Focus on the Issues Series: Romney on the economy
“Believe in America” is the official title of Mitt Romney’s plan for jobs and economic growth, according to his official campaign website, www.mittromney.com. The plan emphasizes Romney’s intention to fundamentally change the federal government’s role in supporting growth and creating jobs, and Romney believes such stark revision is needed in light of the country’s current economic crisis.
His plan will “rebuild the foundations of the American economy on the principles of free enterprise, hard work, and innovation.” Building the foundation of this main goal are seven specific subsets:
• Tax--- “Fairer, flatter, and simpler”. Individual taxes should be lower to encourage entrepreneurship and invention, which will drive the economy in the long term. Romney would make a 20 percent cut in marginal rates across the board and would eliminate taxes for taxpayers with an adjusted gross income below $200,000. Romney would also cut the current corporate tax rate of 35 percent to 25 percent to further encourage growth.
• Energy—“Pro-jobs, pro-market, pro-American”. Romney’s energy plan centers around reducing foreign dependence on our energy sources. The first step to domestic energy success would be extensive regulatory reform that would speed up the development of our domestic oil and natural gas reserves, and he’ll invest further in nuclear power. He also supports the construction of pipelines that’ll bring Canadian oil to the United States.
• Spending—“Smaller, simpler, smarter government”. Romney believes that “the only recipe for fiscal health and a thriving private economy is a government that spends within its means.” His plan would cap spending at 20% of the GDP and would pass the House Republican Budget proposal.
• Regulation—“Cutting the red tape”. Romney cites the evils of regulation imposed by federal programs on Americans. His plan would establish firm limits and caps for these agencies. He would eliminate previous economic policies like Obamacare, and will get rid of environmental regulations that hurt the country’s economic freedom of growth.
• Human capital—“A 21st Century Workforce”. Romney’s plan focuses on retraining workers and supporting the bright innovators of the future. Romney will emphasize the power of the state in dealing with unemployment and will create incentives for foreign graduates with degrees in science, math, and engineering to come to the U.S.
• Labor—“Free enterprise, free choice, free speech”. Romney will focus on these three tenets to ensure that labor unions do not stifle economic growth. He'll level the playing field between businesses and unions by increasing communication between the two and supporting the free availability of information for workers.
• Trade—“Open markets on terms that work for America”. Romney aims to open new global markets to American workers and businesses and would further support negotiations on international trade partnerships. He will also take a stronger role in relations with China to ensure that American needs are being addressed and that China is acting legally and according to existing agreements.
Mitt Romney’s outline for his Jobs and Economic Growth Plan can be found on his campaign site.
Samantha Glavin is a Spring 2012 Paste BN College Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the Paste BN College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.