Mitt Romney: Turning Massachusetts Into Mississippi, One Needy Person At a Time

Actually, the post title is unfair: Romney is quite capable of screwing over thousands of people at once. In order to further his Republican presidential bonafides by cutting spending, any spending, MA Governor Mitt Romney playing bookkeeping games so he could declare a fiscal state of emergency and unilaterally cut budget items.

During the 2006 election, what with all the fuss about Republican Sen. George "Macacawitz" Allen, I never got around to describing what first tipped me off to his being a complete asshole. When Allen was governor of VA, he vetoed all spending for Meals on Wheels (the VA legislature, not known as a bastion of socialism, overrode the veto). That's right, then Gov. Allen eliminated all funding for meals for elderly shut-ins. I don't care if it was Jesus or Ayn Rand who told him to do that; either way, it's disgusting.

Well, in that same glorious Republican tradition of cutting everything, regardless of the real world consequences, because the Gummint is Evil, Romney has cut funding for the mentally disabled and the elderly. He also cut funding for vaccination. Who the fuck cuts funding for vaccination? Say what you will about Democrats, they don't have a history of doing that. That Romney thinks that cutting these programs will play to the Republican base says one of three things about the base:

1. They are so fucking pig-headed ignorant that they don't realize what budget cuts (or elimination) means to real people.
2. They are dwelling in some mythical Peter Pan land where nobody ever suffers--at least if they're the chosen Select of God.
3. They are sociopaths.

Here are some of the 'wasteful' items Romney cut or eliminated (italics mine):

Romney's cuts will punish the poorest and sickest among us. Say good-bye to approximately $10 million in services for the mentally retarded; more than $1.5 million for elderly home-care services; $1 million for Head Start program grants; more than $1 million for emergency and acute mental-health services; $735,000 for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention; $410,000 for homeless assistance; $767,000 for emergency aid to the elderly and disabled; $428,000 for immunization; and $2.4 million for residential special education.

Preservation and maintenance of the state's parks and beaches also took a huge hit in these cuts, as did other environmental services. Millions were taken back from state colleges, which based this school year's budgets on the old numbers and are now screwed.

Remember when Romney wanted to create good jobs? Oh, those were the days. On Friday he cut $8 million from workforce-development grants; $14 million from economic grants to municipalities; $2.5 million from the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation; $1 million from the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency; and $22 million from the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism.

At least he was kind enough to Kerry Healey to wait until after the election to show just how much this administration cares about crime and violence. In that realm, he cut funds for youth-at-risk matching grants; domestic-violence specialists; sexual-assault services; the Sex Abuse Intervention Network; local law-enforcement assistance; witness-protection services; the State Police Crime Lab; the Criminal History Systems Board; the Sex Offender Registry Board; the Parole Board administration; and victim services.

God, I hope he runs for president. He'll be torn apart. And I'll be happy to help.

Update: Romney has bought Clear Channel communications. Nothing like de facto free media.