Top 10 Reasons to Vote Against Mitt Romney

#10: Romney's main success stories are Staples and Dominos. These companies pay very poorly and are not a model for the economy as a whole -- at least, not an economy most of us would want to live in. Would you want to try to raise a family delivering pizzas for Dominos? To Romney, the plight of low wage workers is a theoretical one. His response to earning less that a hundred grand a year would probably be to take out a huge loan —but unlike Paul Cellucci, he could pay it off by cashing in a CD!

#9: One of the reasons Romney lost his bid for the Senate was the embarrassing revelations about how Bain treated employees at Ampad (also known as American Pad & Paper Co.), and in the wake of Enron, Worldcom, and Global Crossing, this may be just as embarrassing: Romney's company, Bain Capital, is being sued over possible defrauding of investors. Despite Ampad's bankruptcy, Bain walked out with a $50 million profit. Romney did not own stock in Ampad personally, but as vice president of Bain, he was surely aware of the overly rosy financial projections used to sell the stock to small investors. The 1996 stock offering sparked charges of insider trading and accounting fraud. Sound familiar?

#8: Speaking od fraud, remember all the scandals over the Salt Lake Olympics? They didn't end when Romney took over! Not only are the central figures in the Salt Lake Olympics bidding scandal likely to get off scot-free, the organizers paid them handsomely to go away. Tom Welch got a $1 million severance fee from SLOC and Dave Johnson reported $200,000. And unless a federal appeals court allows prosecutors to bring bribery, fraud, and racketeering charges against them, Welch and Johnson won't even stand trial. This "severance pay," several times what a typical Massachusetts worker earns in a year, came out of the small "profit" Romney and the SLOC eked out of the Olympics thanks to all the private donations and government handouts ("corporate welfare").

#7: Romney was only able to "save" the Olympics because of huge giveaways. The Utah congressional delegation strong-armed the Parks service to give pristine parkland to a multimillionaire to develop the skiing venue for free, despite the fact that he will make millions off it in the future. Most of the workers at the event forked for free, so the Salt Lake Olympic Committee (SLOC) didn't even have to pay the minimum wage most employees of Romney companies make. Maybe Romney thinks if he adks nicely, state troopers, garbage collectors, and teachers will work for free to make him look good!

#6: Romney said he "didn't notice" that Utah had him listed as a resident and gave him a $38,000 break on his property taxes. Anyone think he would have noticed a $38,000 increase? Did he illegally try to claim both states as his residence in order to maintain eligibility to run for office both places? We'll never know, because he refuses to release his income tax statements.

#5: Romney has no governmental experience at all. Zero. He had a message on his web site saying, "Romney to Legislature: Get Back in Session Now!" Like his confusion in the debates over the duties of a treasurer, he doesn't seem to understand the duties of governor or the legislature, He seems to think the governor is a CEO that can order the legislature around and fire them. Earth to Romney: the legislature is an elected body that doesn't answer to you. As for lowering taxes without cutting services, Romney thinks all you have to do to pay for something is go to the federal government and ask for a handout. After all, it worked for the Olympics!

#4: Romney's lack of experience doesn't make him an outsider. though. He is surrounded by advisors and other insiders from the Weld and Bush camps. Remember "the mess on Beacon Hill" and "we need change on Beacon Hill"? Well, we've had 12 years of Republican governors. If it's time for a change, vote for someone else!

#3: Romney thinks he is too important to pay dues. His only campaigns have been for U.S. Senate and Governor of Massachusetts. Considering his ties to the Bush white house, it's very possible that he only views the governor's office in Massachusetts as a stepping stone to the 2008 presidential race.

#2: Romney lied. He said he would not run against Swift, then he did, forcing her out of the race. Then he said he would not choose a running mate, but would let the Republican party choose one. Then he chose Kerry Healey and spend millions of dollars selling her to the public, capsizing Jim Rappaport's campaign with massive spending. And we're supposed to believe him when he says he's "not in this race for the rich"?

And the #1 reason not to vote for Mitt Romney is:

Romney is making a big deal of "not being in this race for the rich," but where have you seen Romney bumper stickers and yard signs? Mostly on luxury cars and SUVs and in the yards of mansions, high-priced condos, and big businesses. And who does he think he's fooling with his "made for the press" tries at pumping gas or selling hot dogs? How many of you have such perfectly coiffed hair and impeccably tailored blue jeans without a stain, tear, or patch? Romney is just plain out of touch!

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