New Healey campaign paints Patrick as a spendthrift

Arguing that a Democratic governor would unleash new Beacon Hill spending, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey yesterday mocked her opponent Deval L Patrick as ``Spend-It-All Deval" and said his policy proposals would necessitate a tax increase.

``We cannot afford to be investing $8 billion in new spending over the course of the next four years, and give the tax rollback, and make sure that we don't raise taxes. He will be raising taxes in order to spend this much money, and it's irresponsible," said Healey, standing next to a ``Spendometer" with rapidly changing red digits meant to show that Patrick's proposals would total more than $8.2 billion over four years.

Healey said she did not know ``off the top of my head" how much in new spending her own proposals would require. An aide said later that her $250 million in education initiatives and $23 million energy proposal would be combined with an unspecified amount in ``reforms" that would ultimately save money.

Patrick's camp dismissed Healey's estimates of his spending proposals as ``totally bogus."

``She can have all of the o-meters she wants, but this is exactly the kind of government by gimmick and press conference that has gotten us into the situation we are today," said Patrick's communications director, Richard Chacón, in a press statement. It said all of Patrick's proposals could be paid for through ``existing revenues, over $700 million in detailed budget cuts and cost savings, postponing the income tax rollback, and real economic growth."

Debate over state budget handling has driven much of the early conflict between Patrick and Healey, now five weeks away from the Nov. 7 election, with independent Christy Mihos and Green-Rainbow candidate Grace Ross running distantly in the polls.

Although Patrick holds substantial leads in recent polls, Healey has pursued the proven GOP strategy of profiling Democratic candidates as spendthrifts and too closely aligned with the Democrat- dominated Legislature.

Patrick is opposed to an immediate rollback of the state income tax to 5 percent, as mandated by the voters in 2000, while Healey supports the measure. Patrick calls Healey's proposals ``a fiscal shell game" because, he says, the government finds its way into citizens' wallets through property taxes boosted at the local level.

State News House Service