Looking to cut into President Barack Obamas lead with Hispanic voters, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, spoke in Orlando to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) -- and he ripped into the Democrat incumbent.
This country we love is in peril," Romney insisted. That is why I am running for president.
Almost four years ago, Americans did something that was very much the sort of thing Americans like to do: We gave someone new a chance to lead; someone we hadn't known for very long, who didn't have much of a record but promised to lead us to a better place, Romney continued. At the time, we didn't know what sort of a president he would make. It was a moment of crisis for our economy, and when Barack Obama came to office, America wished him well and hoped for the best.
Romney maintained that Obama let down Americans with his management of the economy and that Hispanics have suffered greatly under his watch.
Three and a half years later, over 23 million Americans are out of work, underemployed or have just quit looking for work, Romney said. At a time when we should be gaining momentum, were losing it. Job growth has slowed and this week, we learned that the number of job openings has fallen again.
Hispanics have been hit disproportionately hard. While national unemployment is still above 8 percent, Hispanic unemployment is at 11 percent, continued Romney. The middle class has been crushed under President Obama. More Americans are living in poverty today than at any point in history. Over 2 million more Hispanics are living in poverty today than the day President Obama took office.
Romney noted that prices have increased for consumers and the national debt has increased under Obama, and reminded listeners that the president said earlier in the month that the private sector was doing fine.
Home values have plunged, our national debt is at record levels and families are buried under higher prices for food and gasoline, Romney said. And yet our president says the private sector is doing fine. This is more than a policy failure; it is a moral failure.
Romney challenged a speech Obama made in Cleveland earlier in the month where the president insisted that he needed more time to turn the economy around and directed the blame toward former President George W. Bushs administration. Romney noted that Ronald Reagan inherited a poor economy from Jimmy Carter after the 1980 elections yet still managed to turn it around in his first term.
Making a pitch for Hispanic votes, Romney claimed Obamas taking your vote for granted and that he provided an alternative.
Romney said, unlike Obama, he could lead an effort to revitalize our free-enterprise economy and strengthen the middle class. The former Massachusetts governor insisted that he and Obama had very different views on the role of the government in the economy. Raising taxes to grow government does not grow the middle class, Romney said, pushing for a lower corporate tax rate and cutting individual marginal rates by 20 percent, across the board.
Calling for the repeal of the federal health-care law that Obama signed in 2010, Romney promised to rein in spending and balance the budget. Romney also called for greater free trade with Latin American nations to bolster the economy and for parents to have increased school choice options.
Romney once again turned his fire toward Obama, this time on immigration.
Despite his promises, President Obama has failed to address immigration reform, Romney insisted. For two years, this president had huge majorities in the House and Senate he was free to pursue any policy he pleased. But he did nothing to advance a permanent fix for our broken immigration system. Instead, he failed to act until facing a tough re-election and trying to secure your vote.
Last week, the president finally offered a temporary measure that he seems to think will be just enough to get him through the election, added Romney. After three and a half years of putting every issue from loan guarantees for his donors to Cash For Clunkers before immigration, now the president has been seized by an overwhelming need to do what he could have done on day one. I think you deserve better.
Romney said he would support securing the border, namely by calling for the federal government tofield enough border patrol agents, complete a high-tech fence and implement an improved exit verification system.
The former governor of Massachusetts called for the federal government to push for family preservation in any attempt to reform immigration.
I will reallocate green cards to those seeking to keep their families under one roof, Romney pledged.We will exempt from caps the spouses and minor children of legal permanent residents. And we will eliminate other forms of bureaucratic red tape that keep families from being together.
Romney said the country needed to look at the economic impact of immigration policy.
Immigration reform is not just a moral imperative, but an economic necessity as well, Romney said. Immigrants with advanced degrees start companies, create jobs, and drive innovation at a high rate. Immigrants founded or co-founded nearly half of our 50 top venture-backed companies. They are nearly 30 percent more likely to start a business. And that kind of risk-taking is something we need more than ever because new business starts are now at a 30-year low.
Romney pledged to work with states and the private sector to update our temporary worker visa program so that it meets our economic needs and promised if you get an advanced degree here ... we will staple a green card to your diploma. We want the best and brightest to enrich the nation through the jobs and technologies they will help create.
Noting that almost 75,000 members of the armed forces have been naturalized since the 9/11 attacks in 2001, Romney called for a clearer path to citizenship for immigrants who join the armed forces.
As president, I will stand for a path to legal status for anyone who is willing to stand up and defend this great nation through military service, Romney said. Those who have risked their lives in defense of America have earned the right to make their life in America.
Turning to illegal immigration, Romney pledged to fight for a strong employment verification system so that every business can know with confidence that the people it hires are legally eligible for employment.
Noting that his father -- former Gov. George Romney of Michigan -- was born to Americans in Mexico, Romney closed with a final pitch for votes.
This isnt an election about two people, Romney insisted. This isnt an election about being a Republican, Democrat, or an independent. This is an election about the future of America. I would ask each of you to look at the last three and a half years, and ask whether we can do better.
Is the America of 11 percent Hispanic unemployment the America of our dreams? Romney asked. I know we can do better. We can prosper again, with the powerful recovery we have all been waiting for, the good jobs that so many still need, and, above all, the opportunities we owe to our children and grandchildren.
The Romney team called on Florida Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, to continue their effort to cut into Obamas lead with Hispanics.
The Hispanic community has been especially hurt by President Obamas failed economic policies and hostility to job creators," Ros-Lehtinen said in a statement released after Romneys speech. With a stagnant economy and a jobless rate that has been above 8 percent for the longest time since the Great Depression, now more than ever Americans need a leader who values entrepreneurship one who will create an environment friendly to small businesses, and one who truly believes in the powerful promise of America. Governor Romney is that leader for us and he will stop this administrations attack on our countrys job creators. I applaud Governor Romney's efforts to ensure our country enjoys economic growth and prosperity in its future.
The Obama camp fired back at Romney, insisting that Hispanics cannot trust the Republican candidate.
Today, Mitt Romney told the largest national gathering of Hispanic elected officials: When I make a promise to you -- I will keep it. But in front of an audience of Republican primary voters, he called the DREAM Act a handout and promised to veto it, said Gabriela Domenzain, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, on Thursday. Now, after seven days of refusing to say whether or not hed repeal the Obama administrations immigration action that prevents young people who were brought here through no fault of their own as children from being deported, we should take him at his word that he will veto the DREAM Act as president.
Frank Sharry, the executive director of Americas Voice, a liberal group that lobbies on immigration issues, also came out swinging at Romney.
He promised a mandatory employment verification system which is the underpinning of his radical self-deportation position with no mention of a line to get into for the millions of undocumented workers currently in the U.S., Sharry said. He refused to distance himself from his hardline primary stances of pledging to veto the DREAM Act and supporting Arizonas immigration bill that uses racial profiling in an attempt to purge immigrants from the state.
Sharry added that he did not think Romney would do well with Hispanic voters despite his continued efforts to reach out to them.
Todays speech did nothing to boost his credibility or his chances in November, Sharry said. Latino voters are looking for leadership and someone who will stand up to the anti-immigrant minority in the GOP who continue to block immigration reforms.Yet Romney again failed to take the golden opportunity to do so today, showing that he remains tethered to the partys hardline right.Romney told the NALEO audience, you do have an alternative. Unfortunately, on immigration, Romney failed to provide a shred of reason why that alternative should be him.
Obama will be in Orlando on Friday to speak to NALEO. The president will also be in Tampa on Friday as he continues his efforts to keep Florida in his column in November.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
