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Voters and reporters looking to Mitt Romney for new jobs proposals or additional details about his existing plans shouldn't expect many, the presumptive Republican nominee's aides said Thursday.
Most of Romney's fall campaign will involve "re-introducing a lot of the policy that came out a year ago," Romney senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom said on a conference call with reporters. The reason for that, he explained, was to remind them "of the governor's very detailed policy" now that voters are playing closer attention to the campaign.
The conference call was organized to outline the jobs policies about which Romney will speak today in Colorado. But the five priorities mentioned on the conference call -- energy, trade, education, cutting the deficit, and freeing up businesses from regulation -- have generally been staples of the former Massachusetts governor's campaign for much of the past year.
Kacper Pempel / REUTERS
Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivers foreign policy remarks at the University of Warsaw Library in Warsaw July 31, 2012.
The question of specifics, though, has been one that has plagued the Romney campaign -- and it's not only Democrats who have voiced this criticism.
"The Romney campaign thinks it can play it safe and coast to the White House by saying the economy stinks and it's Mr. Obama's fault," the Wall Street Journal's right-leaning editorial board wrote in early July. "Thanks, guys, but Americans already know that. What they want to hear from the challenger is some understanding of why the President's policies aren't working and how Mr. Romney's policies will do better."
But the Romney campaign has generally brushed off these complaints as imprudent politics. Boston has clearly broadcast that they are satisfied with the plans they have offered. ("He doesn’t need to lay out new policies," Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, a surrogate of Romney's and potential running mate, told National Review Online earlier this week.)
The Romney campaign has been generally opaque in its approach to several issues that could conceivably expose their candidate to scrutiny, which could distract from their central narrative about Obama and the economy. For instance, the campaign's refusal to detail which tax deductions Romney would favor eliminating – to show how he’d prefer to balance the budget – mirrors his refusal to release more than two years of tax returns, to detail his exit from Bain Capital, or to lay out how his administration would be more transparent than Obama’s.
On each question, though, the Romney campaign has left open a void of detail, and the Obama campaign and Democrats have gladly stepped in to fill it.
The president himself trumpeted a report from the nonpartisan, independent Tax Policy Center about Romney's tax plan.
The study concluded that, based on the available details about Romney's plan, that it would threaten a higher tax burden on the middle class, because it disproportionately takes advantage of exemptions that would be eliminated to finance tax reform.
But the enduring story of the Romney campaign is its conclusion early in the campaign that little else will matter on election day aside from voters' conclusion about Obama's handling of the economy. They've bet that the broad contours of Romney's policy contours will be enough to sway voters, and that they can weather criticism about the specifics without any of that becoming fatal.
"That report you referenced is a joke," Fehrnstrom said of the center’s report on the call. "There are serious problems with the authorship of that study, and the methodology."
One of the authors was an economic adviser member of Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. But the other was the senior staff economist on President George H.W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers.
"The governor's plan essentially lays out the parameters that he wants to achieve," Jonathan Burks, the Romney campaign's deputy policy director, said on the call. "And within that, he would write a tax bill that achieves those goals. And so it's not a question of today, you know, we've got a 2,000-page tax plan that could be scored and demonstrated ... The details of how that would be accomplished would have to be worked out with Congress."
Republicans are quick to note that President Obama has offered few detailed proposals for his second term, and argue that the "American Jobs Act" first introduced by the White House last fall is only a re-hash of old policies.
But the Romney campaign's bet that it doesn't need to offer more detail opens the door to the Obama campaign and Democrats' efforts to turn the election into a choice between the president and Romney, even if it involves mischaracterizing elements of Romney's background – or inserting policy details that don’t exist -- that the GOP candidate won't define for himself.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made an especially specious claim in that vein when he told the Huffington Post this week that a Bain investor -- who he did not name -- told him that Romney had paid no effective tax rate for a decade.
Fehrnstrom angrily condemned that suggestion during an appearance Thursday on Fox News, but there are no indications that the evidence Romney could offer to rebuff those charges will be publicly available anytime soon.
NBC's Jay Rankin and Garrett Haake contributed.
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FUD-romney IS L.D.S. - Lie, Distort & Sidestep.
The Sidestep : written by Dolly Parton for the movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
(Just change the word Texas to Republican and see if it don't fit Mitt to a Tea!)
Fellow Texans, I am proudly standing here to humbly see.
I assure you, and I mean it- Now, who says I don't speak out as plain as day?
And, fellow Texans, I'm for progress and the flag- long may it fly.
I'm a poor boy, come to greatness. So, it follows that I cannot tell a lie.
Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don't-
I've come and gone and, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,
cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
Now my good friends, it behooves me to be solemn and declare,
I'm for goodness and for profit and for living clean and saying daily prayer.
And now, my good friends, you can sleep nights, I'll continue to stand tall.
You can trust me, for I promise, I shall keep a watchful eye upon ya'll...
Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don't-
I've come and gone and, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,
cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
Now, Miss Mona, I don't know her, though I've heard the name, oh yes.
But, of course I've no close contact, so what she is doing I can only guess.
And now, Miss Mona, she's a blemish on the face of that good town.
I am taking certain steps here, someone somewhere's gonna have to close her down.
Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep, now they see me now they don't-
I've come and gone and, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step,
cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
Ooh I love to dance a little sidestep...
And, ooh I love to sweep around the wide step...
Cut a little swathe and lead the people on.
WARNING: Etch-a-Sketch alert!
Romney would be the Etch-A-Sketch President !
(... if he won, except Romney is NOT going to win anyway)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etch-a-sketch_gaffe#Etch_A_Sketch
If and when Gingrich and/or Santorum are out on the campaign trail speaking on behalf of Mitt Romney, somebody needs to ask them...
"When did you FLIP over and shake Your Etch-A-Sketch?
BTW, where are Newt and Rick anyway?
I had a great laugh thins morning when I heard Mr. Romney say his plan would create 12 million jobs. What an idiot... If he had that answer (which of course is in the ether somewhere) is he waiting to see if he gets to be President to launch it???? If he were truly concerned about the country wouldn't he at least share it with the Republican leadership for the betterment of the country??
Who does this clown think he's kidding.
Good point, maybe he should have said something a couple years ago.
At best it shows he's all about politics not the good of the nation, at worst it shows he's a class A liar.
Can you imagine what a windfall for the Mormon (cult) Church a FUD-romney Presidency would be?!!
With that religion's secrecy, hidden agendas, secret hand-shakes ;-) and who knows what else!
I really can't imagine Jews/Israel would be all that keen on having a Mormon as a U.S. President given that church's (cult') activities in baptising dead Jews. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baptism_for_the_dead
So much for the Separation of Church & State.
Romney has paid no taxes for 10 years on hundreds of millions of income. He is unfit for any office.
Reid: Romney didn’t pay taxes for 10 years
Tue Jul 31, 2012 3:45 PM PDT
So Harry Reid said he heard from a Bain investor that Mitt Romney didn't pay taxes in 10 years.
http://thelastword.msnbc.com/_news/2012/07/31/13056370-reid-romney-didnt-pay-taxes-for-10-years?lite
Mitt, just release the returns and stop the discussion. Can you?
Mitt, just release the returns and stop the discussion. Can you?
I have to agree with the Wall Street Journal on this one. We want to know specifically WHAT you will do that is different and not keep retreading what the Bush Administration said for 8 years. The challenger needs to show me what he will do differently from the current administration. I know that the world is in a recession and the president can do very little about China or Europe but as a challenger he can blame the incumbent for everything. Show me the details.
Mitt has nothing to offer besides criticism.
i can pretty much say if romney doesn't think he needs to put his policies out there i will vote for the man that has. i will not make up my mind the day of the election,
Romney's an empty shirt, no substance
I thought we already had all the policy plans Romney could come up with. It is the standard right-wing ideology.
1) Tax cuts for the rich
2) Screw everyone else
3) destroy democracy
4) Repeat until the society built by Democrat-Liberal-Progressive initiatives is destroyed at all costs
Reintroduce his plans to enrich the richest and take away all he can from the poor and middle class? Then on to the theocratic plutocracy to finish off the job of destroying the middle class, it's religious and social freedoms and diversity that is foundation of this country. Some plan!
Some silly conservitard (who shall remain nameless as he is clueless) asked me to...
I like a challenge so I did some research, but first let's recall: On who's watch did the unemployment first go so terribly bad?
Why, that would be during the Administration of Republican President George W. (the W stands for Worthless) Bush!
Well, as you know, NO OTHER PRESIDENT (since The Great Depression) has ever had that kind of unemployment statistic to deal with, but one guy did come very very close to it!
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2011-11-03/jobs-and-the-presidential-election/51065798/1
And WE ALL KNOW that President Reagan LOST his re-election, didn't he?
OH WAIT!
No he didn't.
In fact, Reagan kicked butt then, just like President Obama is going to kick Romney's butt NOW.
Of course that was only since The Great Depression, which was just slightly worse than The (Bush created) Great Recession. (I must give full credit to upset-1557697 for reminding me of that. Thanks up!)
Fact is: FDR had an even worse unemployment situation than President Obama does, and for a much longer period of time.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/business/economy/27fdr.html?pagewanted=all
and yet, FDR managed to get re-elected! Not just once, but THREE TIMES!
Perhaps after President Obama is re-elected and resolves the unemployment issue in his 2nd term, we can go to work on the Constitution and get that pesky 22nd Amendment repealed so we can re-elect President Obama to a 3rd and maybe even 4th term. He is certainly young enough for it!
Very detailed policy? Are you flippin' kidding me? Have you actually read that thing? I actually did wade through it. It is 80% "Obama bad," 15% "overturn and repeal everything Obama did," 5% "tax cuts for the wealthy and implement Ryan budget" (destroy Medicare and gut Social Security). I would LOVE for every American to actually read that pulp fest. It would absolutely assure Obama's reelection.
Details? Try this for a direct Romney quote...
"Personal taxes on dividends, interest, and capital gains for all middle-income families should be completely eliminated."
From No Apology by Mitt Romney pp.129-130 , Mar 2, 2010”
Of course he tried to walk that one back earlier this year so no doubt you can find a quote saying exactly the opposite. But really people? A president who wants to do away with his own taxes? The only taxes Romney pays are on dividends, interest and capital gains!
Evidence is now going around, based on comments by a Bain investor to Senator Harry Reid, that Mr. Romney paid no taxes at all in 2008 and 2009. All Americans deserve to know exactly how the tax laws in this country privilege the few at the great expense of the many. Mr. Romney is the best evidence of the need to reform our tax codes, even if he did pay, as he said, only what he was legally required to pay and not a penny more.
Mitts policy plan is simple more tax breaks for his Millionaire/Billionare friends and higher taxes on the poor and Middle Class. Plus he will do all he can to destroy the Middle Class to benefit the wealthy! Enjoy!
Hey Mitt where the tax returns? In your magic underwear?
Yes fellow Middle Class Americans you surely can trust a person like Mitt who's outsourced jobs overseas and has secret overseas bank accounts. Sure you can,so what if he's never worked and was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and has elevators in his parking garages in all his many mansions. He's for the common man of course!
Mutt what you need to introduce is your tax returns!!!!!
Let's see here, nope I don't see it, where is that second Tax return he is, was, maybe, going to produce for this year? Reintroduce policies and plans? Romney, allow me to introduce myself to you, now pay close attention here as I am only going to do it just one time. "The Great American Voter!" I didn't need you to reintroduce yourself to me a second time nor do I want to see you squirm when asked about your policies and plans. Cover words for lies, retoric, backstabbing, cheating, deciet just to mention a few. You are going to remind me about your transparency, Heck even Supermans X-Ray Vision has trouble here. As for having Anglo Saxon Heritage, The Anglo Saxons invaded England and have Homestead there ever since. So now you understand why my Irish side has an aversion to you. So don't insult my intelligence by reintroducing anything to me. Have a good day. Obama/biden
Spit it out, Willard, spit it out!
Elected officials need to be held to a higher standard of transparency than individual citizens. Romney removed all the his data from MA after leaving as governor, removed or destroyed all his records regarding the Olympic Games, and retired "retroactively" from Bane. This obstruction is not related to a right to privacy (which only applies to the conservative right) but an attempt to hide Romney's business dealings. Making money is not a measure of success; many people make money under suspect circumstances, and Romney's circumstances are suspect. His donations to charity is primarily his giving to the Mormon church, which is a holding company for the businesses that it owns. To what extent has his business dealings in the public sector reflected non-competitive preferential treatment of Mormon-owned businesses? It is disconcerting enough that back-handed deals are done as a normal way of business in Congress, but to have the Republican Party who claim the banner of competitive free enterprise be the defender of hidden public dealings illustrates why business people, and especially main street small business owners, should leave the Republican Party. Hiding tax statements should be a red flag for all the voters, and especially moderate Republicans who have some attachment to the morality of a free enterprise system.
This election is a choice between two visions for the future of America: One vision is for continuation of the progressive vision of a balance between equality and freedom as the moral foundation of justice, and a more recent conservative vision of an entitlement due the wealthy and the equivalence of corporations to the rights and protections of natural persons under the Constitution.
A progressive future is one in which government is a custodian of the public trust and advocates for justice; where justice is a balance between equality and freedom. Government as a custodian of the public trust means that everyone plays by the same rules and that everyone is equal before the law. Public trust means the rights of the people to preserve and protect the common property of the United States is not severable to the interests of privatization. Public trust means that a corporation has no rights except those given to it by law and does not have equal standing with a natural born person under the Constitution.
The conservative future is one of a hostile corporate takeover with privatization of government functions.
The corporate takeover means that having wealth is an effective barrier to others participating in the process of government. It means that government would no longer serve the interests of the community but collaborate with the wealthy corporate owners to establish a separate set of laws that entitle them to preferential treatment while creating barriers to competition by eliminating opportunities for others.
The free market is a myth: if it isn't regulated by government to prevent fraud, it is regulated by the corporate oligarchy to prevent competition. Free means not having to go to jail for fraud and theft.
Freedom of speech for corporations is a political myth: the right to free speech is a right of the natural born person, not an artifact of legal convention.
The conservative options for health care are no birth control, no abortion and no health insurance unapproved by a corporate CEO. The progressive option is universal health care and the right of women to make their own health decisions.
This election is about education for citizenship, not choice for a privileged elite.
This election is about living in fear, or finding a means to reducing the violence that haunts personal security.
This election is about who gets to rewrite the tax laws: a privileged elite who personally benefits from tax entitlements to the wealthy, or one who advocates for tax fairness.
This election is about who gets to nominate justices to the Supreme Court: pack a court with conservative judicial activists who want to roll back human rights, or one who advocates for judicial competence.
This election is a moral choice between affiliation or aggression, empathy or egotism, service or selfishness, cooperation or competitiveness.
The tale of two visions is the difference between a government of the people, by the people and for the people, and a government run by a plutocracy of wealth and corporate power.
Well written.
Mitts policies are the same as Bush. We saw that and we are still recovering. If a man has been running for President for 12 years, one would think that his policies would have been told by now. He will wait until a month before elections and right after he gets his marching orders from Norquist and Rove before he tells us what we already know. This nation can not afford Republicans and the one percent any longer. Save the nation, the middle class, our economy and the 99% that makes this country Democratic. VOTE STRAIGHT DEMOCRATIC TICKETS IN NOVEMBER. Restore sanity and the American dream.
For twelve years Romney has been going down the highway of life like a drunken sailor - left, then right a little, maybe right a bit more, back to left.
Pro life - pro choice. Adopts a medical in Massachusetts plan but hates the same plan when adopted by Congress. Wanted to outlaw some weapons, but now doesn't want to mess with anything that might offend the NRA.
It's a wonder the man can stand up as straight as he does without a spine.
Gee in the fall... humm... does Romney think he is going to win? Not!!! He made a fool out of himself in Europe so that should tell the American people something. Let's see your tax returns Mitt Romney - yes we little people as your wife thinks of us deserve to see how rich you truly are.
BTW
Well http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/
gives President Obama a 70.2% chance of winning the election over Romney's 29.8% chance, and that is up from the sixties the last time I checked just a day ago.