The nation in brief
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Government will be the partner, not the master. Government will be small enough
for business to grow fast enough.”
LANSING, Mich. — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Tuesday said President Barack Obama’s “old school” liberal policies have left the middle class tired of losing income, jobs and even amenities such as vacations and restaurants.
Meanwhile, Obama said Tuesday that only Congress can take the “bold action” needed to spur job creation as he unfurled an electionyear “to do” list for lawmakers.
Romney, in a speech in Lansing, said he would champion free enterprise, smaller government and more manufacturing jobs. It was a counterattack two days after Obama branded Romney as a “rubber stamp” for Republican policies that hurt the middle class.
“Obama promised change, hope, but reality won out,” Romney told an audience of several hundred people at Lansing Community College. “His four years have been disappointing, a catastrophe for some of us.” The Michigan native said Obama has presided over a bigger government that threatens the country with Europeanstyle stagnation and debt.
It was Romney’s first appearance in Michigan since he won the state’s presidential primary in February. It signaled that the presumptive Republican nominee would challenge Obama in a state where his father, the late George Romney, was an automotive leader and governor, and where his previous opposition to the federal bailout of the U.S. auto industry has stirred a backlash.
In Lansing, Romney said that as president he would promote more freedom for Americans to choose health insurance and schools and would repeal “Obamacare,” the national health-care plan. He would also reinvigorate U.S. manufacturing with new policies for energy, trade and labor, he said.
“Government will be the partner, not the master,” Romney said in his 22-minute speech. “Government will be small enough for business to grow fast enough.”
The appearance came amid a flap over Romney’s recent claims that he influenced Obama’s decision to rescue General Motors and Chrysler. Romney had opposed a government-assisted bankruptcy for the automakers in a New York Times editorial in 2008.
Romney’s taking credit for the auto industry’s comeback during an ABC television interview in Cleveland is “preposterous,” said Obama campaign spokesman Ben Labolt in a conference call with reporters before the speech.
“This is a candidate who will literally say anything, who thinks his statements don’t matter,” Labolt said. He compared Romney to an Etch A Sketch, a toy that allows drawings sketched with knobs to be erased by shaking it to create a blank screen for another sketch.
Romney’s appearance at a community college was ironic because college tuition in Massachusetts soared when he was governor there, said Mark Brewer, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party. And he said a GM plant near the auditorium where Romney appeared would have been closed if Romney had his way and denied federal aid to the automaker.
TAX-CODE PUSHES Obama’s action plan for Congress centers on a series of economic initiatives he has already been pushing for months, including eliminating tax incentives for companies that ship jobs overseas and promoting new tax credits for small businesses and for companies to develop clean energy.
None of the items on the president’s wish list has previously gained any traction in Congress, and there was little indication that they would in the six months between now and Election Day.
Speaking at college science complex in Albany, N.Y., Obama said Congress should not use the election as reason to block his proposals.
“I know this is an election year but it’s not an excuse for inaction,” Obama said. “Just saying no to ideas that we know will help our economy isn’t an option.”
Obama has tried to portray congressional Republicans as obstructing his economic agenda. He has also sought to tie Romney to Republican leaders in Congress, arguing that the likely Republican nominee would simply rubber-stamp their policies.
“The truth is the only way we can accelerate the job creation that takes place on a scale that is needed is bold action from Congress,” Obama said.
Obama’s “to do” list for Congress also includes legislation creating a Veterans Job Corps to help servicemen returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan find work as police officers and firefighters.
And to address the housing crisis, Obama pressed anew for a measure designed to help homeowners refinance their homes at lower interest rates. Obama planned to also make the housing pitch during a stop Friday in Reno, Nev., the state that has been the epicenter of the nation’s housing meltdown.
Republicans said they had a lengthy list of their own in the form of bills that have cleared the Republican-led House but remained bogged down by Senate Democrats. They accused Obama of recycling old ideas.
“We’ve passed nearly 30 jobs bills to increase American competitiveness, expand domestic energy production and rein in the red tape that is burdening small businesses. Democrats are blocking every one of them,” said Brendan Buck, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner, R-ohio.