Former Massachusetts Governor and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney tells Newsmax that the Democrats’ massive stimulus package is laden with “pet liberal projects” that won’t help the economy at all.
He also asserts that President Barack Obama is actually hurting the economy in two ways — and said Republicans in the Senate are close to having “no voice whatsoever.”
Newsmax’s Ashley Martella asked Romney to discuss his ongoing efforts to help Republicans in the House who have been opposing the stimulus bill.
[Editor's Note: Watch Mitt Romney discuss Obama’s dangerous economic strategy - Go Here Now]
“There are a number of Republicans, actually all Republicans, who voted for a Republican version of a stimulus bill that actually would have created jobs on an immediate basis,” Romney responded.
“But instead Barack Obama and Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi came out with a bill that not only had stimulus in it, but also had a lot of pet liberal projects that frankly are not going to help the economy at all.
“And those Republicans who voted against [the Democrats’] bill that are in tough districts are being targeted by the Democratic Party to get turned out. Somebody needs to stand up for what I call the undaunted dozen, the 12 congressmen and congresswomen who stood up bravely in very difficult districts and voted no for the waste and the inefficiency and the political agenda of the American left.”
Martella asked if Romney was also helping any Republican senators who will be up for re-election next year.
“I’m going to work for probably every single Senator where I can be of help in the upcoming elections in 2010,” Romney said.
“It’s too early to know which races will be the really contested races, but we’ll focus on those like we did last time.”
Last year, Romney campaigned for Saxby Chambliss in Georgia and Norm Coleman in Minnesota. In Minnesota, he added, “not only did I go there but our team has been there since to help in the recount” between Coleman and challenger Al Franken.
“We’ll focus our energies on helping get conservatives re-elected and hopefully expanding our position in the Senate, where we’re awfully close to having no voice whatsoever.”
Martella pointed out that Obama has proposed a budget of $3.6 trillion and $1 trillion in tax hikes, and asked: “Is this the way to go about bolstering the economy and encouraging job growth?”
Romney answered: “He seems to have found a way to hurt the economy in two ways.
One is, of course, by continuing to spend massively more than we take in, which will require hundreds of billions, even trillions of dollars of additional borrowing.
“That puts very much in question whether foreign investors are going to keep on lending Americans money by buying our Treasury bills, and perhaps if they don’t do that we could see a dramatic rise in interest rates and enormous economic challenges down the road.
“On the other hand, he’s also found a way to raise taxes, which will slow growth. So he’s doing two things, both of which will be harmful to the economy and the well-being of job creation in the country.
“What he should be doing instead is what he talked about, which is going through the budget line by line and cutting out the things that are unnecessary.
“Any time a family faces tough economic times they say, ‘There are a lot of things we like doing but we just can’t afford right now.’
“Well, a lot of things in this country that we do we can’t afford right now, and adding new programs and spending on things that aren’t necessary, those things have to end.”
[Editor's Note: Watch Mitt Romney discuss Obama’s dangerous economic strategy - Go Here Now]
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