No I am not talking about making Sen. Larry Craig his Senate Co-chair only to yank his support video and compare him to Mark Foley...and Bill Clinton. I am talking about his claims that he is a budget balancing governor/businessman who will get our fiscal house in order thanks to going to Harvard Business School with George W. Bush and running Bain. Previously, I had pointed out that his no-tax cut claims were a myth hidden by regressive fee hikes. Now the media finally caught on.
When Mitt Romney wanted to balance the Massachusetts budget, the blind, mentally retarded and gun owners were asked to help pay.
The Republican managed to slash spending to eliminate a deficit pegged at $3 billion, but he also proposed or presided over a far-ranging series of fee hikes - a strategy that allowed him to maintain the no-new-taxes stance he now boasts about as he runs for president.
In all, then-Gov. Romney proposed creating 33 new fees and increasing 57 others - enough, he said, to pull in an extra $59 million for the cash-strapped state.
Horseback riding instructors, prisoners, those seeking training to combat domestic violence and used car shoppers were asked to dig a little deeper.
[...]
"For me, generally, a fee is something which applies to a subset of the population. A tax is something which is far more broadly applied," Romney said in 2003.
Mr. "lifelong hunter" also increased the gun licensing fee from $25 to $100. Maybe that's why the 250-million dollar man only went twice in his life. The article has more details of him sticking it to the little guy so he could claim the mantle of no-tax-raises and fiscal-conservative.
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Romney is guilty of following the Reagan legacy. Though cutting taxes, he also increased fees. Rather than calling those fees increased taxes, he labelled them "revenue enhancements."
It is a basic Republican strategy to put the costs of government upon those who use government the most (generally the poor or middle class).
What it comes down to, is that Republicans in general believe that the way you build wealth as a nation is to concentrate that wealth in the few. Social issues are then used to keep people voting against their own economic interests.
My definition of fool is "a blue collar republican."
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