08/30/2012; Jackie Tortora
Tonight Mitt Romney tried to reinvent himself, appealing to Americans’ aspirations and hunger to come together while trying to show his personal side. But his policy proposals or record do not reflect the kind of America where working families get a fair shake. Whether it’s proposing to cut back severely on Medicaid, forcing seniors on fixed incomes to pay more out of pocket for their health care or cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans, the Romney-Ryan budget doubles down on the failed economic policies that brought on the economic crisis in the first place.
He touted his business experience, despite his business record as an outsourcer. He called out divisiveness, despite proposals that would provide bigger income disparities and ignored Republican obstructionism for the past two years.
Since we already knew Mitt Romney and his campaign would not be “dictated by fact-checkers,” it was no surprise his RNC speech tonight was riddled with misinformation on Medicare and his plan to balance the budget.
Romney, like Paul Ryan last night, cynically claimed that the Affordable Care Act cut Medicare to pay for new benefits for “someone else.” The truth is that the Affordable Care Act did not cut traditional Medicare benefits, but instead increased benefits for traditional Medicare beneficiaries, including lower prescription drug costs and free annual wellness visits and cancer screenings. What the Affordable Care Act did cut was excess Medicare payments to insurance companies and hospitals. Paul Ryan’s budget included the exact same cuts. But Romney didn’t mention that.
The Affordable Care Act actually extended the life of the Medicare Trust Fund, which Romney claimed it “raided.”
Although Romney claims he would reduce the deficit and balance the budget, he has no plans to end the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy, which is the major contributor to the deficit, and tax analysts say his plan to overhaul the tax code doesn’t add up.
After we debunk the misleading statements and an optimistic message that avoids particulars of how his budget ideas would hurt working people, all we’re left with is Romney’s record as Massachusetts governor and at Bain Capital. And it’s not great.
While governor, Massachusetts ranked first in all 50 states for the highest debt and was 47thin the nation for job creation. Fourteen percent of manufacturing jobs were lost or shipped overseas.
Outsourcing U.S. jobs is an exercise Romney pioneered at Bain Capital. Romney’s Bain invested in companies that regularly shipped jobs overseas. We also know Romney has an extensive pool of cash parked in offshore bank accounts, which does not stimulate the U.S. economy.
The Romney-Ryan vision chooses more tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations—paid for by cuts in Social Security, Medicaid and other programs that poor and working-class families rely upon. It’s paid for with cuts to investments in our future such as education and rebuilding a crumbling infrastructure, both vital to maintaining and growing a middle class.
We need solutions that strengthen the economy, health care and education for working families. Not a Romney-Ryan plan that betters the 1% at the expense of everyone else. While Romney claimed tonight he has the answers, a peek behind the curtain of a fluffy, campaign acceptance speech and a fancy video, reveals the truth about the kind of economy Romney wants.
American Federation of Government Employees Local 704 