Fmr. Rep. Clay Shaw (R-FL) endorses Mitt Romney

“Mitt Romney has the experience and skills that are needed to create jobs and undo the damage caused by President Obama’s disastrous economic policies,” said Congressman Shaw. “As a successful businessman and fiscally conservative governor, Mitt knows how to balance a budget and how to put Floridians back to work. He is the only Republican capable of defeating President Obama and implementing the type of conservative policies that our country needs.”

CNN Jacksonville Republican Debate Video - Jan 26, 2012

Part I Part II Part III Part IV

Part V Part VI Part VII Part VIII

A COMMENT ON THE DEBATE:

Rick Santorum said in this debate that he is now for e-verify. He voted against a mandatory employment verification program, and then after the voluntary e-verify program was proposed, voted against it.

Ann Coulter did a thoughtful article on the immigration stance of republican presidential candidates:

“Just as Americans ought to be able to learn the perils of a welfare state by looking at Greece, we ought to be able to learn the perils of illegal immigration by looking at California.

“Massive legal and illegal immigration has already so changed the California electorate that no Republican can be elected statewide anymore. Not so long ago, this was a state that produced great Republican governors and senators like Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, S.I. Hayakawa and Pete Wilson.

“If even Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman, two bright, attractive, successful female business executives -- one pro-life and one pro-choice -- can't win a statewide election in California spending millions of their own dollars in the middle of the 2010 Republican sweep, it's buenas noches, muchachos.

“And yet, almost all Republican presidential candidates support some form of amnesty for illegals in order to appeal to the business lobby.

“Among the most effective measures against illegal immigration is E-Verify, the Homeland Security program that gives employers the ability to instantly confirm that their employees' Social Security numbers are legitimate. It is more than 99 percent accurate, and no employee is denied a job without an opportunity to challenge the records.

“Although wildly popular with Americans -- including Hispanic Americans -- the business lobby hates E-Verify. Employers like hiring non-Americans because they can pay illegal aliens less and ignore state and federal employment laws.

“Any candidate who opposes E-Verify is not serious about illegal immigration. If anything, E-Verify ought to be made mandatory to get a job, to get welfare and to vote.

“Kowtowing to business (while pretending to kowtow to Hispanics), Paul, Perry and Santorum oppose E-Verify. As a senator, Rick Santorum voted against even the voluntary use of E-Verify...

“Following his latest guru, Helen Krieble, Newt Gingrich is for amnesty, combined with second-class status for illegals. Instead of giving illegal aliens green cards, Newt proposes giving them "red cards" so they can stay, take American jobs, have children, receive welfare benefits, attend public schools -- and eventually be granted amnesty. The Republican primaries will be over before most voters realize what Newt's "red card" scheme entails.

“Only Michele Bachmann and Mitt Romney aren't trying to sneak through amnesty for illegal aliens. Both support E-Verify.”

Romney is GOP's best candidate, best bet

"His accomplishments in both the public and private sectors suggest he would be a steady and competent leader for these divisive and turbulent times.

"Romney was a well-regarded Republican governor in a state dominated by Democrats. He took charge of the foundering effort to organize the 2002 Winter Olympics and made it work. And he ran hugely profitable consulting and private equity firms.

"Romney's rivals have tried to turn the assets on his resume into liabilities.

"They've blistered him for passing a health-care-reform plan as governor. We give Romney credit for working with lawmakers in his state to solve a problem without waiting for Washington to dictate a solution, which is exactly what happened.

"Romney also has been accused of killing jobs through his private equity firm, Bain Capital. Republicans should know better...

"Despite his decades as an insider, Gingrich has brilliantly articulated the rage many GOP voters feel against the political establishment. We admire his intellect, but when it comes to leadership, anger doesn't trump a diverse and successful record...

"Florida Republicans have two compelling reasons to vote for Mitt Romney: He's the best candidate, and he fits the late William F. Buckley's description as the most conservative candidate who can win."

Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN) endorses Mitt Romney

“These are tough times for our country. We need a president who will lead on key issues like tax reform, energy, spending, and, most of all, getting Americans back to work. Mitt Romney has the proven leadership and experience to put our country back on the path toward economic certainty and stability. I look forward to working with Mitt Romney over the next year to ensure his victory in November.”

NBC Florida Debate - Jan 23, 2012

A COMMENT ON THE JAN 23, 2012 DEBATE:

In the opening statement, Newt Gingrich said he balanced the budget for four straight years.

This is a statement he has frequently made including going back to the December 15th debate.

Newt didn't go into detail, let's do:

The Treasury Department reports the total debt resulting from each year's budget. Speaker Gingrich was Speaker of the House from Jan. 1995 - Jan. 1999, so he worked out the fiscal year 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998 budgets (that start on Oct 1st of each year):

	Date	National Debt	Debt Increase
	09/30/1998	5,526,193,008,897.62	+113,046,997,500.28
	09/30/1997	5,413,146,011,397.34	+188,335,072,261.61
	09/30/1996	5,224,810,939,135.73	+250,828,038,426.34
	09/29/1995	4,973,982,900,709.39	+281,232,990,696.07
	09/30/1994	4,692,749,910,013.32	+281,261,026,873.94

Source:

What the Speaker calls a balanced budget is not increasing the deficit spending!
(The national debt increased by nearly a trillion dollars during those four years.)

Pensacola News Journal- For the GOP nomination: Mitt Romney

"We feel that Romney has some of the best ideas in the GOP field not just for the nation, but for our area.

"We believe Romney has good ideas about defense spending in a post-Iraq/Afghanistan era...

"Romney also has a thoughtful position on another issue important to Northwest Florida: Medicare. Romney believes that some of the ideas put forward by Paul Ryan, a Republican congressman from Wisconsin, hold merit, including the possibility of vouchers and increased managed care. Romney also is clear that any adjustments to the Medicare program would be for future beneficiaries...

"We also think Romney's plan to reduce the federal workforce has merit, as does his plan to link the pay of government workers more closely to that of their counterparts in the private sector."

Fox News Sunday - Jan 22, 2012

Chris Wallace interviews Mitt Romney. A frank discussion on the election results, his tax returns, religion, debate performances, etc.

No '06 Re-Election Bid for Romney
(Lists Actions in 3rd year as Gov)

"The 58-year-old businessman, son of former Michigan Gov. George Romney, has spent less than three years in elective office, but in that time the state has closed a $3 billion budget deficit without raising taxes, schools have scored first in national math and science tests and Romney held out until the Legislature gave him a tough new drunken driving law he demanded."

MORE ON ECONOMIC RECORD AS GOVERNOR »

Rescued the 2002 Olympics: "leaders approached Romney about taking over the scandal-ridden 2002 Winter Olympics... the Salt Lake Olympics Organizing Committee (SLOC) had a projected shortfall of $397 million."

"With Romney at the helm, the games ended with a surplus of $56 million. The surplus money went to fund future Olympics."

Rescued government: (from enormous debt) "Romney ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002 on a platform of fiscal conservatism, promising to erase the state's $3 billion deficit. As the new governor, Romney consolidated state agencies, cut employees, and closed what he called loopholes in the corporate tax code. He also tackled the most difficult public policy issue of all, health insurance."

Business Acumen:

"After raising $37 million in startup funds, Romney founded Bain Capital" (sister firm to Bain & Co.) In addition to Staples, "Bain Capital went on to help launch or acquire Domino's Pizza, Sealy, Brookstone, and The Sports Authority... Bain Capital now manages $40 billion."

Political Priorities:

"Romney emphasizes four priorities if elected president: defeating the jihadists, competing with Asia, stopping runaway spending, and affirming America's culture and values." He wants "more money devoted to stopping the next terrorist plot through additional funding for the FBI and CIA. ... The FBI has only about 4,000 agents working counterterrorism, compared to New York City's 40,000 police officers."
MORE ON ANTI-TERRORISM PLATFORM & RECORD »

NewsMax is a conservative magazine published monthly, with over 600,000 subscribers. It also has over 2 million unique visitors a month to its website.

More Rescuing:

Along with two of his sons, Governor Romney also
"helped rescue a New Jersey family... The Romneys also saved the family's dog". (NY Times)

His career involved fixing and growing companies. Lars Larson noted,
"Romney built businesses from the ground up, and he rescued others from the brink of the financial abyss."

For new governor, divisive issues loom

References a sampling of Governor Romney's actions:

Same-sex Marriage:

"Gay rights advocates also want the next governor to push for a repeal of a 1913 state law that Governor Mitt Romney used to block residents of states that prohibit gay marriage from marrying in Massachusetts. In March, the Supreme Judicial Court upheld the law as constitutional, a blow to gay rights advocates."
MORE ON GAY ISSUES RECORD »

Illegal Immigration:

"The next governor will have the opportunity to continue, or revoke, an agreement the Romney administration has been seeking with the federal [government, an] agreement that would allow the State Police to arrest undocumented immigrants who are in Massachusetts illegally." (Shortly later the agreement was finalized after 6 months effort.)

"Also certain to resurface in the Legislature is a bill that would provide in-state tuition rates at public colleges to undocumented immigrants. Lawmakers approved the tuition measure last year, but Romney vetoed it and an attempted override failed in the House in January."
MORE ON IMMIGRATION ISSUES RECORD »

Abortion:

"Romney pledged to not change the state's abortion laws, which some abortion rights advocates interpreted as a sign he supported their position. He has since declared himself an abortion opponent, and the abortion rights advocates now say they want the next governor to speak out on the issue boldly."

"The next governor will also face pressure to address a Romney administration program that funnels about $800,000 annually into abstinence-only sex education lessons in public schools."
MORE ON ABORTION ISSUES RECORD »

"Much later, Romney rebuffed requests that he appoint Brian P. Lees, the Republican leader in the Senate, to the open job of clerk-magistrate of Springfield District Court.

" ''I wanted to change the environment in Massachusetts from one of patronage to one of people getting jobs on the merit, and I didn't feel like I could make an appointment based on the fact that somebody was the minority leader of my party,'' Romney said in an interview.

"Romney also sanitized the judicial selection process, requiring the nominating panel to conduct an initial blind review of candidates without knowing their names, gender, or references.

" ''The review process was completely apolitical,'' said Ralph C. Martin II, who chaired the Judicial Nominating Commission for half of Romney's term. A July 2005 review by the Boston Globe of Romney's judicial picks detected no philosophical or partisan pattern."

For more on the Romney/Bulger battle, click here: "Bulger's Last Stand"

Gov. Romney also rejected nepotism- When someone suggested his son could get a post, he immediately quashed the idea: My Dinner With Mitt.

The Big Dig: After a wall cracked and thousands of gallons poured into a highway tunnel and the head of that agency claimed the agency was unaware of any potential problems, but it was revealed that the agency knew of that problem for years and was asked to address the problem, Gov. Romney asked that agency head, "a former Republican state senator" who was appointed before Governor Romney entered office, to resign. Romney had worked to have the agency, which was outside his jurisdiction, and "has been plagued by accusations of patronage, fraud and excess", "folded into the State Transportation Department" so he could clean it up, which occurred in 2007.

Mitt Romney's Defining Moment

"It may be that this tale from Massachusetts reveals what kind of President Romney could be. ''He was incredibly impressive, with his intellect, his ability,'' says MIT economics professor Jonathan Gruber, a Democrat who advised Romney... ''If there is anything that qualifies him to be President of the United States, it is his leadership on this issue.''

"Comparatively speaking, the health-care situation in Massachusetts wasn't all that dire when Romney took office... But with a third of the state budget going toward health care, the sheer inefficiency of treating the sore throats of the uninsured in emergency rooms didn't sit well with the businessman in Romney...

"Meanwhile, religious groups and health-care advocates were pushing their solution: a liberal universal-health-care ballot initiative that would raise taxes. And the picture was about to get significantly worse: Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tommy Thompson was threatening to take away $385 million a year in Medicaid money. The more the Governor thought about health care, the more intrigued he became by the idea of making it work better.

"That whiff of a challenge was reinforced by the stories Romney heard as he traveled the state. After talking to a jeweler in North Andover, a man about his age, Romney remembers thinking, ''Gosh, he's 55. He could have a heart attack. He could get cancer. He's got his own business, but he doesn't have health insurance? How can this be?''...

"When they considered the situation as if it were a business-school case study, some simple steps became clear...

"In November 2004, ... Romney was finally ready to go public with the beginnings of a plan. As it evolved, it became a proposal to achieve an end that liberals had long dreamed of, but through conservative means: creating more competition in the private-insurance marketplace and insisting that Massachusetts citizens take personal responsibility for their own coverage. ''From the minute you heard him articulate it, you knew this was a new concept in American health-care policy,'' says Robert Blendon, a Harvard University professor of health policy. ''It was a very different way of talking about coverage, and he was very articulate in framing it.''...

"The bill that emerged from the legislature two weeks later was different in many respects from what Romney had initially proposed... There were far too many requirements placed on insurance companies for Romney's tastes, and he used his line-item veto on the bill's stipulation that employers who don't cover their workers pay $295 per employee each year into a fund to subsidize coverage. The lawmakers easily overrode it".

MORE ON HEALTH CARE RECORD »