MassGAP: 'Binders' Incident Didn't Happen The Way Rmoney Described

Government employing women:
a great tradition!

One kindly disposed toward Myth Rmoney could overlook the discrepancy as a slip of his memory since 2002. Other possibilities suggest themselves. But a fairly diligent research effort by Evan McMorris-Santoro at TPM reveals that several people on the provider end of those "whole binders full of women" for use as cabinet appointees remember the episode differently: according to former officials of MassGAP, an advocacy group for more equitable participation of women in powerful government positions, the surveys (the "binders") were prepared prior to Rmoney's gubernatorial victory, and completely without Rmoney's participation. In other words, he did not seek them out, and he did not consult with them. Oversight, or lie? You decide.

One could partially credit Rmoney for some of the result of the process. From TPM:

...

The Romney source told CBS the new governor hired around 10 women to top gigs in his administration and “roughly two or three” of them were on MassGAP’s list.

CBS declared Romney’s statement at Hofstra “misleading.”

MassGAP points out that regardless of how his binders came together, Romney wasn’t all that successful by the end of his four-year term when it came to achieving MassGAP’s goal of putting more women in Massachusetts leadership.

“Prior to the 2002 election, women comprised approximately 30 percent of appointed senior-level positions in Massachusetts government. By 2004, 42 percent of the new appointments made by the Romney administration were women,” MassGAP said in the Wednesday statement. “Subsequently, however, from 2004-2006 the percentage of newly-appointed women in these senior appointed positions dropped to 25 percent.”

Rmoney's 42% of new appointments, the only number over which he had control, is greater than the 30% already in government that he inherited; I suppose that is creditable, though it still isn't 50%. But women appointees dropped over the next two years to 25%, which by my arithmetic is less than he inherited.

How Rmoney favors growth

In Rmoney arithmetic, however, 25% is greater than 30%. That's hardly surprising. I wonder why the other net 5% left... was it voluntary? were they canned? Presuming their departure was of their own volition, what were their motives, and what does that say about Rmoney as a supervisor of women employees? In any case, as those women left the Rmoney government, they clearly were replaced by men (or possibly not replaced at all). What does that say about Rmoney's true motives?

CBS calls Rmoney's story "misleading." I call it a probably knowing misrepresentation of the facts. How many Pinocchios does he get for this one?