I have been searching a bit on FactCheck.org to get information about Mitt Romney, former Governor of Mass. after talking to my sister-in-law Georgia (Athol, Mass) about Romney as a governor. She said he vetoed a lot and it seemed like they were always fighting over something and didn’t seem to get a whole lot else done. “They”, of course was the Legislative branch and the Executive branch. I had also read about his “I like vetoes.” advertising.
Here in a nut shell is what FactCheck.org had to say: “It is true that Romney issued more than 800 budgetary vetoes during his 4 year tenure. However the vast majority of them were over turned by the Democratic Legislature.” and “The overrides for fiscal years 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007 total 707 of the more than 800 line-item vetoes that Romney issued. So while Romney did indeed veto "hundreds of spending appropriations," as he says in the ad, he had little to show for them.”
Over 800 vetoes of which 707 were overturned. I believe I will have to agree with Georgia, Romney got very little done in his four year term, so why is he bragging about it? Or, is this another politician who seems to think he can tell the voters anything and they will gulp it down as they have always done in the past? But the past is gone, the good old days when stump speeches could be as outlandish as the politician wanted is over. We now have the internet and almost instant information to verify or dispute the claims.
These are smart people so I am not sure why they are still using these old tactics knowing full well they will be caught exaggerating or out right lying which will turn the voters off. (Refer to my post on Newt Gingrich and his comment on the immigration bill for an example of just-this-side of outright lying. This turned me totally off of Gingrich and I truly was leaning in his direction if he had decided to run.)
One other little detail Mr. Romney seems not to have taken into consideration when he promises to use the veto for fiscal restraint in Washington is that as Governor of Mass. he had the line-item veto. The President of the United States does not have this authority. He must accept or decline the entire budget as it is sent to him.
“President Clinton was granted this authority by Congress in 1996, but two years later, the Supreme Court ruled that Congress had overstepped its bounds and rescinded the president's line-item power. Efforts to grant a line-item veto in a form that might pass muster with the Court continue, but so far they have come to nothing.” (FactCheck.org)
One other Republican Presidential hopeful is bragging about his vetoes. At the June 5th Republican debate, former Governor of Wisconsin Tommy Thompson stated, “….there isn’t a candidate on either side of the aisle that has had as many vetoes as I have.” This is true as far as it goes, but it too needs clarification so I hope Mr. Thompson doesn’t go down the same road Mitt Romney has chosen.