The Boston Globe
Friday, October 4, 2002
Romney faults O'Brien on taxes
By Rick Klein and Yvonne Abraham
Globe Staff
Taking a more aggressive tack in the campaign for governor,
Republican nominee Mitt Romney yesterday blasted Democratic rival Shannon O'Brien over taxes, accusing her of
favoring higher taxes to balance the state budget.
"Shannon O'Brien has voted for taxes time and again," Romney
said on the State House steps. "Pretty clearly our state is headed in the wrong direction. It looks like some people are
on the bus back to Taxachusetts. Shannon O'Brien has been up there in one of the front
seats pointing the way, and now she wants to take the driver's seat."
But Romney deflected a question about whether he thinks this
year's budget should have been balanced without new taxes, saying that if he had been governor, the state would have
been spending far less and would have had a larger rainy day fund on hand to close a budget
gap. And while he reiterated his commitment to rolling back the recent $1.2 billion tax hike
within four years, he refused to rule out support for further tax increases.
"My position on taxes is very clear: I'm going to fight
taxes," Romney said. "[But] I can't give you a guarantee. We could have a monster come out of the deep and grab Beacon
Hill."
O'Brien's running mate, Chris Gabrieli, said at a press
conference later that O'Brien would cut wasteful spending before considering taxes, and said she agrees with Romney that
tax increases are "always a possibility." Gabrieli said Romney is trying to make a major issue out
of taxes because O'Brien is "gaining momentum in this election."
"Mitt Romney would like to run against some Democrats of the
past," Gabrieli said.
In recent weeks, Romney's campaign has often mentioned
O'Brien's record of voting for tax increases as a member of the Legislature. But the message has usually been delivered through
surrogates, including former governor William F. Weld and Romney's running mate, Kerry
Healey.
Yesterday, however, Romney himself jumped out of a blue Ford
Expedition that pulled onto the curb in front of the State House, then launched into a 15-minute critique for the cameras,
accusing O'Brien of favoring bureaucracy and engaging in patronage hiring....
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The Boston Herald
Friday, October 4, 2002
Romney paints O'Brien with tax-hike brush
by Elisabeth J. Beardsley
Republican Mitt Romney accused Democrat Shannon P. O'Brien
yesterday of seizing the wheel of a tax-hike bus that could send the state careening back to the bad old
"Taxachusetts" days.
Retooling his message in the wake of a poor debate showing
Tuesday, Romney launched his most forceful attack yet on O'Brien - hammering her votes as a lawmaker to impose $2.6
billion in new taxes. With a Democrat in the Corner Office, the overwhelmingly Democratic
Legislature would be free to plunge back into taxpayers' pockets to solve a new $350 million
deficit, Romney warned.
"Mark my words - if Shannon O'Brien were to be elected
governor, your taxes are going to go up," Romney said. "It's time for her to come clean and let people know she's driving
the bus back to Taxachusetts."
But O'Brien's running mate, Chris Gabrieli, shot back that
Romney only raised the tax issue because O'Brien is "obviously gaining momentum."
As to whether he and O'Brien would support more taxes to
solve the current crisis, Gabrieli refused to rule tax hikes off the table.
But, he said, "We will not lead with taxes. We will lead
with taking the right actions on reducing waste in our government."
Gabrieli tossed the ball back into Romney's court, pointing
out that Romney refused to sign a "no new taxes" pledge, and proposed new levies on greenspace developers and higher
excise taxes for heavy-pollution cars like SUVs.
"He has shown no aversion to specific tax ideas of his own,"
Gabrieli said.
Romney's new focus on taxes is a page torn from the playbook
of his three GOP predecessors, who all rode anti-tax platforms to against-the-odds victories in an
overwhelmingly Democratic state....
Steve Marantz contributed to this report.
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The Boston Globe
Friday, October 4, 2002
Is Mitt man enough?
By Brian McGrory
Globe Columnist
Get angry, Mitt. Get very angry.
Two weeks into this general election race, it looks like you
have cement nudging through your veins. Either that or you just don't have what it takes to win a campaign.
You've seemingly pulled the amazing political trick of
transforming yourself from an accomplished baron of the business world to a boy-toy who might best be left to laze the
day away at the beach.
It's painfully obvious what's gone on. Your advisers,
spooked by the gender gap, have given you a personality makeover. You've gone from "take charge" to "take me ... pretty
please. " Remember when you didn't suffer fools? Now you'll suffer any embarrassment that any Tom,
Dick, and Shannon decide to throw your way.
Here's the truth, Mitt: Right now, at this early stage, I'm
embarrassed for you.
What was that you were doing the day after the primary,
tinkering under the hood of a dented old car pretending you were repairing the wreckage of Beacon Hill? You really think
that's the type of sophomoric gimmickry in which voters want a hard-driven reformer to
partake?
And what's with these television advertisements that devote
a full minute of airtime to you striding shirtless from the water and your wife reminiscing about your first date? If
voters want a Harlequin romance, they'll go to the drugstore.
Finally, what was that you were doing when Shannon O'Brien,
shrill to the edge of shrewishness, was laughing in your face at the last debate? Mitt, she was outright mocking
you - and you stood there and took it, the very personification of a pushover.
You really think voters want a pushover - even an impeccably
dressed and unfailingly polite one - in the corner office?
You got into this race for what seemed the best of reasons.
Massachusetts governance had become a national joke. Two of the last three governors fled town in the middle of their
terms, and the third would probably have done well by doing the same.
Budgets were routinely passed months late with no debate in
the dark of the night by beer-quaffing legislators cowed into perpetual submission by their imperious leaders.
All of this might have been tolerable in the good times of
the late '90s, but these days, with taxes and tolls climbing and the stock market free-falling, it's a perilous,
unacceptable course.
What Beacon Hill needs is a fresh voice, someone of
authority steeped in the realities of the economy and, as important, someone able to inspire others of talent and good
intention to serve. For a while, you seemed to fit that bill.
But campaigns are long and sometimes brutal for a reason.
Resumes and commercials don't serve in higher office; men and women do. And if those men and women can't persevere the
political vagaries and human indignities of a heated race, then nine out of 10 times they're not
suited to lead.
In short, Mitt, you looked damned good on paper, but in real
life you're falling decidedly short. You're getting outmanned, even manhandled, by a woman. It's not a pretty sight.
Is it too late? Absolutely not. Be a take-no-prisoners
candidate, not a make-no-enemies one. Stress who you are: a phenomenally successful CEO steeped in the intricacies of
finance. At the Olympics, you brought an obtuse bureaucracy to heel. At Bain, you
demonstrated a golden touch for money and business - something Massachusetts could use
right about now.
If Shannon slaps you, slap back harder. If she laughs again
in your face, ask her what's so funny. And if your advisers want to keep airing wishy-washy, touchy-feely commercials that
say nothing about anything that matters, tell them they're fired.
The last thing voters, let alone women, want is a pushover.
Oh sure, they'll think you're sweet, but they'll never respect you on Election Day.
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O'Brien/Gabrieli 2002
NEWS RELEASE
Contact" Adrian Durbin, (617) 268-2500 (Headquarters)
(617) 461-5653 (Mobile)
October 3, 2002
The Real Romney Record on Taxes
While Mitt Romney lobs another desperate attack at Shannon
O'Brien, perhaps Mitt should check his own bag of stones. Romney refused to rule out increasing taxes, and refused to
sign a No New Taxes pledge. And Romney has clearly proposed at least two new tax
increases, including changing Massachusetts two-decade-old excise tax formula and raise
taxes on some drivers.
Romney Refused to Sign "No New Taxes" Pledge and Refused to
Rule Out Tax Increases
Romney Refused to Sign No New Taxes Pledge, Refused to Rule
Out Tax Hikes. In March 2002, Romney refused to sign a No New Taxes pledge proffered by Citizens for Limited
Taxation. Romney told the Springfield Union News, "I'm against tax increases, I
do not support them. ...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 spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said, "Mitt Romney doesn't have to sign a piece of paper to
have a position on an issue." [Boston Herald, 3/28/02]
Romney has Proposed Two New Tax Hikes, Including a Change to
the Prop 2 1/2 Excise Tax Formula
Romney Proposed Tax on Open-Space Development. In his
housing and anti-sprawl plan released on July 1, 2002, Romney proposed adding a tax on developers that build in areas
where open space is already limited. Romney suggested using the collected taxes to fund
development in underdeveloped areas. [Boston Globe, 7/2/02]
Romney Proposed Changing Tax Formula To Promote Low
Emissions Vehicles, But Promised to Make Proposal "Revenue Neutral." According to the official press release for
his transportation plan, a "Commuter Bill of Rights," Romney, "called for a revenue-neutral
change in the motor vehicle excise tax formula to reward consumer purchase of
fuel-efficient vehicles." In fact, Romney's plan is even more clear: "Rework excise tax formula to
encourage fuel economy, revenue neutral, model year 2003 and beyond." [Romney
transportation plan and press release, "Commutes Bill of Rights," 6/02]
Romney's Plan Could Raise Taxes on SUV Owners.
According to the MetroWest Daily News, "Romney's plan to
reduce pollution could also require owners of new SUVs and other gasguzzlers to pay a higher automobile excise tax."
[MetroWest Daily News, 9/5/02]
Romney Spokesman Admitted Some Vehicle Owners Would Pay More
Taxes.
According to Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom, under
Romney's excise tax proposal, "Gas-guzzlers may pay more, but those who own fuel-efficient vehicles will pay less. ... Right
now, all the excise tax is is a driveway tax. Lets use the excise tax to affect behavior, and
encourage fuel-efficient behavior." [Gregg column, MetroWest Daily News, 9/5/02]
CLT Head Called Romney's Plan "A Tax Increase" and "Unacceptable."
In response to Romney's proposed change in the excise tax
formula, CLT's head, Barbara Anderson, "said the likelihood of a higher excise tax for new SUVs, even under the guise of
revenue neutrality, 'would be a tax increase, and that is certainly unacceptable.'"
[MetroWest Daily News, 9/5/02]
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