Romney Campaign Recruits Supply-Siders

HUMAN EVENTS ^ | 03/19/2007 | Amanda B. Carpenter

[TexanSniper]

In his campaign to win the Republican nomination for President, expect former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney to have a strong economic plan and to hit rival candidates hard on taxes. Romney has compiled a team of dedicated Reaganite supply-siders -- many of whom also helped engineer President Bush’s tax cuts -- to produce what Romney’s spokesman called a “very idea-based campaign.”

The Romney campaign is staffed by a number of experienced policy heavyweights. Leading the economic team are R. Glenn Hubbard, dean of Columbia University Graduate School of Business, and N. Gregory Mankiw, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and a free-market economist at Harvard. Hubbard was the chairman of President Bush’s National Economic Council from 2001 to 2003. Mankiw took the position until 2005.

Together, these men are considered the chief architects of the Bush tax cuts. Over the course of the campaign, these advisers are expected to give Romney the upper hand over Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) on taxes.When McCain infamously voted against the Bush 2003 tax cuts, he forced Vice President Dick Cheney to go to Capitol Hill to cast a tie-breaking vote in favor of them. The Arizona senator’s tax policies were recently the target of a lengthy attack by Club for Growth President Pat Toomey, who said, “American taxpayers cannot expect consistently pro-growth economic policies from a McCain Administration.”

Economist John Cogan, a senior economic advisor to George W. Bush when he was Texas governor and who directed his budget transition team, will be another key economic adviser and a major player on the Romney campaign team. Cogan has served as assistant secretary for policy at the Department of Labor, associate director in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and as OMB deputy director.

[TexanSniper]

Romney's Key Advisors at a Glance:

R. Glenn Hubbard
Economic Advisory Co-Chair

Dean of Columbia Business School. Visiting professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School as well as the University of Chicago. Also a visiting scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Served as deputy assistant secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department for Tax Policy from 1991 to 1993. Supervised administration efforts on revenue estimates, tax reform and health policy. Also has served on the advisory boards of several organizations, including the Congressional Budget Office, the Council on Competitiveness, the American Council on Capital Formation, the Tax Foundation and the Center for Addiction and Substance Abuse.

N. Gregory Mankiw
Economic Advisory Co-Chair

Former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Currently on leave from Harvard University where he is professor of Economics. A research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, an adviser to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Congressional Budget Office, and a member of the ETS test development committee for the advanced placement exam in economics.

Vin Weber   
Policy Chairman   

Chairman of the National Endowment for Democracy, senior fellow at the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota, board member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Co-chaired the independent task force on U.S. Policy Toward Reform in the Arab World with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.  Former member of the U.S. Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board.

Pete Hoekstra   
Intelligence Advisor

U.S. representative, ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee

Jim Talent   
Domestic Policy Chairman   

Distinguished fellow at the Heritage Foundation, former U.S. senator who served on the Senate Armed Services Committee, former U.S. representative who served on the House Armed Services Committee

James Bopp, Jr.   
Special Advisor on Life Issues   

Attorney with the law firm Bopp, Coleson and Bostrom in Terre Haute, Ind. Speciliazes in biomedical issues of abortion, forgoing and withdrawing life-sustaining medical treatment and assisted suicide. Former member of the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation, the Congressional Biomedical Ethics Advisory Committee and the National Institutes of Health, Human Fetal Tissue Transplantation Research Panel.

[TexanSniper]

Mitt ping!

• Send FReep Mail to Unmarked Package to get [ ON ] or [ OFF ] the Mitt Romney Ping List •

[Clintonfatigued]

Is that good-looking blond woman in the white blouse Mrs. Romney?

[Reaganesque]

No. Ann is not in the photograph.

[Moonman62]

Since when did W become a supply sider? He announced over and over again that his tax cuts were designed to put money in the hands of consumers. If it weren’t for congressman Bill Thomas crafting some supply side changes to the tax cuts on the third try we’d have president Kerry right now.

[Moonman62]

She looks young.

[TexanSniper]

               Ann Romney

[Clintonfatigued]

I wonder who she is, then? A candidate for office, perhaps?

[bethtopaz]

I don’t think so. Ann is prettier.

[redgirlinabluestate]

Mitt's California team is very fiscally conservative --- proteges of Tom McClintock.

Ackerman, Strickland to chair Romney’s team

2008 Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney today announced the first 15 members of his California Leadership Team, with state Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, R-Irvine, and former Assemblyman, 2006 state Controller candidate and current state Senate candidate Tony Strickland (McClintock's successor) as chairman.

“I am honored to have the backing of these dedicated leaders in the Golden State,” Romney said in a statement. “Their record of service is proof that President Reagan’s legacy is alive and well in California. We all believe that strong and unflinching leadership is once again needed to restore fiscal sanity in Washington, D.C.”

Said Ackerman: “The Republican Party must reestablish itself as the guardian of fiscal responsibility, and Governor Romney is the right leader to make that happen.”

Said Strickland: “Governor Romney accomplished an impressive feat by bringing fiscal discipline to one of the nation’s most liberal states. As a lifelong fiscal conservative, I am troubled by the spending binge we’ve seen at the federal level. Our nation needs a strong and tested leader like Mitt Romney to put our nation’s finances back on track.”

Besides Ackerman and Strickland, the members are:

Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Monrovia
Former Assembly Leader Scott Baugh, Huntington Beach
Former Assemblyman and Republican Caucus Chair Russ Bough, Yucaipa
Congressman John Campbell, R-Newport Beach
Fresno City Councilman Jerry Duncan, Fresno
State Senator Bob Dutton, R-Rancho Cucamonga
Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale
State Senator Bob Margett, R-Glendora
Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Santa Clarita
Former California Republican Party Chairman Mike Schroeder, Corona del Mar
Assemblyman Jim Silva, R-Huntington Beach
Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, R-Moorpark
State Senator Mark Wyland, R-Carlsbad
More on Mitt's California Team

[redgirlinabluestate]

THAT is a great photo. Here's another one.

Ann Romney in middle with Jen Romney and Ande Romney (daughters-in-law)

http://fivebrothers.mittromney.com/

[Rameumptom]

Romney discusses his business strategy and economic strategies in his book "Turnaround" about the Olympics. Personally I think it was a little too long and a little bland, but it is very good. He does focus on the details, I don't. (Which is just one reason why I'm not worth half a billion I suppose.) He also gets a great team as evidenced by this article and past campaing choices. It is the strategy he outlined years ago in Turnaround. Fiscally, if he can do for the Feds what he did in Mass, and in the Olympic turnaround it will be great. He also discusses at length how he dealt with the scandal part. Washington needs some of that too.

[ClaireSolt]

That looks more like her. She’s a horsewoman. Wonder when we will see her on a horse.

[TheLion]

Bttt!

[ChessExpert]

Romney continues to make the right moves in my opinion. Romney-Pence 2008.

[GOP_Lady]

Wnat a great crew.

[JCEccles]

Mitt knows business.

"The business of America is business." Calvin Coolidge

[rscully]

Rep Buck McKeon from Santa Clarita is my old boss, (I grew up in Santa Clarita), but more importantly, his entire family (included extended family members) and I are lifelong friends. His brother performed my wedding ceremony. He and his family are from very conservative, business-minded stock. An excellent choice!

[California Patriot]

I respect Romney’s extraordinary success in business. It speaks well of his drive, his ability to work hard, and his intelligence. However, government and politics are very different things from business.

[redgirlinabluestate]

Hallelujah! Give us a non-career politician anyday!

The best minds are not in government. If any were, Business would hire them away.- Ronald Reagan

"I have come to the conclusion that politics are too serious a matter to be left to the politicians." - Charles De Gaulle

DC outsiders should have the edge over insiders in this election as the people are fed up with business as usual and the typical Washington response to most situations. Change is a good thing.

With insiders lacking perspective, DC outsiders, like Mitt, are in a far better position to bring fresh and innovative ideas to the forefront.

Having said that, we all know while Mitt has the benefit of being a DC outsider, he also carries with him superior executive experience having governed Massachusetts. Perfect combination.