Mitt Romney in Speech at 2011 CPAC conference

On Jobs: FactCheck: No, fewer US unemployed than Canadians employed

Romney claimed there are more unemployed Americans than employed Canadians, but that's not true: "Today there are more men and women out of work in America than there are people working in Canada. And in January, Canada created more new jobs than we did."

Romney is right about the January unemployment numbers: the US added 36,000 jobs and Canada gained 69,000. But it's not true that there are more Americans who are unemployed than Canadians who are employed.

As of January, there were 13.9 million Americans out of work; and 17.2 million Canadians employed. During his CPAC speech, Romney said there were 15 million unemployed Americans. That's wrong, but even if it were correct, it would be less than the 17.2 million employed Canadians.

The Romney campaign pointed to the number of Americans who are underemployed--including those who are in part-time positions while still looking for full-time work. But Romney spoke of Americans "out of work," and those who are underemployed are not out of work.

Source: FactCheck.org on 2011 Conservative Political Action Conf. Feb 15, 2011

On Jobs: FactCheck: No, more jobs lost under Bush than under Obama

Mitt Romney strained the truth in blaming the nation's economic woes on Obama. He also was wrong when he said Obama had lost more jobs than any modern president. Romney sought to put the job loss under Obama in historical context, but came down on the wrong side of history:

Romney Feb. 11: "Pres. Obama has stood watch over the greatest job loss in modern American history. And that, my friends, is one inconvenient truth that will haunt this president throughout history."

During the recent recession there were more jobs lost under Bush than Obama. Employment declined by nearly 8.4 million between its most recent peak in Dec. 2007 and when the job slump bottomed out two years later, in Dec. 2009. Of those lost jobs, 4.4 million disappeared while Bush was president, and just under 4 million vanished during Obama's first year. Now, the Bush total includes the devastating loss of 779,000 jobs in Jan. 2009--Bush's last month in office and Obama's first. We included Jan. 2009 in the Bush column.

Source: FactCheck.org on 2011 Conservative Political Action Conf. Feb 15, 2011

On Foreign Policy: No European-style solutions to an American problem

With our economy in crisis, the President and his fellow liberals turned to Europe for their answers. Like the Europeans, they grew the government. Theirs is a European-style solution to an American problem. It does not work there and it will never work here!

The right answer is not to believe in European solutions. The right answer is to believe in America--to believe in free enterprise, capitalism, limited government--and to believe in the constitution, as it was written and intended by the founders

Source: Speech at 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference Feb 11, 2011

On Principles & Values: Obama Misery Index: record unemployment & bankruptcies

When Ronald Reagan ran for President, he hung the Misery Index around Jimmy Carter's neck. Today's misery is real unemployment, home foreclosures and bankruptcies. This is the Obama Misery Index--and it's at a record high. It's going to take more than new rhetoric to put Americans back to work--it's going to take a new president.

If I decide to run for President, it won't take me two years to wake up to the job crisis threatening America. Fifteen million Americans are out of work.

Source: Speech at 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference Feb 11, 2011

The above quotations are from Speeches to Conservative Political Action 2011 Conference. Click here for other excerpts from Speeches to Conservative Political Action 2011 Conference. Click here for other excerpts by Mitt Romney. Click here for a profile of Mitt Romney.
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Page last updated: Dec 03, 2018