Cato Institute Gave Romney a ‘C’ on Spending as Governor

During the four years that Mitt Romney served as governor of Massachusetts, the Cato Institute published two reports that graded the nation’s governors on spending. In the first, Cato gave Romney a “midterm” grade of a D. In the second, it gave him an overall grade of a C.

Cato’s reports, conducted biennially, rate the nation’s governors on a variety of “objective measures of fiscal performance.” “Governors who have cut taxes and spending the most receive the highest grades,” Cato writes. “Those who have increased spending and taxes the most receive the lowest grades.”