But Romney’s case to S&P is a far cry from the anti-tax absolutism of the Republican Party he hopes to lead. Indeed, it bears a far closer resemblance to the right-of-center grand compromise rejected by House Republicans this year — dismissed because it would include new taxes and end tax breaks President Barack Obama described as “loopholes” — or the more modest compromise that passed, than to the Cut, Cap, and Balance plan Romney “applauded.”…

The one-term governor was “focused on balancing the budget and creating surpluses instead of spurring economic growth,” said David Tuerck, executive director of the anti-tax, anti-regulation Beacon Hill Institute, who added that while Romney had cut some taxes, one of his greatest accomplishments was building up a large rainy-day fund. “He erred in the direction of building up revenues in the stabilization fund in place of moving toward a more robust policy of economic expansion.”…

New revenues amounted to a larger sum than the emergency spending cuts of about $500 million that Romney touted, but they weren’t the only element of the case for a ratings upgrade. Romney also argued that the state had succeeded in shifting school construction and other costs onto a more sustainable fiscal footing, and that he’d avoided some of the questionable one-shot measures — like borrowing against anticipated tobacco lawsuit payments — to which other states resorted.