Romney on Training & Simpson-Bowles

Romney on October 3, 2012 said - On reducing the deficit there are 3 ways: 1) raise taxes 2) cut spending 3) grow the economy- he wants a combination of 2 & 3 – in cutting spending he’ll look at – is the program so critical it’s worth borrowing money from China (ObamaCare and the subsidy to PBS were specifically on the cut list) – will send programs to the state, through combining agencies and using attrition cut number of government employees; we have 47 training programs reporting to 8 agencies – need to reduce overhead and get money to the states/workers to they can create the pathways to the jobs that would help them; plan is to close loopholes, credits and exemptions in tax code so you get the same amount of revenue coming in when you account for growth; no tax cut that adds to the deficit. Romney also brought up the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan.  

Romney’s training statement is ridiculous - training programs are relative to the agencies’ jobs; training for the FBI, DEA and other enforcement agencies shouldn’t go to the FDA - some enforcement training could be combined but looking for drugs, alcohol and firearms is very different than looking for robbers, human traffickers, and other criminal elements.  

In early May 2012, the Senate Budget Committee Chairman (SBCC) introduced the Simpson-Bowles deficit reduction plan as his fiscal year 2013 budget resolution; it received a generally favorable response among many Democrats and some Republicans as it calls for $5.4 trillion in deficit reductions over a decade with a mix of spending cuts and tax increases. But, the SBCC received attacks from the GOP for his refusal to consider amendments to his package or allow for votes on alternative budgets so he said it would be premature and even counterproductive to hold votes on the Simpson-Bowles framework but the plan represents "the best blueprint to build" a bipartisan consensus for a major deficit reduction package; the SBCC also indicated that the Senate did not need to vote on a budget resolution this year because last year's debt ceiling accord made key fiscal decisions. Developing a bipartisan budget agreement will take months of discussions and negotiations so Romney’s comment that the President should have jumped on it was inappropriate especially since he touts that trickled down government doesn’t work. So he is either unfamiliar with the political process (bills go from Congress to the President) or he was just being a condescending bully to win favor with impressionable voters. This same tactic was used in his saying as Governor that he worked with a legislature that was 87% democrats and he was willing to work with them. In my opinion it’s the other way around – they have to be willing to work with him which is what must have happened in Massachusetts.