Reading Al Gore's comments on Mitt Romney we were reminded of all of the reasons we don't trust the man: "Good for Mitt Romney, though we've long passed the point where weak lip-service is enough on the climate crisis. While other Republicans are running from the truth, he is sticking to his guns in the face of the anti-science wing of the Republican Party."
The so-called science of global warming is more media hype and Wall Street attempts to profit on trading carbon credits than it is real science. The scientific community is split on the topic with some climatologist predicting a new mini ice age. Mitt Romney's gullibility on this issue helps us understand why he has been so wrong on most of the vital issues of the last decade.
Romney is often trumpeted by his supporters as having business experience and they love to site this record of taking Massachusetts from a three billion dollar deficit to a one billion dollar surplus. But the cost of his balanced budgets was tough on business. Peter Nicholas, founder of Boston Scientific Corporation, stated it this way: "Tax rates on many corporations almost doubled because of legislation supported by Romney. Romney's tax policies were not helpful for many small businesses. When Romney took many IRS subchapter S businesses in Massachusetts and almost doubled their tax rates; it was an important disincentive to investment, growth and job creation."
The Cato Institute reports as Governor, Romney "proposed $140 million in business tax hikes through the closing of 'loopholes' in the tax code.This led to Joseph Crosby of the Council on State Taxation to say, "Romney went further than any other governor in trying to wring money out of corporations."
Romney raised taxes on business by a total of $309 million. He increased taxes on business property. He then tried to raise taxes on hotels, but was stopped by the Democrat legislature. Romney at the time joined a coalition lobbying congress to tax Internet activity, and he even supported a tax on out-of-state commuters.
Romney refused to support the Bush tax cuts while governor, and when campaigning for governor, refused to sign the "no new taxes" pledge, calling it "government by gimmickry."
Now he wants us to believe he is a born again tax fighter.
But it is on the social issues that we get real heartburn. As star conservative researcher Steve Baldwin has pointed out: "Romney changed his position on over 30 key issues as he prepared to run for President four years ago." Many of his conversion experiences are on issues we believe to be vital to the well being of America's families.
As Governor Romney did great damage by unilaterally ordering homosexual marriage be instituted in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Constitution clearly prohibits the judicial branch from specifically changing marriage statutes so when the court issued the Goodridge opinion favoring homosexual marriage, all Romney had to do was to declare the court had no jurisdiction and ignore it. Instead Romney asserted the opinion was now the law and ordered town clerks and Justices of the Peace to marry homosexuals, even though the legislature never acted to codify the ruling.
But the reason we will never support him for president is an action he took in 2005. Governor Romney personally issued special governor's one-day marriage licenses to 189 same-sex couples, including to a homosexual activist state senator and others of his personal friends in the homosexual community.
We believe he can call a homosexual union whatever he wants, but it will never be a marriage. Marriage is the union of one man with one woman ordained by God for the purpose of creating a family. Even a President Romney can't trump God and God's nature. Let's hope Republican primary voters are smart enough to never let it come to that possibility.
The Browns are bestselling authors and speakers. To comment on this column, e-mail browns@caglecartoons.com. Together they write a national weekly column distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.
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