Romney Economics

Mitt Romney talks a lot about his time as a corporate buyout specialist, but you know what we don't hear very much about?

His experience as governor of Massachusetts.

That may be because he made promises to Bay Staters while on the campaign trail in 2002 that sound an awful lot like the ones he's making to the country today -- and as you know all too well, he failed to deliver on them.

Just like now, he claimed his success in the private sector meant he'd be able to create jobs, cut taxes, and bring down the debt. He did the opposite.

I was born and raised in Massachusetts, so for me, the damage he did there is personal. So today, I'm asking folks like you to help tell the truth about Romney Economics -- what it meant for us, and what it would mean for all Americans if he were elected president.

Check out our new video and consider joining the Truth Team -- a group of grassroots supporters that's helping spread the word about Romney's real record.

To jog your memory, here's a recap of Romney's time in office:

Even as the rest of the country was enjoying a brightening economy, during Romney's term Massachusetts plummeted to 47th out of 50 states in job creation; manufacturing jobs declined at twice the national average; and for the first time since 1995, its unemployment rate was above the national average.

Long-term debt ballooned by more than $2.6 billion -- leaving Massachusetts with the highest per capita debt of any state in the nation. State spending increased every single year, and Romney raised taxes and fees by $750 million per year -- leading to a higher state and local tax burden of $1,200 for every Bay Stater. Over his term, fees at public colleges skyrocketed by 63 percent, and during his first year, K-12 schools saw the second-largest percentage cuts, per student, in the nation.

All that in just four years.

Mitt Romney promised more jobs, less debt, and smaller government for Massachusetts based solely on his experience as a corporate buyout specialist. Turns out that being good at maximizing profits for yourself and your investors, but leaving companies bankrupt and workers without jobs, doesn't exactly prepare you to lead a state -- or a country.

Yet Romney's out there making the same empty promises all over again. And we've got to make sure no one else buys it this time.

The bottom line? Romney Economics didn't work for Massachusetts then, and it won't work for America now.

Watch our new video to get the facts, then pass it on to everyone you know:

http://my.barackobama.com/Romney-Economics-and-Massachusetts

We've got work to do -- let's go.

- Stephanie

Stephanie Cutter
Deputy Campaign Manager
Obama for America

Who Caused The Deficit?

Interesting article at http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/05/obama-romney-deficit-debt-chart.php

As the chart below reveals, the main drivers of projected deficits over the next decade are the wars of the oughts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush tax cuts and the so-called “automatic stabilizers” — unemployment insurance spending, lower tax burdens — built into existing policy to combat economic downturns. Recovery measures by Bush and Obama caused a short-term spike in deficits but have mostly phased out and thus represent only modest fractions of the national debt.

Why Wealth Inequality Matters: The Story Behind “We are the 99 Percent” Thursday, May 10th, 7:00 PM at the Central Congregational Church

Why Wealth Inequality Matters:
The Story Behind “We are the 99 Percent”

Please join us on Thursday, May 10th, 7:00 PM at the Central Congregational Church, 14 Titcomb Street, Newburyport, for a presentation and discussion with Chuck Collins, about his newly released book 99 to 1:  How Wealth Inequality Is Wrecking the World and What We Can Do about It.

“We are the 99 Percent” became the rallying cry for the Occupy Movement that started in September of
2011 and gave voice to a growing unrest about inequality in America and the world. It was an expression of the growing realization that over the course of the last several decades the wealthiest 1 percent of the US  population have grown wealthier, while the rest of the country has been left behind.

“In 99 to 1 Chuck Collins pulls together detailed information about the 1 percent and the 99 percent in all realms of society, the causes and consequences of this deep inequality, and what can be done about it. This book provides answers to the growing population of everyday Americans who are paying closer attention to this movement.  Who are the 99 percent? Who are the 1 percent? How extensive and systemic is inequality in
different areas of society? What are its causes and consequences? How is inequality
changing in our world?” —Berrett-Koehler Publishers

Chuck Collins is one of the foremost writers, speakers, researchers, and activists on the rise of inequality in our society and its harmful effects. He is a senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and directs IPS's Program on Inequality and the Common Good and co-edits www.inequality.org, the premier research and commentary web portal on inequality issues. He is co-founder of Wealth for the Common Good, a network of business leaders, high-income households and other partners working together to promote shared prosperity and fair taxation, as well as co-founder of United for a Fair Economy (UFE). He lives in Boston, MA.

This program is sponsored by the Amesbury Friends Peace Center, Central Congregational Church, Community Resilience Circles, First Parish Church of Newbury, First Religious Society of Newburyport, Pennies for Poverty: 2 Cents for Change, Transition Newburyport and YWCA Greater Newburyport.

Corporations Are Not People Lecture: May 3

North Shore Move to Amend will present Jeffrey D. Clements, author of Corporations Are Not People: Why They Have More Rights Than You Do and What You Can Do About It  in a forum on Thursday evening May 3 at Endicott College’s WAX Academic Center Auditorium, 376 Hale Street, Beverly, MA. The forum will commence at 7:00 PM.
 

Clements will discuss the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court decision and the movement to amend the Constitution to address that decision.

Corporations Are Not People, with a foreword by Bill Moyers, tells the true story of how some of the largest corporations in the world organized to take over our government and Constitution, culminating in 2010 with the 5-4 Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

Citizens United marked a culminating victory for the legal doctrine of corporate personhood. Corporations, as legal persons, are now entitled to exercise their alleged free-speech rights in the form of campaign spending, effectively enabling corporate domination of the electoral process.

In his book, Jeffrey Clements uncovers the roots, expansion, and far-reaching effects of the strange and destructive idea, which flies in the face of not only all common sense but, Clements shows, most of American legal history, from 1787 to the 1970s. He details its impact on the American political landscape, economy, job market, environment, and public health—and how it permeates our daily lives, from the quality of air we breathe to the types of jobs we can get to the politicians we elect. Most importantly, he offers a solution: a constitutional amendment to reverse Citizens United and tools readers can use to mount a grassroots drive to get it passed.

Move to Amend is a coalition of hundreds of organizations and tens of thousands of individuals committed to social and economic justice, ending corporate rule, and building a vibrant democracy that is genuinely accountable to the people, not corporate interests.

Move to Amend is organizing Americans across the country to seek an amendment to the US Constitution to unequivocally state that inalienable rights belong to human beings only, and that money is not a form of protected free speech under the First Amendment and can be regulated in political campaigns.

Overturning Citizens United is not about a triumph of one political ideology over another—it’s about restoring the democratic principles on which America was built. Republican president Theodore Roosevelt and conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist both vocally opposed the idea of corporate personhood.

Recent polls have shown that 62% of Americans are opposed to the Citizens United decision

For more information on North Shore Move to Amend contact Kathy Lique kquinn310@gmail.com

7th Annual Democratic Three Towns & Two Cities Breakfast

Press Release: 4/24/2012

7th Annual Democratic Three Towns & Two Cities Breakfast

The 7th Annual Democratic Three Towns & Two Cities Breakfast will be held on Saturday, April 28, 2012 at Nicholson Hall, 9 Harris Street, Newburyport, MA. Tickets are $25. Seating is limited.

There will be Coffee and Socializing from 8:30-9:00AM followed by the Program and Breakfast at 9:00AM.

The Democratic committees of Amesbury, Newbury, Newburyport, Salisbury, and West Newbury join together to invite you to a hearty buffet breakfast with state and local political leaders discussing today's issues.

Confirmed guests to date include Congressman John Tierney, State Treasurer Steve Grossman, State Representatives Michael Costello, former State Senator Stephen Baddour, Registrar of Deeds John O'Brien, and John Walsh, Chair of the Massachusetts Democratic Party.

US Senate candidates Marisa DeFranco and Elizabeth Warren will also speak as will Tim Coco of Haverhill and former Methuen Mayor William Manzi, candidates for the 1st Essex State Senate seat, and Barry Fogel, candidate for the 2^nd Essex State Representative seat.

Bob Allison of Newburyport will provide musical accompaniment. HOBO Catering of Salisbury Beach will provide the buffet.

Proceeds from the breakfast will be used to support the sponsoring town and city committees. A limited number of tickets will be available that morning. Those interested in purchasing tickets in advance should contact the chairs:

                        Amesbury, Rebecca Jordan at jordan161@verizon.net,

Newbury, Nancy Weinberg at weinbergagain@gmail.com,

Newburyport, Ed Cameron at edcameronNBPT@gmail.com,

Salisbury, Lou Masiello at thesummerwind300@comcast.net,

                        West Newbury, Kathy Pasquina at kathypasq2@hotmail.com

Press: For more information about this event, please contact Ed Cameron at edcameronNBPT@gmail.com or call 978-518-0786.

Full oped at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/opinion/krugman-the-amnesia-candidate.html

The excerpt:

The Amnesia Candidate

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Just how stupid does Mitt Romney think we are? If you’ve been following his campaign from the beginning, that’s a question you have probably asked many times.

But the question was raised with particular force last week, when Mr. Romney tried to make a closed drywall factory in Ohio a symbol of the Obama administration’s economic failure. It was a symbol, all right — but not in the way he intended.

First of all, many reporters quickly noted a point that Mr. Romney somehow failed to mention: George W. Bush, not Barack Obama, was president when the factory in question was closed. Does the Romney campaign expect Americans to blame President Obama for his predecessor’s policy failure?

Yes, it does. Mr. Romney constantly talks about job losses under Mr. Obama. Yet all of the net job loss took place in the first few months of 2009, that is, before any of the new administration’s policies had time to take effect. So the Ohio speech was a perfect illustration of the way the Romney campaign is banking on amnesia, on the hope that voters don’t remember that Mr. Obama inherited an economy that was already in free fall.

How does the campaign deal with people who point out the awkward reality that all of the “Obama” job losses took place before any Obama policies had taken effect? The fallback argument — which was rolled out when reporters asked about the factory closure — is that even though Mr. Obama inherited a deeply troubled economy, he should have fixed it by now. That factory is still closed, said a Romney adviser, because of the failure of Obama policies “to really get this economy going again.”

Actually, that factory would probably still be closed even if the economy had done better — drywall is mainly used in new houses, and while the economy may be coming back, the Bush-era housing bubble isn’t.

But Mr. Romney’s poor choice of a factory for his photo-op aside, I guess accusing Mr. Obama of not doing enough to promote recovery is a better argument than blaming him for the effects of Bush policies. However, it’s not much better, since Mr. Romney is essentially advocating a return to those very same Bush policies. And he’s hoping that you don’t remember how badly those policies worked.

MAD Asks...Who Said It? Mitt Romney or Mr. Burns?