To his credit, the President ordered the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. In Afghanistan, the surge was right, announcing a withdrawal date was wrong. The Taliban may not have watches, but they do have calendars.
Here at home, the President seems to take his inspiration not from the small towns and villages of New Hampshire but from the capitals of Europe.
With the economy in crisis, his answer is to borrow money we can't afford and throw it at Washington bureaucrats and politicians. Just like Europe.
Instead of encouraging entrepreneurs and employers, he raises their taxes, piles on record-breaking mounds of regulation and bureaucracy and gives more power to union bosses.
Instead of recognizing the states rightful authority to solve problems, he seizes power from them and rams through a disastrous national health care plan.
This President's first answer to every problem is to take power from you, your local government and your state so that so-called “experts" in Washington can make those choices for you. And with each of these decisions, we lose more of our freedom.
You and I understand this. We look at our country, and we know in our hearts that things aren’t right, and they’re not getting better.
President Obama’s European answers are not the right solution to America’s challenges.
In the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom and opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense, and I intend to make it—because I have lived it.
Twenty-seven years ago, I left a steady job to join with some friends to start a business. Like many of you, it had been a dream of mine to try and build a business from the ground up. We started in a small office a couple of hours from here and over the years, we were able to grow from ten employees to hundreds.
My work led me to become deeply involved in helping other businesses, from innovative startups to large companies going through tough times. Sometimes I was successful and helped create jobs, other times I was not. I learned how America competes with companies in other countries, what works in the real world and what doesn't.
I left my business in 1999 to help put the Salt Lake City Olympics back on track. And when the Games were over, I came home to Massachusetts and served as governor.
I'd never held office before but I went at it like I ran businesses and the Olympics: ask tough questions and take on the toughest problems first, because they'll only get worse.
When I took office, I faced a nearly $3 billion budget hole. My legislature was over 85% Democrat. The expectation was that we'd have to raise taxes but I refused. I ordered a review of all state spending, made tough choices and balanced the budget without raising taxes. That sent a message that business as usual was over.
Over the next four years, we consolidated agencies, cut programs, sold state property and cut taxes nineteen times. The state was giving away over a billion dollars in free health care, much of it to people who could have paid something but were gaming the system. You won't be surprised that a lot of Democrats thought we should be giving away even more.
I took it on and hammered out a solution that took a bad situation and made it better. Not perfect but it was a state solution for a state problem. At the end of four years, it took over 800 vetoes but we balanced every budget, restored a $2 billion dollar rainy day fund and kept our schools first among all 50 states.
All of these experiences -- starting and running businesses for 25 years, turning around the Olympics, governing a state -- have helped shape who I am and how I lead. Of course, if I ran through a list of all my mistakes, Ann would find it hilarious, and we'd be here all night. But I've learned a lot.
Turning around a crisis takes experienced leadership and bold action. For millions of Americans, the economy is in crisis today, and unless we change course, it will be in crisis for all of us tomorrow.
Government under President Obama has grown to consume almost 40% of our economy. We are only inches away from ceasing to be a free market economy. I will cap federal spending at 20% or less of the GDP and finally, finally balance the budget.
My generation will pass the torch to the next generation, not a bill.
I will insist that Washington learns to respect the Constitution, including the 10th Amendment. We will return responsibility and authority to the states for dozens of government programs – and that begins with a complete repeal of Obamacare.
From my first day in office my number one job will be to see that America once again is number one in job creation. You know, if you want to create jobs, it helps to have had a job. I will make business taxes competitive with other nations, modernize regulations and bureaucracy and finally promote America’s trade interests. It’s time for a president who cares more about America’s workers than he does about America’s union bosses.
Over the last thirty years, I can't tell you how many times I've heard a situation is hopeless. But I've never been very good at listening to those people and I've always enjoyed proving them wrong.
It's one of the lessons I learned from my Dad.
My father never graduated from college. He apprenticed, as a lath and plaster carpenter, and he was darn good at it. He learned how to put a handful of nails in his mouth and spit them out, point forward. On their honeymoon, he and Mom drove across the country. Dad sold aluminum paint along the way, to pay for gas and hotels.
There were a lot reasons my father could have given up or set his sights lower. But Dad always believed in America; and in that America, a lath and plaster man could work his way up to running a little car company called American Motors, and end up Governor of a state where he had once sold aluminum paint.
For my Dad, America was the land of opportunity,
where the circumstances of birth are no barrier to achieving one’s
dreams. Small business and entrepreneurs were encouraged, and
respected, and a good worker could almost always find a good job.
The spirit of enterprise, innovation, pioneering and can-do propelled our standard of living and economy past every other nation on earth.
I refuse to believe that America is just another place on the map with a flag. We stand for freedom and opportunity and hope.
These last two years have not been the best of times. But while we’ve lost a couple of years, we have not lost our way. The principles that made us a great nation and leader of the world have not lost their meaning. They never will.
We know we can bring this country back.
I'm Mitt Romney. I believe in America.
And I'm running for President of the United States.
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DNC Chair on Romney's
Failed Jobs Record [YouTube Wasserman on CNN's
Situation Room] NJ - Romney vs. Romney: The Economic Critique [National Journal article] Turns out [coverage of DNC flip flop video by various outlets] Shot and Chaser: NH Edition [Palin overshadowing Romney] FW: Romney's NH Strategy? [Romney ec. record from NHDP's Holly Shulman] FW: IDP Responds to Mitt Romney Announcement [statement by Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky] This...actually happened to Mitt Romney in New Hampshire Today [16 sec. YouTube video showing Romney being run over by Palin bus] Romney Fact Check: We Rate This Claim: True [hits Romney ec. record] FLASHBACK - WSJ - Mitt Romney plays the jobs card: Looking at his record, it's a losing argument [Feb. 23, 2010 commentary] Politico: Palin Overshadowing Romney [the DNC's 16 sec. YouTube video] DNC Chair Outlines Romney's Failed Jobs Record on MSNBC Driving the news today... [is a bus...links to more than a dozen articles on Palin overshadowing Romney] CNN: Palin attacks Romney's record on his announcement day [article by Peter Hamby] Romney's Defectors [the Romney yearbook website the DNC announced yesterday] Palin steps on Romney announcement with healthcare jab [article in The Hill] Romney Fail [statistic Romney 47th out of 50 in jobs growth as governor...from Marketwatch Feb. 23, 2010) DNC Highlights Flip-Flopping Mitt Romney in New Web Video FW: Statement of NH Dems on Romney Announcement |
DNC Highlights Flip-Flopping Mitt Romney in
New Web Video
NHDP
Chairman Ray Buckley Responds to Flipping Mitt
Romney's Presidential Announcement
Concord,
NH - In response to Mitt Romney's official announcement that he is
running for president, New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray
Buckley released the following statement:
"Since Mitt Romney
bowed out of the Republican Primary in 2008, he and his handlers
have
been meticulously planning today's announcement - banking on a
2012 New
Hampshire primary victory to slingshot him to the
nomination. However,
the problem for Mitt Romney is that the reason Granite Staters
rejected him three years ago remains the same today:
they believe he is
a wishy-washy, flip-flopping politician who will say anything or take
any position to suit his own immediate political needs.
"Their
fears are well founded. The list of Mitt Romney waffles continues to
grow by the day. He has flip-flopped on the individual mandate, TARP,
the Recovery Act and on cap and trade. And most recently, he attempted
to take credit for saving the auto industry after he proposed letting
it go bankrupt. It's unclear whether even Mitt Romney knows where Mitt
Romney stands on the issues.
"Now, in yet another effort to reinvent himself, Mitt Romney is claiming to be the candidate in the race who is best prepared to deal with the economy and create jobs. He should try telling that to the people whose jobs he slashed as a profit-seeking corporate raider or the people of Massachusetts where, when he was governor, the Bay State ranked 47th of 50 states in job creation.
Des Moines—Today, Iowa Democratic Party Chairwoman Sue Dvorsky released the following statement in response to Mitt Romney’s announcement on his run for President:
“Running for President seems to be about the only thing Mitt Romney is able to commit to. He has waffled his way through his entire political career – Romney ‘hedged’ on supporting the Ryan budget, he flipped on the Recovery Act, he has flopped on social issues like gay marriage and a woman’s right to choose and he won’t commit to competing in the Ames straw poll despite being the highest polling and best funded candidate in the GOP race.
“Romney fails to embrace his biggest accomplishment in passing Massachusetts health care reform and tries to claim the mantel of ‘job creator’ despite the fact that he slashed jobs as a businessman and led Massachusetts to a 47th out of 50 ranking in job creation as governor.
“In the PPP poll released yesterday, it was clear that GOP voters in Iowa don’t like what they have seen so far from the Republican field and that’s not likely to change as they see more of Mitt Romney.”