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Romney's amazing hypocrisy --> http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/26/opinion/brazile-rom ney-hypocrisy/index.html?

hpt=hp_c2 By Donna Brazile, CNN Contributor updated 7:36 AM EDT, Tue June 26, 2012 In word and deed, Mitt Romney roots for failure, says Donna Brazile. In word and deed, Mitt Romney roots for failure, says Donna Brazile. STORY HIGHLIGHTS Donna Brazile: Romney would rather see U.S. economy fail than President Obam a win Brazile: He has urged GOP leaders to downplay good economic news in their st ates She says America deserves better than someone who roots for failure Brazile: Romney's tactic or say-anything-to-please character flaw reveals la ck of leadership Editor's note: Donna Brazile, a CNN contributor and a Democratic strategist, is vice chairwoman for voter registration and participation at the Democratic Natio nal Committee. She is a nationally syndicated columnist, adjunct professor at Ge orgetown University and author of "Cooking With Grease." She was manager for the Gore-Lieberman presidential campaign in 2000. (CNN) -- Recently, we learned two important things about Mitt Romney. First, he would rather see the American economy fail than President Barack Obama win. Second, the extent of his hypocrisy is amazing. While he laments the toll that o utsourcing has taken on our workers and economy, he amassed a fortune by investi ng in companies that outsourced American jobs. Donna Brazile Donna Brazile In word and deed, Romney roots for failure, and his insincerity reveals a disdai n for the common good and disregard for people's common sense. Americans deserve better. As Bloomberg News reported, Romney urged Florida Gov. Rick Scott to downplay goo d economic news in the Sunshine State. It's his way of sending a signal to Repub lican governors in states where the economy is improving -- in the battlegrounds of Virginia, Ohio and elsewhere -- to be quiet. Obscure the truth, he begs. Obs truct any progress. But these governors know better. Scott continues to tout Florida's economic reco very, as he should. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell notes that the state's 5.6% unem ployment is the lowest in three years -- in other words, it's been falling since Obama's policies took effect. Obama mocks Romney on 'offsourcing' Romney's Bain record under fire Gillespie on Romney's record at Bain Was Florida governor told not to brag? Ohio is another key state where the facts contradict Romney's scorched-earth mes sage. Following the president's recent Cleveland speech, Romney urged residents to "look around Ohio" to see the impact of Obama's policies. So let's take him u p on it. Ohio's unemployment rate fell from 10.6% to 7.5% in three years. A main reason i s the resurgent auto industry, which the president rescued but Romney opposed -an undeniable success that Ohio's Republican Gov. John Kasich still tries to do

wnplay. By all means, Republican governors should take credit for the economic turnaroun ds in their states. But give credit where credit is due. States are not islands unto themselves. Their economies are intertwined with that of other states, and with the nation's economy as a whole. Some states went into the Great Recession faster than others; some went in deeper. But all were sucked into the same econo mic abyss of the failed policies of the past -- the same policies, by the way, t hat Romney promises to repeat as president. Similarly, some states have climbed out of recession faster, some further, but a ll have been pulled up by the president's policies that are moving us forward. W hile we're far from a full recovery, "we're all in this together; we rise and fa ll as one nation and as one people," as the president says. What we're seeing from Romney as the leader of his party is the worst and most p redictable kind of politics. Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has said h is party's top priority is to defeat Obama. Not to create jobs. Not to get our e conomy going again. But to win an election. His troops have carried out that mission in lockstep. Congressional Republicans have stalled, slow-walked or stopped everything -- even blocking the president's jobs plan, which addresses the most important issues in the country and is full of bipartisan ideas that would create as many as 1 million new jobs for our tea chers, police officers, firefighters and construction workers. Another part of the president's jobs plan would create tax incentives to reward companies that bring jobs back to America rather than those that send them overs eas. But we're unlikely to see Romney start showing any signs of leadership now. In a major report from The Washington Post, we learned that Romney's corporate buyou t firm bought companies that specialized in outsourcing. He made a fortune helpi ng companies send American jobs to China, India and Mexico, maximizing profits f or himself and his investors while laying off American workers, gutting companie s and devastating communities here at home. If Romney really supports American jobs as strongly as his stump speech suggests , he'd stand up to members of his Republican Party and encourage them to pass th e president's jobs plan. If that's a bridge too far, perhaps he'd consider coming up with a jobs plan of his own. As former Clinton Treasury official Brad DeLong said, "President Obama has a plan for dealing with our cyclical unemployment crisis," but Romney does n ot. Even worse, according to Harvard professor and former Obama budget official Jeff rey Liebman's op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Romney's ideas "would slow the r ecovery, reversing the gains we have made since the recession ended." Which is why Romney is trying to convince voters of two impossible contradiction s simultaneously. One, that the national economy is lousy, but state and local e conomies are improving. And two, that if an economy has improved, it's only beca use of Republican efforts and in spite of the president's leadership. Economists disagree, and even Republican governors refuse to play along with Rom ney's games. Romney's detachment from, or denial of, the truth is not just a political tactic or say-anything-to-please character flaw. It reveals a lack of leadership. It r

eveals an elemental attitude he shares with the special interest super PACs that support him -- silence the truth, show indifference to the hardship of others a nd sow distrust of the American people's belief in the common good and common se nse.

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