Barbara's
Report
Well, we tried. Chip and I met with Mitt Romney for 45
minutes last evening and made our best case for signing the taxpayer protection pledge. Without going into detail about a
private meeting, I can tell you that he was warm, charming, real, open to ideas, completely delightful;
he seems to really believe that he won't raise taxes -- and he won't sign the
pledge.
As I'm sure it's clear to you as well, watching him on
television or at delegate meetings, and reading his statement in this morning's Globe, Mitt sees himself as an
independent-minded hard-headed businessman who "trusts his own negotiating skills in efforts to turn back tax
increases."
The Democrats, of course, see him as "food."
But let's be fair. Forget that you are a seasoned Massachusetts political activist, and imagine
yourself visiting Beacon Hill for the first time (I can remember my own first
visit). Would you have believed how bad it gets here?
Mitt has negotiated in the dog-eat-dog business world; he
has negotiated in the sensitive world of international sports, with the Russians yet. He can be forgiven for thinking he has
faced down the toughest opponents in the world. He will learn, the hard way, about the
combination of "dare and duh" that is Beacon Hill politics. What he can hope for is that
non-activist voters, primarily those independents who also think it is all
for real, will identify with his confident optimism that reasonable men and women can disagree yet work together.
We of course know that there aren't many reasonable men and
women on Beacon Hill, and they work together only when the "no new taxes pledge" forces them to. If Swift's pledge
gets us through this year and the economy picks up when (if) Mitt becomes governor, he
might never have to use a pledge veto -- if he takes the pledge.
But if he doesn't take it, the Democrats and spending interests will
hike spending knowing that he will cave when the negotiating doesn't work.
He will say he won't, and he may mean it; but they will not
believe him and will behave accordingly.
We will continue to encourage him to face the facts of life
in Massachusetts politics soon. The pledge should be signed casually, as Weld, Cellucci and Swift signed it, without making
a big deal out of something that is simply necessary here. The longer he waits the harder it
will be.
Barbara Anderson --
The Boston Globe
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Romney won't sign a pledge of no new tax
By Rick Klein and Stephanie Ebbert
Globe Staff
LYNNFIELD - In a break with Acting Governor Jane Swift and her
GOP predecessors, Republican gubernatorial candidate Mitt Romney is refusing to rule out tax increases and said
yesterday he will not sign a "no new taxes" pledge.
Romney said that while he opposes all tax increases in
principle, he will not make such a pledge in writing.
"I am not in favor of increasing taxes," Romney said before
he met with Republican convention delegates. "At this stage, I am inclined to make that position as clear as I can, but
not to enter into a written pledge of some kind, and that's true on this and other issues."
Romney's statement yesterday, and a similar remark in
Springfield Tuesday, appeared to represent a retreat from comments he made as he opened his campaign headquarters last
week, when he promised to hold the line against Democratic attempts to raise taxes. "That's
my pledge: We are not going to raise taxes," Romney said last Thursday, according to the
Boston Herald, as he chided legislative leaders over their moves to freeze the
voter-approved income tax cut.
On Tuesday in Springfield, Romney suggested he wants to be
able to consider all proposals on the basis of the entirety of the state's fiscal situation.
"I'm against tax increases," Romney said at a meeting with
Western Massachusetts GOP delegates, according to the Union-News. "But I'm not intending to, at this stage, sign a
document which would prevent me from being able to look specifically at the revenue needs
of the Commonwealth."
The state is facing a budget deficit of about $500 million
this fiscal year, which ends July 1, and a gap of as much as $2 billion for fiscal 2003. Democratic legislators are considering
a range of tax increases, including the delay of a voter-approved income tax cut. Taxes had
been shaping up as a key point of collision between Swift and the five Democratic
gubernatorial candidates, who all supported at least some tax increase.
Swift signed a no-new-taxes pledge shortly after becoming
acting governor last year, following the lead of former governors William F. Weld and Paul
Cellucci.
Barbara Anderson, whose Citizens for Limited Taxation and
Government asked Romney to sign the antitax pledge, said yesterday she was unhappy with his refusal. "It would have been
much simpler for him to say, 'no new taxes,'" she said.
Anderson met privately with Romney for more than half an
hour yesterday to try to persuade him to sign the pledge. She said she is still convinced that Romney is committed to vetoing
tax increases and added that his unwillingness to sign a pledge stems from his
misunderstanding of its use. It's meant to serve as a deterrent to legislative attempts to raise
taxes, not to handcuff the governor, Anderson said.
"He's thinking like an independent businessman who doesn't
sign pledges," she said. "I believe him. My concern is that the Democrats won't believe him. They do believe the written
pledge."
Romney said after meeting with Anderson that he trusts his
own negotiating skills in efforts to turn back tax increases.
When asked whether he could conceive of a situation where he
would support a tax increase, Romney said, "I'm not going to go there. I'm just going to continue to express what
my view is, which is I am in favor of the rollback, and I'm in favor of
retaining a lower tax rate in Massachusetts following the rollback."
Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney campaign spokesman, mocked written
pledges as "government by gimmickry."
Democrats chided Romney, saying he is fostering confusion
over his stance on taxes. Romney should be clear with voters on the issues, said Senate President Thomas F.
Birmingham, a Democratic candidate for governor who is backing an increase to
the cigarette tax and a delay of the income tax cut.
"I thought he had pledged no new taxes, and now he's
waffling," Birmingham said. "You have to be straight with people. These are important issues. I don't see how you can
continue simply to confuse people."
Birmingham this week opened a radio advertising campaign
that said Romney was unrealistic in his approach to solving the state's budget problems.
Massachusetts Republicans in recent years have promoted the
tax issue as a key difference with Democrats. Cellucci made constant political hay out of his Democratic opponent Scott
Harshbarger's refusal to sign a no-new-taxes pledge during the 1998 campaign for governor.
Harshbarger derided it as a "phony pledge," but Cellucci flogged him constantly for not
signing it, claiming at one debate that Harshbarger would "raise taxes
on anything that moves."
"Do you remember the last time we had a governor who
wouldn't take the no-new-taxes pledge?" Cellucci asked a month before the election, referring to Michael S. Dukakis. "It was
a disaster."
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The Springfield Union News
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Romney KOs signing no-new-taxes pledge
By Dan Ring
BOSTON W. Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate for governor,
was facing new criticism from Democrats and anti-tax activists yesterday, after declaring his opposition to a
"no-new-taxes" pledge during a stop in Springfield on Tuesday.
By refusing to sign the pledge offered by the Citizens for
Limited Taxation, Romney is breaking with acting Gov. Jane M. Swift and her two Republican predecessors. Swift and
former Govs. A. Paul Cellucci and William F. Weld all signed the anti-tax agreement.
Despite taking a strong stance in opposition to raising
taxes, Romney also is leaving himself room to sign a bill for a tax increase if he is elected governor on Nov. 5.
Robert F. "Chip" Ford, a director at Citizens for Limited
Taxation, said Romney is eschewing a tool that has been effective in preventing tax increases. He questioned if Romney
is sincere in stating his opposition to tax increases while rejecting the pledge.
"We think he just doesn't understand the political landscape," Ford said. "This doesn't tie his
hands. It ties the hands of tax-and-spend legislators."
The pledge became an issue in the governor's race of 1998
when Cellucci challenged his opponent, Democrat L. Scott Harshbarger, to sign the anti-tax document. Harshbarger said
he would not raise taxes, but he said that Cellucci's "phony pledge" was not worth the paper
it was written on.
On Tuesday night, during an interview before a reception at
Springfield's Marriott Hotel with local delegates to the GOP convention on April 6, Romney said he would not sign the
pledge.
"I'm against tax increases," said Romney, who returned to
Massachusetts this month after serving three years as president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002
Olympic Winter Games. "But I'm not intending to, at this stage, sign a
document which would prevent me from being able to look specifically at the revenue needs of the commonwealth."
Senate Minority Leader Brian P. Lees, R-East Longmeadow,
said yesterday that Romney is making a smart move, considering that state government is facing a projected $2 billion
deficit for the budget year starting on July 1.
Lees said it is a bad idea to raise the state income tax,
but that Romney needs to be open to other possible tax increases, given the state's dire budget outlook and the need
to raise government revenues.
"When you're looking at the budget situation he is looking
at, you have to be fair and say everything is on the table," Lees said. "This is a clear sign he is doing that."
Jerold J. Duquette of Springfield, an assistant professor at
Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, said that Romney is becoming more moderate with no opponent in
the Sept. 17 primary. He said that Romney would be foolish to sign the
pledge when he may discover that "revenue enhancements" are necessary to close the budget gap.
"Why does he need to sign that pledge?" asked
Duquette. "He doesn't have to please the right wing."
Duquette is supporting Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, D-Chelsea, one of five
Democrats running for governor. Other Democratic gubernatorial candidates are former
state Sen. Warren E. Tolman of Watertown, Treasurer Shannon P. O'Brien of Whitman, former
U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich of Cambridge, and businessman Steven Grossman
of Newton.
Democratic critics said that Romney is again showing that he
cannot be trusted.
"Mitt Romney so far has been all over the map on a host of
issues," said Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic strategist. "This one is no different."
She said Romney has made inconsistent statements about his
position on abortion. She also pointed out that Romney at first said he would not challenge Swift, and then jumped into the
race after an effort by GOP activists to recruit him.
Romney maintains that he has always supported a woman's
legal right to choose an abortion, but that he personally opposes abortions.
Eric P. Fehrnstrom, a deputy campaign manager for Romney,
said yesterday that the contender considers the pledge a gimmick.
"Mitt Romney does not have to sign a piece of paper to know
what his position is," he said. "His position is no new taxes."
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The Boston Herald
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Romney refuses to sign CLT's 'no new tax' pledge
by David R. Guarino
Gubernatorial front-runner Mitt Romney drew the wrath of GOP
anti-tax stalwarts yesterday by refusing a "no new tax" pledge to back his levy-cutting promises.
Breaking with the past three Republican governors, Romney
rebuffed perennial calls by Citizens for Limited Taxation to sign the vaunted pledge. It was the first intra-party skirmish
for Romney, now suddenly the GOP's only choice in the governor's race.
"It bodes ill for him to understand a lot of things he will
need to understand in order to govern effectively in Massachusetts," said
Barbara Anderson, founder of CLT. "You have to have that tool, that club to the Legislature, to
survive."
Romney advisers say there's no room for compromise.
"Mitt Romney doesn't have to sign a piece of paper to have a
position on an issue," said Romney deputy campaign manager Eric
Fehrnstrom. "He's pledged to oppose any tax increase, he doesn't support them, his position on taxes is clear."
Last Thursday, Romney told reporters he wouldn't freeze or
roll back the voter-approved income tax cut to 5 percent. He said he would oppose any other hikes and wouldn't sign new
taxes into law - while suggesting he could cut spending, increase services and avoid layoffs.
That day, Romney called the position "my pledge."
Democrat Thomas F. Birmingham seized on the issue, launching
a radio ad campaign dubbing the Romney proposals a "fairy tale."
On Tuesday night in Springfield, Romney reiterated his
strong, anti-tax message but said he wouldn't be bound by any pledge.
"I'm against tax increases, I do not support them," Romney
said, according to the Springfield Union-News. "But I'm not intending to, at this stage, sign a document which would
prevent me from being able to look specifically at the revenue needs of the commonwealth."
Failing to sign would mark a tangible break from Govs.
William F. Weld, Paul Cellucci and acting Gov. Jane M. Swift. Each signed the pledge before taking office.
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Associated Press
Thursday, March 28, 2002
Romney refuses to take "no new taxes" pledge
BOSTON (AP) Mitt Romney has refused to take a "no new taxes"
pledge, bucking a decade-old rite of passage for Republican gubernatorial candidates.
Romney said he would not sign the pledge offered by the
anti-tax group Citizens for Limited Taxation. Swift and her two Republican predecessors signed the pledge.
"I'm against tax increases," said Romney, who is credited
with making the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City a success as president of the organizing committee.
"But I'm not intending to, at this stage, sign a document
which would prevent me from being able to look specifically at the revenue needs of the commonwealth," Romney told the
Union-News of Springfield on Tuesday before meeting with Republican delegates from
western Massachusetts.
To solve the state's fiscal crisis, Romney said, he would
cut waste and patronage on Beacon Hill and manage the state better.
Chip Ford of Citizens for Limited Taxation urged Romney to
take the pledge.
"What Mitt Romney fails to recognize is that the pledge
isn't intended to bind a governor's hands, it is a tool," Ford said. "Instead, it effectively binds the hands of a
tax-and-spend Legislature."
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