Romney's honesty problem

“The very “leftist rag” that was Mitt Romney’s primary outlet for convincing the public of his hard Left bonafides for many years.”

Boy is that a stretch. You obviously don’t live in this state. The newspaper constantly trashed him.

They also printed his words and positions, which by any measure were VERY liberal.

Here’s a handful of examples. Care to credibly challenge any of their facts?

“Romney ran against Senator Edward M. Kennedy in 1994. During a debate, Romney declared: “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. I have since the time that my mom took that position when she ran in 1970 as a US Senate candidate. I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it.”
- Boston Globe, 3/2/2006

“When [during their debate] Kennedy called him ‘multiple choice,’ Romney demanded an extra rebuttal. He revealed that a close relative died of an illegal abortion years ago and said, ‘Since that time, my mother and my family have been committed to the belief that we can believe as we want, but we will not force our beliefs on others on that matter, and you will not see my wavering on that.’ “
- Boston Globe, 3/2/2006

“On a questionnaire Planned Parenthood gave to the gubernatorial candidates in 2002, Romney answered ‘’yes” to the question, ‘Do you support the substance of the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade?’ Romney also professed support for state funding of abortion services for low-income women, [Erin] Rowland [spokeswoman for the Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts] said.”
- Boston Globe, 3/25/2005

“Marie Sturgis, legislative director of Massachusetts Citizens for Life, said she hasn’t detected any change in Romney’s stance. The group considers Romney to be an abortion-rights supporter, as do national antiabortion groups such as the Family Research Council.”
- Boston Globe, 3/25/2005

In 2002, Romney responded to the National Abortion Rights Action League’s candidate survey: ‘’I respect and will protect a woman’s right to choose. This choice is a deeply personal one. Women should be free to choose based on their own beliefs, not mine and not the government’s. The truth is, no candidate in the governor’s race in either party would deny women abortion rights.” Notably, Romney refused to answer the candidate questionnaire sent to him by Massachusetts Citizens for Life.
- Boston Globe, 7/3/2005

“When he ran for governor in 2002, Romney said he supported expanding access to the emergency contraception pill, a high dose of hormones that women can take to prevent pregnancy up to five days after sex . . . On a questionnaire Planned Parenthood gave to the gubernatorial candidates in 2002, Romney answered ‘yes’ to the question, ‘Do you support efforts to increase access to emergency con-traception?’ “
- Boston Globe 7/7/2005

In 2002, the Boston Globe reported Romney’s positions from his1994 campaign as follows: “ABORTION: Favored basic Roe v. Wade abortion rights, though would not endorse a specific version of the Freedom of Choice Act, which would codify those court-established rights as federal law . . . Said he would leave the matter of Medicaid funding for abortion to individual states . . . Endorsed legalization of RU-486, the abortion-inducing drug.”
- Boston Globe, 3/19/2002

In March, 2005, Romney signed an annual proclamation establishing a ‘’Right to Privacy Day” to mark the anniversary of Baird v. Eisenstadt, a 1972 Supreme Court ruling legalizing birth control for unmarried people. Interestingly, Romney’s staff deleted references to Roe v. Wade from the previous year’s proclamation.
- Boston Globe, 3/25/2005

“In seeking the support of the Log Cabin Republican Club, Romney wrote them a letter promising that ‘as we seek to establish full equality for America’s gay and lesbian citizens, I will provide more effective leadership than my opponent.’ “ [His opponent at the time was Sen. Ted Kennedy, perhaps the foremost advocate of homosexual rights in the U.S. Senate.]
- Boston Globe, 10/17/1994

“[David] Rogers, who was president of the Log Cabin Club of Massachusetts when Romney was a gubernatorial candidate in 2002, said that while Romney made clear he was opposed to gay marriage, he said that he would fight any form of discrimination and left the impression he wouldn’t crusade against gay rights.
- Boston Globe, 3/11/2004

“There will be children born to same-sex couples, and adopted by same-sax couples, and I believe that there should be rights and privileges associated with those unions and with the children that are part of those unions.” On another occasion, his spokesman “declined to state Romney’s position on whether homosexual couples should be allowed to adopt, and declined to say whether the governor opposes gay adoptions.”
- State House press conference, 6/15/2005
- Boston Globe, 3/2/2006

[Romney strong-arms conservative Republicans into supporting a constitutional amendment that included civil unions: ]

Through all the twists and shifts during the gay-marriage debate this year, there was one constant: 22 Republicans in the House of Representatives opposed every measure that would grant gay couples civil unions in the constitution. That all changed yesterday, however, when 15 of that 22-member bloc broke away at the urging of Governor Mitt Romney and voted in favor of a proposed amendment that would ban gay marriage but create Vermont-style civil unions. Those 15 members provided the margin of victory, observers from both camps said yesterday after the measure passed by just five votes. In the end, the 15 agreed that approving a measure that they viewed as highly undesirable was preferable to the possibility that nothing would be sent to the state ballot for voters to weigh in on.
- Boston Globe 3/30/2004

Despite the over 2,500 pedophilia cases now on record involving homosexual scout leaders, Romney stated, “I feel that all people should be allowed to participate in the Boy Scouts regardless of their sexual orientation.” In the same article, a BSA official criticized Romney for opposing Scout policy.
- Boston Globe, 10/27/1994

“Governor Mitt Romney, who touts his conservative credentials to out-of-state Republicans, has passed over GOP lawyers for three-quarters of the 36 judicial vacancies he has faced, instead tapping registered Democrats or independents — including two gay lawyers who have supported expanded same-sex rights, a Globe review of the nominations has found. Of the 36 people Romney named to be judges or clerk magistrates, 23 are either registered Democrats or unenrolled voters who have made multiple contributions to Democratic politicians or who voted in Democratic primaries, state and local records show. In all, he has nominated nine registered Republicans, 13 unenrolled voters, and 14 registered Democrats.”
- Boston Globe 7/25/2005

Despite his rhetoric about judicial activism, Romney announced that he won’t fill all the remaining vacancies during his term - but instead leave them for his liberal Democrat successor!
Governor Mitt Romney pledged yesterday not to make a flurry of lame-duck judicial appointments in the final days of his administration . . . David Yas, editor of Lawyers Weekly, said Romney is “bucking tradition” by resisting the urge to fill all remaining judgeships. “It is a tradition for governors to use that power to appoint judges aggressively in the waning moments of their administration,” Yas said. He added that Romney has been criticized for failing to make judicial appointments. “The legal community has consistently criticized him for not filling open seats quickly enough and being a little too painstaking in the process and being dismissive of the input of the Judicial Nominating Commission,” Yas said.
- Boston Globe 11/2/2006

When Romney was criticized for the [Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth] funding, the homosexual activists came to his defense:

Kathleen Henry, chairwoman of the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, defended Romney. Henry said the governor’s fiscal 2006 budget plan included $250,000 for the commission, twice as much as he proposed spending in 2005. ‘’The fact that he doubled last year’s [proposed budget allocation] this year is huge to us. It’s really huge. It says to us clearly that he gets the service for what it really is,” said Henry.
- Boston Globe 7/1/2005

When Romney vetoed money for his Governor’s Commission, here’s what he told the Boston Globe his reasons were (still pandering to the homosexual activists):
Romney said his vetoes were motivated by fiscal prudence, not opposition to the programs or presidential politics. Even with his vetoes, the state would spend more than $1 million on teen pregnancy prevention and $250,000 on the programs for gay and lesbian youth. . . [Romney said,] ‘’The work that they’re doing to prevent suicide and prevent violence is important work, and we support the work which they’re doing . . . [but] we didn’t see a need to raise their budget by 40 percent.”
- Boston Globe, 7/1/2005

In May 2006, as he prepared his run for the presidency, MassResistance presented the Governor’s office with shocking photographs of events and activities sponsored or organized by the Commission. A few days later, Romney announced his intention to dissolve the Commission. But within hours of that announcement, under pressure from the homosexual community, the Governor changed his mind. “We inundated him with outrage,” one homosexual activist told the Boston Globe. So instead, the governor simply told the Commission members that it must focus on its “original mission” [which involves affirming homosexuality to children in the schools].
- Boston Globe, 5/12/2006

Romney had marriage licenses changed to allow same-sex marriages

Some time in early 2004 (no record can be found of the order), Romney directed his Department of Public Health to change the state marriage license to read “Party A” and Party “B”, replacing “Husband” and “Wife”. None of this was required by any law passed by the legislature or even ordered by the court.

But later in 2005, Romney made it clear that he understood that only the Legislature could change certificates of this nature, when he refused to alter birth certificates for children of same-sex couples to say “Parent A” and “Parent B”, instead of “Mother” and “Father”.
- Boston Globe, 7/22/2005

Romney has issued many special one-day marriage certificates (allowing anyone of the couple’s choice to perform the marriage ceremony) to homosexual couples. But, because of the special nature of these certificates, it would be his prerogative as Chief Executive to refuse to issue them for any reason. Yet he gave out 189 one-day certificates in 2005 to homosexual couples, including one to a leading openly homosexual activist state senator. His legal counsel said that in granting these special marriage certificates to homosexual couples, Romney is evenly applying the “statute” [what statute?].
“His harsh criticism of what he calls ‘’judicial over-reaching” always wins applause from Republican audiences. But the governor has at times taken pains to promote tolerance of gays and lesbians. When an administration official was dismissed and asserted that the action was related to her intention to marry her lesbian partner, Romney strongly denied it and noted that several high-ranking officials in his administration were gay…. The applications Romney approved from same-sex couples included at least four from state legislators, including Jarrett T. Barrios, a state senator from Cambridge, members of the clergy from out-of-state, family members, and friends …”
- Boston Globe, 1/2/2006

“Romney’s meeting with Log Cabin Club members in October of that year [2002], less than a month before the gubernatorial election, led members to believe he was not morally opposed to gay marriage. “He said, `Right now, it’s not popular, and it would cost money,’ “ he said. “He didn’t say, when we met with him, `I’m sorry, folks; I’m against gay marriage because it’s morally wrong.’ He didn’t say that.” [said David Rogers, vice-president of Log Cabin Club.]”
- Boston Globe 3/11/2004

In as a candidate for Governor 2002, Romney proposed indexing the Massachusetts minimum wage with inflation, telling the Boston Globe “I do not believe that indexing the minimum wage will cost us jobs. I believe it will help us retain jobs.” - - Boston Globe, 7/25/2002

During the four years of Romney’s tenure, the number of registered Republicans in Massachusetts fell by 31,000. During that same period, the Massachusetts Democratic Party gained 30,000.
- Boston Globe 11/2/2006

In the 2006 elections, most offices were not even challenged by Republican candidates. In the November general election for the six statewide Massachusetts constitutional offices there were more Green-Rainbow Party candidates on the ballot than Republicans!

The party’s slide has been so precipitous that Republicans yesterday did not contest 130 of 200 legislative seats, fielded a challenger in only three of 10 congressional districts, and put up fewer candidates for statewide office (three) than the Green-Rainbow Party (four).
- Boston Globe, 11/8/2006

In 2006, while Romney was chairman of the National Republican Governors Association - a group dedicated to electing more Republican governors - his own hand-picked Republican successor as governor lost badly to the Democrat, despite the fact that Republicans have held the governorship in Massachusetts since 1990. Romney largely ignored the Massachusetts elections and spent most of the time during the campaign out of state building his presidential campaign. He came back and publicly campaigned for the Republican candidate the day before the general election!

“Locally, this is a rebuke to Mitt Romney and checking out within six months after being elected and having accomplished almost nothing,” said [Jim] Rappaport [former chairman of the state Republican Party].
- Boston Globe, 11/8/2006

“Romney arrived on the scene with great promise, but is leaving the Republican Party here in shambles. Not only are the Republicans yielding the governor’s office for the first time in 16 years, but registered Republicans have fallen by 31,000 since Romney took office, and their legislative presence is at historic lows. But it worked out fine for him: He is now chasing the prize he really covets, the presidency.”
- Boston Globe 11/8/2006

After looking at Romney’s actual record, do you find his current rhetoric to be credible?

Absolutely! After reviewing his record, I find his campaign rhetoric to mirror the conservative actions he took while governor. He fought for lower taxes, smaller government, stonger families, a stronger military and the rule of law. What he actually did in office trumps youtube soundbites from several years ago or any spin the liberal BG wants to put on it.

Shame you don't spend even a fraction of the time denouncing the actual liberal records of Hillary/Obama/Edwards.

You've seen Romney's record posted several times. You ask that it be done again?

Romney's Fiscally Conservative Record Proven

Romney's Pro-life Record Proven

Romney's Tough Stance on Illegal Immigration Proven

Is there any better proof of where his heart is than governing a left-leaning state where he vetoed their abortion bills, vetoed their embryonic stem cell bills, slashed their taxes, etc? He never lobbied for a pro-abortion group either.

-------> Mind if we trust these pro-life leaders instead of the Boston Globe whose writers want to assure the upcoming reign of Queen Hillary?

An Open Letter from Pro-Life Leaders Regarding Governor Mitt Romney

January 11, 2007

Dear conservative friends:

We hail from a broad spectrum of organizations dedicated to fighting for the pro-family agenda in Massachusetts. As you know, Mitt Romney became the governor of our state in 2003.

Since that time, we have worked closely with him and his excellent staff on that agenda. Some press accounts and bloggers have described Governor Romney in terms we neither have observed nor can we accept. To the contrary, we, who have been fighting here for the values you also hold, are indebted to him and his responsive staff in demonstrating solid social conservative credentials by undertaking the following actions here in Massachusetts:

• Staunchly defended traditional marriage. Governor Romney immediately and strongly condemned the 2003 court decision that legalized “same-sex marriage” in our state. More importantly, he followed up on that denunciation with action – action that saved our nation from a constitutional crisis over the definition of marriage. He and his staff identified and enforced a little-known 1913 law that allowed them to order local clerks not to issue marriage licenses to out-of-state couples. Absent this action, homosexual couples would surely have flooded into Massachusetts from other states to get “married” and then demanded that their home states recognize the “marriages,” putting the nation only one court decision away from nationalizing “same-sex marriage.”

• Worked hard to overturn “same-sex marriage” in the Commonwealth with considerable progress to date. In 2004 he lobbied hard, before a very hostile legislature, for a constitutional amendment protecting marriage – an amendment later changed by the legislature to include civil unions, which the Governor and many marriage amendment supporters opposed. Working with the Governor, we were successful in defeating this amendment.

• Provided active support for a successful citizen petition drive in 2005 to advance a clean constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

• Rallied thousands of citizens to focus public and media attention on the failure of legislators, through repeated delays, to perform their constitutional obligation and vote on the marriage amendment.

• Filed suit before the Supreme Judicial Court. The Governor’s suit asked the court to clarify the legislators’ duty to vote and failing that, to place the amendment on the 2008 ballot. That lawsuit, perhaps more than any other single action, was by all accounts instrumental in bringing pressure on the legislators to vote. The vote ultimately was taken on January 2, 2007 and won legislative support – clearing a major hurdle in the three year effort to restore traditional marriage in the Commonwealth.

• Fought for abstinence education. In 2006, under Governor Romney’s leadership, Massachusetts’ public schools began to offer a classroom program on abstinence from the faith-based Boston group Healthy Futures to middle school students. Promoting the program, Governor Romney stated, “I’ve never had anyone complain to me that their kids are not learning enough about sex in school. However, a number of people have asked me why it is that we do not speak more about abstinence as a safe and preventative health practice.”

• Affirmed the culture of life. Governor Romney has vetoed bills to provide access to the socalled “morning-after pill,” which is an abortifacient, as well as a bill providing for expansive, embryo-destroying stem cell research. He vetoed the latter bill in 2005 because he could not “in good conscience allow this bill to become law.”

•Last year, Governor Romney was stalwart in defense of the right of Catholic Charities of Boston to refuse to allow homosexual couples to adopt children in its care. Catholic Charities was loudly accused of “discrimination,” but Governor Romney correctly pointed out that it is unjust to force a religious agency to violate the tenets of its faith in order to placate a special-interest group.

• in the Massachusetts legislature to save Catholic Charities of Boston and other religious groups from being forced to violate their moral principles or stop doing important charitable work.

All of this may explain why John J. Miller, the national political reporter of National Review, has written that “a good case can be made that Romney has fought harder for social conservatives than any other governor in America, and it is difficult to imagine his doing so in a more daunting political environment.”

We are aware of the 1994 comments of Senate candidate Romney, which have been the subject of much recent discussion. While they are, taken by themselves, obviously worrisome to social conservatives including ourselves, they do not dovetail with the actions of Governor Romney from 2003 until now – and those actions have positively and demonstrably impacted the social climate of Massachusetts.

Since well before 2003, we have been laboring in the trenches of Massachusetts, fighting for the family values you and we share. It is difficult work indeed – not for the faint of heart. In this challenging environment, Governor Romney has proven that he shares our values, as well as our determination to protect them.

For four years, Governor Romney has been right there beside us, providing leadership on key issues – whether it was politically expedient to do so or not. He has stood on principle, and we have benefited greatly from having him with us. It is clear that Governor Romney has learned much since 1994 – to the benefit of our movement and our Commonwealth. In fact, the entire nation has benefited from his socially conservative, pro-family actions in office. As we explained earlier, his leadership on the marriage issue helped prevent our nation from being plunged into even worse legal turmoil following the court decision that forced “gay marriage” upon our Commonwealth.

For that our country ought to be thankful. We certainly are.

Sincerely,

Rita Covelle President, Morality in Media Massachusetts

Richard Guerriero Immediate Past State Deputy, Massachusetts State Council, Knights of Columbus

Mary Ann Glendon Learned Hand Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Kristian Mineau President, Massachusetts Family Institute

Dr. Roberto Miranda President, COPAHNI Fellowship of Hispanic Pastors of New England

James Morgan President, Institute for Family Development

Joseph Reilly President, Massachusetts Citizens for Life

Thomas A. Shields Chairman, Coalition for Family and Marriage

Is there any better proof of where his heart is than governing a left-leaning state where he vetoed their abortion bills, vetoed their embryonic stem cell bills, slashed their taxes, etc? He never lobbied for a pro-abortion group either.

I know that you long ago drank the Romney koolaid, and that the antidote of the truth has little effect on that particular potion, but for the benefit of our readers, I'll say this:

A) Just last year he signed his socialized medicine plan into law, complete with taxpayer-funded abortions.

B) He still supports the destruction of human embryos for the purposes of scientific research.

C) His socialized medicine scheme is a sure bet to keep taxes headed for the sky in Massachusetts into perpetuity.

D) Running for Governor, he sought and gained the overt support of the most radical pro-abortion and pro-gay agenda groups out there.

Those folks need to regain touch with reality.

Okay, and I'll say this:

Here is Romney's actual conservative record:

---In the four balanced budgets he signed into law, Governor Romney used the line-item veto or program reduction power to cut spending by nearly $1 Billion. Over the course of four budgets, Governor Romney made over 300 line-item reductions, 350 line-item eliminations and struck language 150 times.

--- Gov. Romney was instrumental in passing a bill abolishing a retroactive capital gains tax in the state that would have forced nearly 50,000 taxpayers to pay an additional $200 million in state taxes and fees

--- 4 years ago --- before the illegals marched in our streets --- Romney opposed a bill that would have allowed illegal aliens to get driver’s licenses. "Those who are here illegally should not receive tacit support from our government that gives an indication of legitimacy," the governor said. (Scott S. Greenberger, "Romney Stand Dims Chances Of License For Undocumented," The Boston Globe, 10/28/03)

--- Romney vetoed a bill in 2004 that would have permitted illegal aliens to pay the same in-state tuition rate paid by citizens at public colleges and universities in Massachusetts.

--- Romney vetoed the bill providing state funding for human embryonic stem cell research

--- Romney vetoed a bill that provided for the "morning after pill" without a prescription because it is an abortifacient and would have been available to minors without parental notification and consent

--- He vetoed legislation which would have redefined Massachusetts longstanding definition of the beginning of human life from fertilization to implantation

--- Governor Romney strongly supported a successful ballot initiative that replaced the state's bilingual program with English immersion. (Romney Vows to Protect English Immersion Law, May 1, 2003)

--- Governor Romney demonstrated his commitment to school-choice by vetoing a bill that would have canceled funding for Massachusetts' charter-school program. (Romney to Veto Charter School Moratorium, June 23, 2004)

--- He supported parental notification laws and opposed efforts to weaken parental involvement

--- He fought to promote abstinence education in public school classrooms with a program offered by faith-based Boston group Healthy Futures to middle school students.

Governor Romney filed and signed into law the most significant expansion of military benefits in recent years. The new law reduced to zero the cost members of the Massachusetts National Guard must pay to attend public colleges and universities, increased twenty-fold the death benefit paid to families of members killed in the line of duty, created a new annuity benefit for Gold Star spouses and boosted the amount paid to Gold Star parents. (Romney Signs Legislation Expanding Military Benefits, November 11, 2005)

Lying spin, none of which can mitigate the reality of his actual record. Romney may be able to change from day to day, depending on his perceived political needs, but his record will not change.

I won’t waste my time trying to argue over ANYTHING written in the Boston Globe. I’ve read it for years and, besides it’s Sports pages, it’s more useful on the bottom of a bird cage.

In the mean-time, dude you got a get a life! You seem to be more of an expert on the writings of the Boston Globe than any position a politician has ever taken.

Title should read Boston Globe's honesty problem

Pushing lying liberal rags again EV?

Sorry, but the Boston Globe isn’t running for President. Mitt Romney is.

Challenge their facts, then.

his record will not change.

We are quite comfortable with (even proud of) his record. People like James Bopp, Sen. DeMint, Rep. Feeney, Lt. Gov. Bolling, Jay Sokulow, and many others seem to be very happy with it too.

For four years, Governor Romney has been right there beside us, providing leadership on key issues – whether it was politically expedient to do so or not. He has stood on principle, and we have benefited greatly from having him with us. It is clear that Governor Romney has learned much since 1994 – to the benefit of our movement and our Commonwealth. In fact, the entire nation has benefited from his socially conservative, pro-family actions in office.
~~From those living the reality in Massachusetts

I find it mildly humorous that the Boston Globe seems to be more in touch with reality than Mitt Romney’s supporters are.

Hey, if they want to follow a liberal former Governor of Massachusetts over a political cliff, that’s their call. Doesn’t mean folks with a brain need to go with ‘em.

The founder of this forum was a registered Dem. until Clinton. I believe in conversions.

That’s what the Clinton machine hopes all the little sheeple will believe.

“Hey, if they want to follow a liberal former Governor of Massachusetts over a political cliff, that’s their call. Doesn’t mean folks with a brain need to go with ‘em.”

Hey, and you keep believing every half-truth, distortion and lie the Boston Globe and the rest of the liberal media feeds you.

I don’t need the Boston Globe or any media outlet to educate me on Romney’s liberal record. It’s as obvious as the nose on your face. Of course, you folks can’t even see that, since you’ve got self-administered blindfolds on.

and that’s why all your information comes from the Boston Globe?!? Try getting your news from somewhere else. You might learn something.