mythbusting

As I was reading the lengthy comment section of the latest Hugh Hewitt piece, I came across this gem. I have been ham-handed in my defense of the charge that Romney has flip flopped on issues when compared to this concise run-down written by fellow unknown conservative blogger laboring in virtual (ha) obscurity, Ryan Larsen. As usual, click the title of this post to see the referenced composition.

"This is not just Overbite; it's the media. I'd like to talk about the fact that the timetable charge is not the only false charge made against Romney. If you go down the line you see distortion after distortion.

For example, they say that Romney flip-flopped on Immigration, charging that he supported McCain’s bill in 2005 and that he had sanctuary cities in Massachusetts. But the fact is, sanctuary status was instituted on a city level that Romney had nothing to do with and with a liberal legislature there was nothing he could do about it. And Romney did not endorse McCain’s bill in 2005. In fact he explicitly said he was not willing to endorse it. He did say that it was “reasonable” but the 2007 bill is very different from the 2005 bill and the provisions Romney objects strongly to like the z-visa, were NOT in the 2005 bill. So his position did not change, the bill changed.

They also say he changed on the death penalty because he didn’t execute anyone in Massachusetts. But the fact is, Massachusetts doesn’t have the death penalty and Mitt Romney fought to try to get one.

They also say that Mitt Romney changed on gay marriage. But the fact is, Romney has always been against gay marriage.

In 1994 he said he supported gay rights, but the term “gay rights” had a different meaning in 1994 than it does today.

They also say that he changed on waiting periods for guns. But the fact is, Romney supports background checks and because technology has changed, waiting periods are no longer required for background checks.

They say that Romney refused to comment on Bush’s tax cuts, but the fact is, when he was asked he was trying to pass a budget through a liberal legislature and wisely chose to stay out of national politics.

They also claim that the total tax burden went up under Romney, but the numbers they use include city taxes. At the state level, taxes went down because Romney cut them. And then they try to say that fees are like taxes. And I’m surprised at how many conservatives don’t understand that fees are conservative. A fee covers the cost for a special good or service (similar to paying a local business except it’s the government); when the fee is not high enough to cover the cost of the service provided, the taxpayer ends up subsidizing. Romney saved tax dollars by eliminating the taxpayer subsidizing of fees. This is conservative because if I lose my drivers license, why should tax dollars be used to get me a new one?

And then with the Martin Luther King stuff, they conveniently leave out the fact that George Romney not only led civil rights marches but Martin Luther King Jr. actually said that he thought George Romney would make a good president.

And then another distortion is they claim that Mitt Romney put 50 dollar abortion co-pays into his healthcare plan. But that’s a lie. It was a court decision that did that, it was not in the bill.

These facts need to get out"