First of all, that is how capitalism works. Someone (Staples, Office Depot, Office Max) comes up with a better way to sell their products and the buying public gravitates to them. Secondly, not all of those so-called office boxes made it over the years. There will always be winners and losers in new capitalistic ventures. And thirdly, there are many independent office suppliers still around today, such as W.B. Mason, which was founded in 1898 not far from me in Brockton, MA, and which has less than 2000 employees in their 29 distribution centers. And what about all of the new on-line independent office suppliers who can sell for less than the Staples boxes? I get many of my supplies through them.

It’s called capitalism, and it has always been a net jobs creator. As opposed to communism, which stifles initiative and takes away incentive.

I read what you posted, but you obviously didn’t get my drift. Your mistake is calling that Staples model a”disruptive business model”. There’s nothing disruptive about it-that is how capitalism works. If anyone wants to make the argument that “capitalism sucks this year”, then they can join the ranks of the Occupy movement. Let’s see how far that gets them.

and the budget (when there is one) to escalate exponentially. We don’t want someone in there dismantling bloated government agencies and departments, nor eliminating government jobs. No, why would we want to do that?

Here are a few examples of his cutting, as well as other things he either did or proposed as Governor, many of which you are probably not aware of:

Romney in 2002 proposed cutting the state income tax rate from 5.3% to 5%. The voters by referendum actually approved this in 2000 but the Dem legislature blocked it in 2002. When the legislature refused to consider his proposal, he placed it before them again in 2005 and 2006, to no avail. No one can say he didn?t try.

The legislature imposed a retroactive tax on capital gains earnings, but Romney fought and succeeded in passing a bill preventing this, thus resulting in a rebate of $275 million on capital gains taxes collected in 2002.

Considering the liberal blue state in which he governed, Romney kept spending increases over his four years to an average of 2.2%. Rather than increasing bloated state agencies, he consolidated the social service and public health bureaucracy and restructured the Metropolitan District Commission. He eliminated half of the executive branch?s press positions, saving $1.2 million. In 2006 he used his emergency fiscal powers to cut $425 million, aimed especially at local earmarks. The legislature would have rather dipped into the $1.2 billion rainy day fund.

Federal welfare reform passed in 1995, but Massachusetts bypassed much of the federal requirements. Romney sought to bring the state?s welfare system up to the federal standards by increasing the number of hours each week that welfare recipients must work, and establishing a five-year limit for receiving benefits. He forced Medicaid recipients to make co-payments for certain services. He was also successful in getting legislation approved forcing new state workers to contribute 25% of their health insurance premiums (it was 15%). He also proposed changing the state?s pension system from a defined benefit system to a defined contribution system.

Romney vetoed a ?card check? bill that would have allowed unions to organize without a secret ballot election

Though the very liberal legislature fought Romney in most cases successfully, here are a few of his efforts to ease or eliminate regulations and privatize certain government functions:

Pushed to change a union-backed law which makes it almost impossible to privatize or outsource state services.

Pushed to deregulate the auto insurance industry, with Massachusetts being the only state that mandates maximum insurance rates and requires insurers to accept all applicants.

Called for privatization of the University of Massachusetts medical school.

Proposed measures to eliminate civil service protection for all municipal workers except police and firefighters and exempt low-cost public construction jobs from the state?s wage law.

Proposed easing decades-old state regulations on wetlands.

Signed a bill streamlining the state?s cumbersome permitting processes for new businesses.

The legislature was 80-85% democrat during Romney?s tenure as governor, but that didn?t stop him from issuing over 800 vetoes, most of which were overridden. One particularly unpopular one was his veto of an increase in the minimum wage, explaining that excessive raising of the minimum wage causes a loss of jobs.

Did you know that Romney defended traditional marriage and vetoed stem cell funding? Or that he opposed driver?s licenses and in-state college tuition for illegal immigrants. Or that he defended Catholic Charities? right to restrict adoptions to man-woman couples?

Sounds like a conservative to me, one that can beat Obama.

If you’re going to give us fancy images, at least get your facts straight. And I wouldn’t get my facts from The Boston Globe.

To become a judge in MA you must submit an application to the MA Judicial Nominating Commission. This commission is composed of 21 members who review the applications and make recommendations for open judicial positions. Those recommendations are given to the Governor, who then makes the decision to appoint a judge. Then a governor’s council, made up of eight councillors elected every two years, must approve of the Governor’s selection. Given the fact that 80-85% of the legislature is made up by Democrats, and those eight councillors are elected in mostly Democrat districts, one wonders how any Republican judges were appointed by Romney.

Yes, Romney had most of his vetoes overturned, and if you read all of my post you would have noticed that I said as much. What kind of a rogue Congress are you worried about him leading? If he becomes President, we should be controlling both Houses as well. That dog won’t hunt.

And yes, Romney was able to only propose certain bills and initiatives due to the fact that almost 85% of the legislature was controlled by the Democrats. But at least we have a record of those proposals as insight into how he might govern as President, in which position he will have a more hospitable legislature behind him.