Fact Check – Governor Deval Patrick – Democrat Convention Speech – Pinocchio is Blushing!

Governor Deval Patrick (MA-D) speaks to Democrat Convention Party Goers - we've run out of Pinocchio's!

Massachusetts Governor, Democrat, Deval Patrick, gave the 9 o’clock hour speech at the DNC Convention in Charlotte last night, a rousing, come-to-meeting, call-to-arms riff that was short, sweet and to the point – however – chock full of, and shall we say, exaggerations and outright fibs.
The full text of the speech is available at The Huffington Post, an excerpt from that blog is shown below:

In Massachusetts, we know Mitt Romney. By the time he left office, Massachusetts was 47th in the nation in job creation—during better economic times—and household income in our state was declining. He cut education deeper than anywhere else in America. Roads and bridges were crumbling. Business taxes were up, and business confidence was down. Our clean energy potential was stalled. And we had a structural budget deficit. Mitt Romney talks a lot about all the things he's fixed. I can tell you that Massachusetts wasn't one of them. He's a fine fellow and a great salesman, but as governor he was more interested in having the job than doing it.


When I came to office, we set out on a different course: investing in ourselves and our future. And today Massachusetts leads the nation in economic competitiveness, student achievement, health care coverage, life sciences and biotech, energy efficiency and veterans' services. Today, with the help of the Obama administration, we are rebuilding our roads and bridges and expanding broadband access. Today we're out of the deficit hole Mr. Romney left, and we've achieved the highest bond rating in our history. Today—with labor at the table—we've made the reforms in our pension and benefits systems, our schools, our transportation system and more that Mr. Romney only talked about. And today in Massachusetts, you can also marry whomever you love. We have much more still to do. But we are on a better track because we placed our faith not in trickle-down fantasies and divisive rhetoric but in our values and common sense.

(HuffingtonPost)

In the first Paragraph, it is a given that Patrick should know Romney – they passed each other on the way in and the way out of Massachusetts. For example, Romney wanted to cut taxes across the board in Massachusetts, which would have helped businesses, middle and lower income families, as he had walked into a fiscal mess – but, the Democrats, worried that he might gain political advantage, stopped him in his tracks (Boston Globe, 04/26/2005)
Romney also had closed a 3 million dollar budget deficit by the time left office Boston Globe on Romney not seeking reelection

Romney left Massachusetts with a rainy day fund intact – in fact a surplus, which - which Deval Patrick ran through upon taking office – (Boston Globe Fact Check on Baker and Patrick 2010 Governors race) – the amount was in dispute, the amount that was in the rainy day fund, as well as the amount Governor Patrick ran through immediately upon taking office.

On wanting and doing the job of Governor Mitt Romney never took a salary during his time as Governor, he was asked to run by the State Republican Leadership

He was inclusive of both women and all ethnic groups – ask: Jane Edmonds, former Massachusetts Secretary of Workforce

Jane Edmonds is a self-described liberal Democrat and an African-American civil rights activist from Massachusetts, Politico reports. But more than that, she's Mitt Romney's friend. "I adore the guy," Edmonds told Politico. "I have seen him behind closed doors in Cabinet meetings. I have seen his compassion. I'm at a point in my life that the character of the human being we entrust to be president is important to me. He would make an excellent president."

(Desert News). Jane Edmonds was not the only woman or Democrat in Romney’s administration.

Deval Patrick’s speak to roads and bridges crumbling: the Big Dig comes to mind – of course, that billion dollar project was not begun by Mitt Romney, he inherited the mess – and fixed it (Springfield Republican) - without pointing a finger at anyone.

He reformed the corrupt and Democrat led Turnpike Authority (Boston Globe) and actually fixed crumbling roads, monies which went into politicians pockets went back to the state.

No need for link – the Massachusetts Supreme Court passed Gay Marriage under Romney’s administration – Deval cannot take credit for that, nor can the Democrats. (Except one can hazard to guess accurately that the Massachusetts Supreme Court is made up of - Democrats)

Romney cut income taxes, which put more money into the pockets of individuals and families as household income rose under Romney’s Leadership Pew Research
On Job creation in the state: the Boston Globe:Patrick often stretches the Truth while critiquing Romney on jobs(2006) – No Kidding – Stretches the truth is nice.

Romney brought education to its pinnacle, insured school choice, brought into play the charter schools, of which Deval Patrick sings praises as if he had something to do with it, and teed of the Teachers Unions, who would suffer if there was competition, he also did not push granny under the bus, or the poor, as he cut administrative positions that were unnecessary – not the necessary budget – (getting rid of the much expected cronyism in government job creation in Massachusetts in all areas)

Although Massachusetts Statistically did rank 47th, there was little place to go –as the unemployment rate was in the 4 percentile, jobs were plentiful,, businesses were in good shape, at least those who stayed after Romney Left realized the full impact of "tax and spend gone wild" (Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts legislature) – because, Romney had to fight against the State’s Business taxes, which made Massachusetts the 4th highest for taxes Globally, and remains there today. Businesses do not readily come to Massachusetts, and since Romney left, so did millions of Massachusetts residents, seeking jobs, seeking a better life, seeking relief from the continues rounds of new taxes put into place by Governor Patrick to pay for expanded services and government. This is why Massachusetts lost a congressional seat with the 2010 census – go figure.

Deval Patrick has taxed Massachusetts to the brink – 19 new taxes passed alone in July of 2010 –including taxes on cable, wireless and other means of delivering entertainment, phone service and electricity to ones homes – he increased the sales tax, the income tax, and a tax on dogs. Everyone was hiding their grandmothers – she was the next “tax” on Devil’s list.

If Patrick were telling a smidgen of truth, he might have reversed the problems, he created, with the issues Romney helped and fixed, and that would have eliminated a plethora of errors.

As a citizen of the Commonwealth, and someone who did not care to learn to much about Governor Romney (as said Citizen was continuously looking at New Hampshire as a possible Haven), it is a process that one does when one vets a candidate – and Deval Patrick is something that happens when one does not vet a candidate. He flew into Massachusetts, on “yes we can”- sound familiar? – He’s the protégé of one David Axelrod (sound familiar?), and as Governor, the Commonwealth is in decline – he likes the job, his salary is available online.

No-one is fact checking the Democrats whose outrageous and inflated speeches only match their enormous egos (all politicians must have this as a prerequisite – well not all). The only one spotted so far was CNN those 4.5 million private sector jobs created by private industry (not Barack Obama) resulted in a net job gain of 300,00 over a period of years – not a huge plus.

Finally Deval Patrick cut Veteren's Benefits, it is the first item on the chopping block of those who suddenly found religion when it comes to the U.S. Military.
Additionally, there were some charges against Mitt Romney that went unanswered, this was due to time, and frankly space - if one were to Face Check Patrick, one would need greater bandwidth. It is the time of the season (political) when parties come together to - party - it's a national election - however, stretching the truth to this extent is just not acceptable. Especially from a man who won reelection by 1 point, with the help of a Democrat turned Independent until after the election was won, by that one point. Of note: one might also consider that Deval Patrick, a brother-in-arms, with Barack Obama, both under the tutelage and mastership of David Axelrod, might employ similar tactics while governing and stretching the truth- yes, yes they do.

GOP Michigan Update – Santorum Leads in Polling, Romney’s “Home Turf” – Romney Campaign – A Must Win for Romney Candidacy

Romney in sweater (casual) and Santorum in Suit (Presidential) image yahoo news.

It is not with a bit of déjà vu that the 2012 Mitt Romney Campaign is in some ways, similar to the 2008 Romney Campaign, the mains similarity is the scorched earth advertising policy when it comes to GOP opponents that are polling ahead of the former Bay State Governor. Other than that, it amounts to the number and position of states where Romney has won and especially where he has not – and when he has lost, in most cases it was with wide margins – with Mitt Romney it is, defined by regions, a love him, or leave him electorate. There are certain states, however, where it is anticipated that a candidate should be a “shoe-in”, and in Romney’s Case that is the State of Michigan (and on Super Tuesday, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts), however, recent Polls suggest that Romney may not win the all-important Michigan Primary – rather the former Senator from Pennsylvania, who is now seen as the front-runner, is leading Romney in polls outside of the margin of error.

The poll, conducted by the American Research Group show Rick Santorum leading with Romney in second, Gingrich in Third, Paul in 4th, and other and undecided at 1% and 6% respectively. The poll was conducted among Republican voters and Independents with the electoral makeup of the state fairly well represented. In a preference to vote question, Santorum leads Romney by double digits – and among gender, Santorum is evenly split between men and women (33% to 33%, while Romney has a slight edge over Santorum with Women (39%) but a huge deficit with men (17%). It is clear that Romney’s Michigan win may go the way of his Colorado and Minnesota wins (two states where they were confident Romney would win handily).

It has the campaigns somewhat rattled, according to an article in the Canadian Nanaimo Daily News Headline: “Romney campaign may need bailout in native state of Michigan” - from a new television ad picturing the Governor driving a New Chrysler, while attempting to explain his opposition to the auto bailout. However, in an op-ed in the Michigan papers,

In a separate op-ed published in Tuesday's Detroit News, Romney says he opposed the Obama administration's bailout of Chrysler and General Motors because it was "crony capitalism" that amounted to "an $85 billion sweetheart deal" for auto unions at the expense of company creditors.
"The indisputable good news is that Chrysler and General Motors are still in business," Romney writes. "The equally indisputable bad news is that all the defects in President Obama's management of the American economy are evident in what he did."

The most telling quote from that article comes at the close “"Romney is in the position now where he is having to defend the position that sounds a lot like what McCain said last time."

Romney’s PAC and his campaign intends to turn their attention to the rise of Santorum, however, they bought over one million dollars in advertising targeting Gingrich in Michigan, Romney is attempting to keep both Santorum from Winning and Gingrich from outperforming Romney – there is, by preference, the same distance between Gingrich and Romney in the American Research Poll as between Romney and Santorum, the front-runner. It is a strategists nightmare, and one in which, should Romney come in second in his home state it would be a major setback, however, to come in third, would be a confirmation that the man is not electable in a state that is considered his.

The Problem that Romney faces with Santorum, is twofold – one Romney continues to resonate on the low side with the base, doing better with moderates, and holding steady in the 20’s, secondly, Santorum knows manufacturing, and had done much to support U.S. Manufacturing (U.S. jobs) while in the Senate – (see Thomas.gov (the library of Congress to dispute claims made about Santorum’s voting record, especially by the Ron Paul Campaign). One need only search by candidate by year to find legislation that was sponsored (written) by that legislator and those that were co-sponsored, or supported by that legislator. The claims about big-government spending made by both Romney (who lobbied for billions for the U.S. Salt Lake Olympics), and Paul (who sponsored a host of bills on benefits for seniors among other projects (pork) for his district), fall flat when one views the records side by side). It is a case of the pot calling the kettle black in order to get a leg up.

Two is the question of electability - between Romney and Santorum, one might say that Santorum lost a Senate Race, after having won multiple races, however, one might say that Romney lost a senate Race and barely won the Governor’s race in Massachusetts, while also losing the 2008 bit for the GOP nomination – as of now, polls show Santorum has a slight edge over Romney nationally in the GOP, while polling against Obama (which changes daily), either besting the President, or doing somewhat better or somewhat worse (by one point) than Romney in head to head matchups (which to be sure are just for “fun” at this stage of the game). The main focus of the candidates now, is to win the base and the independents in order to secure the nomination – anything else is simply eyewash.

The fact of the matter is that Santorum is now surging, and at this stage in the game, that surge with a win in Michigan or several Super Tuesday States, would be enough to propel him to the confirmed front-runner. Romney is in the position where he has to play catch-up and normally the instinct is to use negative advertisements that are over the top – which, has worked in 2 of the states, it backfired in Iowa, where Romney literally helped Santorum by destroying the Gingrich Campaign, allowing Santorum to rise and beat Romney.

Santorum is now facing the vetting process that Gingrich faced, but there is little that is not an open book, or has not been brought to the forefront, the former Pennsylvania Senator is somewhat ‘squeaky’ clean in comparison to the other candidates – and he appeals to the bulk of the electorate those who work for a living or did work in – manufacturing. It is the loss of manufacturing, the chronic unemployment in the nation (although on paper improved somewhat), and the obvious passion with which Santorum addresses the need for manufacturing, and the jobs they would crate, that is resonating. Although the pundits and the inclination of the national GOP is that a front-runner should have been chosen in the first caucus, the fact is that the longer these candidates battle it out, and the longer they are vetted, they become the stronger candidate.

Watch the next debate: Feb. 22nd on CNN

Primaries: February 28th, Arizona and Michigan