Posted on 01/21/2008 11:33:00 AM PST by pianomikey
This is an analysis of Mitt's CURRENT positions and proposals: He's got problems with his past, but no frontrunner doesn't, but that's for another thread. I'm taking all information from his website and current news releases, starting with his entrance into the race.
Mitt's catching on it seems, so I'm posting this largely for my own reference and for other freepers to join in if they want. The other purpose is to catalogue his positions so we can spot changes OVER THE COURSE OF CAMPAIGNING. It'll be a good measure of overall campaign consistency.
Conservative:
-"I believe that we are overtaxed and government is overfed. Washington is spending too much money." (romney 2-13-07)
-Veto domestic nondefense discretionary appropriations that increase spending by more than inflation minus one percent.(website)
-Impose congressional rule requiring a three-fifths (60%) supermajority to pass any law that would raise taxes.[this would be great even when fighting dem congress, but it'd be hard to pass](website)
-"The key to effective homeland security, in my view, is intelligence, finding the attackers before they attack, gathering and analyzing tips, monitoring suspects, wiretapping, surveillance, all of the tools associated with intelligence work." (Romney 2004)
-While there has been much emphasis on protecting facilities and responding to attacks, a key priority must be prevention. (website)
-"I think many of us still fail to comprehend the extent of the threat posed by radical Islam, by Jihad." [ya, half the country!] (romney 4-10-07)
-Governor Romney has called for strategic divestment from companies that support the Iranian regime's dangerous actions, using efforts similar to the actions taken against Apartheid South Africa.[as long as sanctions are only the beginning](website)
-Lower The Corporate Tax Rate.(website)
Zero Rate On Middle Class Savings. Eliminate all taxes on interest, dividends, and capital gains for anyone with Adjusted Gross Income under $200,000 to make it easier for the middle class to save. [i like this idea, but it would add to the complexity of an already burdensome tax code. The flat tax does this in its very nature] (website)
Make The Bush Tax Cuts Permanent, Eliminate The Death Tax Once And For All. (website)
Implement National Tort Reform. [put Edwardsesque leeches out of business for good!](website)
-Pursue our domestic sources of energy, drawing from our broad and diverse base of options, including opening ANWR to oil and natural gas development.(website)
-Accelerate construction of new nuclear power plants in order to ensure that nuclear power continues to be a part of a robust, cleaner, and reliable energy mix.[directly resulting from EPA/envirowhackos etc, we've become practically 3rd world in our nuclear power supply. This is ridiculous](website)
-Pursue our domestic sources of energy, drawing from our broad and diverse base of options, including opening ANWR to oil and natural gas development.[ANWR=good](website)
-Follow through on Congressional commitment to build a physical and technological fence along the southern border, and secure other points of entry.[None of this virtual fence stuff! Incredibly, the only time when Fed govt has a direct right and responsibility to take action, they drag their feet](website)
-Do not give amnesty or any special pathway to those who have come to this country illegally.(website)
-Punish Sanctuary Cities, Improve Interior Enforcement, Reject Amnesty.(website)
-Deregulate State Markets. Encourage states to eliminate the cumbersome insurance regulations that drive costs up and providers out of the market. (website)
-Level the playing field by making all health care expenses tax deductible, eliminating the special treatment afforded employer-provided health plans. (wbsite)
-"Conservative principles have the answers for health care. I think I'm going to be able to demonstrate to you today the conservative principles of personal responsibility and free market dynamics and choice and personal care – these kinds of elements allow us to reform health care in such a way that we can solve the problems that America faces in health care without having a government takeover, without having socialized medicine with all its drawbacks and all its weaknesses." (Governor Mitt Romney, Remarks At The Florida Medical Association, 8/24/07)
-As President, Governor Romney will promote a culture of life. Governor Romney believes that Roe v. Wade should be overturned so that the issue of abortion can be returned to the American people and their elected representatives at the state and federal level.[Yes I know he's got a dirty past but he's turned in the right direction. This policy is the correct conservative policy, NOT "making abortion illegal!" like Huck supporters have been calling for. Prez doesn't have that right](website)
-Governor Romney supports a Federal Marriage Amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. (website)
-Appoint Conservative Justices Who Abide By The Constitution. Governor Romney will appoint judges who respect the Constitution and the rule of law, and will not legislate from the bench. (website)
-Repeal McCain-Feingold. Governor Romney believes that McCain-Feingold should be repealed because it restricts our First Amendment rights. He believes we should enact reforms that promote transparency and disclosure, preserve grassroots activism and protect the ability to criticize or endorse current officeholders and candidates. [biggest single assault on our constitutional rights in any of our lifetimes.](website)
-Support Court Decisions That Strengthen The Second Amendment. The Governor applauds court decisions finding the Second Amendment protects an individualized right to keep and bear arms. As President he would support that interpretation and protect the right of every law abiding adult to keep and use firearms. [well and good, but just support constitutionalist judges and it's a non-issue.](website)
-Governor Romney Strongly Opposes The Taking Of Private Property For Private Development. Governor Romney believes that the Kelo property rights case was wrongly decided.(website)
-Governor Romney Will Promote School Choice, will support performance-based pay, Governor Romney Has Proposed A Federal Home Schooling Tax Credit. [similar to vouchers, and definitely a plus.](website)
Iffy:
-address the looming budget crisis caused by increasing entitlement spending in a BIPARTISAN WAY.(website)
-Create A Special Partnership Force (SPF). The SPF will integrate all elements of national power under a new force with leadership drawn from a core group of our Army Special Forces trained to work with civilian governments and intelligence personnel (website)[yet another bureau of govt??]
-Strengthen Global Alliances. The failure of efforts such as the United Nations Human Rights Council has given multilateralism a bad name. America’s strength is amplified when it is combined with the strength of other nations. [America's strength is directly proportional to the strength of our alliances. Multilateralism is acceptable only when subordinate to America's strength and interests. Too often "work together" means "at the expense of USA international interests]
-"I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate." [good, except I don't like "pro-life except" positions.] (Governor Mitt Romney, Boston Globe, Op-Ed, 7/26/05"
-Software Filters To Guard Children From Online Pornography. Governor Romney will work with computer and software companies to make sure all new computers have optional parental control software filters that are ready and easy to use during setup. Governor Romney will also promote and increase awareness of available parental control filtering products for existing computers. [nice idea, but outside the purview of the presidency imo. Nannystatery](website)
Liberal:
Improve Worker Retraining. Consolidate and streamline the numerous federal programs in this area, and focus on giving workers the skills they need to succeed in a global economy.[it is not the responsibility of the federal government to train individuals!](website)
Build And Repair Transportation Infrastructure. [This is buying into the canard that the MN bridge collapse last year was evidence of an aging infrastructure and that federal government needs to swoop in and help. Let state governments maintain and oversee their own transportation systems. The last thing we need is expansion federal power!]
-Dramatically increase federal spending on research, development, and demonstration projects that hold promise for diversifying our energy supply and increasing our energy efficiency. [I call bullshit: private enterprise and investment are the ONLY effective means of innovation and advancement. Computing hardware/software, medical/drug advancements, etc are all the result of private investment, not federal grants! The market WILL drive and decide.](website)
-Support More Severe Punishments For Those Who Commit Crimes With A Firearm. Those who use a firearm during the commission of crime must be punished severely. The key is to provide law enforcement with the resources they need and punish criminals, not burden lawful gun owners. [Lame. Crimes are crimes, gun-involved or not. Demonizes gun ownership.](website)
Romney won the highest percentage of evangelical Christians in Michigan.
He also came in first or second in evangelicals in New Hampshire, and in South Carolina.
Maybe in your small circle of hard-liners Romney is untenable.
The vast middle evangelical conservative practicing Christian wing of the Republican party will support Romney.
He vetoed a bill granting over-the-counter access to the Morning after pill in Massachusetts. He also donated large amounts of money to Massachusetts Citizens for Life.
2) He’s had a conversion on the sanctity of marriage.
Not true. He was always for traditional marriage. He opposed gay marriage from the beginning and campiagned hard for a constitutional amendment to overturn the MA Supreme Judicial Court decision that forced gay marriage on the Commonwealth.
3) He instituted a now-failing form of socialist-lite medical coverage in Massachussetts. How am I to believe that he now wants smaller government?
It's not failing and it's very far from socialist. The crux of his plan was to allow private insurance companies to offer cheaper, no-frills plans to individuals and set up a centralized insurance policy exchange (like a stock exchange) where people could comaprison shop for policies. Individual premiums are now half of what they were before.
The other part of his plan was to re-direct money previously spent on the bills of uninsured users of emergency rooms to subsidize insurance premiums for people who were too wealthy to qualify for medicade but too poor to afford their own plans. Yes, this is a little socialistic, but it seems to me it's better to subsidize insurance than it is to give uninsured people free medical care in emergency rooms.
Certainly not M60s, LAW rockets, etc., since those are already either banned, or regulated by the Federal Government. (I.E. Fully-automatic "Class III" firearms have been strictly regulated since passage of the National Firearms Act of 1934.)
IMO It is simply Romneys' way of leaving the door open to further, more expansive gun bans (in addition to H.R. 1022: Assault Weapons Ban), without painting himself into a corner, in regards to what firearms he WOULDN'T ban.
Furthermore, in regards to Romneys' "extraordinary lethality" nonsense, we shouldn't forget that the Brady Campaign wants the .22 rimfire banned, because "more people are killed by the .22 every year, than any other caliber."
The most common killers may surprise you (Brady Barf alert)
If more people are killed with .22s each year, than any other caliber, wouldn't that classify the .22 rimfire as having "extraordinary lethality"?
Ptah~ Not enough by half. It is the truly vast Christian Right that he needs to fear, and he may as well pack it in. His road to Damascus conversions on homos and abortion will not be enough.
If he becomes the nominee, the press will howl about his sins at the top of their lungs and those who support him now without looking at his record will flee.
A-freakin Men!!
But these Mitt Romney are so knee-jerk in their distain for the man, that they dont even bother to LOOK at the details of the Massachusetts plan.
In fact, there is MORE private insurance plans being implemented in Massachusetts now than before when many middle-class and well-to-do people were simply pushing their catastrophic hospital bills onto MediCaid and MediCare -- because they KNEW a compassionate society would never make them sell their assets to pay huge medical bills.
These Romney haters simply yell "Socialist Socialist" at the top of their lungs, without even knowning what the heck Romney proposed.
It's not only depressing, it's embarrassing to the conservative cause that I once thought was analytical and not fraught with juvenile emotion like the lib-Dems.
This is incorrect. Mitt has never had a conversion on the sanctity of marriage.
Now let me explain....
In Massachusetts the talk about gays came up over and over again.
People tried to paint Mitt (just like they do any other person opposed to some gay extremists) as being a 'gay basher' or a homophobe, or someone who even advocates violence against gays.
Just like with most things the pendelum swung way left into the realm of extremism.
What Mitt actually said was, that if two consenting adults go into their room and do what they do we do not approve but we are not going to persecute gays for it. Love the sinner but not the sin.
Gays should not be beaten up for being gay and if they want to be adults about it and be gay on their own, so be it. But that they did not--and should not--get special treatment.
Mitt actually took a classy position but also stood his ground. What do you think they should do? Put out an extermination order against gays? Not me. I don't think thats right at all.
This same group that was trying to pigeon hole "Republican Conservative Mormon" Mitt into being a violent gay hater were put on the defensive...but before long they took their extreme views to the supreme court of Massachusetts where they won a victory by fiat.
No votes, no referrendum, no nothing. Just judicial mandate.
Mitt was on the first plane to Washington and actually testified before the Senate for a Constitutional Ammendment proclaiming marriage as between a man and a woman.
Mitt's position has not changed and I challenge anyone to read the facts of the matter. To say otherwise is a sheer lie.
Duncan Hunter has indicated that he prefers the candidacies of McCain and Huckabee to Romney's.
Mitt also said that he was never pro-choice. Also, that he was effectively pro-choice. Also, that he was dedicated to keeping abortion legal and absolutely pledged that he would never change his mind, 2 years before he supposedly did change his mind.
Some straight shooter, that.
I agree. Fred only delayed my “heartfelt” move to Romney. Unlike the poor SOBs in Iowa and New Hampshire and SC, I’ve only recently started paying attention. Really, I started following about the time Fred jumped in because he excited me. Now I’m excited because we are winnowing the field.
Hate to see Fred go, but it will lighten the field to evaluate the remaining contenders. If Huck really is on the ropes, that’s good too.
Is my ideal candidate among the three remainig (Mitt, Rudy, McCain)? No (and no it’s not Paul, either). But can I find from that mix a candidate better suited to my desires? Yes.
The ultimate test for me is has the individual been in an executive position? I’m a lean toward Mitt.
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