Romney Flip Flopped On TARP
First Romney Said TARP Was Alarming
Romney Said That “We Have Every Good Reason To Be Alarmed And To Speak Our Mind” When The Government Is Bailing Out Banks. While speaking at the Values Voter Summit, Romney stated, “There’s something else that should concern us when the federal government expands at such a rate. When government is trying to take over health care, buying car companies, bailing out banks, and giving half the White House staff the title of czar – we have every good reason to be alarmed and to speak our mind!” [Romney Values Voter Summit Speech, 9/19/09]
Then He Supported TARP
Romney Said TARP Was “The Right Thing For The Country” Because “We Were On The Precipice.” Appearing on Fox News, Romney stated, Mccain “… said, look, it is very bad politics to be for TARP. On the other hand, it’s the right thing for the country. And that’s why he voted for it. That’s why a lot of Republicans voted for it. They knew it was bad politics, but they also recognized that, if we saw a cascade of bank failures, one after the other after the other, that the entire free economy would grind to a halt in this country and probably in various places around the world. We were on a precipice which, you know, now we can sit back and say, oh, it wasn’t scary. Well, frankly, it was a scary time for a lot of people. And that’s something which was resolved.” [Cavuto, Fox News, 1/28/10]
And A Month Later, He Said He Would Shut Down TARP
Romney Said He Would Shut Down TARP. According to the Detroit News Romney said that as President he’d “Shut down TARP, which bailed out the banking and financial industries. ‘Using it as a feel-good fund is a mistake, and adds additional burdens to the economy.’ He also he would create immediate incentives for employers to buy capital goods, such as autos, computers and machine tools. ‘Those are the kinds of things that have the most immediate impact.’” [Detroit News, 2/19/10]
Romney Flip-Flopped On The Economic Stimulus Package
First Said The Stimulus Would Lead To Recovery…
Romney Wrote That The 2009 Stimulus “Would Accelerate The Timing Of The Start Of The Recovery.” In the hardcover edition of “No Apology” Mitt Romney wrote “The ‘all-Democrat’ stimulus that was passed in early 2009 will accelerate the timing of the start of the recovery, but not as much as it could have had it included genuine tax- and job-generating incentives.” [“No Apology” 2010 Pgs. 144-145]
…Then He Said The Stimulus Was A Failure
Romney Called The Stimulus Package A Failure. According to KSL, “Romney also said the stimulus package was a failure. ‘The president indicated that his stimulus would hold unemployment to 8 percent, and that if he didn’t pass the stimulus of almost a trillion dollars it would go to 10 percent. Well, we went to 10 percent. So it was a bad miscalculation that’s going to cost the American people a lot.’” [KSL, 12/3/09]
…Then He Edited His Book To Reflect His New Opinion
In The Hardcover Edition Of “No Apology” Romney Wrote The 2009 Stimulus “Would Accelerate The Timing Of The Start Of The Recovery” But Then Changed It A Year Later To Say The Stimulus “Has Been A Failure.” In the hardcover edition of “No Apology” Mitt Romney wrote “The ‘all-Democrat’ stimulus that was passed in early 2009 will accelerate the timing of the start of the recovery, but not as much as it could have had it included genuine tax- and job-generating incentives.” In the paperback edition of “No Apology,” Mitt Romney wrote “The ‘all-Democrat’ stimulus passed in early 2009 has been a failure. The administration takes great pains to argue that the stimulus helped grow the economy. The relevant question is whether it preformed according to the Obama administration’s own standards-and that answer is ‘no.’” [“No Apology” 2010 Pgs. 144-145; “No Apology” 2011 Pgs. 158-159]
Romney Opposes Reform Of Wall Street
Romney Said He Was Open To The Repeal Of The Financial Reform Bill. The Boston Globe reported, in regards the financial reform bill, Mitt Romney said “Whether you repeal the whole bill wholesale is something which you’d have to resolve after you had a chance to look at each of the pieces of regulation that comes forward… But clearly the consumers deserve protection… Legislation and regulation is important, but the level of over-regulation and burden which has been placed on the financial services sector I think is unnecessary and will cost us jobs down the road.” [The Boston Globe, 5/16/11 ]
Romney Blamed The Financial Reform Legislation For Causing The Financial Service “To Retreat.” The Boston Globe reported that “Romney also criticized the financial reform legislation, saying it ‘frankly scared the dickens out of anybody in financial services, caused them to retreat.’” [The Boston Globe, 4/1/11 ]
Club For Growth: Romney Opposed “Burdensome” Regulations In Sarbanes-Oxley Legislation. In an address to the Club for Growth Winter Conference, Romney “…opposed the burdensome regulations imposed by Sarbanes-Oxley.” [Club for Growth, 2012 Presidential White Paper #5, 6/7/11 ]
Romney Said Sarbanes Oxley Reduced Initial Public Offerings And That He Wanted To “Streamline Regulation.” According to the Stamford Advocate, “During a May fundraiser at the home of Greenwich venture capitalist L. Scott Frantz, Romney said he had yet to publish his views on hedge fund regulation. ‘One of the areas I have concerns about is Sarbanes-Oxley, which, I believe, has contributed to a reduction in the (initial public offering) rate in this country,’ Romney said. ‘My inclination is generally to find ways to streamline regulation, make sure it continues to protect the public, but make sure it doesn’t burden our success competitively.’” [The Stamford Advocate, 8/13/07]
Published: Jan 1, 2011