Romney shows wit

Newt Makes Romney Better

Excerpt:

The most memorable line of the first phase? There's "9-9-9" and "Oops," but the best came from Mitt Romney when he was asked about the Gingrich campaign's failure to qualify for the Virginia ballot. Mr. Gingrich had compared it to Pearl Harbor, a setback, but we'll recover. Mr. Romney, breezily, to a reporter: "I think it's more like Lucille Ball at the chocolate factory."

It made people laugh. It made them want to repeat it, which is the best free media of all, the line people can't resist saying in the office. And they laughed because it pinged off a truth: Gingrich is ad hoc, disorganized.

The put-down underscored Romney's polite little zinger of a week before, that Mr. Gingrich was "zany." And it was a multi-generationally effective: People who are 70-years-old remember "I Love Lucy," but so do people who are 30 and grew up with its reruns. Mr. Romney's known for being organized but not for being deft. This was deft. It's an old commonplace in politics that if you're explaining you're losing, but it's also true that if they're laughing you're losing. The campaign trail has been pretty much a wit-free zone. It's odd that people who care so much about politics rarely use one of politics' biggest tools, humor. Mr. Romney did and scored. More please, from everyone.

Comment: Newt failing to secure enough write-ins for the Virginia ballot does reveal organizational weakness.

Note to Rick Perry

Las Vegas GOP debate: Rick Perry says Mitt Romney hired 'illegals' for his home

Excerpt:

Rick Perry just turned to Mitt Romney and accused him of being a fraud on immigration issues, saying, "“Mitt, you lose all of your standing, in my perspective, because you hired illegals in your home … The idea that you stand here before us … is on its face, the height of hypocrisy.”

This is a reference to a Boston Globe story from 2007 that a company that Romney used for years for land-scaping had used illegal immigrants.

Romney has clearly gotten testy and close to angry, asking for time intervention from moderator Anderson Cooper, and saying he's never "hired an illegal in my life...It's been a tough couple of debates for Rick, and I understand that, and he's gonna get testy."

Comment: Rick, you're losing your credibility here. I'm just a small guy but by your calculation I've probably hired illegals myself. I've had my house re-roofed twice. I don't think one of the roofers spoke English. I tried to offer them a cold Coke and it did not translate. I have yard workers in my yard about 5 times a year. The major time is when they do the Spring cleanup. A crew of workers arrive and work in my yard for several hours. They don't speak English. How do I know if they are legals or illegals. I go to the car wash (won't name it) and all the workers appear to be Mexicans. So make your points but don't twist the truth!

"time is not the enemy & neither are the Republicans"

Mitt Romney: Mr. President, what's the rush?

Excerpt:

Health care cannot be handled the same way as the stimulus and cap-and-trade bills. With those, the president stuck to the old style of lawmaking: He threw in every special favor imaginable, ground it up and crammed it through a partisan Democratic Congress. Health care is simply too important to the economy, to employment and to America's families to be larded up and rushed through on an artificial deadline.

Comment: What is needed in health care reform:

• Tort reform
  
• Transparency (that's how free markets work)
  
• Choices. (Eg. I do not need Psychiatry coverage! Why should have to pay for it!)
  
• Portability
  
• Incentives (to be healthy)
  

About 2012: Mitt is the Republican best posed to be the GOP candidate and win!

Romney rebuts Obama

Mitt Romney: Stimulate the economy, not government

Excerpts:

... any new spending must be strictly limited to projects that are essential. How do we define essential? Well, a good rule is that the projects we fund in a stimulus should be legitimate government priorities that would have been carried out in the future anyway, and are simply being moved up to create those jobs now.

...

if we're going to tax less and spend more to get the economy moving, then we have to make another commitment as well. As soon as this economy recovers, we have to regain control over the federal budget, and above all, over entitlement spending for programs such as Social Security and Medicare. This is more important than most people are willing to admit.

There is a real danger that with trillions of additional borrowing -- from the budget deficit and from the stimulus -- world investors will begin to fear that our dollars won't be worth much in the future. It is essential that we demonstrate our commitment to maintaining the value of the dollar. That means showing the world that we will put a stop to runaway spending and borrowing.

... we must begin to recover from the enormous losses in the capital investment pool. And the surest, most obvious way to get that done is to send a clear signal that there will be no tax increases on investment and capital gains. The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts should be extended permanently, or at least temporarily.

And finally, let's exercise restraint in the size of the stimulus package. Last year, with the economy already faltering, I proposed a stimulus of $233 billion. The Washington Post said: "Romney's plan is way too big." So what critique will the media have for the size of the Obama package?

In the final analysis, we know that only the private sector -- entrepreneurs and businesses large and small -- can create the millions of jobs our country needs. The invisible hand of the market always moves faster and better than the heavy hand of government.

Comment: He defines essential stimulus! Nice rebuttal to Obama's editorial yesterday. He also asks a good question: "what critique will the media have for the size of the Obama package?". Mitt should be the GOP front runner for 2012!

Mitt Romney: Let Detroit Go Bankrupt

Let Detroit Go Bankrupt

Excerpt:

I have several prescriptions for Detroit’s automakers.

First, their huge disadvantage in costs relative to foreign brands must be eliminated. That means new labor agreements to align pay and benefits to match those of workers at competitors like BMW, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Furthermore, retiree benefits must be reduced so that the total burden per auto for domestic makers is not higher than that of foreign producers.

That extra burden is estimated to be more than $2,000 per car. Think what that means: Ford, for example, needs to cut $2,000 worth of features and quality out of its Taurus to compete with Toyota’s Avalon. Of course the Avalon feels like a better product — it has $2,000 more put into it. Considering this disadvantage, Detroit has done a remarkable job of designing and engineering its cars. But if this cost penalty persists, any bailout will only delay the inevitable.

Second, management as is must go. New faces should be recruited from unrelated industries — from companies widely respected for excellence in marketing, innovation, creativity and labor relations.

The new management must work with labor leaders to see that the enmity between labor and management comes to an end. This division is a holdover from the early years of the last century, when unions brought workers job security and better wages and benefits. But as Walter Reuther, the former head of the United Automobile Workers, said to my father, “Getting more and more pay for less and less work is a dead-end street.”

You don’t have to look far for industries with unions that went down that road. Companies in the 21st century cannot perpetuate the destructive labor relations of the 20th. This will mean a new direction for the U.A.W., profit sharing or stock grants to all employees and a change in Big Three management culture.

Comment: I agree with Mitt. Some Republicans see him as again flip/flopping: Already, Mitt?

My Man Mitt - The Exit

Mitt Romney graciously bows out

McCain Seals GOP Nod As Romney Suspends

Mitt Romney:

"If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror,"

"This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters... many of you right here in this room... have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country,"


Comment: See yesterday's post: What Romney should do. Thank you Mitt for your patriotism! Text of his speech at CPAC: Romney's Address to the Conservative Political Action Committee - February 7, 2008

What Romney should do

On the eve of CPAC, this is what Romney should do:

1. He should look himself in the mirror and know that it is improbable he will win the GOP nomination this time. Remember when Reagan challenged President Ford for the 1976 GOP nomination? It wasn't Reagan's year. Four years later it would be!
   
2. Politics is about compromise. Some conservatives are legitimately skeptical of John McCain because of:
   
   
   
   1. McCain–Feingold
      
   2. His controversial immigration reform plan
      
   3. His vote against the Bush tax cut
      
   4. His brief flirtation with being Kerry's running mate
      
   5. His sometimes combative style in dealing with his peers
      
   
   
3. Now is that time for Republican party unity. We can either have a united party and go against Obama / Hillary, or continue to burn resources and provide fodder for the Democrats.
   
4. Romney needs to realize that some conservatives are skeptical of him. I think he would be a good President, but I would like to see a longer track record. His Massachusetts Romney-care is NOT a conservatives approach to health care!
   
5. Romney needs to realize that his cost per delegate from his own wealth is an ineffective use of his own resources.
   

If Romney wants to be the true heir of Reagan's legacy, he should consider 1976!

Mitt Romney's Massachusetts's [failed] experiment

Romney's Convictions

Excerpt:

Governor Romney experimented with his consultant-centric approach in the Massachusetts laboratory, and the result was the "universal" health-care program the state adopted in 2006. As he tells it, the experts crunched the data. As he doesn't tell it, his initiative became a petri dish for the latest liberal health-care theories.

Insurance in Massachusetts is among the most expensive in the nation because of multiple mandates, such as premium price controls and rules dictating that coverage be offered to all comers regardless of health. Mr. Romney's cardinal flaw was that he did not attempt to deregulate and allow the insurance market to function as it should.

Instead, Mr. Romney saw the status quo and raised. At first he suggested mandatory health escrow accounts for people who decline to insure themselves. Once the consultants and the liberal state legislature were through with it, Mr. Romney's initiative became the "individual mandate," a first-in-the-nation requirement that residents acquire insurance or pay penalties.

The mandate in combination with other regulations effectively socialized the Massachusetts insurance market, and then Democrats on Beacon Hill added more subsidies and business penalties. Mr. Romney claimed victory anyway, heralding the new plan as "free market" as he plotted his GOP Presidential run. Inconveniently, however, both Hillary Clinton and John Edwards made Massachusetts the model for their 2008 health-care proposals.


Comment: Government mandates are not the solution to the health care insurance crisis.

Opinion Journal on the Romney speech

What Iowans Should Know About Mormons: Mitt Romney's speech and American tolerance

Excerpts:

Yesterday, at the end of Mitt Romney's speech, he told a story from the early days of the First Continental Congress, whose members were meeting in Philadelphia in 1774: "With Boston occupied by British troops . . . and fears of an impending war . . . someone suggested they pray." But because of the variety of religious denominations represented, there were objections. "Then Sam Adams rose and said he would hear a prayer from anyone of piety and good character, as long as they were a patriot."

Were Adams alive today, he most certainly would hear a prayer from a Mormon. It is hard to imagine a group more patriotic than the modern Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But there is reason to believe that voters in Iowa and elsewhere will not accept Mr. Romney's invitation--put forward implicitly in his remarks yesterday at the George Bush Library--to ignore religious differences and embrace him simply as a man of character who loves his country.

........

The young men and women at Brigham Young University are among the smartest, hardest-working and most pleasant college kids you will find anywhere. (For better or worse, I have visited dozens of college campuses.) The student body lives by the Mormon principle: "The glory of God is intelligence." Most reside off campus without adult supervision, yet they adhere strictly to curfews, rules about contact with the opposite sex and every other church directive. They are purposeful but seem to enjoy themselves, spending their free time hiking in the sprawling desert. And BYU has America's largest ROTC program outside of our military schools.

This last fact is one I had occasion to think about on my trip. I left for BYU on Sept. 7, 2001, and returned home a week later. On 9/11, the students gathered for a campuswide devotional. The university president tried to comfort the students with "the eternal perspective." My eternal perspective is not the same as theirs, of course. But hearing more than 20,000 young people around me reciting the Pledge of Allegiance made me realize that our temporal perspective is the same. I'm sure Sam Adams would have agreed.



Peggy Noonan: Mormon in America: How Mitt Romney came to give The Speech--and how he did

Excerpt:

Mr. Romney gave the speech Thursday morning. How did he do?

Very, very well. He made himself some history. The words he said will likely have a real and positive impact on his fortunes. The speech's main and immediate achievement is that foes of his faith will now have to defend their thinking, in public. But what can they say to counter his high-minded arguments? "Mormons have cooties"?

Romney reintroduced himself to a distracted country--Who is that handsome man saying those nice things?--while defending principles we all, actually, hold close, and hold high.

His text was warmly cool. It covered a lot of ground briskly, in less than 25 minutes. His approach was calm, logical, with an emphasis on clarity. It wasn't blowhardy, and it wasn't fancy. The only groaner was, "We do not insist on a single strain of religion--rather, we welcome our nation's symphony of faith." It is a great tragedy that there is no replacement for that signal phrase of the 1980s, "Gag me with a spoon."

Beyond that, the speech was marked by the simplicity that accompanies intellectual confidence.



The Book of Romney: The debate over his convictions--religious, and political

Excerpt:

Mr. Romney mentioned the word "Mormon" only once, and he was right to steer clear of formal theology or specific practices. Some denominations are leery of--or openly hostile to--the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, considering it un-Christian, or even a cult. Surveys indicate that many voters oppose Mr. Romney for this reason, and his speech probably won't do much to convince them otherwise.

How unfortunate it would be if he were rejected on the basis of such irreducible doctrinal differences. The Mormons seem the very embodiment of "family values," and you couldn't invent a religious culture that lived more consistently with Biblical messages. Broadly speaking, most Mormons have, and come from, big families; they're regular churchgoers and give to charity; they don't drink, smoke, gamble or engage in premarital sex. On the scale of American problems, the Mormons don't even register.

Comment: I'm not going to evaluate a Presidential candidate on the basis of his (or her) religion! I happen to believe that Mitt Romney would be a better President than Mike Huckabee! But I am still pulling for John McCain!