What Mitt Romney did to Massachusetts

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Other than being a profiteering vulture capitalist, Romney was a one-term governor of Massachusetts. That's it for his experience in elected politics.

While he's been distancing himself from much of what he did in Boston, including, you know, passing health-care reform that was very much the prototype for Obamacare, he's nonetheless claiming that he was a job creator there, that is, that his limited time in politics was characterized by significant economic achievement -- and that this is very much the key to what a Romney presidency would look like.

Ah, but there's the truth and there's everything that comes out of Romney's mouth. Ne'er the twain shall meet.

Here's Think Progress with the facts. During Romney's time in office, Massachusetts:

• Ranked 47th in job growth;
• Suffered the second-largest labor force decline in the nation;
• Lost 14 percent of its manufacturing jobs;
• Experienced "below average" economic growth and was "often near the bottom"; and
• Piled on more debt than any other state.

The truth shall set you free. Don't buy Romney's lies. He is not what he claims to be.