Romney hits Obama where it hurts – the economy and the deficit – again in a new op-ed piece set to appear in today’s New Hampshire Union Leader. It’s not on the UL website yet, but Mitt has posted in on his Facebook page. Here are some of the best passages, but as they say, read the whole thing:
America received a giant wake-up call when Standard & Poor’s, the bond rating agency, announced that it was changing the outlook on its highly prized AAA rating for U.S. Treasuries to “negative” from “stable.” This is the first ratings warning for the United States since S&P began evaluating our creditworthiness in 1941.
S&P’s action is a significant marker of our country’s deteriorating economic position.
Treasury bond ratings matter — they are measurements of the fiscal strength of the country. The better the bond rating, the lower the cost of borrowing. And the costs of borrowing by the federal government are, of course, ultimately carried by the taxpayer.
So, what was the White House response?
Obama’s top economic adviser, Austan Goolsbee, downplayed the event, saying, “I don’t make too much about it.” The President himself went on a weeklong campaign swing highlighted by six fundraisers and sharp partisan attacks against Republicans for their attempts at deficit reduction and entitlement reform.
The main job of any executive — whether a CEO, a governor or a President — should be to avert these dangers, or work to repair them. When I took office in Massachusetts, we faced job losses and a fiscal crisis that had the potential to shake the faith of the credit raters in our bonds. We went to work to convince S&P and the other rating agencies that we were committed to reducing spending to balance our budget. I met personally with these officials in my office in Boston, and I traveled to New York City to meet them in their offices. S&P responded in 2005 with a credit rating upgrade that acknowledged the state’s sound fiscal management and the improving strength of its revitalized economy…
Even more significant are the clear signs that the American people have had enough of a federal government that is increasing in size and dominance. We are a great republic in which change is possible. The Obama administration may not be serious about addressing the problems that have caused the S&P downgrade, but in less than two years the voters will tell us whether they will issue a decisive downgrade of their own.
As usual, Romney hits all the right notes — I get most excited about a Romney candidacy when he’s talking the economy. I do have a couple small issues with this op-ed: at one point Romney offers a series of indicators that are hopeful for the future, and in that list he includes “inflation is low” and “the dollar has preserved its position as the world’s currency of choice.” Both of those statements are treading on very shaky ground. CPI may be low, but actual inflation of energy and food prices are up – and many countries are going public about their desire to dump the dollar (or at least add other currencies to it).
Other than those quibbles, however, this is another excellent op-ed which plays directly into Romney’s strengths and Obama’s weaknesses.
April 25th, 2011 at 8:42 am
Nice op-ed, but it’s more evidence that Romney is going to run a “safe” boilerplate campaign. Criticizing Obama on deficits is like shooting fish in a barrel, and Mitt does a good job of that. He also correctly identifies the need to cut spending. And then……. and then……..??????
Nothing. No hint of where spending ought to be cut, and no mention of entitlements.
If this is the sort of safe, limp campaign Mitt is going to run, there will definitely be an opening for a Damn-the-torpedos kind of candidate.
April 25th, 2011 at 9:00 am
Yeah MWS. Mitt should be talking about his Kenyan wolrdview. Huckabee shows great courage to all true republicans!!!
April 25th, 2011 at 9:03 am
Limp? You mean.. FACT BASED, and not bumpersticker based?
April 25th, 2011 at 9:03 am
Every candidate running a serious race for 2012 is going to have to give some form and shape to deficit reduction plans. What are the priorities? I’m no strategy expert, but I would wager that the moment for specifics comes after actual announcements, and those still seem a few weeks or even months down the road, regrettably. I say regrettably because the longer the delay, the shorter time there is to work over the candidates and their specifics, a process that has got to take place in order to hone a message and a messaenger for the general.
April 25th, 2011 at 9:05 am
Matt “MWS” Says:
there will definitely be an opening for a Damn-the-torpedos kind of candidate
=============================================
The kind that can not win in a general election.
April 25th, 2011 at 9:08 am
I haven’t read his book, but I thought people said that he addressed “where spending ought to be cut” including entitlements there. Whether he ought to repeat the same in every op-ed is actually a good question. There will certainly be a vast majority of readers of the NH Union Leader who will not have had the benefit of his position on what to do next, so why not include some blurbs so as to keep the discussion at the forefront.
April 25th, 2011 at 9:24 am
#1 Give him time Matt.
I’d rather he start dropping nuggets slowly and let the public digest them rather than flood them all at once boring them and leaving the rest of the campaign a cycle of repetition.
Besides, no need to give Huckabee open season on Romney from behind his FOX bunker from where he can shoot all the misinformation he wants without any accountability…
April 25th, 2011 at 9:28 am
Jeff,
Actually I had something more like Mitch Daniels’ CPAC speech in mind.
April 25th, 2011 at 9:37 am
Watch, Hamaca, Thunder, and Jerald,
Doing what needs to be done on the budget is going to take a massive public education campaign. Most people continue to labor under the delusion that we can solve all our problems by taxing the rich and cutting foreign aid. While I don’t know that a candidate needs to get super specific in every op-ed, there should be a drum beat of what needs to happen. If a candidate wants to hoodwink his way to the election, he will lack the mandate and the public support it’s going to take to force an addicted Congress to go to rehab. People will feel deceived and blindsided if such a candidate actually had the guts to propose a balanced budget, and the people will rebel, like they did with ObamaCare.
Can such a campaign succeed? History suggests not, but when was the last time a candidate tried radical honesty?
April 25th, 2011 at 9:40 am
And I will goad any top tier candidate who refuses to get reasonably specific and tell people that we are going to make cuts that people don’t like; whether Romney, Huck, Palin, Pawlenty, or whoever. No, they don’t need to talk about it every speech or op-ed, but they need to talk about it enough that they are identified with it, and it becomes part of their “brand” (like Daniels).
April 25th, 2011 at 9:49 am
I’m sure Romney will have his budget plan out in front right after his official announcement that he has entered the race. TPAW has said that his budget plan, which will include Social Secruity reform,will be introduced to the public coming off the heels of his announcment which is coming soon.
Hopefull Newt and Haley will have something ready for the GOP voters.
Bachmann won’t have a plan and Huck…well Huck will wait on the plan for the Winter, and that will be ok with his supporters….I guess.
April 25th, 2011 at 10:18 am
What I find problematic is the debt downgrade itself – A major warning, even an assult, on US economic stability…at the exact time that the country is getting more serious than it has in any recent time about – not just the deficit, which is the usual target of fiscal sanitists – but the actual debt.
April 25th, 2011 at 10:19 am
MWS I wholeheartedly agree, and I applaud your singular effort to goad, prod, and poke.
Social Security: This is the easy fix.
Medicare: This is the hard fix.
Easy: No politician keeps his job after voting for any viable solution.
Hard: Apocalypse now.
April 25th, 2011 at 10:21 am
Antoher impressive op-ed from the Mittster.
As to the specifics of his plan… in my head, I think his op-eds are still trying to convince most people that cuts are in fact necessary, and get them to realize that Obama is not doing anything about our economic problems.
Just as people don’t want food till they’re hungry, and medicine unless they’re really sick, the general electorate needs to see that cuts are necessary before they’ll support serious, but still uncomfortable cuts.
April 25th, 2011 at 10:51 am
Weak sauce from Romney.
Inflation is low? The dollar is strong?
Sarah Palin disagrees
http://hotair.com/archives/2011/04/25/ny-sun-how-about-sending-palin-to-the-fed/
This is good. I like the clear contrast.
April 25th, 2011 at 11:02 am
Watch,
“Medicare: This is the hard fix.”
Indeed. Health care costs will continue to skyrocket as long as we use a third party payer system and consumers/providers basically have a blank check. Ryan’s plan makes the bold step of putting a hard cap on Medicare, and when it’s all spent, it’s all spent. Nobody has really tried to pull the health care punch bowl away like that before.
This is also an area where it will be exceedingly difficult to educate people. They don’t understand that their “cheap ” halth care (meaning low out of pocket) is what is making health care so expensive. It’s also an issue easily demagagued (death panels) by people who just want to score political points.
But someone has to make the J curve that is health care expense into an S curve, or it will devour our whole economy, crowding out all other priorities, needs, and wants.
April 25th, 2011 at 11:04 am
The only way we can continue to do 3rd party payer- like current Medicare- is to have government bureaucrats rationing care like they do in Britain and Europe. It’s the only way to control costs when the consumer and the producer don’t have any incentive to control cost.
So maybe that’s how Republicans can frame the debate….. We either go to a voucher system with high deductables and HSAs, or the government ratitions…. Those are the choices.
April 25th, 2011 at 11:16 am
I would agree that Romney is a very careful politician. His statement on Paul Ryan’s plan showed the use of obfuscation. He endorsed Ryan’s effort to bring the issue to the forefront but never said he endorsed the plan. It was interesting during the primaries, most of his endorsements were seats that the only way the incumbent was going to lose was if they dropped dead.
Others were Romney endorsing the winner of the primary. The only exceptions
were in SC where he endorsed Haley as a payback for supporting him in the primary. The other exception was a strange endorsement in the Georgia governor’s race. Palin’s endorsement of Handel got her into a run-off and then Romney endorsed Handel.
On the other hand, Romney is not doing anything that the others have been doing. The only people to endorse Ryan’s plan has been Palin and Daniels.
Also Palin gave a very sophisticated speech on monetary policy and how the fed is stoking inflating by printing money. His idea that inflation is low seems very much out of touch with that scenario.
Candidates are going to have to get specific. They need to start countering liberal arguments that cuts are cruel right now. If they wait until they get the nomination, it will be too late because it will be locked into people’s minds.
April 25th, 2011 at 11:25 am
Well, it’s certainly a nice op-ed, but it doesn’t really say anything. Yeah, Obama’s screwed the pooch, every Republican knows that, but simply criticizing Obama isn’t going to be enough. In order to convince the rest of America that our Party is serious, we’re going to need some concrete, realistic ideas about talking our deficit and long-term debt. Simple platitudes aren’t going to be enough.
Now, I don’t expect Romney to unveil his whole debt reduction plan in a newspaper op-ed, but throwing out a tidbit or two would be nice.
April 25th, 2011 at 11:33 am
In my family we had two recent trips to the hospital, one for a month old baby with heart trouble, the other for a twenty-four year old bit by a cat. Both involved fairly minimal care and attention. One lasted 2 hours in the ER and involved a rabies and tetanus shot. The other, observation overnight while her mother had her with her the whole time.
Cost? $10K each.
I would have felt some outrage if the bill had been $1K for the services received. $10K is just mind-numbing.
Why was the cost so HIGH? Private insurance was involved. MediCare squeezes all the profit out of providing medical care, so the only profit source for providers is privately funded care. I don’t see how insurance survives in the long run.
How can it as the population ages and transfers over from private insurance to Medicare? It’s discouraging.
April 25th, 2011 at 11:48 am
Watch,
I hope the child (yours?) is okay.
April 25th, 2011 at 11:59 am
“The other exception was a strange endorsement in the Georgia governor’s race.”
Hey, that was my favorite desperate one!
April 25th, 2011 at 12:01 pm
21. My hope as well, Watchinitall.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
Romney’s in a dead heat with Huckabee in South Carolina now. He also leads among self-identified Tea Partiers and Independents.
http://americanresearchgroup.com/pres2012/primary/rep/sc/
Ouch for Huckabee. He needs to win big in SC to even have a chance.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:33 pm
So Romney wins SC Independents AND “Tea Partiers” according to ARG (not the best firm, by most everyone’s admission).
And it’s a 19% tie between Romney and Huck when only the “definitely will vote” folks are tallied.
Not bad Mitt . . . not bad . . .
Gingrich at 9% and Barbour at 2% are probably the biggest news here though. They can’t get off the ground at all if this is the best they can do in the deep south.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
Huck just has to simply win SC like McCain did to gain strong momentum for Florida.
And he’s winning by about that NOW.
But you knew that
April 25th, 2011 at 12:35 pm
CF,
ARG South Carolina Poll
Bad news: Come on Newt, You are suppose to be my Romney stopper in SC!!!
Good news: Once again TPAW ties Barbour in the South! YEAH!!!
April 25th, 2011 at 12:37 pm
Oops, read it wrong. Mitt leads among NOT TEA PARTY SUPPORTERS. That makes more sense for South Carolina Tea Partiers. But 12% and 3rd among Tea Partiers ain’t too bad.
T-Paw is at 3 times below that for tea partiers at 4%, and is infintesimally times below that for non-tea partiers at 0%. T-Paw at 2% in an important early state is crippling polling. I don’t see how financial supporters nor big name endorsers have anything to be excited about with T-Paw.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
South Carolina has been the “decider” for the winner of Florida for years. However, Iowa and New Hampshire have been the the “deciders” for South Carolina for just as long.
For Romney to be in a statistical dead heat with Huckabee is HUGE. Romney’s not even banking on a win in South Carolina and plans to spend very little time there.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:42 pm
My favorite part of the poll. Karger at 0% . . . keep that “crusader” out of the debates.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
JEFF Fuller,
Give it more time buddy. TPAW has not announced formally yet, and he will do great at the SC debate come May, 5th.
TPAW poll numbers at this time are no worry. Look at Gallup numbers in May of 2007 (I posted them on another thread)
Romney 7%
Huckabee 2%
Romney will get his real challenge by TPAW (and his defeat) not by Newt,Huck,Haley or Bachmann. But you go ahead and keep sleeping on TPAW.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:43 pm
And why the heck is Pataki included in this poll?
(Jeff scratching head . . . )
April 25th, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Not so fast, Jeff
Do you really think Romney will win Iowa and South Carolina or do you think it will be waaaaay more likely Huckabee?
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/04/11/romney_faces_high_hurdle_in_south_carolina_109507.html
April 25th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Interesting ARG numbers from South Carolina today show Romney in a statistical tie with Huckabee for top spot and leading with independents by a lot. This is interesting as South Carolina is an open primary
CraigS
April 25th, 2011 at 12:46 pm
Smack . . . I view T-Paw as the biggest potential threat (if Huck stays out) to a Romney nomination. I’m definitely not sleeping on him. But he’s coming from a more Romney-esque position in this cycle, and he’s polling way lower than Romney was (as you just posted for us). He’s definitely not gonna pull a Huckabee, lacks the “swarmy charmy” factor, the evangelical excitement, and a fawning media (for his funny jokes). T-Paw’s spinning his wheels, and I’m loving every minute of it!
April 25th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
I’m most impressed by America’s CEO at 13%.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:47 pm
Thanks, guys. I’m the grandpa. She’s going to be just fine. Gotta keep an eye on it, no need for an operation, might fix itself, lots of blessings, no complaints.
The cat, however, is back on the mean streets, on its own, and good riddance.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
Glad to here, W
We’ll be praying..
April 25th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Huck’s GOT to win Iowa AND South Carolina. I think he’s more likely to win one or both of those than Mitt is, no doubt (again ASSUMING HE’S RUNNING . . . definitely not a clear thing). But I love polling like this that turns the conventional wisdom on its head and makes it look like Mike (or anyone else for that matter) might struggle in his potential path to the nomination.
If Romney takes a 2nd place in either Iowa and/or SC and wins NH and NV then the race is over my friends. Mitt’s our nominee!!
April 25th, 2011 at 12:50 pm
*hear
April 25th, 2011 at 12:51 pm
Trump has hit his peak and people are discovering all of his horrible flip-flops and liberal stances. He’s got nowhere to go but down from here on out.
T-Paw is a dead man walking. He has been stagnant in polls for, what, two years now?
April 25th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Jrff,
If Huck wins in IA, SC (the decider state since 1980), and Florida before Super Tuesday… well, it’s OVER.. but there’s always a chance that Romney could run for senator in Utah someday or beg Huck for an Ambassador to France (or Siberia) post in the brand new Huck adminstration.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
#39:
Not at all. Romney won’t be the nominee unless he wins in a deep Southern state. Questions about his conservative credentials, and his religion (fair or not) will not be settled merely by winning in Republican primaries in blue states or Utah. You want to put an end to the Mormon question once and for all, then Romney has to win a place like Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina or another one like it.
If Romney can pull a JFK (when Kennedy won overwhelmingly Protestant West Virginia), then yeah, he’ll probably be the nominee, but until then, I wouldn’t be preparing for the coronation ceremony yet.
April 25th, 2011 at 12:56 pm
Sorry, Jrff = Jeff
April 25th, 2011 at 12:59 pm
43.
Jon,
THAT nails it.
April 25th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Watch,
Good to hear.
As for the cat, he would have wound up on my grill…..
April 25th, 2011 at 1:23 pm
Go baby. Shoot those fish right out of the barrel. Since no other candidate is. Because those particular fish are what I base my vote on this cycle.
April 25th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
Jon,
#43. Right on. In hotly contested primaries, nominees need to show they can win outside of the obvious areas and demographics.
Obama winning whites in Iowa. Clinton winning Maine right after a 2nd place in New Hampshire. Dukakis winning Texas, etc…..
April 25th, 2011 at 1:29 pm
The fact is that it is going to take more than 19% to win. This is hardly good news for Romney. As things progress, the numbers will likely change.
April 25th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
Franklin,
Very, very interesting in SC today..
Preference by Tea Party support:
Huckabee 18% [22%]
Trump 16% [11%]
Gingrich 12% [6%]
Romney 12% [25%
Palin 10% [10%]
Bachmann 8% [1%]
Undecided 7% [13%]
Among Republicans
•Mike Huckabee 23%
•Mitt Romney 16%
•Newt Gingrich 12%
•Donald Trump 11%
•Sarah Palin 10%
____________ < kinda tough if you're below THE line
Giuliani 4%
Bachmann 4%
Paul 3%
Pawlenty 3%
Barbour 1%
Daniels 1%
Cain 1%
Santorum 1%
April 25th, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Sarah, The Donald, and Newt are taking more from Huck than Mitt.
April 25th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Its going to be a long protacted fight this cycle. I guarantee it.