comMITTed to Romney!

http://www.boston.com/new…rvative_groups/

The Boston Globe today attempted to cast a shadow on donations from Mitt & Ann Romney’s private Tyler Charitable Foundation, particularly donations to the Heritage Foundation and the Federalist Society.

Governor Mitt Romney’s private foundation — which often sends money to religious organizations, schools, and social services groups — gave $50,000 in 2005 to two prominent conservative think tanks that have provided him with a platform as he readies for a potential run for president, public records indicate.

The Globe then goes on to reveal to their readership that the donations were legal. Whew! Thanks, Globe, for that nugget. I can sleep at night now. No one was accusing him of breaking the law, but thanks for telling us the unnecessary news.

Eric Fehrnstrom, a spokesman for Romney, said the governor doesn’t make donations for political reasons.

“Governor Romney’s support of civic organizations is not something he calls attention to,” Fehrnstrom said. “He does not do it for public acclaim. His charitable giving is done out of a sense of helping groups that rely on the philanthropy of others to carry out their mission.”

So Romney has a foundation that doesn’t have his name in it, and he doesn’t send out a press release everytime he makes a donation. He keeps it private, and gives his money for the right reasons. Man, he should be dragged into the public square and stoned for such selfless behavior in this era of self-promotion! Didn’t he get the memo?

Tax specialists interviewed this week said the donations could help Romney with conservative activists.

“There is a political interest here that says why is Mitt Romney now giving his money to the Heritage Foundation and what is he trying to accomplish?” said Donald Tobin, an associate professor of law at Ohio State University. “But if I were a Republican candidate, it would absolutely make sense to give money to organizations that would promote issues I support.”

Yeah. Apparently this is a no-brainer to everyone except the Globe.

Dave

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Governor Romney headlines a Jim Nussle fundraiser tomorrow night in Dubuque, Iowa.

Red, White & Blues

Wednesday, August 16

Our next Governor
Jim Nussle
5:30 - 6:00p.m. - General Reception
6:00p.m. - Dinner and Program

At the Dubuque Masonic Temple
1155 Locust Street
Dubuque, Iowa

Massachusetts Governor
Mitt Romney
***
Sponsorship opportunities

$1,000 - Gold Sponsorship
Includes photo with Governor Romney
10 tickets in priority seating area, listing in event invitations and program.

$500 - Silver Sponsorship
Includes 10 tickets in priority seating area, listing in event invitations and program.

$250 - Bronze Sponsorship
Includes 5 tickets in priority seating area, listing in event invitations and program

$125 - Host Committee
Includes 2 tickets in priority seating area, listing in event invitations and program.

$50 - Individual Tickets
Per person, general seating.

For more questions or reserve your ticket by phone, please call 888-722-4704.

Visit JimNussle.com

Copyright 2006 Iowans for Nussle
Paid for by Iowans for Nussle

Dave

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http://www.telegram.com/a…/608140320/1020

From the Worcester Telegram:

Gov. Mitt Romney’s avowed plan to raise Massachusetts state parks to world-class standards is laudable. Parks improve quality of life, attract tourists and educate the public.

However, world-class parks are not free, or even cheap. Maintaining the public’s natural and historic treasures requires a continuing investment of time, energy and money, which for the past decade, has not been forthcoming. The result is the parks have become increasingly shabby.

Fortunately, Mr. Romney, two years ago, appointed a stewardship commission, which in addition to working to improve management of parks is lobbying for park funding. Last year Massachusetts progressed from the 49th to 48th place in terms of per capita state funding for parks.

Dave

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http://desmoinesregister…./608130324/1036

Hello, President Romney.

Sounds good, huh?

Hello, President Romney.

Really, I could get used to the sound of that. It’s just one of those things you never want to say about your candidate.

But I didn’t. Esteemed Iowa journalist and kingmaker David Yepsen did today in his Des Moines Register editorial.

Instead of a dialog between the two parties about our problems, we have shout-a-thons and Internet incivilities. It’s liberal bloggers versus conservative talk-show hosts. The pragmatic, civil politics of the Jim Leaches and Leonard Boswells are out. Steve King and Al Sharpton - who conveniently posed behind Lamont Tuesday night - are in.

For many Americans, it becomes too much. They tune out. And that’s fine with the politicians. Political consultants in both parties urge their candidates to instead “fire up the base” and engage in “turnout-suppression” efforts against opponents. So, Democrats step up their anti-war rhetoric. Republicans bash gay marriage.

The trashing Lieberman took for his views brings to mind the anti-Vietnam War activism that savaged Hubert Humphrey in 1968. Humphrey was as good and decent a liberal as you could find, but the anti-war movement just couldn’t stomach him because he was Lyndon Johnson’s vice president. Enough people on the left stayed home, or did little to help him, that the country got Richard Nixon as its president. Which was not a good thing.

So will the ascendant anti-war movement today become as impractical and counter-productive as it became in the 1960s and 1970s? If so, the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008 is likely to be won by a candidate so far out on the fringe he (or she) can’t appeal to America’s mainstream.

Hello, President Romney.

Music to this American’s ears.

And Yepsen has a point. Although Romney is a conservative, and a proud conservative at that, he is willing to do what it takes to work with the other side to move America forward. That doesn’t mean sacrificing what you believe in. It means compromising when necessary to move your agenda forward. All the great ones have done it.

Romney is a “Just Do It” conservative. Or, for you southerners, a “Git-R-Done” conservative. (I kid.) Pick your battles, but believe in America more than you do in polarization. Compromise when you need to. Stay away from “gotcha” politics. And get the job done. Yepsen sees it. I see it. Do you?

Dave

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http://news.bostonherald….rticleid=152036

The foiled London air attacks reminded me of a story I forgot to cover last week. It appears that the Massachusetts legislature has cut the tuition benefit for Bay State soldiers, after earlier granting the same benefit to illegal immigrants. From the Boston Herald:

Lawmakers have slammed the classroom door shut on Massachusetts soldiers home from Iraq and seeking to go to state college, failing to cough up $8 million needed for crucial tuition waivers.
Army and Air National Guard soldiers expecting to be rewarded for their war duty under Gov. Mitt Romney’s “Welcome Home” bill found the welcome mat ripped out last week by the Legislature as it ended its formal session without approving money for the waivers.
“One of the main reasons I joined the Army was to get money to go to college,” said David Cowing, 23, of Rockland, an Iraq war veteran who is taking out at least $3,500 in loans to cover tuition for his first year at UMass-Boston because his benefits won’t kick in in time to pay the first bills.
“I went and fought in Iraq. I shouldn’t have to worry about tuition. I should be able to go wherever I want.”

Later in the article, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey makes an interesting observation.

Lashing out at the “wrong priorities” of lawmakers, Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey said, “The Legislature has made the appalling decision to vote on things like tuition breaks for illegal immigrants, but they couldn’t take the time to take a vote to help our Massachusetts war heroes . . . I find it deeply disturbing.”
National Guard officials say the bureaucratic red tape has left some soldiers scrambling to meet tuition costs.

So the Romney Administration wants to honor our returning heroes with tuition assistance which will certainly pay back dividends to the state, but the Legislature can’t find the money for the plan, even though they gave similar breaks to citizens of other countries who are here illegally. Can someone explain that to me?

Dave

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The Republican Party of Iowa’s Chairman’s Dinner will be featured tonight on CSPAN’s Road to the White House at 6:30. It will focus on Governor Romney, who gave the keynote address at the dinner in Cedar Rapids.

Dave

Addendum by Jeff.

VERY EXCITING! Thanks for the heads up Dave. It also looks like it will re-air on C-Span later tonight at 9:30 and 12:30.–These are all eastern times The show looks to be 1.5 hours and Romney’s speech was no more than 30 minutes. I hope they show Jim Leach’s speech as well (including his great introduction of Gov. Romney). Not sure what else they’ll be showing to fill up the time.

I was at this event along with a table of “Iowans for Romney”. We were sitting to Romney’s right at a front table. For my photos from the evening see this blog entry. For my take on Leach’s speech see this blog entry. We didn’t know that this would be picked up by C-Span so we’re excited to see if we’re on TV!

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http://www.sunherald.com/…ch/15263119.htm

Governor Romney will join Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) and the Jackson County (MS) Republican Women at the Annual Founder’s Day event in Pascagoula. All Romneyites in the area are encouraged to attend.

Here’s the info, from SunHerald.com:

Annual Founders’ Day, 11:30 a.m., LaFont Inn, Pascagoula. Jackson County Republican Women Annual Founders’s Day will host speaker Sen. Trent Lott and Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass. Cost: $30 per person; no tickets sold at door. Details: Janet, 497-4495 or Joy, 769-1935.

Dave

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http://www.sacbee.com/con…-15141160c.html

Though they misinterpret the Massachusetts law a bit, the Sacramento Bee today used the Bay State and Governor Romney as an example of crossing the partisan divide to achieve landmark legislation.

Reforming something as big and as broken as the health care system is an exercise in finding common political ground. If this small miracle of reforming health care were to happen — and there is reason to hope that it will — the road will quickly lead to Massachusetts.

Why Massachusetts? There, the legislature is controlled by Democrats. The governor, Mitt Romney, is a Republican. The state for years argued about how to reform its health care system, how to insure more people and how to pay for coverage for those who can’t afford it. But then Massachusetts overcame the odds and actually managed to agree on major changes. The specifics may not be right for California, but Massachusetts has revealed what a compromise can look like.

The Governor’s health care plan, and his ability to work with Democrats to enact it, certainly are examples of his competence and leadership ability — so much so that editorial boards on the other side of the country have taken notice and approve.

Dave

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http://www.telegram.com/a…SS01&source=rss

I can’t really fathom how hard it must be to be Governor of Massachusetts, and to essentially be at the will of the legislature. Yesterday gave us another example of Mitt Romney’s attempts to be reasonable and responsible in the face of the legislature’s wishes. From the Worcester Telegram:

Gov. Mitt Romney is supporting a proposal aimed at stopping the construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Fall River, but recommending that the Legislature throw out another part of the bill that he says jeopardizes the state’s energy supply by blocking LNG shipments to an existing facility in Everett.

“I was very disappointed that a poison pill was added to the bill,” Mr. Romney said of language inserted in the proposal by House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi that would essentially cut off LNG shipments to the Suez Distrigas terminial in Everett. That facility meets about 20 percent of New England’s annual gas demands.

“It’s just not responsible for me to sign legislation that would hurt people,” Mr. Romney said.

[Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi] acknowledged the legislation could be found unconstitutional by federal courts, which have ruled in similar cases that energy regulation is the domain of the federal government, but he said he wanted to elevate the issue in both the public’s and the federal government’s consciousness beforehand.

But Mr. Romney said that was the wrong approach.

“If somebody wants to just push the buttons of the feds, bring a lawsuit,” the governor said. “But don’t threaten the electricity and heating of our citizens to get someone’s attention.”

So Romney just wants to protect people from the dangers of a new LNG terminal in a residential area, and also make sure people have heating fuel this winter. Is that too much to ask?

Dave

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http://www.boston.com/new…ight_on_terror/

From today’s Boston Globe:

Kerry, the Democrats’ 2004 presidential nominee, seized on news of the disrupted plot as a “stark reminder” that Osama bin Laden remains at large and said it shows that Al Qaeda has “grown in strength” since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda have succeeded in isolating the United States,” Kerry, a Democrat, said during a conference call organized on behalf of Patrick Murphy, a Democratic candidate in a Pennsylvania House race. “Afghanistan and Pakistan are where the fight against Al Qaeda is, not in Iraq.”

Asked about Kerry’s comments during an appearance on the MSNBC cable network, Romney blasted Kerry. The governor said the senator failed to recognize that the United States is locked in a long-term war against terrorists and that Iraq is a central front.

“I think it shows a complete lack of understanding of the kind of enemy that we’re facing,” said Romney, a Republican. “This is not a small group of wackos in the hills that all we have to do is go find one person and it suddenly goes away.”

Of course Kerry, after being called out by the Governor, returned to the standard Democrat position of attacking the messenger when you are wrong on the message.

In turn, Kerry’s communications director, David Wade, questioned the governor’s knowledge of issues related to Iraq and terrorism.

“Mitt Romney’s command of national security is about as real as the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq,” Wade said.

Interesting, since it was proven that there are WMDs in Iraq. But we should take the Senator’s word for it, because Kerry knows everything about foreign policy and Iraq. Like this exchange with Bob Scheiffer from late 2005:

And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the–of–the historical customs, religious customs. Whether you like it or not–

Schieffer: Yeah.

Kerry: –Iraqis should be doing that.

I’ll ask you a question, because I can’t tell. Does this make Romney look better or Kerry look worse?

Dave

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http://www.californiansforromney.com/?p=34

Don’t miss this thoughtful and informative piece by John Mark Reynolds of Biola University. While he does not endorse Romney in the article, he carefully analyzes the issues of religion and politics and argues against opposing a Romney candidacy solely on religous grounds. Here are some key paragraphs:

Opposition to Romney on the grounds of his religion is not, therefore, sensible. If not sensible, it is bigotry. Traditional Christians, commanded to love their neighbor, cannot vote their fears or prejudices. They must vote their best selves and that means they cannot vote irrationally.

Unless I hear further arguments, I believe Mitt Romney deserves a chance to make his case to traditional Christians without his religion being an issue.

I also enjoyed this closing paragraph:

We invite Romney and any other prominent Republican and Democrat candidates to make their case about the interplay of faith and politics. Mrs. Clinton would be equally welcome, but we can never get her office to respond to our queries for some reason.

Hat tip to Article VI Blog, which is definetely a must read when it comes to religion and politics.

———–

Dave says: This post comes from Paul Miller at Californians for Romney, and is representative of the great work being done on the state level in the Romney online movement. We will be highlighting more of the state sites in the days and weeks to come.

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http://masshightech.bizjo…07/daily34.html

From the article:

Gov. Mitt Romney today announced an energy plan to meet rising energy demands in Massachusetts, including a push to invest in energy technologies in the Bay State.

“We want to encourage development of the sectors in energy technologies,” Romney said during a news conference.

Investments in an energy technology cluster would be similar to those state-sponsored investments in the biotechnology cluster in recent years, Romney said. Deep sea off-shore wind power generation was one area mentioned by the governor as an point of interest. The ultimate goal would be to create sector jobs while fulfilling the state’s long-term energy needs. Romney projects the plan could save the state $575 million in energy costs.

Dave

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http://article.nationalre…GYxNTMxOWU0M2I=

Carrie Lukas, on Governor Romney’s veto of the preschool bill last week:

Politicians all talk about “fiscal responsibility,” but few put that principle into action — particularly when faced with a call for a politically attractive program. Governor Mitt Romney (R., Mass.) deserves applause for doing just that by vetoing a bill last week that promised to provide universal preschool to Bay State toddlers.

Universal preschool is not the way to help parents realize that goal. These programs are expensive. Without Gov. Romney’s veto, Massachusetts taxpayers would have faced a billion-dollar-per-year price tag. Virginia’s program would cost $300 million annually. Families would see their tax burden rising, making it more difficult to make ends meet on just one salary.

Policymakers should join Governor Romney in opposing universal preschool. It may sound like a political winner, but when government expands, we all lose.

This was another unpopular but correct move on the Governor’s part, and it’s nice to see people recognize that.

Dave

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http://news.bostonherald….rticleid=152338

This, from the Boston Herald’s Dave Wedge:

Just as he did after the fatal Big Dig collapse, Gov. Mitt Romney sprang into action yesterday following news of a possible terror attack, taking firm control while scoring praise from political pundits and even some Democrats.

The possible 2008 presidential contender was the first governor nationwide to launch the National Guard - even though none of the terror-targeted planes were headed to Boston. He also called a 10 a.m. press conference, beating even President Bush to the airwaves, and abruptly canceled a trip to Wisconsin for a Republican fund-raiser.

“I think the governor’s actions were most appropriate, under the cirumstances,” said U.S. Rep. Martin T. Meehan (D-Lowell). Asked how Romney’s take-charge persona is playing out on the national political scene, Meehan replied: “Anytime an executive makes the right decisions under pressure, voters respond.”

Many doubters will look at this as they did the Governor’s response to the Big Dig tragedy and say he’s angling for political gain. What people fail to recognize is that this guy is simply wired this way. He reacts to difficult situations with superior leadership. Those are his natural instincts.

Dave

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http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=16381

Human Events Online today posted a wonderful interview with Governor Romney. Here’s a portion:

You’ve had to deal with some disasters such as flooding and now the tunnel roof panel collapsing and killing a motorist. How has this changed you?

My career has had a long string of turnarounds and there are three things to remember when dealing with a crisis. First, sunshine is the best disinfectant. Bring some transparency, let people know what’s going on and stop hiding. Second, I believe in bringing in people smarter than me to help deal with some of the situations we have to face. No. 3 is to take personal responsibility. By that I mean I don’t just delegate a job to others and hope they do a good job, I remain actively involved in directing our efforts.

That, folks, is the next President of the United States.

Dave

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