Prominent Romney 2012 Talking Point 'Mostly A Myth'

Mitt Romney Used Fees To Close Budget Gap As Massachusetts Governor

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney's boast that he closed a $3 billion budget gap as Massachusetts governor without raising taxes is a cornerstone of his White House campaign, a way to highlight his pitch for lower taxes and leaner government in a race where federal budget deficits and the slumping economy are hot issues.

What he rarely mentions is how he did it. The presumptive Republican nominee and Democratic state lawmakers raised hundreds of millions of dollars for cash-strapped state coffers by approving new and higher fees on everything from marriage licenses to real estate transactions to gun licenses.

The dozens of fee increases were a way for Romney, a former venture capitalist, to boost state revenues and ease the budget squeeze while technically sticking to his pledge not to raise taxes. "It was a grab bag of fee increases across the board to close the budget deficit," said Michael Widmer, president of the nonpartisan Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed fiscal watchdog group.

Among the fee increases the study found: Marriage licenses went from $4 to $50, driving permits from $15 to $30, deed-recording fees from $25 to $100 and mortgage-recording fees from $36 to $158. Romney wanted to make blind people pay a new $10 fee for a state certificate of blindness and $15 for a photo identification card, but the Legislature scrapped those proposals.

Romney did not raise the state's income or sales taxes during his four-year term as governor. But he raised an additional $350 million to $375 million annually for three years by closing what his administration called business tax "loopholes," Widmer said. Many businesses considered Romney's closing of such "loopholes" to be corporate tax increases.

"It was a great marketing strategy on the governor's part," said John Regan, executive vice president of government affairs for Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which represents 7,000 employers. "But these were mostly tax policy changes to increase revenues for the state."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/0 ... f=politics

Imagine my surprise?!?! Talking point a "myth"? "It's not a tax increase if it's a fee"... Wow, next thing you're going to tell me is that he was FOR tax increases before he was AGAINST them... ?!?!?

Its all how you define the words

Taxes Fees Royalties
Spending Investment
Stimulus Pork
Spending Cuts Budget increases less than last year
Tax Loophole Deduction
Incentive Bribe

OMIGOD, if we elect Romney, we will get Bill Ritter? The Colorado governor who also confused taxes and fees.

Yep, my favorite Colorado fee is the Hospital tax to pay for Medicaid. That should help soaring health care costs don't you think. Then there is the Obama care excise tax on Med equipment, who do you think will pay that?

Joe wrote: Yep, my favorite Colorado fee is the Hospital tax to pay for Medicaid. That should help soaring health care costs don't you think. Then there is the Obama care excise tax on Med equipment, who do you think will pay that?

The Obama care excise tax is an example of my ox being gored. We fully expect medical equipment sales to fall by at least the percentage of the tax, quite possibly more, because companies will have the same budget, but less actual money to pay for new capital equipment.

And with inflation increasing the prices on consumables, many medical care givers, will trim capital equipment investment even more.

But you have to pay for Obamacare somehow, so patients will be attended with older, repaired equipment.