Mitt Romney for president
Republican presidential candidate has the management and leadership skillswe need.
1We endorse ... : The Chronicle says he has the leadership skills to fix the broken economy.
The Chronicle’s backing of BarackObama in 2008 broke a 44- year string of endorsingRepublican candidates for president. Like so many others, wewere captivated by the Illinois senator’s soaring rhetoric and energized by his promise to move American politics beyond partisan gridlock and into an era of hope and change.
It hasn’t happened. Four years later, PresidentObama’s deeds have failed to match hiswords, much less his specific vows to cut the national debt by half and bring the nation’s unemployment rate to 6 percent. As Texans, it is a particular vexation that this president’s attitude toward the interests of our state has occasionally bordered on contempt, particularly in decisions relating to theNASAbudget and the energy sector. The hurtful symbol of this attitude of insensitivity to Texans’ feelingswas the administration’s choice to deny Space City’s bid to become home to one of the retired space shuttles.
We do not believe four more years on the same plodding course toward economic recovery is the best path forward for Texas or the nation. And sowe endorse theRepublican team, MittRomney and PaulRyan, in the belief that they can do better by Texas and the nation.
Starting with energy and continuing withNASA.
Concerns about the economy consistently register at the top for most voters, and for obvious reasons: Nearly 23 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed or have given up the job search. And national unemployment rates remain stubbornly high, especially among AfricanAmericans andHispanics.
There is a launching pad to reignite the national economy: It is the abundance of affordable domestic energy that has revealed itself so dramatically over the past several years. We refer primarily to the resources of natural gas and oil from shale rock that have become available through the technologies of horizontal drilling and fracturing.
These resources offer us a clear path to prosperity and energy security. This is a Texas story, to be sure. The state has huge shale resources, and they’ve been unlocked in large part due to the pioneeringwork ofHoustonian George P. Mitchell.
But it is a national energy story, aswell. Shale resources extend from Texas throughOklahoma andKansas, east toMississippi and north throughWest Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and NewYork state. The picture of abundance is further enhanced by the riches inNorth Dakota’s Bakken oil formation that has transformed that state into amajor energy center and given it the nation’s lowest unemployment rate. Add to this the upward revisions of reserves in theGulf of Mexico and the potential for East andWest coast offshore development, aswell as in the Arctic. Such a gift. PresidentObama’s failure to identify the economic opportunities these resources offer is mystifying. In our 2008 endorsementwe cautioned the president against demonizing the energy sector— good advice that he has never heeded ( seeKeystone XL Pipeline). By contrast, Gov. Romney has listed energy atop his five- point plan to rejuvenate the economy.
It can. Let us count theways:
The abundance of cleanburning domestic natural gas has raised the prospect of a manufacturing renaissance across the Rust Belt in theMidwest.
Jobs:
Increased reliance on domestic fuels will lessen our dependence on oil and
National security:
gas from unstable, unfriendly countries. With each passing day, the volatility across oil- producing areas in theMiddle East becomes more apparent.
Producing our own energy at home will stanch the flowof dollars to nations such asVenezuela and Saudi Arabia, while expanding the revenue base for governments at every level in this country through job generation.
Balance of payments:
Conversion of fleet vehicles to natural gas is alreadywell underway, but much broader use can be made as infrastructure is expanded for refueling automobiles and longhaul 18- wheeler trucks.
Transportation:
Natural gas burns 50 percent cleaner than coal, the fuel traditionally used by electric utilities and heavy industry.
Cleaner air:
In the development and expanded use of these resources, utmost caremust be exercised to protect air andwater resources. We join many other Texans in insisting on that. We also view this windfall as the logical bridge to a sustainable energy future for the country.
The other launch pad ignored by PresidentObama is the literal one— NASA, and specifically the Johnson Space Center.
It has been an insult to the memory ofAmerican heroes like Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride to allowmanned spaceflight to languish in the country that put men on the moon. The notion of paying $ 50 million a seat toRussia for commercial taxi service to the International Space Station is galling.
Obama has failed to articulate a bold vision of his own for the agency. That failure forsakes a legacy of scientific achievement that has showered benefits on the nation. This approach toNASA has abandoned the American imperative of lighting out for the territory and exploring new worlds. NASA’s legacymust be reclaimed.
In recent dayswe have seen awelcome return of popular enthusiasm for space exploration, thanks to the success of theMars rover Curiosity. WhenNASAstuck the landing in a tour de force of technical precision, the international excitementwas palpable. Let’s seize upon it.
That will require more effective presidential leadership.
Our endorsement ofMitt Romney is not unqualified. He must address the perception that he tailors his message to suit any given audience. And his economic plans lack specificity. There’s a lot of concern that his tax and budget proposalswon’t add upwithout gutting our social safety net. “Trust me” is not good enough. Between nowand Nov. 6, Romney needs to go to the blackboard and showus the math.
Let us stipulate: TheMitt Romneywe are endorsing is the Massachusetts moderatewho worked successfully alongside an 88 percent Democratic majority in the state Legislature to producewhat theObama administration says became its model for national health care reform.
Romney’s ability to negotiate successfully across party lines in the Bay State stands in contrast to the president’s baffling disengagement from the national health care debate. Obama’s decision to leave essential details to SenateMajority LeaderHarry Reid andHouseMajority Leader Nancy Pelosi, together with his failure to step in and insist that theRepublicans’ version of health care reform have a fair hearing in theHouse ofRepresentatives, needlessly polarized the process. Reports from his own staff thatObama is uninterested in process are troubling.
ShouldRomney be elected, we expect him to make good on his promise to negotiate in good faith with congressional Democrats on twomajor issues:
Chief Justice JohnRoberts’ Supreme Court opinion on the Affordable Care Act clearly left room for a political solution beyond the act. That solution is self- evident: It should combine the best elements of the Democratic plan signed into the law— coverage of pre- existing conditions, mandatory participation by all, coverage of children up to age 26— with strengths in theRepublican plan thatwere not included, such as freedom to purchase health insurance across state lines. There is room for debate overwhether the tailoring of health care reform should be left to individual states. Texas is not Massachusetts.
Health care:
The deficit, debt and spending:
Forging a solution will require both cuts in government spending and additional sources of revenue. The opportunity for meaningful tax reform is within reach if the two sides will take it. As president, Romneywould have specific responsibility for bringing true believers in the tea party wing of theGOP towardworkable compromise. The challenges of the next four years leave no room for partisan triumphalism.
Gov. Romney impresses us as a focused, task- oriented problem solver, both by inclination and by experience— a “fix- it” guy.
Alot needs fixing in America, from a broken economy to a broken- down political system. MittRomney offers the leadershipwe require from theWhite House.