From Taxachusetts to Small Government…

The two major party Massachusetts gubernatorial candidates, Shannon O’Brien and Mitt Romney, both similar in business backgrounds and experiences, constantly bicker back and forth, attempting to find the tiniest flaw that will give him or her an edge over the other in this race.

That’s been the story of this campaign for GOP candidate Romney and Democratic candidate O’Brien, as they battle and battle until the last possible moment. Both claim expertise in business and put a tremendous focus on the state budget and economics, two central issues facing the next governor.

Yet Romney and O’Brien each have a different plan to reduce the state debt, get the budget under control and help Massachusetts through these tough economic times.

‘Mitt and Kerry laid out an economic plan months ago. The goal is to foster jobs,’ said Nicole St. Peter, a spokesperson for Romney’s campaign. ‘Small government will increase taxes. If O’Brien is elected, she will reach into the taxpayers’ pockets for funds. We’d be headed for a one party state and ‘Taxachusetts.”

‘Romney is the only one who proposed tax hikes,’ said Sue Harvey, an O’Brien spokesperson. ‘There’s lots of waste and patronage. Romney says cut the budget one billion dollars. I don’t know anyone in the state who can do that. Anyone who says that in an economic downturn is crazy. The numbers don’t make sense,’ Harvey said.

O’Brien advocates small businesses and wants to invest mainly in the businesses already in Massachusetts, whereas Romney plans to bring large corporations from out of state. O’Brien criticized Romney on this point, saying Massachusetts should stay away from ”distant dinosaurs,” according to an October 8th article in The Boston Globe.

However, Romney said he believes big businesses can help the state economy and create more jobs. In that same article, he said Fidelity Investments, one of Massachusetts’ largest companies, employs ”more than 100,000 people.” Romney also described these big companies as ”engines of the entire economy.” Furthermore, Romney says he is not limiting himself to just bringing in big businesses and also wants to work with the smaller in-state companies to create more jobs.

‘We need to nurture the companies we have here,’ St. Peter said. ‘All jobs are important, from big corporations to small mom and pop businesses. Romney has years of experience working and investing in companies to create jobs, and he will do this as governor.’

According to a Boston Globe article from October 24th, Romney’s credentials include founding Bain Capital, which invests in companies and then sells shares for profits. Romney was also on the committee overseeing accounting for Marriott International and served time on the board of directors of Staples and The Sports Authority. He was also the President and CEO of the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics and helped free the organization from financial problems and scandal.

O’Brien also claims a solid background in business and economics, as state treasurer for the past four years. During that time, she fixed the embezzlement of ten million dollars from the state’s unpaid check fund, according to O’Brien’s campaign website. The site also says she audited the lottery system and implemented new policies, saved Massachusetts taxpayers $500 million dollars, revealed that Big Dig administrators hid two billion dollars and started a college investment plan.

Despite these intangibles, some think such business backgrounds don’t help those on Beacon Hill. Massachusetts has a huge fiscal crisis, including a 23 billion dollar budget, which state legislatures have not been able to reduce or balance.

‘I’ve covered this institution very closely. It doesn’t really matter what credentials you bring,’ said Boston University Journalism Professor Chris Daly. ‘They have experts working for them, so they don’t have to be the experts.’

O’Brien says she plans to reorganize the budget by concentrating on job creation, working to improve the existing state businesses and focusing on specific areas such as education, health care and affordable housing.

‘Job creation is a top priority for the administration,’ Harvey said. ‘We need to build on the strength Massachusetts already has, the institutions, small businesses, and we are emphasizing innovation. We’re also encouraging the tourism industry, which is the third largest in the state.’

Harvey also said O’Brien’s experience in the statehouse, along with running mate Chris Gabrieli’s business background, will provide solid leadership, if elected.

‘O’Brien understands the way the state’s money is managed and knows how to make the best use of resources. Gabrieli has experience in the private sector. The combination makes them a strong team,’ Harvey said.

Romney wants to eliminate waste, duplication and patronage, according to St. Peter. Rectifying the budget and government is something Romney has been working on for a while.

‘We were planning early on how to reorganize the state government to fix deficiencies,’ St. Peter said. ‘We are the only state that has two departments managing the highways. That is costing 58 million dollars. The health and human services use 12 different computer systems. We need to organize them.’

Throughout the campaign, O’Brien and Romney have been criticizing each other’s policies through television advertisements, debates and newspapers. One of the more recent critiques was Romney’s attack of the state treasurer for the seven billion-dollar loss in the state’s pension fund. The money loss took place over a span of three years, beginning around the time O’Brien became treasurer. An October 19th Boston Globe article states the fund lost one and a half billion dollars in last September alone.

Another criticism of O’Brien is that she increased the debt, bringing Massachusetts to the country’s highest debt per capita. Yet a September 21st Boston Globe article reports other people in the state legislature played more of a factor in the debt than O’Brien, and the treasurer doesn’t have supreme control to reduce or change the debt. In the article, Michael J. Widmer, president of the nonpartisan Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said O’Brien should not receive complete blame.

‘The treasurer has limited power to make dramatic changes in the level of annual debt service,’ Widmer said. ‘The governor is the one who decides how much new debt to issue.”

Even though she’s taken her fair share of critiques, that hasn’t stopped O’Brien from returning the favors, as she’s lashed out at Romney. According to an October 2nd Boston Globe article, O’Brien went after Romney’s economic policies, accusing him of using tax breaks to bring large corporations to Massachusetts instead of building the economy from within the state. More recently, during the televised debate on October 24th, O’Brien told Romney that he puts ‘profits before people,’ pocketing ‘half a million dollars.’ This was partly in response to Romney blasting the treasurer for increasing her own salary by 45 thousand dollars.

Besides the continuing attacks as to who has a better economic plan and who can reorganize the budget and decrease the state’s debt, the two major party candidates must also face other competition, coming from three candidates aggressively vying for the same top spot.

Perhaps the most progressive issue is abolishing the income tax. Libertarian candidate Carla Howell is making Question One a major subject in her campaign. She also advocates the idea of a small government, believing such a system works better than the current big government system and politics on Beacon Hill.

‘Small government is beautiful,’ Howell said in a phone interview. ‘The big government programs harm the people they intend to help. There’s no accountability to people who are affected. [These] programs are wasteful and costly and divert money and energy from productive and positive uses.’

Ending the income tax will decrease the state budget from its current 23 million dollars to 14 million dollars, according to Howell. Howell said the budget has more than doubled in the past decade. Yet she says there are other benefits to ending an income tax, especially for Massachusetts residents and workers, who will have more money in their pockets and more job opportunities. Howell outlines three major advantages to abolishing the income tax:

‘More money for people. ‘Three million workers will get back an average of three thousand dollars a year. That’s money people need to pay bills, for education and job training.’

‘More job creation. According to Howell, ending the tax will create three hundred thousand to five hundred thousand new jobs. ‘Those are for graduating high school and college students, jobs for state government workers, people who are laid off after companies downsize. We need jobs desperately in Massachusetts. My plan to end the income tax is the only solution to create new jobs,’ Howell said.

‘Elimination of monetary waste. ‘It will force the legislature to remove failed, flawed big health care companies,’ Howell said. ‘The tax [also] drives up the cost of living. Massachusetts can be an affordable place to live when we end the income tax and make government small.’

To help make the state government smaller, Howell wants to turn certain responsibilities to local communities and eliminate central planning and control of education and schools, as an example. She believes her experiences, including 25 years working with various private businesses mainly as a consultant will help her make the Massachusetts government small.

‘I have experience cutting costs and downsizing,’ she said. ‘I’m willing to do what’s right for the taxpayer. The other candidates support the 23 billion dollar budget, and it will continue to rise if they’re elected. I’m the only candidate to make government small and cut spending.’

Although O’Brien and Romney lead the polls, Howell still thinks she has a strong chance at winning the race and doesn’t think she’s at much of a disadvantage.

‘I’m a leading candidate, just not acknowledged by the media,’ she said. ‘I sponsored Ballot Question One [ending the income tax], and my opponents oppose it. I’m running full page ads in The Boston Globe, radio ads and I’ve been campaigning full time for 15 months.’

Similarly to Howell, Green Party gubernatorial candidate Jill Stein feels she can help fix Massachusetts’s budget and other economic issues plaguing the state. Stein comes from a much different background, however, as she spent most of her career in the medical profession and does not have much direct business experience. Yet that’s not stopping her from putting up a fight in the governor race.

‘She’s a Harvard trained medical doctor,’ said Pat Keaney, Stein’s campaign manager. ‘She’s used to looking at systems and doing the necessary steps to fix them. Romney, a venture capitalist and former CEO, and O’Brien, a lifetime bureaucrat, are at an enormous disadvantage. O’Brien and Romney are taking money from special interest groups and lobbyists. A lot of people need to wake up and ask themselves if they want politics as usual or a real candidate.’

Stein wants to distribute taxes equally and make sure lower-income workers don’t pay as much or even more than higher-income earning people.

‘What a novel idea, income tax cuts for low and middle class payers,’ Stein said regarding her tax plan in the October 24th television debate.

According to Keaney, those with lower incomes currently pay more in taxes. Stein also plans to eliminate much of the waste and patronage that exists in the Statehouse now.

‘There are dozens of positions within the judiciary branch that are state hires,’ Keaney said. ‘We would review all positions to determine what are worthy and what are patronage.’

The money created from cutting this waste could help reduce the budget and provide cash for the government to use where it’s really needed. Stein’s website states she wants to build a ‘sustainable economy.’ Besides the above methods, Stein plans to reward businesses, partly through tax incentives, who use more efficient, clean energy such as solar power, Keaney said.

‘Now, money is going to Raytheon and Fidelity,’ he said. ‘It’s a crazy economy. We want to reward the local community, companies that pursue alternate energy.’

To further reduce government costs, Stein says she will also create a universal, single payer health care system.

‘This system is favored by all other countries,’ Keaney said. ‘It will eliminate the entire insurance and managed care businesses.

Like Howell, Stein and company have been vigorously campaigning to draw the public’s attention to her and acknowledge that there are other candidates besides Romney and O’Brien.

‘We’ve been handing out flyers to everyone we run into,’ Keaney said. ‘Ideas are enough to carry the day. You don’t need a big advertising budget. The power of ideas, that’s all we need. Our time will come.’

Independent candidate Barbara Johnson wants to centralize the registry and repository to help reduce the state’s budget. She recently obtained a copy of the budget.

‘I worked hard to get it, and I can’t tell you how I got it,’ Johnson said in a phone interview. ‘When the registry grew up, we had buggies. It was convenient to file paper in court, but now, there’s no reason it can’t be centralized. It will save money everywhere, save millions.’

As far as Johnson’s other plans to raise money for the state, she wants to eliminate agencies that ‘overlap,’ free people who committed ‘victimless crimes’ and create business incentives to lure more out-of-state businesses to Massachusetts as well as to get those existing ones to stay.

‘We have two organizations running the highways, the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the Highway Department,’ Johnson said. ‘We have 15 health and human services. It’s pathetic.’

‘The corrections department website says 34 percent are non-violent, victimless crimes,’ she said. ‘We are spending 107 million dollars to put ankle braces on people. That’s not just a few bucks.’

Johnson also favors increasing certain industries that already have established a strong foothold in the state for the Massachusetts economy. These include expanding medical technology, biotechnology and computer technology.

She also wants to foster agricultural growth in Massachusetts. Fish farms and other agricultural companies are starting to move to Texas and Georgia, Johnson said. Johnson suggests cultivating fish native to this area so companies cannot leave.

Johnson thinks her background as an attorney, legal consultant and book editor will aid her as governor. She had a ‘strong education’ and studied business at MIT’s Center of International Relations.

She believes she has a more extensive record than those of the other candidates gaining more recognition and attention in this race for governor.

‘Shannon [O’Brien] is a political person,’ Johnson said. ‘I think she’s incompetent. She has done nothing. The Big Dig, the accounting system. She’s saved money; I recognize that. But she had power as treasurer to do more. Why didn’t she?’

Such a question, along with many others, is one voters will have to answer next Tuesday. As the Election Day draws nearer, the five candidates for the governor of Massachusetts make their final speeches, appeals and campaign outings. The intense rivalries increase, as the pressure’s on for someone to look better than the others, trying to find an advantage, even a slight one, that can carry him or her to victory.