I’ll Thank You Not To Cloud This Debate With Facts
I just finished reading an article by Gregg Jackson over at TOWNHALL.COM that makes one of the most preposterous claims so far in a campaign that has been loaded with preposterous claims.
He actually tries to lay responsibility for the disastrous “Big Dig” in Boston at MR’s doorstep!!
For those of you who may not be familiar with it, the “Big Dig” is a 3.5 mile tunnel through the center of Boston that was designed to relieve some of Boston’s traffic congestion. My understanding is that it is the most expensive public works project in US history. The initial cost was projected at about $3 billion and ended up at $14 billion.
Now, here is where those pesky things we call “facts” come into play. The project was first conceived in the early ’70’s. Fact: Mitt Romney was in France in the early seventies, working as a Mormon missionary. Fact: Mitt Romney had nothing to do with the planning of the project. Fact: The project was considered too expensive by President Reagan and he vetoed the bill, which Congress promptly over rode. The initial work on the project began in 1983, a time when Mitt Romney was in the private sector and would not begin his public service for more than a decade. Fact: By the time MR became the Governor of Massachusetts, the “Big Dig” and been a work in progress for 20 years.
So, in closing, I just wanted to offer this caveat to our readers. The propaganda campaign is in full swing right now, and if past experience is any guide, it will only get worse as we go along. Don’t let the spin artists in the media shake your support of Mitt Romney, be sure to get the “facts” before you decide.
~~John Cronin~~
November 9th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
Great commentary John, thanks for exposing this hit piece for what it is.
November 9th, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Someone needs to develop a point by point rebuttal of this article soon (easily done for someone who has the time). If not refuted, the perception by everyone that reads it and does not have an opportunity to hear the opposing arguement is that it is true.
November 9th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
ChuckP,
I agree. I knew this was a bogus article when I read the part about the Big Dig. That called into question every other point the author made. I wonder which candidate he supports? Thompson or Huck? Sounds like their handiwork.
November 9th, 2007 at 7:32 pm
I remember this, nothing was done about structure problems of the Big Dig until someone died. The inspector general’s report said that the Romney administration had sufficient control over the project to be responsible for the accident. That the administration was in position to exercise jurisdiction or control over the Turnpike Authority. Such reports are things that independent candidate Christi Mihos was using which somehow blamed Romney for allowing the Big Dig to go mismanaged.
The Turnpike Authority was not under state control via the Massachusetts Highway Department. Romney tried to merge the Highway Department and Turnpike Authority before but was turned down by Democrats.
I don’t know how the Big Dig is doing today, but the local newspapers, at that time, reported that the Big Dig is good for his image, “Here’s someone whose reputation for the Olympics was a fixer. Now he’s got the Big Dig,” said Charles Franklin, a political science professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “That plays well for an aspiring governor who doesn’t have as much national experience as a John McCain.” This crisis “puts Romney in the great position to address a problem that he’s not responsible for,” Franklin said. “No politician could love a problem more. … He doesn’t have to fix the problem, but he has to oversee the process that leads to the fixing of the problem.”