Romney Biography And Top Ten Issues

Mitt Romney's Biography Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has been widely recognized for his leadership and accomplishments as a public servant and in private enterprise. Elected in 2002, Governor Romney presided over a dramatic reversal of state fortunes and a period of sustained economic expansion. Without raising taxes or increasing debt, Governor Romney balanced the budget every year of his administration, closing a nearly $3 billion budget gap inherited when he took office. By eliminating waste, streamlining the government, and enacting comprehensive economic reforms to stimulate growth in Massachusetts, Romney got the economy moving again and transformed deficits into surpluses. At the beginning of Governor Romney's term, Massachusetts was losing thousands of jobs every month. By the time he left office, the unemployment rate was lower, hundreds of companies had expanded or moved to Massachusetts and the state had added approximately 60,000 jobs from the low point of the recession. One of Governor Romney's top priorities was reforming the education system so that young people could compete for better paying jobs in the global economy of the future. In 2004, Governor Romney established the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Program to reward the top 25 percent of Massachusetts high school students with a fouryear, tuition-free scholarship to any Massachusetts public university or college. He has also championed a package of education reforms, including merit pay, an emphasis on math and science instruction, important new intervention programs for failing schools and English immersion for foreign-speaking students. In 2006, Governor Romney proposed and signed into law a private, market-based reform that ensures every Massachusetts citizen will have health insurance, without a government takeover and without raising taxes. Governor Romney was elected to the Chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association by his fellow Governors for the 2006 election cycle, and raised a record $27 million for candidates running in State House contests around the country. Romney first gained national recognition for his role in turning around the 2002 Winter Olympics. With the 2002 Games mired in controversy and facing a financial crisis, Romney left behind a successful career as an entrepreneur to take over as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. Governor Romney has said he felt compelled to assume the seemingly impossible task of rescuing the Games by both the urging of his wife, Ann, and by the memory of his father, George Romney, who had been a successful businessman, three-term Governor of Michigan, and a tireless advocate of volunteerism in America.

In his three years at the helm in Salt Lake, Romney erased a $379 million operating deficit, organized 23,000 volunteers, galvanized community spirit and oversaw an unprecedented security mobilization just months after the September 11th attacks, leading to one of the most successful Olympics in our country's history. Prior to his Olympic service, Mitt Romney enjoyed a successful career helping businesses grow and improve their operations. From 1978 to 1984, Mr. Romney was a Vice President at Bain & Company, Inc., a leading management consulting firm. In 1984, Romney founded Bain Capital, one of the nation's most successful venture capital and investment companies. Bain Capital helped launch hundreds of companies on a successful course, including Staples, Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Domino's Pizza, Sealy, Brookstone, and The Sports Authority. He was asked to return to Bain & Company as CEO several years later in order to lead a financial restructuring of the organization. Today, Bain & Company employs more than 2,000 people in 25 offices worldwide. Governor Romney has been deeply involved in community and civic affairs, serving extensively in his church and numerous charities including City Year, the Boy Scouts, and the Points of Light Foundation. He was also the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in 1994. Governor Romney received his B.A., with Highest Honors, from Brigham Young University in 1971. In 1975, he was awarded an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was named a Baker Scholar, and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School.

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Ann Romney's Biography Ann Romney places primary importance on her role as a wife, a mother and a grandmother. As First Lady of Massachusetts, she continued her work on behalf of disadvantaged women and children in her community and abroad. In 1998, Mrs. Romney was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. She has volunteered much of her time to raise awareness of the disease as a Board Member of the New England Chapter of the MS Society, and has been awarded the Society's Inspiration Award. She is determined to make a difference in the lives of people who suffer from the disease by raising the profile of MS, as well as raising funds for advocacy and research. Mrs. Romney is a strong believer that faith-based and community organizations can reach some members of our community better than government can. As such, Mrs. Romney served as the Governor's Liaison to the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. As a dynamic community leader, she has been a long-serving supporter and leader in the United Way of Massachusetts Bay. One of her priorities within the United Way has been as initiator, co-chair and now member of the Faith and Action Committee, a coalition that provides funding to urban church programs designed to serve at-risk youth. She has also served on the Board at the United Way, as well as on their Executive Committee and Community Impact Committee. Mrs. Romney is dedicated to improving the welfare of children, locally and internationally. She helped develop Right To Play, formerly Olympic Aid, an international nonprofit organization that uses sport and play as a developmental tool for children in the most disadvantaged areas of the world, and is still an active supporter of its tremendous work worldwide. She lends her time and leadership to equine therapy programs for physically challenged children, literacy programs for children including the annual Scholastic Reading event, as well as organizations such as Partners for Youth with Disabilities, the American Red Cross, the Boston Ten Point Coalition, and the Perkins School for the Blind. As First Lady, she also served as a board member of the Massachusetts Children's Trust Fund. In recognition for her efforts, Mrs. Romney was the recipient of the 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award from Operation Kids. Previously, Mrs. Romney was a director of Best Friends, an organization that addresses the special needs of adolescent, inner-city girls by providing educational and community service opportunities.

She also worked as a volunteer instructor at the Mother Caroline Academy, a multicultural middle school serving young girls from inner city Boston. She also formerly served on the Women's Cancer Advisory Board of Massachusetts General Hospital. Mrs. Romney attended high school in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan at the Kingswood School, the sister school to the high school that Governor Romney attended. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a concentration in French from Brigham Young University. She is a sports enthusiast and an avid equestrian, having received competitive recognition in dressage events nationwide, including winning the 2006 Gold Medal and 2005 Silver Medal at the Grand Prix level from the United States Dressage Federation. As residents of Belmont, Massachusetts for over thirty years, the Romneys celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary this year. They have five sons, five daughters-in-law, and ten grandchildren.

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Ten Issues America Must Address to Remain the Economic and Military Superpower 1. Defeating the Jihadists: The defeat of this radical and violent faction of Islam must be achieved through a combination of American resolve, international effort, and the rejection of violence by moderate, modern, mainstream Muslims. An effective strategy will involve both military and diplomatic actions to support modern Muslim nations. America must help lead a broad-based international coalition that promotes secular education, modern financial and economic policies, international trade, and human rights. "Romney wants the public to know that Jihadists are not an 'armed group of crazed maniacs in the hills of Afghanistan.' Rather, Romney says the United States is facing a 'far more sinister and broad-based extremist faction' with a 'very 8th century view of the world.'" (ABC News, April 30, 2006) Governor Romney: "The jihadists are waging a global war against the United States and Western governments generally with the ambition of replacing legitimate governments with a caliphate, with a theocracy." (Omaha World Herald, January 23, 2006) 2. Competing with Asia: China and the rest of Asia are on the move economically and technologically. They are a family-oriented, educated, and hard-working people. We must be ready and able to compete. This means ensuring our children are educated to compete in this new market, our trade laws are fair and balanced, and our economy and tax laws welcome new investment. If America acts boldly and swiftly, the emergence of Asia will be an opportunity. Trade and commerce with these huge new economies can further strengthen our economy and propel our growth. If America fails to act, we will be eclipsed. Governor Romney: "We have to keep our markets open or we go the way of Russia and the Soviet Union, which is a collapse. And I recognize there are some people who will argue for protectionism because the short-term benefits sound pretty good, but long term you kill your economy, you kill the future. What you have to do in order to compete on a global basis long term is invest in education, invest in technology, reform our immigration laws to bring in more of the brains from around the world, eliminate the waste in our government. We have to use a lot less oil. These are the kinds of features you have to invest in, you have to change in order to make ourselves competitive long term." (Kudlow and Company, March 22, 2006) 3. Simplifying the Tax System: America's tax code is a labyrinth that imposes an enormous and unnecessary burden on our citizens and employers. Keeping taxes low and simplifying the code will grow the economy and enhance our competitiveness. Governor Romney: "I said no to a tax hike; raising taxes hurts working people and scares away jobs. I also said no to more borrowing; borrowing just shifts our problems to the backs of our kids . . . Instead, I went after waste, inefficiency, duplication, and patronage." (Boston Globe, October 24, 2005)

Governor Romney: "It is fundamentally unfair to tax people retroactively. If we are to keep faith with the taxpayers of Massachusetts, we need to correct the constitutional error that occurred here." (Governor Mitt Romney Press Release, 2005) 4. Stopping Runaway Spending: The Federal government must stop its borrowing and spending binge. The debt is a burden on our economy, our currency, our foreign policy, and our future. This is beyond pork barrel spending. We must address entitlement programs – not just to save money – but to give Americans confidence in their future. Governor Romney: "Every legislator and politician knows this spending can't be justified, so why do they do it? Because it gets politicians praised – and re-elected. There's no courage involved in spending more money. Drawing a line on spending is hard and fraught with criticism. When I vetoed $458 million of excessive spending in the budget this spring, I knew that community newspapers across the Commonwealth would decry my elimination of local pet projects. And, I knew that the Legislature would override most of my vetoes. In fact, they overrode all of them, to a chorus of community acclaim. But someone has to say no." (Boston Globe, September 12, 2006) Governor Romney: "I don't want to add entitlements. I want to find ways to reform our entitlement programs." (Boston Globe, January 27, 2006) 5. Getting Immigration Right: Immigration has been an important part of our nation's success. The current system, however, puts up a concrete wall to the best and brightest, yet those without skill or education are able to walk across the border. We must reform the current immigration laws so we can secure our borders, implement a mandatory, biometrically enabled, tamper proof documentation and employment verification system, and increase legal immigration into America. Amnesty is not the answer. Governor Romney: "We need to make America more attractive for legal immigrants – for citizens – and less attractive for illegal immigrants. I want to see more immigration in our country, but more legal immigration and less illegal immigration." (AP, June 23, 2006) 6. Achieving Energy Independence: We must become independent from foreign sources of oil. This will mean a combination of efforts related to conservation and efficiency measures, developing alternative sources of energy like biodiesel, ethanol, nuclear, and coal gasification, as well as finding more domestic sources of oil such as in ANWR or the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). Governor Romney: "We're using too much oil," Romney said. "We have an answer. We can use alternative sources of energy – biodiesel, ethanol, nuclear power – and we can drill for more oil here. We can be more energy independent and we can be far more efficient in the use of that energy." (Waterloo Courier, September 29, 2006)

7. Affirming America's Culture and Values: American values are at the heart of America's historic rise to world leadership. These include, among others, respect for hard work, sacrifice, civility, love of family, respect for life, education and love of freedom. To remain a superpower in the world we must continuously and vigorously reaffirm these key components that have led to America's greatness as a country. Governor Romney: "America cannot continue to lead the family of nations around the world if we suffer the collapse of the family here at home." (UPI, February 26, 2005) Governor Romney: "What is the culture of this country, what are our underpinnings? We respect hard work. ... We are self reliant, we respect human life, we are a religious people. ... We are a purpose-driven people founded on the family unit. I think every child deserves to have a mother and a father." (Union Leader, March 19, 2006) Governor Romney: "Last year the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court struck a blow against the family, as I'm sure you know. The court forgot that marriage is first and foremost about nurturing and developing children. Its ruling meant that our society is supposed to be indifferent about whether children have a mother and a father." (Boston Globe, March 2, 2005) Governor Romney: "'What is it about America's culture and values that makes us such a successful nation and society? Part of that is we love liberty, we love our country, we're patriotic,' Romney said. 'I believe it's also because we are a people who love God and look for a purpose greater than ourselves in life.'" (Boston Globe, May 18, 2006) Governor Romney: "I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate." (Boston Globe, Mitt Romney Op Ed, July 26, 2005) 8. Investing in Technology: Our national investment in technology comes from both the private and public sector. However, corporations today spend more on tort liability than they do on R&D. While the government already invests heavily in defense, space and health technologies, it is time to invest substantially in technologies related to power generation, nanotechnology, and materials science. Governor Romney: "In technology, we as a country already invest an enormous amount – for instance, in defense technology, space technology, health – but we also need to invest in some of the emerging technologies that are important at a basic science level such as fuel cell technology, power generation, materials science, automotive technology. We have to recognize that where we invest as a nation, both from a government standpoint but also from a private standpoint, those are the areas we've been most successful." (Kudlow and Company, March 22, 2006)

9. Extending Health Insurance to All Americans: The health of our nation can be improved by extending health insurance to all Americans, not through a government program or new taxes, but through market reforms. Governor Romney: "We can't have as a nation 40 million people – or, in my state, half a million – saying, 'I don't have insurance, and if I get sick, I want someone else to pay.'" (USA Today, July 5, 2005) Governor Romney: "'It's a conservative idea,' says Romney, 'insisting that individuals have responsibility for their own health care. I think it appeals to people on both sides of the aisle: insurance for everyone without a tax increase.'" (USA Today, July 5, 2005) 10. Raising the Bar on Education: Today's schools are falling further and further behind world standards. It is time to raise the bar on education by respecting teaching as the true profession it is, measuring progress, providing a focus on math and science, and involving parents from the beginning of a child's school career. Governor Romney: "'We cannot continue to have an excellence gap with the rest of the world and intend to remain the economic superpower and military superpower of the planet. That's just not going to happen,' Romney said. 'We're in a position where unless we take action, we'll end up being the France of the 21st century: a lot of talk, but not a lot of strength behind it in terms of economic capability.'" (AP, November 16, 2005) Governor Romney: "If we are going to compete in the global economy, we have to set our education goals higher." (AP, May 16, 2005) Governor Romney: "It's going to take teachers, superintendents and parents talking to their legislators saying yes, we want more money of course ... but we also want changes in the way our schools are managed. We want our principals to have the ability to manage their schools." (AP, January 27, 2005) Governor Romney: "At some point, I think America – and, importantly, the minority communities – are going to say, 'it's time to split with our friends, the unions and the Democratic Party, and put our kids first here.' Unequal educational opportunity is the civil rights issue of our time." (Tulsa World, March 7, 2006)

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