Reactions to Romney Exploratory Announcement
PRESS RELEASE from New Hampshire Democratic Party

For immediate release:
April 11, 2011

Contact: Holly Shulman

Statement of New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley on Mitt Romney's Announcement:

“Mitt Romney is inching closer to a race for President, but the real question is whether he’s inching any closer to a core set of principles so that the people of the Granite State will be able to learn who the real Mitt Romney actually is.

“Is he the socially liberal Mitt Romney of 1994 and 2002 – the man who ran for the Senate and who served as a progressive Governor of a neighboring state – or is he the Mitt Romney of 2008 and 2012, who changed all his positions as soon as he started thinking about running for the Republican nomination for President?  Is Mitt Romney the rudderless, coreless politician his frequent flip flops make him seem, or is there a principled reason he has changed his positions more often than most people change their underwear?

"And certainly Mitt Romney will proclaim to be a businessman who knows how to create jobs when the record shows that in fact that he was a corporate raider who often made companies profitable not by helping them perform better – but by simply laying off employees and killing jobs.

“The truth is, the people of New Hampshire may never know who the real Mitt Romney is because it’s not at all clear that he does.  Mitt Romney just wants to be President – plain and simple - and he’ll take any position or say anything to get there."

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PRESS RELEASE from Massachusetts Democratic Party

For Immediate Release: April 11, 2011

CONTACT: Larry Carpman

Massachusetts Democratic Party Response to Romney Exploratory Committee

BOSTON – Today, Former Governor Romney announced the formation of an Exploratory Committee to run for President. In response, Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman John Walsh released the following statement:
 
“Mitt Romney’s announcement video is just the latest example of our former Governor attempting to recreate his persona and his record. He touts himself as a job creator – but as Governor, his jobs record was abysmal. 
 
“As always, Mitt Romney has a line to sell in his announcement today, but the fact is that voters didn’t buy it in 2008 and they won’t buy it this year. America needs a real leader who will fight to win the future, not a flip-flopping politician who year-after-year will do and say anything to get elected.”

 

Larry Carpman

Carpman Communications, LLC

1 Center Plaza

Suite 210

Boston, MA  02108


from DNC Rapid Response

Fact Checking Mitt Romney

Today, ATTEMPTING TO DISTRACT FROM the five year anniversary of his signing of the Massachusetts Health Reform Law tomorrow, Mitt Romney announced in a video that he has established a presidential exploratory committee.  Please see the fact check below debunking claims made by Romney in the video.
 
 
ROMNEY RHETORIC: “Sometimes I was successful and helped create jobs, other times I wasn’t.”
 
REALITY: ROMNEY IS RIGHT THAT HE PROFITED OFF OF LAYING OFF WORKERS
 
Romney’s Fortune “Was Made On The Backs Of Companies That Ultimately Collapsed, Putting Thousands of Ordinary Americans Out On The Street.” [New York Post, 2/19/11]
 
Romney-Led Bain Capital Closed US Factories, Caused Hundreds Of Layoffs And “Pocketed Huge Fees Shortly Before The Companies Collapsed.” [Los Angeles Times, 12/6/07]
 
Romney’s Tenure at Bain “Resulted in the Loss of Thousands of Jobs Through Layoffs And Bankruptcies.” [CNN.com, 1/30/08]
 
Former Bain Partners: Romney Had Chances To Fight To Save Jobs But Didn’t.  [Boston Globe, 1/27/08]
 
 
ROMNEY RHETORIC: “This morning I spoke with a number of students here at the University of New Hampshire. Like young people all over the country, they wonder whether they’ll find good jobs when the graduate.”
 
REALITY: ROMNEY’S JOB CREATION RECORD IN MASSACHUSETTS WAS ONE OF THE WORST IN THE COUNTRY
 
During Romney’s Tenure as Governor, Massachusetts’ Economic Performance Was “One Of The Worst In The Country” On “All Key Labor Market Measures.”  [Boston Globe, 7/29/07]
 
Factcheck.org: “Romney’s Jobs Record Provides Little To Boast About.” [Factcheck.org, 1/11/08]
 
December 2006 Massachusetts Ranked 8th Highest Nationally With An Unemployment  Rate Of 5.3. [Unemployment Report, US Department Of Labor/Bureau Of Labor Statistics, 1/23/07]
 
Massachusetts Unemployment Rate “Showed Little Movement During Romney’s Tenure” And Went From Below The National Average When He Took Office To Above The National Average When He Left.  [AP, 2/4/08]
 
Under Romney The Number Of Employed Residents In Massachusetts Declined Making It “The Only State To Have Failed To Post Any Gain In Its Pool Of Employed Residents.” [Boston Globe, 7/29/07]
 
In Romney’s Four Years As Governor Massachusetts Ranked 47th Out Of 50 In Jobs Growth.  [Marketwatch, 2/23/10]
 
·         In Romney’s First Year In Charge, Massachusetts “Ranked Dead Last In America In Job Growth.” [Marketwatch, 2/23/10]
 
 
ROMNEY RHETORIC:  “I learned how America competes with companies in other countries, why jobs leave and how jobs are created here at home.”
 
REALITY: ROMNEY VETOED LEGISLATION THAT WOULD HAVE BARRED OUTSOURCING

REALITY: Romney Vetoed A Bill That Would Have Stopped Massachusetts Taxpayers From “Propping Up Jobs Overseas.” [Boston Herald, 2/28/06]
 
 
ROMNEY RHETORIC:  “Last week in Nevada, I walked through a neighborhood with homes vacant, or in foreclosure.”
 
REALITY: FORECLOSURES IN MASSACHUSETTS SKYROCKETED UNDER ROMNEY’S WATCH

Foreclosures In Massachusetts While Romney Was Governor Went From 4,200 In 2003 To 19,500 In 2006.  [Boston Globe, 4/1/11]
 
Foreclosures In Massachusetts In 2006 Totaled 19,487. [Business Wire Press Release, ForeclosuresMass, 2/6/07]
 
Foreclosures In Massachusetts In 2005 Totaled 11,493. [Business Wire Press Release, ForeclosuresMass, 1/30/06]
 
Foreclosures In Massachusetts In 2004 Totaled 8,689. [Business Wire Press Release, ForeclosuresMass, 1/30/06]
 
Foreclosures in Massachusetts In 2003 Totaled 4,167. [Boston Globe, 1/20/04]
 
 
ROMNEY RHETORIC: “Later when I served as Governor of Massachusetts, I used the skill s I had learned in 25 years in business to streamline state government, balance the budget every year, and restore a $2 billion rainy day fund.”
 
REALITY: ROMNEY DIDN’T SLASH BUREAUCRACY IN MASSACHUSETTS
 
Despite Vowing To Slash The Bureaucracy Romney Only Cut 603 Agency Jobs During His Governorship—His Predecessor Slashed 7,700 During His First Term.  [Boston Globe, 6/29/07]
 
Romney Cut 4,000 Jobs From State Payroll As Governor But Restored Nearly All Of Them When The Economy Rebounded. [Boston Globe, 5/1/10]
 
REALITY: ROMNEY LEFT HIS SUCESSOR A BILLION DOLLAR DEFICIT
 
Romney Made The Economy A Central Part Of His 2008 Campaign But “Unemployment Is Still Relatively High” In Massachusetts And Romney Left A $1.3 Billion Budget Gap.  [New York Times, 3/16/07]
 
Patrick Said Romney Left Him At Least A $1 Billion Budget Deficit And Used “All Kinds Of Patches And Plugs” To Obscure The Deficit.  [AP, 1/5/07]
 
Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation:  Patrick’s Billion Dollar Shortfall Estimate Is “Consistent With The Numbers Presented By Romney’s Fiscal Experts In Briefing Patrick’s Budget And Finance Transition Working Group.” [Widmer Op-Ed, Boston Globe, 1/16/07]
 
Romney Aides Warned Patrick Privately Of Looming Budget Deficit But Publicly Released A Budget Blueprint That Was Rosier So Romney Could Say He Left Office With A Balanced Budget. [Boston Globe, 12/30/06]
 
·         Patrick Aides: Romney’s Public Budget Blueprint “Was Based On Overly Optimistic Revenue And Spending Data” Made To Make The State’s Finances Look Healthier As Romney Ran For President. [Boston Globe, 12/30/06]