The reports this week that Romney’s campaign asked governor Rick Scott to tone down his statements heralding improvements in Florida’s economic situation because they contradict Willard’s assertions that the nation’s economy and job growth is worse than when President Obama took office are highly likely. If the reports are true, they demonstrate the height of selfishness that should send a message to all Republicans that Romney’s primary concern is self-edification at the expense of governors seeking re-election, and anyone who had a hand in improving the economy; especially President Obama.

It is true that the economy is making gains, and there has been a slow but steady increase in the number of Americans getting back to work, but it is hardly to the credit of Republicans in Congress and especially governors who made wholesale cuts in public sector jobs. Despite the gains, Romney persists in making the rounds claiming the economy and job growth today is worse than when President Obama came into office, and only an idiot would fall for Willard’s prevarications. When the President took office, the economy was hemorrhaging jobs in the hundreds-of-thousands a month, and because of his policies, job creation picked up substantially in spite of Republicans’ obstruction and attempts to sabotage economic growth. Now that jobs and the economy are growing, Republican governors are taking credit and contradicting Willard, but the credit rightly belongs to President Obama and not Republican governors’ job-killing spending cuts and reductions in public sector employees such as teachers, firefighters, police officers, and construction workers whose middle-class incomes drive economic growth and further job creation efforts.

Republicans decried the federal stimulus as wasteful government spending without pause, and yet they stood in line to accept the funds and posed for pictures at groundbreaking ceremonies funded by the federal money. Now that their states are showing signs of recovery, the selfish Republicans are clamoring to take credit in an election year that is robbing Romney of his mendacious talking points that the economy is in dire straits because of the President’s economic policies. One cannot help but wonder how governors like Rick Scott (R-FL), Rick Walker (R-WI), or Bobby Jindal (R-LA) reconcile their state’s economic growth with Romney’s claims that the President’s economic policies made things worse than when he came into office. Most likely, the Republican governors must be thinking that Romney is so selfish to win the White House that he is willing to risk their re-election efforts by requesting that they “tone down” the rhetoric that their economies are improving.