“Billy” Romney Reconnects With First Grade Teacher
(CBS)
LIVONIA, MICH. -- Mitt Romney was prepared to discuss tax cuts and government spending at the Americans for Prosperity Conference here, but he probably wasn’t expecting to talk about his first-grade report card.
The former Massachusetts governor and Michigan native was approached after the event by Gloria Blazo, his teacher during the 1953-1954 school year at Vaughn Elementary School in Bloomfield Hills.
Romney remembered his retired teacher as Mrs. Blazo, but she knew him by a nickname that has been unfamiliar to the rest of the country.
“This is my big secret,” Romney said. “It looks like in first grade, I was still being known as Billy Romney, and I think it was first grade when I decided I didn’t want to be Billy anymore because there was a song they sung back then: ‘where have you been Billy Boy’ … and I did not like that song, so I convinced my mom to let me use my middle name, which is Mitt.”
The former Massachusetts governor’s full name is Willard Mitt Romney.
Mrs. Blazo showed Romney her teacher’s notes and briefly spoke to reporters about what she remembered from the young student she taught over 50 years ago.
“He was one person you never had to reprimand about talking, you know,” She said. “He worked hard."
Property Taxes Rose to Highest Level in 25 Years. Romney''s cuts to local aid forced Massachusetts property taxes to their highest level in 25 years. [Quincy Patriot Ledger, 12/16/05; Boston Globe, 10/24/05]
Associated Industries of Massachusetts: Romney Forced Hike in Local Commercial Property Taxes. Romney "signed a measure that allowed local officials to raise the commercial property tax rate, which cost business owners $100 million, according to Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the state''s largest business group." [Quincy Patriot Ledger, 12/16/05; Boston Globe, 10/24/05]
Economic Performance During Romney''s Tenure as MA Governor Was "One of the Worst in the Country." According to economists at a Northeastern University, an analysis of the Massachusetts economy "reveals a weak comparative economic performance of the state over the Romney years, one of the worst in the country." [Boston Globe, 7/28/07]
7 Wages and Income in MA Fell By 2% During Romney Years. "Between 2002 and 2006, the median real (inflation adjusted) weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers in Massachusetts is estimated to have fallen by $10 or nearly 2 percent. The real income of the average (median) family in Massachusetts in 2005 was 1 percent below its value at the time of the 2000 Census while median household income was 3 percent below its 2000 value. Median household income fell even more sharply in the nation. Family incomes in both the United States and Massachusetts have become more unevenly distributed since 2000." [Boston Globe, 7/28/07]
7 ...But Housing Prices Rose Substantially. "There is one additional area in which Massachusetts was a national leader over the past five years, the rise in housing prices. Between 2000 and 2005, the median self-reported home price in Massachusetts increased by nearly 95 percent versus an increase of only 40 percent for the United States. The median home price ranked fourth highest among the 50 states, and the median value of homes relative to household income was the third highest in the country. The high affordability cost ratio encouraged the high levels of out migration from the state of young families with children." [Boston Globe, 7/28/07]
Romney is even running from his tax-raising record as Massachusetts governor. Romney%u2019s ad %u2013 which features him jogging near his summer home on New Hampshire''s Lake Winnipesaukee -- claims he inherited a state facing "huge deficits" and "turned it around" without raising taxes. [Boston Globe Political Intelligence blog, 8/29/07]
Romney earned the nickname "Fee-Fee" after increasing fees paid by the disabled, gun owners, people seeking training to combat domestic violence, used car buyer -- even horseback riding instructors. [Associated Press, 8/28/07]