RomneyCare Cost Massachusetts more than 18,000 jobs, Decimated the Economy

But hey, they have their health(care), right? For which they are mandated to pay. With no job. That should work out well. Or not:

"Our analysis reveals a weak comparative economic performance of the state over the Romney years, one of the worst in the country," the researchers wrote in the Boston Globe. Specifically, they found:

* As U.S. real output grew 13 percent between 2002 and 2006, Massachusetts trailed at 9 percent.

* Manufacturing employment fell 7 percent nationwide those years, but sank 14 percent under Romney, placing Massachusetts 48th among the states.

* Between fall 2003 and autumn 2006, U.S. job growth averaged 5.4 percent, nearly three times Massachusetts' anemic 1.9 percent pace.

* While 8 million Americans over age 16 found work between 2002 and 2006, the number of employed Massachusetts residents actually declined by 8,500 during those years.

"Massachusetts was the only state to have failed to post any gain in its pool of employed residents," professors Sum and McLaughlin concluded.

No wonder team Romney feels that they must destroy Newt Gingrich at all costs. Mitt substitutes mythical propaganda for a real record.

"Michigan is like the canary in the mine shaft. What happens in Michigan is going to happen to the rest of the country." -- Mitt Romney

I think a substitution is in order.