CLT
UPDATE
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Speaking truth to idiocy
In the race for governor, the first debate featuring
all four candidates is history, and it may have provided a preview of
what the next six weeks will look like. The buzz today surrounds the
performance of Independent candidate Christy Mihos.
Mihos is taking plenty of heat from Kerry Healey supporters, including
the state's top anti-tax activist, Barbara Anderson.
Anderson was among the talk radio callers lambasting Mihos, a former
Republican who had a falling out with the Romney administration, for his
scathing debate criticism of Healey....
Even Barbara Anderson called in to chastise her former ally.
"You're going to wreck the Commonwealth by taking votes from Kerry
Healey," said Anderson. "While this has been very amusing, the time has
come to realize this is just a personal vendetta, you've made your
point, now let's just get on with the real election and try to save the
Commonwealth."
But Mihos is unmoved. "No one's getting me out of this race."
CBS4 -- WBZ TV
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Mihos Catching Heat For Debate Performance
By Jon Keller
Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday railed against Christy Mihos,
refuting the independent candidate’s efforts in a new ad and in a televised
debate Monday night to blame Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and the administration for
failing to take charge of the Big Dig.
Romney told reporters that he’d done everything he could during his four years
in office to seize control of the turnpike and the Big Dig, which has been
riddled with cost overruns and construction problems. But Romney said the
authority has acted like an "independent corporation" not accountable to the
governor’s office....
"The people who are on the board, they have that power," Romney said. "And the
question I have is why didn’t Christy Mihos get it? Why didn’t he ask what the
inspection system was for the turnpike authority? Why didn’t he ask what the
contract was for the people collecting the tolls? He wasn’t doing his job." ...
On Tuesday, Romney recalled how he sought the power to intervene at the
authority from the Supreme Judicial Court and hired "the best lawyers that money
could buy" and "as many political people as we could think of" to try to take
control. He got control this summer when his authority appointees outnumbered
those of his predecessors.
And he blamed the Legislature for not passing his plans to merge the turnpike
authority and highway department.
"The Legislature didn’t want me to get control," Romney said.
State House News Service
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Romney defends Healey on Big Did,
says Mihos "wasn't doing his job" at 'pike
Fees and taxes have increased more than $700 million a year
under Governor Mitt Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, a leading
budget specialist said yesterday.
Michael J. Widmer -- president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which
closely tracks state finances -- said the state has raised roughly $740 million
to $750 million per year by increasing fees and corporate taxes gained from what
the Romney administration describes as "closing loopholes." ...
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Analyst puts increase in fees, taxes at $700m
Governor gives far lower figure
Fees and taxes have increased more than $700 million
a year under Governor Mitt Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey,
a leading budget specialist said yesterday.
Michael J. Widmer -- president of the
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, which closely tracks state
finances ...
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Analyst puts increase in fees, taxes at $700m
Governor gives far lower figure
Chip Ford's CLT Commentary
Thoroughbred horseracing has long been called "The
Sport of Kings." Today, in Massachusetts we can call the race
for governor "The Sport of Millionaires" -- particularly concerning one
candidate: wealthy Christy Mihos.
In the Boston Herald/Fox TV debate this past
Monday evening, unenrolled candidate Mihos referred to his independent
candidacy as "my party" -- but the fact is, he has no
party. That is the very definition of "unenrolled." There
is no "Independent Party" to which he can lay claim. I am
registered as unenrolled; Barbara is registered as unenrolled: the
majority of Massachusetts voters are registered as unenrolled. We
are intentionally part of no party, and Mihos doesn't top our
ticket by any stretch of anyone's imagination. His "party" never
held an election that anointed him as its candidate.
He is merely the spoiler in this race.
Christy Mihos simply has enough money to run, or do
pretty much anything he fancies. His Kamikaze motivation for
spending his "childrens' inheritance," as he called it the other night,
is becoming much too clear to most of us. Ego and jihad pretty
much sums it up. He's running because he can, regardless of what
the results of his Quixotic quest will do to the Commonwealth and us
taxpayers after he singlehandedly inflicts as much personal damage as
possible, simply to assuage his bruised ego during his scorched-earth
campaign against the state Republican Party.
[Hear Barbara's exchange with Mihos.]
He can always afford to pack up and leave, just the
latest to emigrate from "Taxachusetts," after he does maximum damage.
He pledges, win or lose, that he'll remain in the Bay State. Even
if he does, can you or I?
I don't know about you, but one little man's petty
indifference in pursuit of ego and self-satisfaction at any price has
become intolerable for this taxpayer.
And, dear god, please give us a break from the
so-called
Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. We have named it
accurately the "so-called" MTF, but WRKO's Scott Allen Miller created a
better acronym this morning: the Massachusetts Taxhike Foundation
(still MTF). Scott has given us permission to use it, and believe
me we intend to! Wow, finally, "well-respected" is losing it
drifting media cachet. Maybe there's hope for us citizens and
taxpayers?
 |
|
Chip Ford |
CBS4 -- WBZ TV
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Mihos Catching Heat For Debate Performance
By Jon Keller
In the race for governor, the first debate featuring all four candidates
is history, and it may have provided a preview of what the next six
weeks will look like. The buzz today surrounds the performance of
Independent candidate Christy Mihos.
Mihos is taking plenty of heat from Kerry Healey supporters, including
the state's top anti-tax activist, Barbara Anderson.
Anderson was among the talk radio callers lambasting Mihos, a former
Republican who had a falling out with the Romney administration, for his
scathing debate criticism of Healey.
Mihos strafed Healey repeatedly on the Big Dig in an assault that drew a
foul call from Governor Mitt Romney.
"I was at a loss for words," said Romney.
But today, it was Christy's turn to take the heat from callers to John
DePetro's radio show.
"It seems like it's more than obvious that this is a personal vendetta,"
said one caller.
"You totally forgot about Deval Patrick, this is the real danger. If he
wins the gubernatorial race, it's gonna be 100% on your conscience,"
said another caller.
Even Barbara Anderson called in to chastise her former ally.
"You're going to wreck the Commonwealth by taking votes from Kerry
Healey," said Anderson. "While this has been very amusing, the time has
come to realize this is just a personal vendetta, you've made your
point, now let's just get on with the real election and try to save the
Commonwealth."
But Mihos is unmoved. "No one's getting me out of this race."
Keller: "If all you do is make your point and you don't win in the end,
will it have been worth it?"
Mihos: "Everything is worth it, it's on principle."
Healey was so unnerved by Mihos's aggressive behavior, she called for a
one-on-one debate with Patrick to get away from what she called
Christy's "noise."
Just a reminder - the candidates for governor meet and debate here on
CBS4 on Wednesday, October 25th -- with Mihos and Green/Rainbow nominee
Grace Ross participating.
Return to top
State House News Service
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Romney defends Healey on Big Did,
says Mihos "wasn't doing his job" at 'pike
By Michael P. Norton and Jim O’Sullivan
Gov. Mitt Romney on Tuesday railed against Christy Mihos, refuting the
independent candidate’s efforts in a new ad and in a televised debate
Monday night to blame Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey and the administration for
failing to take charge of the Big Dig.
Romney told reporters that he’d done everything he could during his four
years in office to seize control of the turnpike and the Big Dig, which
has been riddled with cost overruns and construction problems. But
Romney said the authority has acted like an "independent corporation"
not accountable to the governor’s office.
He said the authority ignored his requests for information, including
former chairman Matthew Amorello’s contract details, and sold valuable
land in Allston to Harvard University over his objections. Mihos, a
former board member who helped propel Romney’s gubernatorial candidacy
in 2002, could have done more, Romney said.
"The people who are on the board, they have that power," Romney said.
"And the question I have is why didn’t Christy Mihos get it? Why didn’t
he ask what the inspection system was for the turnpike authority? Why
didn’t he ask what the contract was for the people collecting the tolls?
He wasn’t doing his job."
Mihos, a critic of the authority who was forced from its board by
then-Acting Gov. Jane Swift and then reinstated by a Supreme Judicial
Court ruling, on Monday night blamed the administration for "intentional
indifference."
"This administration has had all the reports, all the financial
statements, they've had their people on this board since June, since
July of 2004," Mihos said during the debate, the first between all four
candidates. "The Big Dig is the state's project. Every bill, everything
that's done there has got to be voted on by their highway department.
Every bill is paid for with state funds. They could've done something in
January of 2003. This intentional indifference to blame everybody else
except themselves is what has caused this mess."
On Tuesday, Romney recalled how he sought the power to intervene at the
authority from the Supreme Judicial Court and hired "the best lawyers
that money could buy" and "as many political people as we could think
of" to try to take control. He got control this summer when his
authority appointees outnumbered those of his predecessors.
And he blamed the Legislature for not passing his plans to merge the
turnpike authority and highway department.
"The Legislature didn’t want me to get control," Romney said. "And the
reason they don’t want me to get control is that the turnpike has been a
haven of patronage for years. It’s a place for privileged and special
political opportunity. And one of their own (former chairman and state
Sen. Amorello) is the guy running the operation and he’s an insider –
it’s not by the way Republican versus Democrat, it’s insider versus
outsider. And I said I want to come in and get my hands on the thing and
open this up to the public and that’s what we’ve done."
Asked by a reporter if the administration had filed public records law
requests with the turnpike authority, Romney said, "We did every
possible filing to get every piece of information we knew of." Pressed
on the question, he deferred to his chief legal counsel, Mark Nielsen,
"We did everything that we possibly could," said Nielsen.
Asked by another reporter whether his administration could have severed
a Big Dig-related interagency agreement between the Massachusetts
Highway Department, which Romney controls, and the turnpike authority,
Romney said: "I’m not familiar with that particular idea. It’s just
amazing how creative people are after we finally got it done."
Mihos campaign manager Carolyn Kain said turnpike officials denied Mihos
information when he served on the board, and pointed out that the
convenience store magnate went to court to battle for access.
"Christy took definitive action when he was on the board and the record
shows when he was on the board on Oct. 30, 2001 that he voted for an
independent engineer and peer review of the Big Dig," Kain said Tuesday
afternoon. She added, "His record is clear with respect to trying to do
everything he could to get control of the project and to get
information."
Mihos has said repeatedly that administration officials could have
accessed more information than they did, using project failures to paint
Healey as part of an inept leadership team, saying during the debate,
"All the documents are right there, Kerry. You chose the intentional
indifference. You ran away from your responsibilities. I don't
understand - I gave you the documents and you people did nothing with
it, and as a result, we're the laughing stock of the nation. Two people
are dead today because you did nothing, you remained silent. You
violated the public trust by doing nothing. You could've taken that over
day one, you chose not to do it."
Romney and Mihos have shared a tenuous relationship, first as
well-heeled allies in the state’s small Republican Party power circles,
now with Mihos using criticism of the administration to boost what so
far has been a poorly polling campaign.
In early 2002, Mihos commissioned a poll to gauge Romney’s popularity,
the favorable results of which helped nudge Mihos’s enemy Swift out of
the race. After the state’s high court reinstated Mihos on the turnpike
board, following Swift’s ouster of him, Romney declined to reappoint him
once his term expired.
Last year, Romney unsuccessfully pitched Mihos, whose only bid for
elected office came in a failed 1990 primary run against state Sen.
Robert Hedlund, on a challenge of Sen. Edward Kennedy for the US Senate.
Mihos, who had been an outspoken Republican, left the party earlier this
year to run independently, and has grown increasingly vocal on
condemning administration policies, and Romney himself. In a Boston
Globe op-ed last March, he wrote, "The politics of confrontation has
replaced cooperation. How else to explain the [since-passed] stalled
economic stimulus package or the travels and tribulations of Governor
Romney?"
Return to top
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Analyst puts increase in fees, taxes at $700m
Governor gives far lower figure
By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff
Fees and taxes have increased more than $700 million a year under
Governor Mitt Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, a leading
budget specialist said yesterday.
Michael J. Widmer -- president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers
Foundation, which closely tracks state finances -- said the state has
raised roughly $740 million to $750 million per year by increasing fees
and corporate taxes gained from what the Romney administration describes
as "closing loopholes."
Widmer's figure is about $500 million more than what Romney asserted
yesterday when he sharply disputed charges by Democratic gubernatorial
nominee Deval L . Patrick that the GOP administration had raised
millions in taxes. But it is also tens of millions less than the $985
million that Patrick cited.
Taxes have become a central issue in the gubernatorial campaign. Healey
has focused on Patrick's opposition to an immediate rollback of the
income tax rate. Patrick attempted this week to redefine the battle on
taxes by focusing on the fees raised in the Romney-Healey
administration.
In a debate Monday, Patrick said that Romney and Healey proposed $985
million in tax increases. Backup information from his campaign said the
actual increases that were approved by the Democratic Legislature add up
to $800 million per year.
"Our list is slightly smaller," Widmer said in an interview.
In a press conference yesterday, Romney contended that Patrick was
exaggerating the figure, which the governor pegged at $260 million in
fees raised at the height of the state's fiscal crisis in 2003. Part of
the reason for the discrepancy is a dispute over the characterization of
the corporate tax increases.
"What planet does that come from?" Romney said when asked by reporters
about Patrick's contention.
Patrick's list includes scores of fee increases, including tuition and
fees at state and community colleges and some $309 million in new
corporate revenues that he labels tax increases. Most of the increases
were enacted in fiscal 2003 to stop the state's financial freefall from
a recession-caused 15-percent drop in state revenues the prior year.
Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's communications director, said: "Deval Patrick
is right. There was a fiscal crisis four years ago, and it was solved by
Mitt Romney and Kerry Healey. They solved it by cutting spending. They
did not raise taxes, and the fee increases accounted for a small amount
of the solution."
Healey campaign manager Tim O'Brien yesterday welcomed the focus on
taxes "because there's only one candidate who's said he'd be open to
raising taxes and that's Deval Patrick, and only one candidate who
signed the no-new-taxes pledge, Kerry Healey." He called Patrick's
making fees an issue "a pretty lame smokescreen."
In interviews with the Globe, Widmer and E. Cameron Huff, the
foundation's research director, said the only significant discrepancy
they found in Patrick's list was his figure of $230 million in increased
costs of legal filings in connection with real estate transactions. When
he proposed the fee increases, Romney used the higher amount, but actual
collections have fallen $50 million to $60 million below that estimate,
Huff said.
After he took office in January 2003, Romney instructed his revenue
chief, Alan Lebovidge, to examine the tax code to find tax loopholes and
other provisions that could be tweaked to bring in more money, according
to a 2005 Globe article. Over the objections of businesses, Romney and
the state Legislature raised roughly $210 million by closing loopholes
and increasing enforcement, according to the Globe. He proposed to raise
another $170 million in 2005, but later watered down the proposal after
an outcry from business groups.
Yesterday, Widmer disputed the contention that the state merely stepped
up its tax enforcement. "Many of the proposals were a direct reversal of
state tax policies ... and were legitimately called tax increases,"
Widmer said. "A minority are fairly argued as closing loopholes."
Retorted Fehrnstrom: "When we see loopholes we close them. [Widmer]
disagrees because some of the businesses he represents were taking
advantage of the loopholes."
Yesterday Romney also disputed arguments by Patrick and others that the
Romney-Healey administration's deep cuts in local aid forced cities and
towns to raise local property taxes. "Do you know how big a ball of
baloney that is?" Romney told reporters. He then displayed some colored
graphs to show that the rate of growth in local property taxes has been
fairly steady for the past two decades.
But Geoffrey Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal
Association, said huge cuts in local aid in 2003-04 to cope with the
fiscal crisis continue to strain local budgets and tax bases.
"The cuts were so deep in 2003 and 2004 that there are still 113 cities
and towns [out of 351] today that still receive less local aid than they
did in fiscal year 2002, and that's without adjusting for inflation,"
said Beckwith, whose association represents the interests of local
governments on Beacon Hill.
Fehrnstrom said the financial distress at the local level is overstated.
"It ain't as bad as Deval Patrick and the cities and towns make it out
to be," he said.
Return to top
The Boston Globe
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Analyst puts increase in fees, taxes at $700m
Governor gives far lower figure
By Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff
Fees and taxes have increased more than $700 million a year under
Governor Mitt Romney and Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, a leading
budget specialist said yesterday.
Michael J. Widmer -- president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers
Foundation, which closely tracks state finances -- said the state has
raised roughly $740 million to $750 million per year by increasing fees
and corporate taxes gained from what the Romney administration describes
as "closing loopholes."
Widmer's figure is about $500 million more than what Romney asserted
yesterday when he sharply disputed charges by Democratic gubernatorial
nominee Deval L . Patrick that the GOP administration had raised
millions in taxes. But it is also tens of millions less than the $985
million that Patrick cited.
Taxes have become a central issue in the gubernatorial campaign. Healey
has focused on Patrick's opposition to an immediate rollback of the
income tax rate. Patrick attempted this week to redefine the battle on
taxes by focusing on the fees raised in the Romney-Healey
administration.
In a debate Monday, Patrick said that Romney and Healey proposed $985
million in tax increases. Backup information from his campaign said the
actual increases that were approved by the Democratic Legislature add up
to $800 million per year.
"Our list is slightly smaller," Widmer said in an interview.
In a press conference yesterday, Romney contended that Patrick was
exaggerating the figure, which the governor pegged at $260 million in
fees raised at the height of the state's fiscal crisis in 2003. Part of
the reason for the discrepancy is a dispute over the characterization of
the corporate tax increases.
"What planet does that come from?" Romney said when asked by reporters
about Patrick's contention.
Patrick's list includes scores of fee increases, including tuition and
fees at state and community colleges and some $309 million in new
corporate revenues that he labels tax increases. Most of the increases
were enacted in fiscal 2003 to stop the state's financial freefall from
a recession-caused 15-percent drop in state revenues the prior year.
Eric Fehrnstrom, Romney's communications director, said: "Deval Patrick
is right. There was a fiscal crisis four years ago, and it was solved by
Mitt Romney and Kerry Healey. They solved it by cutting spending. They
did not raise taxes, and the fee increases accounted for a small amount
of the solution."
Healey campaign manager Tim O'Brien yesterday welcomed the focus on
taxes "because there's only one candidate who's said he'd be open to
raising taxes and that's Deval Patrick, and only one candidate who
signed the no-new-taxes pledge, Kerry Healey." He called Patrick's
making fees an issue "a pretty lame smokescreen."
In interviews with the Globe, Widmer and E. Cameron Huff, the
foundation's research director, said the only significant discrepancy
they found in Patrick's list was his figure of $230 million in increased
costs of legal filings in connection with real estate transactions. When
he proposed the fee increases, Romney used the higher amount, but actual
collections have fallen $50 million to $60 million below that estimate,
Huff said.
After he took office in January 2003, Romney instructed his revenue
chief, Alan Lebovidge, to examine the tax code to find tax loopholes and
other provisions that could be tweaked to bring in more money, according
to a 2005 Globe article. Over the objections of businesses, Romney and
the state Legislature raised roughly $210 million by closing loopholes
and increasing enforcement, according to the Globe. He proposed to raise
another $170 million in 2005, but later watered down the proposal after
an outcry from business groups.
Yesterday, Widmer disputed the contention that the state merely stepped
up its tax enforcement. "Many of the proposals were a direct reversal of
state tax policies ... and were legitimately called tax increases,"
Widmer said. "A minority are fairly argued as closing loopholes."
Retorted Fehrnstrom: "When we see loopholes we close them. [Widmer]
disagrees because some of the businesses he represents were taking
advantage of the loopholes."
Yesterday Romney also disputed arguments by Patrick and others that the
Romney-Healey administration's deep cuts in local aid forced cities and
towns to raise local property taxes. "Do you know how big a ball of
baloney that is?" Romney told reporters. He then displayed some colored
graphs to show that the rate of growth in local property taxes has been
fairly steady for the past two decades.
But Geoffrey Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal
Association, said huge cuts in local aid in 2003-04 to cope with the
fiscal crisis continue to strain local budgets and tax bases.
"The cuts were so deep in 2003 and 2004 that there are still 113 cities
and towns [out of 351] today that still receive less local aid than they
did in fiscal year 2002, and that's without adjusting for inflation,"
said Beckwith, whose association represents the interests of local
governments on Beacon Hill.
Fehrnstrom said the financial distress at the local level is overstated.
"It ain't as bad as Deval Patrick and the cities and towns make it out
to be," he said.
Return to top
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