquist. After saying he would not sign a "No New Taxes" Pledge, Romney signed one for anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. As his spokesman Kevin Madden explained: "Signing the pledge now sends a very clear message to those in Washington who have voted against tax relief and for tax hikes that such actions will never grow our regional and national economies....At a time when Democrats in Washington are using code language about their plans to raise taxes and spending, the governor's pledge makes it clear that he opposes those actions." [Boston Globe, 1/5/07]
New Mitt: Romney Bragged about Support for Bush Tax Cuts He Once Refused to Endorse. During a November 2006 press conference held in Arizona, Romney outlined differences between himself and McCain. Romney said "he was quicker than McCain to endorse President Bush's tax cuts." [East Valley Tribune, 11/14/06]
Old Mitt Romney Refused to Publicly Endorse Bush Tax Cuts. "Mitt Romney refused yesterday to endorse tax cuts at the heart of President Bush's economic program," reported the Boston Globe. Romney told the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, however, that in order to foster "a solid relationship" with the Bush administration, he would not oppose the tax cuts publicly. Pressed by Rep. Barney Frank, Romney "said he had not publicly opposed the cuts," nor would publicly oppose them in the future. However, said a Boston Globe source present at the meeting, Romney told the Massachusetts delegation that he would not "be a cheerleader," for policies to which he disagreed, "but I have to keep a solid relationship with the White House." Of the tax cut proposal, Romney's spokesman declined to comment, saying it's "just not a state matter." [Boston Globe, 4/11/03]
Massachusetts Mitt Imposed More Fee Hikes Than any Other State in the Nation. Boston Globe reported, "A survey of states grappling with spending crises has found that Massachusetts imposed more fee hikes than any other state in the nation this year -- at least $500 million...The study by the National Conference of State Legislatures found that Massachusetts was one of 30 states that enacted fee increases this year...Of the 30 states to raise fees, only nine [brought] in $100 million or more from those fee hikes. Massachusetts reported $501.5 million in fee hikes." [Boston Globe, 7/24/03]
Leaving a Massachusetts Mess...
Massachusetts Faced $1 Billion Budget Gap Because of Romney's Misleading Revenue Projections. Aides to Governor Deval Patrick said a Romney administration budget blueprint was based on "overly optimistic revenue and spending data and aimed at making the state's finances appear healthier than they are as Romney left the State House for a presidential run." [Boston Globe, 12/20/06]
Economic Performance During Romney's Tenure as Mass Governor Was "One of the Worst in the Country." According to economists at a Northeastern University, an analysis of the Massachusetts economy "reveals a weak comparative economic performance of the state over the Romney years, one of the worst in the country." [Boston Globe, 7/28/07]
Labor Market Measures of Growth "Not Only Lagged" But "Often Ranked...at the Bottom" in Massachusetts. "On all key labor market measures, the state not only lagged behind the country as a whole, but often ranked at or near the bottom of the state distribution," wrote economists Andrew Sum and Joseph McLaughlin. The economists cited drops in formal payroll employment and job generation. In fact, Massachusetts job growth during Romney's tenure was the third lowest in the country, and was so bad that it "would have ranked second lowest if Hurricane Katrina had not devastated the Louisiana economy." Manufacturing employment, "declined by more than 14 percent, the third worst record in the country." [Boston Globe, 7/28/07]
On Romney's watch, the Number of Employed Fell in Massachusetts and Wages and Income Fell by 2%: During 2002 and 2006 the number of "employed residents in the Commonwealth is estimated to have modestly declined by 8,500." Massachusetts was the only state to have failed to post any gain in its pool of employed residents. "Between 2002 and 2006, the median real (inflation adjusted) weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers in Massachusetts is estimated to have fallen by $10 or nearly 2 percent." [Boston Globe, 7/28/07]
Romney Raised $500 Million in Fees, Earned "C" on Cato Institute Fiscal Report Card. Romney increased annual state fees by $500 million as governor and proposed raising $400 million from two corporate tax increases. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, gave Romney a "C" on its fiscal-policy report card. Romney ranked behind 11 governors. [Boston Herald, 2/8/07; Cato Institute Policy Analysis No. 581, 10/24/06]
Cato: Romney Trying to Spin Fiscal Record. Cato Institute budget director Stephen Slivinski said, "Romney's people are trying to spin this by saying he kept his 'No new taxes pledge.'" [The Hill, 3/28/07]
Taking Huge Fees As Companies Cut Jobs...
Romney Collected Millions in Fees Then Shuttered the Shop. "In some cases, Romney's team closed U.S. factories, causing hundreds of layoffs, or pocketed huge fees shortly before companies collapsed." [Los Angeles Times, 12/16/07]
Romney Showed Indifference to Human Impact of His Decisions. "Some of Romney's colleagues recall him as vain, however, and focused only on the bottom line. They saw him as impatient and unconcerned about those affected by his decisions." [Los Angeles Times, 12/16/07]
Making Millions on Offshore Tax Shelters Taxes...
Romney Made a Mint Steering Corporate Clients to Offshore Tax Shelters. "While in private business, Mitt Romney utilized shell companies in two offshore tax havens to help eligible investors avoid paying U.S. taxes, federal and state records show." [Los Angeles Times, 12/17/07]
Romney Still Profiting from Offshore Shelters. "In the Cayman Islands, Romney was listed as a general partner and personally invested in BCIP Associates III Cayman, a private equity fund that is registered at a post office box on Grand Cayman Island and that indirectly buys equity in U.S. companies. The arrangement shields foreign investors from U.S. taxes they would pay for investing in U.S. companies. Romney still retains an investment in the Cayman fund through a trust. Campaign disclosure forms show the investment paid him more than $1 million last year in dividends, interest and capital gains." [Los Angeles Times, 12/17/07]
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, http://www.democrats.org/.
This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee
Democratic National Committee
