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MA Governor Wants More New Tech 500

Posted by Zonk from the why-is-it-about-asia-at-all dept.
turnitover writes "Cryptically stating that Asia wants the U.S. to become 'the France of the 21st century,' Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney made a public call for more innovation in technology, reports eWEEK.com. He urged more investment and development and, yes, a move to OpenDocument, as reported previously on Slashdot." From the article: "Underlining the challenge, Romney said leaders of one technology firm in Massachusetts anticipated that 90 percent of its skilled labor would be in Asia in 10 years. He also pointed to statistics that show the United States graduating only 4,400 mathematics and science PhDs each year compared with 24,900 math and science PhDs for greater Asia."
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MA Governor Wants More New Tech More

MA Governor Wants More New Tech

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  • Just a few points... (Score:5, Funny)

    by TripMaster Monkey ( 862126 ) * on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:24PM (#14055190)

    OK....here's what I took away from this article:

    Asia would like us to become the France of the 21st century.

    Wow...one statement that manages to offend both the Americans and the French. Well done, sir!

    China and India have a population a multiple of ours.

    While I'm certain this statement is factually correct (it can't help but be), I nevertheless find myself wondering just what multiple Romney is alluding to here. Three? Ten? Two-fiths? i?

    In foreign policy he [Romney] said we must win the war against a "radical jihad," but that we must enable jihadists to become part of the global economy.

    Ahh...there we go...I bet the Islamic fundamentalists were feeling left out by this point. Nice to see Romney managed to squirrel in a jab at the boogyman of international terrorism during his call for more tech innovation....at this point, his speech is sounding spookily like a platform for running for office...

    Romney, a Republican, has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate.

    OK, now I'm scared.

    • Re:Just a few points... (Score:5, Funny)

      by pizzaman100 ( 588500 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:45PM (#14055460) Journal
      Asia would like us to become the France of the 21st century.

      It's bad enough that we're losing high tech jobs, but if our women stop shaving and washing that will be the coup de grâce.

      • It's bad enough that we're losing high tech jobs, but if our women stop shaving and washing that will be the coup de grâce.


        That would be especially terrible since they are such fat slobs already. Eww.

      • In France, women don't need to shave because unlike those of your country they don't have beards.
      • French girls take way better care of themselves than in north america where everyone is fat and smelly.

        • Re:Just a few points... (Score:3, Informative)

          by wpiman ( 739077 )
          I have been to the French Riveria-- and I have to ask- what do you feed those women? They are all AWESOME. Of course- they didn't want anything to do with us (and some of my compatriates were studs back home)-- I think they have spent years getting the gene pool just right. We would only throw it off kilter.

    • Multiples (Score:3, Insightful)

      by overshoot ( 39700 )
      While I'm certain this statement is factually correct (it can't help but be), I nevertheless find myself wondering just what multiple Romney is alluding to here. Three? Ten? Two-fiths? i?

      Damn it, Jim! He's a politician, not a mathematician!

      As Barbie teaches us, "Math is hard." The other key lesson is that hard work is for the underclasses, not the ruling class. From this we learn why he wants more math and science graduates: so he doesn't have to do hard math for his own speeches.

    • boogyman of international terrorism


      Closet monsters don't fly airplanes into skyscrapers.

  • Quality not quantity (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bjorniac ( 836863 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:27PM (#14055214)
    Yes, the US graduates fewer PhDs in math and physics. I'm trying to be one of them. But the quality of the US PhD programs are what brought me here (I'm not USian). You can graduate a million PhDs from a degree farm somewhere but if they haven't had the same level of education they aren't going to be as influential. I'm not saying that asian universities are bad, just that there needs to be a deeper insight into this than just raw numbers.
    • I don't know if the number of science/math students is even an issue. I mean, if people aren't interested in those subjects, they simply aren't interested. You can't just turn a dial and get more students. So this guy is making claims about an issue that really isn't an issue and even if it was, there wouldn't be any solution anyway.
      • I don't know if the number of science/math students is even an issue. I mean, if people aren't interested in those subjects, they simply aren't interested. You can't just turn a dial and get more students. So this guy is making claims about an issue that really isn't an issue and even if it was, there wouldn't be any solution anyway.

        There are pros and cons to getting a PhD and people weigh those before going into a science graduate program, and during their program. On the "pros" side you've got the joy o

    • Re:Quality not quantity (Score:4, Insightful)

      by SatanicPuppy ( 611928 ) <Satanicpuppy@nosPAm.gmail.com> on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:53PM (#14055537) Journal
      Yea, we graduate less. "Greater Asia" to me suggests India, China, Korea, and everything in between...Otherwise known as more than a third of the people in the world. Just counting China and India vs the US we get:

      2,500,000,000 / 300,000,000 = 8.3333 repeating

      So, if they have 8 times as many people, they must graduate 8 times as many engineers right?

      24,900 / 4400 = 5.66

      Hmmmmm...It would seem that they only generate 5.6 times as many engineers. Only 67% of the number that we graduate, adjusted for population. Not to say that we shouldn't be doing better...I've no doubt we generate more lawyers than that! But it's just a scare number, not a real metric.
      • I actually decided to look up the number of JDs (juris doctor = Law Degree) compared to Engineering PhDs...

        All I could find was 1997:

        Engineering Phds: 5980

        JDs: 39,331

        Source [aaas.org]

        I don't think we need to worry about anyone overcoming our lawyer production anytime soon. =P
    • I think you also need to look at what happens to PhDs AFTER they graduate. Where do they work? Do they stay in the same country they studied in? I think THAT'S the real measure. The funny part is, a lot of PhDs from India and China are being used in those very countries. About the quality of education, you'd be surprised at how good some universities in Asia are - some of them are ranked higher than well known US ones. The real thing to think about is that the talent that is being produced is being re-cycle

  • Well, Duh! (Score:5, Informative)

    by Optic7 ( 688717 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:27PM (#14055219)
    Greater Asia has over 3.5 Billion people! The US is just scratching 300 Million. So we are still doing better than them in Math/Science PhDs, percentage-wise.
    • Well obviously the guy who wrote the article can't do math. :) Or they don't even have a basic understanding of when to use absolute numbers or ratios.
    • So we are still doing better than them in Math/Science PhDs, percentage-wise.

      Yes, but the chine$e keep $elling more $tuff than the US anyway.

    • So we are still doing better than them in Math/Science PhDs, percentage-wise.

      Um, so what? When ten times as many scientists invent ten times as many things over there, will you say that you are keeping up "percentage-wise"? When your citizens buy ten times as many things from them as they buy locally-produced things, will you say that you are keeping up "percentage-wise"? When your companies employ ten times as many people abroad as they do locally, will you say that you are keeping up "percentage-

  • Bad Comparison (Score:5, Insightful)

    by abscondment ( 672321 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:27PM (#14055223) Homepage

    4,400 mathematics and science PhDs each year compared with 24,900 math and science PhDs for greater Asia

    Perhaps you should compare the base population of "greater Asia" to the base population of the US... then the figure would seem incredibly skewed towards the US.

    • Re:Bad Comparison (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Moby Cock ( 771358 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:30PM (#14055272) Homepage
      Percentages are not really important. In this case the aggregate count is the key. 24,900 engineers can design and manufacture more cool crap than 4,400 engineers can.
      • Yes, but short of cloning the entire population of the United States 10-fold, there's not much chance we'll increase those numbers noticably. Run an ad campaign about all the hot, loose women in the engineering field, on the other hand, and you'll probably end up with six figure graduations.

        • Re:Bad Comparison (Score:4, Insightful)

          by timeOday ( 582209 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @03:26PM (#14055958)
          Yes, but short of cloning the entire population of the United States 10-fold, there's not much chance we'll increase those numbers noticably.
          That's not true. People do what their culture and economic system rewards them to do. In the US, that means becoming a lawyer.

          Maybe our market is right and theirs is wrong, and what a country really needs for long-term prosperity is lots of lawyers and real estate agents. I guess we'll find out.

      • Somehow your theory doesn't hold up when comparing the infrastructure of the United States to that of greater Asia...
      • In this case the aggregate count is the key. 24,900 engineers can design and manufacture more cool crap than 4,400 engineers can.

        I'd put the emphasis on the "crap" part. Most of what is out there are just variations on the real inventions of the past. Hardly surprising that most engineers and scientists pursue well trodden and well understood disciplines, but what we need is more trailblazers.

      • Re:Bad Comparison (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Scarblac ( 122480 ) <slashdot@gerlich.nl> on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:41PM (#14055419) Homepage

        Percentages are really important. That the rest of the world combined designs and manufactures more cool crap than you guys do "alone" doesn't really mean anything; if you design and manufacture much more cool crap per person you stay wealthier per person.

      • Quality is a big factor, too. An engineer who develops crap is basically useless, and far more of a liability than a benefit. Sure, he or she may have a doctorate, but if all they can do is design legal hazards then they're of no use.

        • Are you suggesting that Asian goods are inferior qulaity to American?

          I would argue that in terms of quality both are competitive and it really depends on the item in question.
          • Not at all. I've actually found most Asian goods to be superior to American goods.

            What I was suggesting, however, is that quality is far more important than quantity. An engineer, be them American or Asian, who designs faulty products and structures should not be counted as an "engineer", even if they have a doctorate from some university. Thus a nation should not take pride in churning out some percentage of its population as engineers if those engineers are not qualified.

      • Re:Bad Comparison (Score:5, Funny)

        by peculiarmethod ( 301094 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:45PM (#14055464) Journal
        But 4,400 is a LOT!

        I think.

        Isn't it?

        (looks at fingers)
      • Yes, well, when "greater Asia" becomes a single country I'll start to take that statistic more seriously. Maybe we should compare, say, China to "greater Europe" and see how that statistic looks. Or even better, lets lump Europe and North America together.

        Hey, this is fun. We can make this number come out however we want!

    • Your figure would only be correct if an American PhD is equivalent to an Asian PhD, namely in how easy it is to obtain one.

      It is easy enough in the US to obtain a doctorate from a relatively unknown college. I have worked with such people, and they are often quite lacking in the skills that would be expected from people with their supposed background. The quality of an American PhD relative to an Asian one might be quite significant. I haven't worked with anyone who received their PhD in Asia, so I can't sa

      • Refer to this comment [slashdot.org]. If you believe the poster is who he says he is (a non-American seeking a math/science PhD from a US college), you can accept his synopsis: the "dumb PhD" problem is only worse in Asia.

      • I'm sure there are scammers everyone. Though as all colleges in China are staterun its probably not as much of a problem.. Though I've met PhDs from respectable US college with no clue, infact know one who litterly paid someone else for all the research/data analysis for her thesis and passed.
    • Population: Asia = 3,622,994,130 --- 24,900 is 1 in every 145,501

      Population: US = 295,734,134 --- 4,400 is 1 in every 67,212

      The United Sates has more than twice the per capita PhDs.

  • Too little, too late? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by blastard ( 816262 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:28PM (#14055229)
    Romney needed to act on this 3-4 years ago.
    I've been part of the tech downturn at the time. Many of my ex-co-workers left the state because there were too few opportunities.

    The state spent lots of money paying unemployment insurance, and the unemployed were effectively prevented from starting up their own companies because they would lose benefits the day they registered their company.

    All these well qualified individuals could not use their skills during that time. Instead, they left for less costly pastures.

    Massachusetts was the only state to lose population in 2004. And it wasn't losing those on the dole.

    • >the unemployed were effectively prevented from starting up their own companies because they would lose benefits the day they registered their company.

      This, I think, is a key point and deserves amplification.

      Not only can you not start your own business and still have healthcare (...unless you're on your spouse's policy ... ); you can't hire people without having to factor in healthcare costs, which terribly skews the hiring decision.

      I know whereof I speak. I would happily hire 2 people to do the les

    • Boston was recently rated the most expensive city in the US [boston.com] primarily due to housing costs (see bugmenot if you don't want to register for the article). Rewinn is right that the overhead of running a small business is driving employment opportunities away. Maybe it all balances out since the cost of housing is driving potential employees away.
  • How does the quality of a typical American PhD program compare to that of a typical Asian PhD program? Is the research of a higher quality in America, or in Asia? Is it easier to "buy" your way to such a degree in America, or is it easier in Asia?

  • England of the 21st Century (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bombadillo ( 706765 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:29PM (#14055241)
    "Cryptically stating that Asia wants the U.S. to become 'the France of the 21st century,"

    Wouldn't a better analogy be, "the England of the 21st century". After all we do have troops in the same cities around the world (Baghdad, Kabul) as Britain at the turn of the 20th century. We did take the position of world power from the British. Much of our common law is based from British law. But hey, the sun never sets on the British Empire....
  • Anyone care to elucidate what The Gov is talking about?

  • They're Not Looking at the Full Picture (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:32PM (#14055287)
    He also pointed to statistics that show the United States graduating only 4,400 mathematics and science PhDs each year compared with 24,900 math and science PhDs for greater Asia."

    That's as may be, but it neglects the fact that the US produces virtually all of the world's Intelligent Design specialists. And that's where the future is, not in the witchcraft practices of math and science.

  • Er.... WTF? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by brunes69 ( 86786 ) <slashdot@nOSpam.keirstead.org> on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:32PM (#14055293)

    He also pointed to statistics that show the United States graduating only 4,400 mathematics and science PhDs each year compared with 24,900 math and science PhDs for greater Asia."

    Correct me if I am wrong, but since greater Asia has a population of 4 billion [wikipedia.org], as opposed to the US's 297 million [wikipedia.org], that is a pretty favourable ratio in favour of the US ( about 2.5 times as many graduates per capita ).

    Even if he only means "Asia" as in "China and India and Japan", the US still has more graduates per capita.

  • How many PhDs do we need? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MyNameIsFred ( 543994 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:33PM (#14055315)
    I don't find arguments based on how many PhDs we produce to be compelling. How many PhDs do we need? Are there severe shortages currently? Do we need more PhDs or more BScs? I say these things as someone who has a PhD, and who has hired several of them. I have not seen evidence that we have a huge shortage.
    • We really don't need any at all. Seriously: what good is an advanced degree when your job is to ask "Would you like fries with that?" This is the future of the US.

      Furthermore, my position is backed by the earning potential of PhDs and other technical workers. These people would make more money by becoming plumbers or roofers. Obviously, US industry does not think that technical careers are worth very much; if there were really a shortage, the pay would be much higher.

      Currently, there's supposedly a shor
    • Well one thing is for sure, if we do have a shortage of PhDs, we need do two things:

      1) Up the average pay to encourage more people towards them.

      Why would I want to spend upwards of 10 years of my life (4 years BS, 2 years MS, 4 years PhD ... not an aggresive schedule at all) to only make a few extra dollars over a BS or MA? A BS starts out around $50k. An MS starts out around $65k. And a PhD starts out around $70k? I'd rather get my BS or MS, make a good wage, and spend those extra 6 or 4 years starting and

  • Innovation is more important than anything else (Score:3, Insightful)

    by external400kdiskette ( 930221 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:34PM (#14055324)
    USA has generally kept ahead by inventing stuff and that's why it'll probably stay ahead of Asia, the economies future isn't going to be reliant on writing some basic HTML code at minimum wage, it's going to be dependant on continuing to come up with great new ideas. Asia is generally looking to be a solutions provider for everything under the sun rather than making their own stuff. And they're renowned for making inventions slightly smaller and adding a clock. Anyway, good luck to them.

  • What does throwing money at a problem accomplish? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by sedyn ( 880034 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:35PM (#14055334)
    "He suggested paying teachers a $5,000 bonus for teaching Advanced Placement courses, as well as giving the top third of teachers a $5,000 bonus."

    How does paying specific teachers more really solve the problem? I could be wrong here, but doesn't it just say that better paid people are happier?

    Besides, if you think about it, don't teachers already want to teach AP classes as is? I mean, they usually have the smarter kids, that are more worried about their futures. Therefore, on average, the students that are most likely be hard working and willing to learn, not just to goof off and get a diploma.

    From this logic, teaching AP sounds easier and more rewarding...
    • While in some regards teaching an AP class is easier, there are also unique challenges to it. Many teachers wish for the day they have a room full of smart kids who love to learn, until they land in front of that class and struggle to hold the interest and respect of those students.

      Teaching anybody anything is challenging, but teaching highly intelligent and highly motivated students is a special sort of challenge. By offering incentives we get teachers who may not have considered taking on this challenge

      • I think the focus on PhDs is unfortunate, we need to be graduating more bachelors in engineering and science disciplines. We're already a world leader in fundamental research, we need the folks who can take fundamental breakthroughs and turn them into innovative products. Those transformations are what create wealth, and by extension jobs.

        No, we don't need any more bachelors in engineering and science at all. We already have far too many. Look at the typical salaries for these professions: they're very lo
    • Paying more money to teachers makes the NEA happy which is always good for your reelection bid.

  • That's Not Cryptic (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Doug Dante ( 22218 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:35PM (#14055346)
    "Cryptically stating that Asia wants the U.S. to become 'the France of the 21st century"

    It's only cryptic if you don't understand that France is a former world power that has been permanently eclipsed economically, technologically, culturally, and militarily, and it has an almost obsessive desire to act as if it is America's nemesis, complaining almost reflexively of most of America's moves on the international stage.

    That's not to say that the French aren't nice people, nor that I wouldn't love to hang out on one of their topless beaches, nor watch Paris's nightly display of lights, but in the realpolitik world, France doesn't matter! Thus their desire for a strong, core European Union, which along with Germany, they hope to dominate, to unite Europe as a strong and meaningful entity on the global stage.

    You will know that the US is screwed when it seeks to create a transnational government with Canada and Mexico.

  • Interesting numbers (Score:3, Interesting)

    by spectrokid ( 660550 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:39PM (#14055395) Homepage
    I got presented with salary numbers yesterday from a director in my company. Even though chinese wages raise much faster, because they start so low, we actually will be widening the wage-gap until 2020 and we will only meet again in 2040. So the challenge is there, no doubt. But whassup with the France cryptic stuff?? Ok, so quite a few people around Paris are reading car-brochures right now. But if you go on holliday in RURAL France, you will soon see that "Living like God in France" is still quite close to reality.

  • What did you expect? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by willow ( 19698 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:39PM (#14055400)
    Science, math, and engineering education and professions are disrespected by the educational system (we'd rather fund our sports teams), the government (your scientific results don't support our politics), businesses (your work is critical to us but we can't pay you more than your overseas competition), and media (entertainers are cool, geeks drool).

    I doubt this will change until it's too late.

  • Hysteria sweeps MA (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Billosaur ( 927319 ) *

    These sound an awful lot like the kind of things they said after Sputnik went up in October 1957. Back then, politicians fanned those flames too. Mind you it got us to the Moon and made Neil Armstrong wish he'd stayed on the farm, but still the motivation behind it turned out to be a little overdone. The Soviets burned themselves up just trying to keep up with us technologically.

    From eWeek: Underlining the challenge, Romney said leaders of one technology firm in Massachusetts anticipated that 90 percent o

  • A Note on the PhD Rates (Score:3, Informative)

    by meggito ( 516763 ) <npt23@drexel.edu> on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:40PM (#14055410) Homepage
    He also pointed to statistics that show the United States graduating only 4,400 mathematics and science PhDs each year compared with 24,900 math and science PhDs for greater Asia." 4400 to 24900 is a ratio of 1 to 5.7. The US has about 300m people so, apply the ratio and you figure we have the same % graudated, that is 1.71 Billion. Given that the population of Asia was 3.44 Billion in '95 and is estimated at over 3.68 in 2000 (http://www.unhabitat.org/habrdd/asia.html [unhabitat.org]) I would say that we are actually graduating mathematics and science PhDs at twice the rate of asia. Note: There may be a distinction between Asia and Greater Asia I do not understand and my population numbers are for Asia as a whole.
  • Isn't it unfair that many of these other countries offer FREE SCHOOL to students who score well?
    Here in the US, a few lucky folks get free scholarships, but that's tough to do and not the norm.

    It's obvious: to balance things, Asia will have to switch to a money-based system of education. Besides, there's only so many jobs to go around anyways, so there's no reason to educate hoardes of poor children. Where is the WTO when you need them??

  • number of PhDs is a good indicator of ? (Score:4, Informative)

    by avi33 ( 116048 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:43PM (#14055436) Homepage
    While I'm no fan of the decline of America's standing on the educational chart (word to you, Kansas), this guy is using an arbitrary number to jump on the bandwagon of "China's going to 0wn the US in a few years."

    China makes, and for some time, has made its fortune making things...from cheap plastic toys to electronic components, circuitry, you name it.

    The US (and several other advanced economies) have made their fortunes, for the most part in the last 30+ years, not from manufacturing (which has been in decline in the US since the 70s) but from the conceptualization, specification, packaging, marketing, and just moving the objects. The US will no more become a manufacturing powerhouse than China will start cranking out Google (granted, a lot of PhDs there), Madden NFL, G-Unit, and Spiderman 3. That's where the US is making its $billions these days.

    Will China move up the food chain economically? Of course. Will they turn the US into a satellite economy? No. The US spends a lot because it makes a lot. There are a host of economic factors that can't be adequately explored here, but our money isn't going to up and fly away to China.

    Perhaps, if this bandwagon jumper is so concerned about America's economic future, he should convince his fellow politicians that it's bad long term policy to create massive national debt that is bought up by the Chinese with all their new manufacturing profits. That's more of a financial danger than getting out-PhD'ed.

  • Let me guess ... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by overshoot ( 39700 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:45PM (#14055463)
    ... this comes from someone who has made a career of technology?

    No? You mean that the Ruling Class isn't flocking to the sciences? How many of Governor Romney's children has he convinced to make a future in science and technology?

    Let me guess: his kids are being groomed for careers in law, finance, and government as befits their station in life and more realistic estimates of long-term prospects.

    I wonder why he's not advocating more of the Great Unwashed go after those jobs in competition with his own ...

    Oh, wait a minute!

  • If we REALLY want more math and science grads... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    then employers will pay competitive salaries instead of farming out the work to H1-Bs or offshore. Only an idiot will pay 4+ years of college tuition for the privilege of competing with people whose education was totally subsidized.

    The credentials of some of the offshore people are not all that great. I know someone who was an IT worker in India at age 15. His labor was being sold to US companies who were told he had a BSCS. Employers could hire US high school students with alot less muss and fuss; the

  • Getting a PhD doesn't pay anymore (Score:5, Interesting)

    by geneing ( 756949 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:53PM (#14055538)
    Just yesterday I read in my university newspaper that NSF did a study and found that getting a PhD in science and engineering doesn't really pay anymore. On average you do earn more if you have a doctorate degree, but you never recoop the earnings you lost while earning your degree. I think the conclusion that economists would make is that there is an oversupply of PhD's.

    Many would say that you don't get a doctorate degree for the money alone. It was not the main motivation for me either.

  • Please ignore Romney... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by SuperBanana ( 662181 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:53PM (#14055545)

    I live in MA, and Romney has been one colossal pain in the ass.

    • Countless "initiatives" and campaign platforms of his have barely seen the light of day. He immediately took a "tough guy" stance with the legislature, assuring he's been a "lame duck governor" since before he was sworn in. He claimed his business experience (he headed Bain Capital, an aquisition firm which oppertunistically bought up companies, "trimmed the fat" by firing huge numbers of employees, etc. He was infamous for his my-way-or-the-highway attitude; very much a stereotypical rich white power broker asshole.) About the only good thing to come of Romney's "tough guy" stance was that Thomas Finneran (former speaker of the house) is gone.
    • He has fought relentlessly against public opinion and the court system to ban gay marriage. Loves to talk about the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman, but doesn't like to mention in the same discussion that he's a Mormon- a religion which used to promote treating women like cattle and marrying as many as you like.
    • He claims the US Olympics as one of his greatest victories, "turning them around"- except the only reason it worked was because of massive bailouts by the federal government. He doesn't like to talk about the stories of him going into screaming rages at teenage Olympic volunteers- in public.
    • Has spent virtually all of his time in office sucking up to conservative Republicans on a national level, clearly desperate to run for President. He's always taking trips internationally and around the country, pretty clearly trying to make himself a national/international player. Keeps dropping hints about "aspirations" but then denying them categorically. Uses his wife's chronic illnesses as an excuse for why he hasn't decided if he's running or not. More likely, he's trying to decide if the Republican party has even the slimmest chance of putting anybody in office higher than "senator", and if he should settle for that instead of trying to secure a presidential nomination.

    The man is a calculating, cold, arrogant, mean, power-brokering son of a bitch.

    • forgot to mention... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by SuperBanana ( 662181 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @03:02PM (#14055653)
      ...that he once rode the MBTA(aka the T subway) for one stop (yep, just one) to show "how safe it is", in a publicity stunt to assure Boston residents that the T was safe after the London bombings.

      Except along the way he was accosted by a bum who asked him if he was running for President or not (I'm dead serious) and was nearly attacked on one of the subway platforms by a woman who was in the news for keeping about a hundred cats in her house (a fair number of them dead, and a bunch of the dead ones in several freezers.) MBTA and State Police took care of both problems.

      Adding insult to injury, a reporter asked him how much the fare was, and he said "a buck". Except the MBTA has been $1.25 for over a year. The MBTA comissioner became enraged when reporters made something of it. "The governor can't be aware of everything". Except it was a MAJOR issue in the eastern end of the state- the rate hike affected commuter rail, bus, and subway customers.

      It pretty much proved that not only did he not give a shit about issues that affected citizens in his state, and that he could barely be bothered to take the subway for one stop- he didn't even pay for the fare himself.

  • Romney's part of the party that is responsible for supporting and enlarging the outsourcing wave. The Other Guys were the ones who wanted to institute measures against it during the last presidential election. This is just posturing on Romney's part for his bid for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2008.

  • The France of the 21st Century? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Zygote-IC- ( 512412 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:58PM (#14055606) Homepage
    But I like my car -- I don't want it burned to a crisp!

  • Bounties (Score:3, Interesting)

    by overshoot ( 39700 ) on Thursday November 17, 2005 @02:59PM (#14055614)
    He suggested paying teachers a $5,000 bonus for teaching Advanced Placement courses, as well as giving the top third of teachers a $5,000 bonus.

    We had a program like that at my kids' high school. There was a lot of competition as a result for slots teaching the AP classes.

    Too bad that the teachers with math and science degrees didn't have the political clout to get those slots. The ones teaching the AP sections may not have known anything about the material, but they had great lesson plans!

    I hope that the (former) teachers with math and science degrees are happier in their new jobs, whatever they are.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Because we Asians want to get more of the US PhDs being churned out each year.

    Muahahahahahha!
  • get rid of software patents and copyrights on ideas and you'll have a *great* start to enabling innovation.

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