Suzanne Prescott
What’s at stake in this election is a choice between an economy built from the top down or an economy that thrives on the middle class’ ability to work, earn and provide for their families.
In her recent post on NMPolitics.net, blogger Sarah Lenti claims that Mitt Romney will “stick” in New Mexico and do well here in November. She cites his record as governor of Massachusetts and the aid of Governor Martinez.
I agree that Governor Romney will “stick” in our home state – stick it to New Mexico’s middle class, that is.
Ms. Lenti claims that “this election is all about the economy.” Again, I agree. What she fails to point out, however, is that the policies Mitt Romney supported as governor of Massachusetts hurt the middle class the most.
Romney vowed to cut taxes when he ran for governor of Massachusetts. He didn’t. He did cut taxes for millionaires like him, but raised more than 1,000 taxes and fees on small businesses and middle-class families. Massachusetts residents under Governor Romney paid 30 percent more in taxes. He also raised fees on everything from milk to nursing homes, from school bus rides to poultry inspections, and even for blind people and electricians. As president, he’d do the same thing, raising taxes on hundreds of thousands of middle-class New Mexicans while giving millionaires like himself a 25 percent tax cut.
Massachusetts was second in per-capita debt before Romney took office. While in office, Romney took the state to the number one spot, increasing per-capita debt by 41 percent (from $7,551 to $10,612) from the previous administration. This isn’t the kind of leadership we need in New Mexico – or the White House.
Romney claims that his experience in the private sector gives him the knowledge and ability to create jobs nationwide, so surely Massachusetts experienced job growth under Romney, right? Wrong. Under Romney’s leadership, Massachusetts had one of the worst job creation rates in the nation, ranking 47th out of 50. Do we really want to repeat that record here in New Mexico and across the country?
Romney also has a long record of shipping American jobs overseas. A recent Washington Post investigation demonstrates that Mitt Romney’s corporate-buyout firm was an outsourcing pioneer. On the campaign trail, he claims to support American jobs. But, as a corporate raider, he made a fortune helping companies outsource jobs to countries like China and India. Now he’s rooting for economic failure, putting his own political gains ahead of economic growth. Romney doesn’t care about keeping jobs in New Mexico – his record proves it.
Two fundamentally different visions
Romney Economics didn’t work then and New Mexicans know it won’t work now. We tried Romney’s failed formula for most of the last decade. It benefitted a few, but crashed our economy and hurt the middle class. It didn’t grow our economy, create good jobs or pay down our debt – it caused the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.
In contrast, President Obama believes that we have to reclaim the security the middle class has lost by restoring the basic values that made our country great. America prospers when we’re all in it together or when hard work and responsibility are rewarded. A sustainable economy now and for future generations is one where everyone, from Main Street to Wall Street, does their fair share and plays by the same rules.
Endless budget cuts lead us away from prosperity not toward it. To create true middle class security, we must out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the world. New Mexico needs an economy that creates jobs of the future and makes things the rest of the world buys ― not one built on outsourcing, loopholes, risky financial deals and foolish investment vehicles.
This November, New Mexicans can break the stalemate between two fundamentally different visions of how to grow the economy, create middle-class jobs and pay down the debt. We will decide which path we take as a nation – not just in the next four years, but for generations to come.
That’s what’s at stake in this election. It’s a choice between an economy built from the top down or an economy that thrives on the middle class’ ability to work, earn and provide for their families. We can choose either to move backward with Mitt Romney, or move forward with President Obama.
Suzanne Prescott, PhD, is a former field representative for the American Federation of Teachers, a production assistant at Jones Intercable, executive producers of the Insight New Mexico radio show, and a professor emerita at Governors State University in Illinois.