Republican contender speaks at USAA
Mitt Romney praised America's entrepreneurs and blasted President Obama as someone who 'doesn't understand what makes an economy grow,' in a campaign speech in Texas today.
Standing in the soaring main lobby of the headquarters of USAA, the global military-oriented financial services company and speaking in front of a huge American flag, Romney ticked off several issues which he said have harmed the economy and slowed the recovery.
"This is a tough time," the likely Republican Presidential nominee said to the supportive crowd of several hundred, many of whom packed balconies surrounding the atrium which were festooned with signs reading 'USAA welcomes Governor Romney.' "The President is out of ideas, he is out of excuses, and by this November, he will be out of office."
Romney ticked off a list of entrepreneurs he has met in his campaign, from the former truck driver who discovered the prolific Bakken Shale oil and gas field in North Dakota, to a surgeon who started a company perfecting back treatments that now employs more than a thousand people.
"It's amazing to see how this country works, people pursuing their dreams to create the new jobs that allow people to have rising incomes and bright futures," he said. "But over time, Washington has begun to forget the fundamentals of what makes this economy go. What you have seen over the last three and a half years is a president determined to have a government take a larger and larger role, and that has become very burdensome on enterprises."
Romney criticized the Obama administration for wanting to raise taxes, saying that would kill jobs. He said Health Care Reform will raise the costs of health care, and prompt many employers to cancel coverage for their workers.
"They knew that Obamacare would slow down the recovery," he said. "The idea that they knowingly slowed down our recovery in order to put in place Obamacare, which they wanted and they considered historic, is something that I think deserves a lot of explaining. I think the President's responsibility is to put people back to work, and lift them out of poverty."
He also criticized 'out of control regulation,' and said the President 'doesn't like the kinds of energy we have a lot of.'
"I will not stop the production of oil, gas, and coal, I will make it easier to get those resources. I think you are going to see an economic revitalization that will grow this economy in ways you haven't imagined."
Romney also addressed the audience of largely military retirees by declaring that what the world fears most is American weakness.
"We're a patriotic people. We love this country. We love our freedoms," he said. "Our economy is driven by freedom. When we have challenges like we have today is not taking away freedom, it is expanding freedom. We have a duty and a responsibility to hold the torch of freedom and hold it high enough for the rest of the world to see. Look into this race. This is not just a race about politics, it is a race about the course of the country. I will keep America strong, and I will honor the commitment of this country to be one nation, under God."
