PROMISES, PROMISES: Romney Pledges Raise Questions
- From: Raymond <Bluerhymer@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 4 May 2012 17:41:26 -0700 (PDT)
PROMISES, PROMISES: Romney Pledges Raise Questions
Mitt Predictably Predictable
By CHARLES BABINGTON Associated Press
WASHINGTON April 27, 2012 (AP)
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is making campaign
promises that could produce an economic miracle — or a more
predictable list of broken vows.
Romney says he wants to put the nation on a path to a balanced budget
while also cutting an array of taxes, building up the Navy and Air
Force and adding 100,000 active-duty military personnel. He says he
would slash domestic spending and reduce tax loopholes but has offered
few details.
His comments raise eyebrows in Congress, long accustomed to easier-
said-than-done promises. And even some conservatives have their
doubts.
Christopher A. Preble, a vice president for the libertarian Cato
Institute, says Romney's promise to push military spending to 4
percent of the national economy would require dramatic increases that
would raise, not lower, the federal deficit.
Citing "the absurdity of Romney's plan," Preble wrote recently that
the candidate "hasn't said what other spending he will cut, or what
taxes he would increase."
"Until he does," Preble wrote, "it is logical to conclude that he
plans to pile on more debt."
Romney says he will avoid that problem by making courageous cuts to
federal programs if elected.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/promises-promises-romney-pledges-raise-questions-16228982
Eepublican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt
Romney speaks in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Romney is making campaign promises that could produce an economic
miracle _ or a highly predictable list of broken vows. (AP Photo/Jae
C. Hong, File) Close"I have three major ways that we can get ourselves
to a balanced budget," he told voters this month in Warwick, R.I.
"Number one is to eliminate some programs. Stop, eliminate them. Not
just slow down their rate of growth. But look at programs and say,
'Too many, too big, too expensive, too ineffective, get rid of it.'
Some programs you're going to like. I'm going to ask for sacrifice.
But the sacrifice will not be taking more from your wallet.... I'm not
going to give anybody any free stuff."
Other Romney proposals would make states responsible for programs such
as Medicaid, and reduce the federal workforce by 10 percent "through
attrition."
It's not uncommon for candidates to promise unspecified spending cuts.
Often, however, they find it extremely difficult to fulfill the
pledges once elected. That's one reason the nation's debt has soared
under Republican and Democratic presidents and congresses alike.
Romney has shown little willingness to cut popular programs so far. He
joined President Barack Obama, and bucked some House Republicans, by
backing an extension of low college loan rates for middle-income
students, a $6 billion government cost.
Voters may understand that candidates can't or won't keep all their
promises.
"You campaign in fiction, and govern in fact," said Tom Davis, a
former congressman who headed the Republicans' House campaign
committee from 1998 to 2002.
He noted that Obama quickly backed off his campaign promise to close
the Guantanamo Bay prison. Obama also pledged to tamp down
Washington's partisan tone and to overhaul immigration laws, neither
of which has happened.
Davis said it's the general thrust of Romney's proposals that matters
most, not every specific item.
"What he's trying to do is sketch a different vision," Davis said.
Details of how Romney's proposals will pan out, if he's elected, "will
be determined by Congress and events," he said.
Rep. Steve LaTourette, R-Ohio, said Romney's proposals "are
aspirations" more than firm promises. If elected, Romney may have to
revisit his current rejection of tax increases and his vow to leave
Social Security and Medicare unchanged for current and soon-to-be
recipients, LaTourette said.
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