UPDATED: The Boston Globe has joined others who are pouncing on Mitt Romney's lie about advancing qualified women last night. Here's the pertinent quote:
Thankfully, Barack Obama seemed much more on his game last night - the boyfriend and I watched CNN in our cabin - and Mitt Romney was, well Mitt Romney. A liar who either lied out right (e.g., saying he wants to increase Pell grants when his plan would actually cut them), evaded the truth or made things up as he went along. I truly believe that the man will do and say anything if he thinks it furthers his cause and the truth be damned. On his repeated statements that he knows "how to create jobs" I had to nearly vomit or throw something at the television. As I noted recently, even David Stockman, Ronald Reagan's budget director has taken Romney to task on this bullshit. It's also noteworthy that Romney apparently lied about seeking to get women into his administration while governor of Massachusetts. Here's a highlight from The Phoenix addressing Romney's fictional account of his actions to find qualified women:
Romney ... did not have a history of appointing women to high-level positions in the private sector. Romney did not have any women partners as CEO of Bain Capital during the 1980s and 1990s. The venture capital and private equity fields were male-dominated, to be sure, especially during Romney’s time. Women started to break into the upper echelons of the firm after it started a hedge fund, called Brookside in 1996. Today, 4 of out of 49 of the firm’s managing directors in the buyout area are women.
Thankfully, Barack Obama seemed much more on his game last night - the boyfriend and I watched CNN in our cabin - and Mitt Romney was, well Mitt Romney. A liar who either lied out right (e.g., saying he wants to increase Pell grants when his plan would actually cut them), evaded the truth or made things up as he went along. I truly believe that the man will do and say anything if he thinks it furthers his cause and the truth be damned. On his repeated statements that he knows "how to create jobs" I had to nearly vomit or throw something at the television. As I noted recently, even David Stockman, Ronald Reagan's budget director has taken Romney to task on this bullshit. It's also noteworthy that Romney apparently lied about seeking to get women into his administration while governor of Massachusetts. Here's a highlight from The Phoenix addressing Romney's fictional account of his actions to find qualified women:
Not a true story.
What actually happened was that in 2002 -- prior to the election, not even knowing yet whether it would be a Republican or Democratic administration -- a bipartisan group of women in Massachusetts formed MassGAP to address the problem of few women in senior leadership positions in state government. There were more than 40 organizations involved with the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus (also bipartisan) as the lead sponsor.
They did the research and put together the binder full of women qualified for all the different cabinet positions, agency heads, and authorities and commissions. They presented this binder to Governor Romney when he was elected.
I have written about this before, in various contexts; tonight I've checked with several people directly involved in the MassGAP effort who confirm that this history as I've just presented it is correct -- and that Romney's claim tonight, that he asked for such a study, is false.
None of the senior positions Romney cared about -- budget, business development, etc. -- went to women.
Secondly, a UMass-Boston study found that the percentage of senior-level appointed positions held by women actually declined throughout the Romney administration, from 30.0% prior to his taking office, to 29.7% in July 2004, to 27.6% near the end of his term in November 2006. (It then began rapidly rising when Deval Patrick took office.)
Third, note that in Romney's story as he tells it, this man who had led and consulted for businesses for 25 years didn't know any qualified women, or know where to find any qualified women. So what does that say?
As I said, Mitt Romney is a shameless pathological Liar. Any woman - or man - who believes anything Romney says is an idiot and does so at their own risk.
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