Editorial
Romney’s Republic

Mitt Romney addressed the State House last night just one week after Democratic leadership in the legislature had resolved to usher in a new era of bi-partisanship and cooperation.   A safe bet for anyone would have been that he was not going to introduce any divisive topics for his State-of-the-State address.           What was not expected, however, was that the utopian ideal he presented was so far removed from the real world that it defies explanation. 
         Governor Romney elucidated early in his address his vision for the state: “Here is what I see: Massachusetts can be the first state in the nation where every one of its citizens has healthcare coverage. Massachusetts’s children cannot only lead the nation in test scores, they can be competitive with the best in the world. And the gap in achievement among races can virtually disappear. The number of good jobs and growing employers in Massachusetts can be the envy of the nation. And we can have thriving cities and towns with ample green space, clean air and water and affordable housing convenient to shops and transit.          “These dreams, this vision is within our reach,” he promised, “if we can reach across the aisle, find common ground and turn a deaf ear to the special interests.”
         It is a little disappointing that he did not include the banishing of halitosis and a promise that every car in Massachusetts would never be in need of repair.  He might as well have done just that --- it would not have been much more of a stretch.
         To be fair about it, some of the items he listed are indeed possible, but the result of achieving the goals may create worse evils than they ones they seek to rectify.   For example, we know that some type of socialized medicine in on the fast track in our government right now.  Yes, it can be done, but if anyone thinks that it is not going to result in overall lowering of the quality of healthcare for everyone, then they really haven’t researched the subject very well. 
         Likewise, his plan for Massachusetts children involves making the school day longer, universal preschool for kids as early as three, and stacking more MCAS requirements on students.  In short, it draws a close parallel to Plato’s Republic where children are removed from their parents at the earliest age possible to become wards of the state.  Numerous studies support the fact that increased parental involvement with a child’s education is best indicator of achievement, so a plan to reduce the time a child spends with their parent will actually damage a child’s achievement.
         And of course, the gap in achievement among races can indeed disappear, as long as the government requires employers to base their hiring, promotions and demotions simply on skin color.   The only way the government can quantify “progress” in this area is to enact hiring quotas, which invariably hurts all the employees of a company, as well as the company itself.
         In each case, it is the government “solution” that usually exacerbates the problem, rather than actually bring about a real answer.
         Romney’s Elysian vision, although a dream come true to big government Democrats, is truly a nightmare of oppression for the average citizen, who know that a free market and a free people is what cures most of what ails.  We can only hope the Mitt wakes up from this one.