Mitt Romney photo

Remarks at a Campaign Event in Westerville, Ohio

September 26, 2012

Thank you so much. Thank you. [cheers and applause] [inaudible] — Jack Nicklaus in just a second but wanted — wanted to get with your hometown hero. It's good to have Governor John Kasich here. Appreciate it. [cheers and applause] And of course, it's great to have Senator Rob Portman. You know, he — he debates me from now — time to time. [laughter] We — he's playing Barack Obama in these mock debates we have. I don't like it very much anymore, all right. [laughter] He keeps on beating me up, and I keep on going — [inaudible] — this guy is really something. You're lucky to have a guy so bright and so capable and so committed as your governor and as your senator. [cheers and applause]

But — but what you heard from the "Golden Bear," what you heard from the greatest athlete of the 20th century, the words that — that he spoke have touched my heart, and I'm sure they have touched your hearts as well.

He was moving and powerful. He's not a politician. He — he spoke from his heart, and what he said was about our country. When he said this election was not about him but about his kids and his grandkids, I knew just what he felt. That's what this campaign is all about.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Yeah.

MR. ROMNEY: He also said in that — those remarks that as — he said, you know, he — he learned that he had to know himself, learn himself, know himself. You heard that.

I thought, as he said that, I never imagined for a moment that Time magazine might name me the greatest athlete of the 20th century. [laughter] As a matter of fact, I didn't look at the Time magazine that week to see if I might have been named. I — [laughter] — I didn't have a great athletic career. And so when my — actually we have in my family a competition among our — our five boys and me, in the summertime. We call it the Romney Olympics, but it's hardly an Olympics. [laughter] And — and we — we play various sports. I typically come in sixth out of the six of us. [laughter]

So when I took the job to run the Olympics — yeah, sit down, guys, and those of you with chairs, go ahead and sit down. Oh, look at that. [laughter] That's a lot better, isn't it? [cheers and applause]

When — when I — when I got the job to help organize the Olympic Winter Games in 2002, I — I knew that it was a bit ironic for a guy with such little athletic ability myself to be able to be responsible for the largest athletic event in the world.

My boys also saw the irony in it. [laughter] My oldest son called when it was — when it showed up in the paper. They already knew about — that I'd taken the job, but my oldest son called and said, Dad, I saw the paper this morning, and I've talked to the brothers. We want you to know there's not a circumstance we could have conceived of that would put you on the front page of the sports section.

But there I was. [laughter and applause] So I know myself, and — and I know that the things that I've learned how to do are things that right now our country needs.

I know how to work with people who have different views and persuasions and bring them together to solve tough problems. It's something I've been able to do in part because I first grew up in a home where I saw my dad and my mom do that, but particularly dad. He — he ran a car company. I loved cars. And growing up in Detroit, I watched him take a company that was in real trouble. Some of you remember Ramblers, the jeep. This was American Motors. They made those products, yeah. [cheers and applause] And — and he helped turn the business around and make it successful. Then he went on to — to become the — the three-term governor of his state and worked with Republicans and Democrats and — to make his state more successful and create jobs. So I watched him do that.

Then I went into business myself. And for the 25 years or so I was in business, I learned a very simple lesson: You don't spend more money than you take in, or you go under. [cheers and applause]

And then — and then I was asked to come out and help organize the Olympic Winter Games. And I took those same skills I'd learned at home and — and that I've learned in business, and went out to the Olympics and was able to work with other people and bring that community together that had been in some respects pulled apart by the scandal associated with the games before I happened to be brought in there. And — and so we had successful games.

And then I was asked by a number of folks to come back and run for governor of my state and decided that was an important thing to do. Was able to work — my legislature, by the way, was slightly Democrat in Massachusetts; it was 87 percent Democrat, actually — [laughter] — 13 percent Republicans. (Scattered applause.) I realized I would get nothing done, nothing done unless I found a way to find some common ground with people across the aisle. We had different views on issues, but we shared some fundamental beliefs and principles. We wanted to help people.

We loved our country. We wanted to improve our schools. We wanted to keep taxes down — even Democrats in my state did — we wanted to keep taxes down because we didn't want jobs to leave, because when you raise taxes, you kill employment. So we worked together because of those common elements and were able to get our state back on track in important ways. We got employment down to 4.7 percent. Wouldn't that be nice if we — [cheers and applause] — (could have that ?).

I know myself well enough to know that I don't have all the ideas and all the best answers, that I need to work with other people and exchange ideas, and that when you do that, you can accomplish great things. Now, we have a president who the other day said something quite revealing. He said he can't change Washington from the inside, only from the outside. Well, we're going to give him that chance to be on the outside — [cheers and applause].

Every now and then I — I see protesters now and then at an event of mine. It's been a little while, but there have been some protesters, and usually they chant, "Four more years." And I — I scratch my head a bit when I hear that. I mean, do we really want four more years with 23 million Americans struggling to find a good job?

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: No.

MR. ROMNEY: Do we want four more years where half the kids coming out of college can't find work, or college-level work?

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: No!

MR. ROMNEY: Do we want four more years where, every single year, the take-home pay goes down?

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: No!

MR. ROMNEY: Do we want four more years of trillion-dollar deficits?

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: No!

MR. ROMNEY: Yeah. I don't believe we can afford four more years like the last four years, and the reason I believe that after the debates and after the campaigns and after all the ads are over, the people of Ohio are going to say loud and clear on November 6th, we can't afford four more years; we must do better.

[cheers and applause]

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: [inaudible]

MR. ROMNEY: This — this election comes down to a very dramatic choice in my — oh, good, we have some "four more years" people who want to chat. Hi there. How you doing? This comes down to a very dramatic difference between two different courses for America. One of those —

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: [inaudible]

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: [chanting] USA! USA! USA! USA! [cheers and applause]

MR. ROMNEY: You know, I know — I know there are some people who want four more years, but we don't want four more years like the last four years. [cheers and applause] This election, in my opinion, comes down to a very dramatic choice between two different courses for America. When it relates to the economy, the president's course is status quo. His slogan is — is "Forward." I think "forewarned" is a better term. [cheers and applause]

I mean, I don't know if you watched or read his speech at the Democrat convention, but he laid out a plan which was just like what he's done four years ago: another stimulus, bigger government. Instead of holding income taxes at the same level they've been, he's this time going to raise income taxes. That's a — that's a big change, I must admit, that he's going to add to his repertoire.

I don't think that's going to add more jobs in this country.

He also has another idea, which is instead of having consumers and markets choose the winners and losers among the various enterprises that are here, he likes to have government do that. [boos] Do you know he put $90 billion — $90 billion in the stimulus went to businesses that he thinks have the greatest prospects, like Solyndra and Fisker and Tesla and Ener1. [boos] He — he likes to pick winners and losers, or, as a friend said to me, no, he picks losers. (Laughter, cheers, applause.)

And there's one more element. It's not just the — more stimulus and more government and — and increasing income taxes. There's something else he wants to do that's the same as he's done in the past, and that is trillion-dollar deficits. That clock up there shows our national debt. When I began this campaign, it said it was 15 trillion (dollars). I mean, what's — what is a trillion? It's a thousand billions. It's this unthinkable amount. And he's added — we — he — when he came into office, there were just over $10 trillion in debt. Now there's over $16 trillion in debt. If he were re-elected, I can assure you it'll be almost $20 trillion of debt.

And by the way, those debts get passed on to our kids. It's not just bad for the economy. It's not just bad for our job creation. It will — in my opinion, it is immoral for us to pass on obligations like that to the next generation. [cheers and applause]

And by the way — and by the way, do you know what the interest bill is on that debt?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: A billion dollars.

MR. ROMNEY: Yeah, the — the interest rate — the interest that you're paying on that debt every year is more than we pay for housing, for agriculture, for education and transportation combined.

That's how much the interest is.

And by the way, the interest rate is real low right now, artificially low. And the reason that is is because every time the government goes out to borrow money, instead of having to go out to the marketplace and have people bid the interest rates up, they just give the debt to the Federal Reserve, that takes it and puts it in their pocket, basically printing more money. So interest rates are real low.

What's going to happen when those interest rates go up? That bill's going to get bigger and bigger. It is crushing. That's the course this president has put us on. We're on the road to Europe; we're on the road to Greece. I will get us off that road and reinvigorate — [cheers and applause] — [inaudible].

There are five things — there are five things — there are five things I'm going to do, five things I'm going to do that are dramatically different than the past of status quo represented by this president. And in fact they're very different than anything that's been done before, because we face an economy that's different than the economy of the past. China is now the largest manufacturer in the world. Wasn't the case 10, 20 years ago. The world has changed.

Here are the things I'm going to do. Number one, I'm going to take advantage of our energy resources and get us energy independent — [cheers and applause].

Number two — number two, I'm going to get trade to work for us. We're going to open up more trade, where we can compete fairly, but we're going to crack down on China when they cheat. They've stolen our jobs. That's got to stop. [cheers and applause]

Number three — number three, I'm going to make sure we have the kind of training programs that give people the skills they need for the jobs of today. And I'm going to make sure in our schools we get our kids the education they need. Our schools are performing in the bottom third in the world. I'm going to put our kids and the teachers and the parents first, and the teachers' union behind. [cheers and applause]

Number four — number four, with — with that kind of debt and that kind of interest payment that we're making, we're going to slowly but surely crush the ability of our economy to grow and create jobs. And so I'm going to do something Washington has talked about for years but not done. I'm going to cut federal spending. I'm going to cap it and get us on track to a balanced budget. [cheers and applause]

And number five — number five, I'm going to champion small business. [cheers and applause] Small business is where jobs — [inaudible].

And let me tell you how to do that. One — one, as Senator Portman said, we've got to reform our tax system.

Look, small businesses typically pay tax at the individual tax rate, and so our individual income taxes are ones I want to reform, make them simpler. I want to bring the rates down.

By the way, don't — don't be expecting a huge cut in taxes because I'm also going to lower deductions and exemptions. But by bringing rates down, we'll be able to let small businesses keep more of their money, so they can hire more people. [applause] My priority is jobs, and I'll make it happen. [cheers and applause]

You do those five things — you do those five things and this economy's going to come roaring back. If we don't do those five — five things, you're going to see — you're going to see four more years like the last four years, and I don't want that to happen. [boos]

I've been across this country. My heart aches for the people I've seen. I was yesterday with a — with a woman who was emotional, and she said, look, I've been out of work since May. She was in her 50s. She said, I don't see any prospects. Can you help me?

And I say, I'm going to do my very best to help you and — and millions of others like you — 23 million others like her.

There are so many in our country that are hurting right now. I want to help them. I know what it takes to get an economy going again and create jobs.

I know there are a lot of folks that have jobs that wonder how they can make ends meet till the end of the — end of the month, how they can put food on the table for their family because — there is a guy right there with that very question. It's that — look, with incomes going down every — every year, going down, down, down, and — and prices of electricity up and health insurance up and the — the — the cost of, well, gasoline having doubled, these are tough times, even for families with jobs.

I know what it takes to get this economy going again. I care about the people of America. And the difference between me and President Obama is I know what to do and I will do what it takes to get this economy going. [cheers and applause]

Thank you. Thank you, guys.

Let me mention something else. Let me mention something else. And that is, I talked about the economy and how we help people that are in trouble and how we could bring families back so they could have confidence in the future and make sure they know the ends can meet. They're tired of living paycheck to paycheck, and I want to change that.

But there is also another difference between myself and the president. and that is, perhaps — we stand back and look at the role of government, my view is the role of government is to encourage freedom, economic freedom, personal freedom. Our economy runs on freedom. [cheers and applause] I want government to be small and people to have more freedom. I realized — I realized, as Jack Nicholas just said, that you did build that. You built your lives, you built your enterprise as you help build the enterprises that create good jobs. [cheers and applause] I understand that — not government, but people — people.

[cheers and applause] And this president — this president has a very different view. He has a very different view. Not only does he think that government should choose winners and losers, as I mentioned before, he also thinks that government can do a better job than you in the way you live your life.

And "Obamacare" is point number one. [boos] It's the example number one where he wants to put bureaucrats between you and your doctor. [boos] He believes that — that government could — should tell you what kind of insurance you have to have. He believes that government should have a board of people that tell you what kind of care you can receive. [boos]

My view is we fight for freedom in this country. I do not want an intrusive, massive, larger debt-spending government that crushes the American dream. [cheers and applause]

And you guys, this matters. Look, this matters. This really matters. The choice we make is going to determine what kind of take-home pay people in America have. It's going to determine what kind of jobs we have. It's also going to determine whether our kids are confident and you're confident in your kids and in their future.

From the very beginning, America has always been defined by our belief that the future is brighter than the past. The majority of Americans don't believe that today. And if we stay on the road we're on, they will be right. It's unacceptable for America to continue this decline and have us as tired as we are of being tired.

I know what it takes to restore the greatness of America, to restore the promise for our kids and for our families today that are struggling. I also know what it takes to keep America strong.

Around the world — I was in Poland a few weeks ago, got the chance to meet with Lech Walesa, a hero. And — [cheers and applause] — as I came into the room, he said, you've come from America; you — you must be tired. You sit; I'll talk; you listen. [laughter]

I did. I sat down. And he began to speak.

And he said this again and again: Where's American leadership? We need American leadership. And then he'd talk about a region of the world and say, we need American leadership; where's American leadership?

I can commit to you this: With every ounce of my energy, when I'm president of the United States — when I am president of the United States — (extended cheers, applause) — I will strengthen America. [applause] I will strengthen our — [inaudible] — and our homes. I'll strengthen our economy to make sure that this economy can ignite our capacity to put people to work and to provide the resources we need to have the strongest military in the world! [cheers and applause] I will not (cut ?) our military. We will keep it strong. (Cheers and applause continuing.) [inaudible] — America. We're going to keep America strong! It's the hope of the earth.

I need your help on November 6th and every day till then. (Cheers and applause continuing.) We're going to win Ohio. [inaudible] [cheers and applause]

Mitt Romney, Remarks at a Campaign Event in Westerville, Ohio Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/315995

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