Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts Record Shows Why He’d Rather Talk about Bain

When any regular American fills out a job application, they are required to list all their previous employment records and often are asked to list their qualifications for the job they seek. It is the same scenario for politicians seeking office and fortunately for the voters, there are public records available for assessing whether or not the candidate is qualified to fill an office regardless if it is a city council position or president of the United States. Willard Romney touts his business acumen as the reason he is best qualified to lead the country, and based on his performance as governor of Massachusetts, it makes sense he is doing everything in his power to misdirect the public’s attention on just how ineffective he was as a governor.

Last week, noted economist Paul Krugman eloquently summed up Romney’s pitch to voters that he should be elected president “because he made a lot of money.” It is true Willard made a fortune during his time at Bain Capital... Indeed, if making outrageous amounts of money qualifies any American to be president, then thug rappers, star athletes, and movie producers are every bit as qualified to lead this country as Romney. However, if one peruses Romney’s record as governor, it becomes painfully obvious why he is promoting his wealth acquisition abilities instead of his performance as governor of Massachusetts.

Romney made the same promises to Massachusetts’ voters that he makes to Americans as he campaigns around the country, and based on his proposals, the results of a Romney presidency would mirror his leadership skills as governor. During his one-term as governor, Massachusetts was 47th out of 50 in job creation, and economic growth stopped as the state lost manufacturing jobs with new companies avoiding the state like plague. Wages under Willard dropped 5%, and the loss of consumer spending power had a profound effect on revenue and down-stream jobs. When he realized the state needed revenue to operate, he instituted “fee” increases for car registration, marriages, burials and services that impacted average middle-class citizens, but he cut taxes for the 278 wealthiest families in Massachusetts. He also claimed to be able to get the state’s debt under control, but instead of balancing the budget and reining in debt, he accumulated the greatest debt of any state in America by using debt to pay for operation costs.