ComMITTed to Romney!

http://www.medicalnewstod…3&nfid=rssfeeds

The Christian Science Monitor on Monday examined proposals in Massachusetts to expand health coverage. Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has proposed a plan that would require all state residents to purchase health insurance, and separate plans have has been approved by the state House and Senate. Under the Romney and House plans, insurance companies would offer reduced-cost plans, with monthly premiums of about $200. Residents with incomes of up to $28,710 would be eligible for state subsidies to help pay the premium. Under the House plan, residents who do not purchase coverage could have their driver’s licenses suspended. In addition, the House plan would require employers to provide insurance and would impose a payroll tax on those who do not. Meanwhile, the state Senate has approved a plan that would expand coverage but would not impose an individual mandate. The House and Senate bills will be considered for a compromise in conference committee as early as this week. Health policy experts say other states and federal officials will be watching Massachusetts’ progress. Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health, said, “This is the first time this idea is real and live before a state and legislature.” He continued, “If a major bill passes in Massachusetts, it would be viewed as some model that should appear in the next presidential debate. If it collapses, people will say, ‘There isn’t a stomach for (a health care overhaul), even in a state like Massachusetts’” (Miller Llana, Christian Science Monitor, 11/21).

http://cbs4boston.com/loc…_324151820.html

(CBS4) BOSTON Gov. Mitt Romney signed a bill on Sunday that will ease the tax burden for a few more senior citizens. Romney says this new cut will help several seniors stay in their homes.
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http://www.boston.com/new…y%2FRegion+News

Says state must repay residents for its mistake
By Raphael Lewis, Globe Staff | November 19, 2005

Governor Mitt Romney yesterday proposed that Massachusetts residents forced to pay retroactive capital gains taxes from 2002 get the money back in rebates over three years.

READ MORE AT THE BOSTON GLOBE

http://politicalwire.com/…sachusetts.html

A new Opinion Dynamics poll finds that Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s (R) numbers are improving against potential Democratic rival Attorney General Thomas Reilly. In a head-to-head matchup, Romney leads Reilly, 41% to 37%. A similar poll taken in July had Reilly ahead, 40% to 34%.

READ MORE AT TAEGAN GODDARD’S POLITICAL WIRE

http://www.boston.com/new…on.com+%2F+News

By Glen Johnson, AP Political Writer | November 17, 2005

BOSTON –Just weeks before Republican Gov. Mitt Romney announces whether he will seek re-election, a new poll shows him improving versus Democrat Attorney General Tom Reilly. It also shows Reilly leading Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, who hopes to replace her boss should he forego a second term.

READ MORE AT THE BOSTON GLOBE

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,,1888019,00.asp

By Stan Gibson
November 16, 2005

The twin tigers of India and China pose significant challenges to the United States, as American companies endeavor to compete by new rules in new markets. But, said Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, he’s optimistic the nation will find a successful response, as it has to crises in the past.

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http://www-128.ibm.com/de…00154&ca=drs-bl

Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, who is widely anticipated to run for president in 2008, praised his state’s decision to endorse the OpenDoc format but said it wasn’t his idea.

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Romney praised it as a good policy that is essential to ensuring citizens have free access to government documents in the future, but he distanced himself from the policy’s genesis. He gave credit for the idea to Massachusetts CIO Peter Quinn and the Secretary of Administration and Finance.

READ MORE AT DEVELOPER WORKS: BOB SUTOR

http://www.crn.com/showAr…cleID=174300587

By Paula Rooney, CRN
7:14 PM EST Wed. Nov. 16, 2005

U.S. businesses must globalize or whither away and die.

That’s the message Massachusetts’ governor and top technology executives said at the Forrester Research executive strategy summit in Boston on Wednesday.

Gov. Mitt Romney, a former Bain Capital venture capitalist who is mulling a presidential run in 2008, said jobs will continue to be lost to emerging economies but U.S. businesses have far more to gain by selling their products into massive markets such as China and India than they risk losing by not participating at all.

He advised CIOs and technology executives to stop worrying about lost jobs and concentrate on innovating globally that will grow jobs here and abroad.

“I’m not happy exporting jobs but we must move ahead in technology and patents. I don’t like losing any jobs but we’ll see new opportunities created selling products there. We’ll have a net net increase in economic activity, just as we did with free trade,” Romney said. “It’s tempting to want to protect our markets and stay closed. But at some point it all comes crashing down and you’re hopelessly left behind. Then you are Russia.”
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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,175714,00.html

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

BOSTON � Gov. Mitt Romney urged a nationwide focus on improving education, or else “we’ll end up being the France of the 21st century.”

The Republican governor told a gathering of school leaders Tuesday that while Massachusetts placed first nationally in a series of recent math and English tests, the United States itself ranks 25th out of 41 industrialized nations in math performance.

At the same time, the country is awarding roughly 4,500 doctorates in math and science each year, compared with about 24,000 per year in Asia.

“We cannot continue to have an excellence gap with the rest of the world and intend to remain the economic superpower and military superpower of the planet. That’s just not going to happen,” Romney said. “We’re in a position where unless we take action, we’ll end up being the France of the 21st century: a lot of talk, but not a lot of strength behind it in terms of economic capability.”

In targeting France, the governor, who spent more than two years there as a Mormon missionary and speaks French, flogged a favorite target of conservatives. The French refusal to support military action in Iraq led to such responses as an effort to ensure Capitol Hill cafeterias retooled their menus to advertise “freedom fries” instead of french fries.

READ MORE AT FOX NEWS

http://www.boston.com/new…on.com+%2F+News

November 15, 2005

BOSTON –Gov. Mitt Romney was busy back when he was preparing for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, but not too busy to achieve what he labeled a lifetime ambition.

The state’s chief executive, addressing a group of educators Tuesday, recalled trying to beg off an environmental speech at Hill Air Force Base in Utah before organizers said they would give him a ride in an F-16 fighter jet if he could find time to speak.

“Suddenly, my schedule cleared,” Romney proclaimed.

READ MORE AT THE BOSTON GLOBE