There really isn't any other GOP hopeful with the lasting power Romney has shown, which is good for Republicans as he is the only one that could have a real chance of defeating President Obama if given the chance.
Looking at his father, Mitt Romney seems like a man who should be able to grasp America's real problems and the need for homegrown and home owned manufacturing. For eight years his father, George Wilcken Romney, was chairman and CEO of American Motors Corporation. He was a one term Governor of Michigan, and the United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. He had a good understanding of how to make a business successful for the company and its workers.
George Romney saw his competitors, the Big Three in Detroit, as two large monopolies -- one of labor and one of corporations. He feared that the two would interfere with competitive, cooperative consumerism and frequently went before Congress to break up the auto giants, much like Americans are now seeing the Occupy Movement doing in their fight against the "too big to fail" banks.
Michigan has suffered greatly due to the fallacy of laissez-faire "free" trade polices. Surely Mitt Romney will have noticed that much his father worked to build is now in ruins. The question voters need to ask is, has Mitt learned what his father seemed to know? The short answer: no.
Romney's website states that as president, he would work to "reduce taxes, spending, regulation, and government programs" to create jobs and "seeks to increase trade, energy production, human capital, and labor flexibility."
To reduce taxes, Romney hopes to lower the corporate income tax to to 25 percent. This is a fine recommendation, but with a value-added tax (VAT), the United States could almost eliminate the corporate income tax altogether and start taxing the foreign imports that are putting American workers out of business. America is one of the very few countries in the world not taking advantage of a VAT, allowing all other nations to take advantage of the United States. Germany taxes American goods entering their country 19 percent, while their exporters are not taxed at all when shipping products to America.
Romney states that one of the five executive orders he would give on day one would be to direct "the Department of the Treasury to list China as a currency manipulator in its biannual report and directs the Department of Commerce to assess countervailing duties on Chinese imports if China does not quickly move to float its currency."
This would be a nice step in the right direction, one that fair trade groups and coalitions have been pushing for years. Yet this move is not only too little, it could end up being utterly ineffective as Romney supports the very "free" trade deals that put Michigan workers in direct competition with labor at rates as low as $3 an hour.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
1
