Mitt Romney: conservative or liberal?

Ex Governor Mitt Romney is preparing to run for the Republican presidential nomination. Mr. Romney has been in politics his entire life following his successful father into politics (George Romney Gov of Mass).  It is hard to find exactly what Mr. Romney's polictial views are. As he becomes more and more a part of the Republican mainstream his views have moved more to the right. His views on abortion have changed as his political career has blossomed. Prior to his 2008 presidential run Mr. Romney's abortion view was pro-choice. In 1994 in his senatorial race against Ted Kennedy he campaigned with Nicki Nichols Gamble, former president of the Massachusetts branch of Planned Parenthood. Mr. Romney's wife gave $150 donation to Planned Parenthood that year. In 2005 he signed an agreement with Planned Parenthood to support increased access to the "morning after" pill.  Then he refused to sign the bill when it came to his desk. Then later in the year another bill came to desk that granted a federal waiver to expand the number of Massachusetts citizens eligible for family planning services, including the "morning after" pill, this bill he signed.  He has supported several "liberal" policies like  stem cell research: “It is time to move beyond typical Washington politics, and offer support for stem-cell research techniques that bring science and ethics together to promote life, protect life, and save lives.”  He was one of the few Republicans who voted for TARP, he created, passed and implemented  Romenycare (smaller version of Obamacare, and  requires nearly all Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance coverage or face escalating tax penalties such as the loss of their personal income tax exemption), he Instituted the John & Abigail Adams award in Massachusetts, which gives top 25% of high school students FREE tuition to any public in-state college (now that's a Liberal thing to do). As Gov his administration raised various fees by more than $300 million, including those for driver's licenses, marriage licenses, and gun licenses. Romney increased the state gasoline fee by 2 cents per gallon. He has supported domestic partnership benefits, but does believe marriage is reserved only for a man and woman. Gov Romney even removed several corporate tax loopholes. To go way back in Mr. Romney's political life in the 1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries he voted for the former democratic  senator from the state, Paul Tsongas. Currently he has been quoted as saying "I support military action in Libya. I support our troops there and the mission that they’ve been given." Until recently (2008) Mr Romney has had a pretty left leaning agenda.
As Gov, Mr Romney did try and find his conservative side. His efforts to bring in spending was right down the conservative play book. His budget had $140 million reduction in state funding for higher education, which led state-run colleges and universities to increase tuition by 63 percent over four years.(trickle down economics that Reganites forget to tell you). He did inherit a terrible Mass economy. In his four years as governor Romney took a record deficit and turned it into a surplus!  He is proud to say that he did this without raising taxes, however in balancing the budget he did add 33 new fees, and 57 existing fees were increased. At least Mr. Romney understands that just cutting taxes and services will not balance a budget. He cut state spending by $1.6 billion, but those cuts to state services put pressure on local governments that still needed to supply  those services to raise private property taxes to 5%. Then in 2005 he allowed local commercial property taxes to be raised.
I believe the Mitt Romney we shall see on the campaign trail will be a very fiscal and social conservative, I just hope if Mr. Romney is elected that we shall see the Mitt Romney prior to 2008.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Trailer Video

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Trailer Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMpdomg4Dy8

Wu Zhong Hang

Update: 9/9/11 His adoptive family, the Taylor's have been working through the long paper chase. His adoption is moving forward with good speed. they received their LOA (letter of acceptance) from China. Now they must wait for TA, travel approval, and appointment with the US Consulate in China. After that they make last minute travel arrangements to China! Hope and pray he will be "home" for Christmas.

Logan's foster brother in China. A family has stepped foward to ask China if they can adopt Wu Zhong Hang!! http://www.flickr.com/photos/21286212@N08/sets/72157626082630700/
Logan is on the left.

Adoption:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPZIKwnhFpA&feature=fvwrel

http://www.parkerhospital.org/body.cfm?id=64

Please consider adoption. There are so many children that need your love.

GOP and Science

We would like to hope that our elected officials were college educated and considered intellectuals. After all they deal with very complicated issues everyday. They have to read thousands of bills, papers each year. So how is it that some in Congress can not even agree on scientific facts? 
Joe Barton top GOP congressman from Texas states "CO2 is good for the environment, it is odorless, colorless, tasteless—it's not a threat to human health in terms of being exposed to it." Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) offered up a bill that would eliminate Clean Air Act provisions that would allow the EPA to set common-sense standards to cut the pollution from large industrial polluters. The bill would repeal the fact of a scientific determination by the EPA that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas pollutants are a threat to human health and welfare. And they do not state one study that proves the EPA is incorrect. Today one very prominent speaker for the GOP-Ann Coulter- even said that nuclear radiation is good for you. "at some level--much higher than the minimums set by the U.S. government--radiation is good for you," and actually reduces the risk of cancer. Even when given the facts of years of research from the National Academy of Sciences, scientific academies from around the world and a vast majority of the world's climate scientists the Republican party line is that  all these scientists are wrong.-The believe that the current climate change is a natural occurance, humans have nothing to do with it. What is really mind boggling is the GOP's refusal to fund healthcare and the health sciences. The Republican house budget calls for $1 billion in cuts for the National Institutes Of Health. NIH is the branch of government that does medical research. Thanks to the efforts of the NIH, in 2007 cancer deaths declined for the first time. Heart disease and stroke deaths are down. They are against stem cell research and because of their blocking research funding for stem cells America has fallen behind China and other countries. And since the GOP's campaign was all about jobs, jobs jobs, the NIH employs hundreds of thousands of Americans. The NIH's research developed the MRI, and how virus cause cancer. The NIH has been supported by Republican presidents and congressmen since its inception in 1887, yet these "new" Republican/Tea Party elected officials believe we don't need to support this kind of research anymore. In Texas the republican party is even looking to ban the teaching of evolution. The GOP keep hoping we roll back time, to the good old days when they did not have to think intelligently, back to what pre 1859? after all thats when  Irish scientist John Tyndall correctly explained how carbon dioxide in the atmosphere “traps” heat radiation, and also when Darwin publishedThe Origin of Species. Science is from the Latin scientia, meaning "knowledge". I believe a knowledgeable electorate is good for America, and what the founding fathers wanted. What the GOP wants is an electorate that only understands their talking points. 

Who are the fiscal conservatives?

Lets compare a few presidential administration's record on the economy. Bill Clinton (D) left an economy that  created more then 22 million jobs. Median incomes were up, poverty rates were at their lowest levels in decades. Unemployment fell from 7% to 4%. He left office with a $200 billion surplus. When George W came into office  his  priorities was  major tax cuts (7). This decreased tax receipts to 17.9% of GDP compared to 19% under Clinton. He not only used up the surplus left to him by Clinton, but by the end of his term in office he had increased the federal deficit to $700B. ($2.5 trillion increase in the public debt through 2008) He left office with the US and World economy was falling into the Great Recession. Retail sales were at their lowest in 35 years, The housing market was busted. When President Obama took office in 2008 the stock market had begun its fall, by March of 2009 the DOW was below 6K.  The Obama stimulus plan would cost  $168 billion. This on the heals of W. Bush's stimulus plan increased the national debt to 1T. This stimulus plan has doubled the DOW up to 12K, retail sales are up 31% as of Jan 2010. Unemployment is starting to go down with the private sector adding jobs for the first time since the start of the Great Recession. The diffusion index — the percentage of industries that were adding workers — increased to 68.2% in February, the highest in 13 years. People applying for unemployment is at three year low.  The Congressional Budget Office  estimated that between 1.4 million and 3.4 million workers who have jobs would be unemployed if the stimulus hadn’t been enacted. 
So when we look at the facts, how on Earth did the republicans become the party of fiscal responsibility??