Mitt Romney jobs plan 2012 election

GlobalPost

In a speech in Nevada on Tuesday, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney unveiled a detailed set of economic proposals.

Politico reports that Romney's plan includes 59 policies published in a 160-page book titled "Believe in America: Mitt Romney’s Plan for Jobs and Economic Growth." Romney also offered 10 actions he’d take on his first day in office.

“The right course for America is to believe in growth,” Romney said. “Growing our economy is the way to put people to work and fund our national budget.”

The former Massachusetts governor called for a reduction in corporate taxes, $20 billion in federal budget cuts and converting Medicaid into a federal block grant program administered by the states, according to The Boston Globe. His plan would open areas of the Gulf of Mexico, Alaska and the Outer Continental Shelf to energy companies. Romney restated his desire to repeal both the health care reform law and the Wall Street reform law signed by President Barack Obama. He said he would also eliminate "estate taxes" on inheritances, and taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains for low- and middle-income taxpayers. From the Globe:

The former Massachusetts governor has generally taken a low-key approach to campaigning, but much of that shifted today for what his campaign viewed as one of the most important speeches yet. In contrast to a speech he gave on health care four months ago – delivered in a dark lecture hall at the University of Michigan – today’s speech was high on stagecraft.

"President Obama’s strategy is a pay-phone strategy in a smart-phone world," Romney said, waving an iPhone.

Romney aides told The New York Times that while some of the proposals outlined Tuesday are mainstream Republican ideas, Romney's "distinctive stamp could be seen on the proposal for a 'Reagan economic zone,' which would open up trade with countries that agreed to offer greater protections to intellectual property, as well as for placing sanctions on China for unfair trade practices and for consolidating federal training programs and giving states authority to design and carry out training programs for unemployed workers."

Texas Governor Rick Perry's campaign responded to Romney's speech almost immediately.

"As Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney failed to create a pro-jobs environment and failed to institute many of the reforms he now claims to support,” Perry spokesman Mark Miner told the Globe shortly after Romney's speech. “Governor Perry has the strongest pro-jobs record and best philosophy to get America working again.”

Obama is scheduled to give a speech on jobs and the economy before a joint session of Congress on Thursday.

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