Today, President Obama and his campaign launched a new attack on Mitt Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts, one that resonates with those of us who've dealt with the duplicity of GOP governors who have promised not to raise taxes, then proceeded to raise every fee imaginable. Because, you know, raising revenue by raising fees on working class people is good, while raising taxes on wealthy people and corporations is bad. Anyway, here's President Obama on Mitt Romney's Massachusetts Fees - Nashua, NH 10/27/2012:
THE PRESIDENT: Governor Romney has been out here making a lot of last-minute promises lately -- said he’s all about fighting for the middle class; says he’d cut taxes for everybody, and ask something from nobody. But the problem is we’ve heard those promises before.
Now keep in mind, Governor Romney lives just a few miles south of here in the state of Massachusetts. (Applause.) Love Massachusetts. (Applause.) But during Governor Romney’s campaign for governor down there, he promised the same thing he’s promising now -- said he’d fight for jobs and middle-class families. But once he took office, he pushed through a tax cut that overwhelmingly benefitted 278 of the wealthiest families in the state, and then he raised taxes and fees on middle-class families to the tune of $750 million. Does that sound familiar to you?
AUDIENCE: Yes!
THE PRESIDENT: Now, when he’s asked about this, he says, no these weren’t taxes, these were fees. (Laughter.) But keep in mind there were higher fees to be a barber, higher fees to become a nurse. There were higher fees for gas. There were higher fees for milk. There were higher fees for blind people who needed to get a certificate that they were blind. He raised fees to get a birth certificate -- which would have been expensive for me. (Laughter and applause.)
He raised fees for marriage certificates and fees for funeral homes -- so there were literally cradle-to-grave tax hikes and fees. (Laughter.)
LOL Given the absurd number of demands for President Obama's birth certificate, that would indeed have been expensive.
Thirty Seconds to Name All of Romney's Massachusetts Taxes and Fees
Here's the campaign ad that OFA released today in conjunction with President Obama's remarks regarding Romney's raising fees in Massachusetts:
Intertitle: As governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney claims he didn't raise taxes.
Romney: "As governor I cut taxes 19 times, and didn't raise taxes."
Intertitle: But he increased taxes & fees $750 million per year on small businesses and the middle class.
John McCain: "He called 'em fees. I'm sure the people that had to pay it, whether they called them bananas, they still had to pay extra."
Intertitle: So... can we list all the taxes & fees in 30 seconds?
[Countdown clock with rolling lists of taxes until 30 seconds have elapsed.]
Nope. That was only half.
For the full list, go to BarackObama.com/Romney-Fees
Jay-Z: Hope, Our Voice, & Our Vote
Yesterday, Obama For America released "Our Voice," a TV Ad excerpted from Jay-Z's ad "Jay-Z: The Power of Our Voice," which was featured in Hip-Hop Wired on Oct 15th:
President Obama: I'm Barack Obama, and I approved this message.
Jay-Z: For so long, there was this voice that was silenced out there, you know, as far as exercising your right to vote. People had lost hope. They didn't believe that their voice mattered or counted.
When the President got in office, what he represented to a nation of kids were hope.
Now people are exercising their right, and you are starting to see the power of our vote. He made it mean something for the first time for a lot of people.
Having someone in office who understands how powerful our voice can be is very important.
Hope is what President Barack Obama represents to so many Americans, young and old alike. Throughout his presidency and campaigns, President Obama has repeatedly shared variations of this encouraging message:
To me, the idea of America is that no matter who you are, what you look like, or where you come from, you can make it if you try.