Will Romney Fool Us a Second Time?

Mitt Romney bases his presidential campaign on the claim that his experience in the business world will enable him to create jobs and improve the American economy. Of course, being president is not the same as being a businessman. Fortunately, we can put Romney's words to the test. He has also had previous experience as the chief executive of a state, a job not unlike being president. Romney was the governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. How well did he handle its economy?

According to the Boston Globe (5/31/12), "Romney made a bold promise during his 2002 campaign, saying, 'My program for creating jobs is second to none in the entire history of this state.'"

How accurate did Romney's prediction turn out to be? Not accurate at all. According to the New York Times (6/5/12), "When Mitt Romney was governor, Massachusetts lost 40,000 manufacturing jobs - a rate twice the national average - and fell to 47th in job creation, fourth from the bottom. Instead of hiring workers from his own state, Romney outsourced call-center jobs to India."

According to the Washington Post (5/31/12), David Axelrod states that, "Under Romney, the state's job-creation ranking fell from 36th to 47th, and unemployment rose above the national average for the first time in a decade."

Andrew Sum, a professor at Northeastern University who has studied Romney's economic record as governor, summarizes his time in office. (Boston Globe, 5/31/12). "If you (Romney) want to say you're about job creation, your record - at least in our state - would suggest that's just not true. . . That time period was a very weak time period for the state."

Let's pause for a moment and reflect upon Romney's claims and the reality of the situation. During his campaign for Massachusetts governor in 2002, Romney claimed that he would create jobs, just as he is claiming now in his campaign for the presidency. Yet, the reality is that he failed to do so. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." Why should we believe Romney now, when he was unable to deliver on his job creation promises in 2003 while running for governor? The answer is "We shouldn't."

Well, job creation and unemployment are not the whole of an economic picture. Perhaps, Romney cut state spending and reduced the state's debt while he was governor. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Romney raised more than 1,000 fees on Massachusetts residents. By the time he left office, the tax burden had increased by $1,200 per person after Romney raised taxes and fees by $750 million per year.

During Romney's time as governor, state debt swelled by more than $2.6 billion. He left Massachusetts taxpayers with more debt per person than in any other state and left his successor with a billion-dollar deficit.

Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Association ponders Romney's years as governor (Boston Globe, 5/31/12). "He campaigned in 2002 that he was going to be the ambassador for Massachusetts, that as a CEO at the highest levels of the private sector he could open doors and bring business to Massachusetts. . . It's virtually universally recognized that he did very little of that."

Just because someone tells you that he's been a cook, doesn't mean that he's a good cook. Just because someone tells you that he's been a carpenter, doesn't mean that he's a good carpenter. And just because Mitt Romney tells us that he's been a businessman, doesn't mean that he'd make a good president. His record as governor of Massachusetts indicates otherwise.