{"id":41193,"date":"2012-06-29T09:59:48","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T15:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=41193"},"modified":"2012-06-29T09:59:51","modified_gmt":"2012-06-29T15:59:51","slug":"mitt-will-stick-in-nm-stick-it-to-the-middle-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/06\/mitt-will-stick-in-nm-stick-it-to-the-middle-class\/","title":{"rendered":"Mitt will \u2018stick\u2019 in NM\u2026 stick it to the middle class"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Suzanne<\/a>

Suzanne Prescott<\/p><\/div>\n

What\u2019s 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\u2019 ability to work, earn and provide for their families.<\/h4>\n

In her recent post<\/a> on NMPolitics.net, blogger Sarah Lenti claims that Mitt Romney will \u201cstick\u201d in New Mexico and do well here in November. She cites his record as governor of Massachusetts and the aid of Governor Martinez.<\/p>\n

I agree that Governor Romney will \u201cstick\u201d in our home state \u2013 stick it to New Mexico\u2019s middle class, that is.<\/p>\n

Ms. Lenti claims that \u201cthis election is all about the economy.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Romney vowed to cut taxes when he ran for governor of Massachusetts. He didn\u2019t. 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<\/a>. 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\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts was second in per-capita debt before Romney took office. While in office, Romney took the state to the number one spot<\/a>, increasing per-capita debt by 41 percent (from $7,551 to $10,612) from the previous administration. This isn\u2019t the kind of leadership we need in New Mexico \u2013 or the White House.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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?<\/p>\n

Romney also has a long record of shipping American jobs overseas. A recent Washington Post investigation<\/a> demonstrates that Mitt Romney\u2019s 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\u2019s rooting for economic failure, putting his own political gains ahead of economic growth. Romney doesn\u2019t care about keeping jobs in New Mexico \u2013 his record proves it.<\/p>\n

Two fundamentally different visions<\/h3>\n

Romney Economics didn\u2019t work then and New Mexicans know it won\u2019t work now. We tried Romney\u2019s failed formula for most of the last decade. It benefitted a few, but crashed our economy and hurt the middle class. It didn\u2019t grow our economy, create good jobs or pay down our debt \u2013 it caused the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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 \u2015 not one built on outsourcing, loopholes, risky financial deals and foolish investment vehicles.<\/p>\n

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 \u2013 not just in the next four years, but for generations to come.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what\u2019s at stake in this election. It\u2019s a choice between an economy built from the top down or an economy that thrives on the middle class\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s 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\u2019 ability to work, earn and provide for their families.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2894,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[156,118,226,116],"class_list":["post-41193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-2012-election","tag-economy","tag-presidential-race","tag-washington"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}