No Apology, by Gov. Mitt Romney (R, MA): on Government Reform
Mitt Romney:
Dynamic regulations: forward-looking & consistently applied
Excessive regulation slows the creation of new businesses and the expansion of existing businesses. At the same time, in order to provide the structure and predictability that business needs and to protect against abuses, we need dynamic regulations,
which are up-to-date, forward-looking, consistently applies, and free of unnecessary burden.We certainly suffered from the absence of dynamic regulation in the 2008 economic collapse, particularly in the area of housing finance.
While some outdated regulations had been eliminated, modern replacements had not been put in place. The wholesale failure at the federal level to revise and refine outmoded regulatory structures even as the ever-aggressive private sector sought out new
profit centers allowed the risks in the system to overwhelm the collective good. We know the bill we have all paid as a result. What is odd is that some are looking to the same people in Congress as source of wisdom on how to avoid a repeat of a fiasco.
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p.138
Mar 2, 2010
Mitt Romney:
1960s large donors avoided union influence in politics
When I ran for the US Senate in 1994, I worked hard to raise the millions I would need. My father spent six months helping on the campaign. Recall that my dad was one of the most successful politicians of his era. But after seeing how much time I had to
spend fund-raising, he was convinced that the system made no sense at all. In his race for governor of Michigan on 1962, he explained, his finance chairman raised all the money they would need in a single night. 15 or 20 people were invited to an event--
each check probably totaling $25,000 or more.I asked dad whether accepting large contributions encouraged corruption; surely the contributors wanted something in return. He replied that not once during his three terms in office did one of his
contributors ask for a favor. They were some of Michigan's most prominent citizens, and instead of favors, they were looking for good government. I'm not defending the old system; I'm sure it had its share of abuses. But so does the current one.
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p.274-275
Mar 2, 2010
Mitt Romney:
Measure American success by series of cyclical indicators
During the 1930s, economists began compiling a series of figures they hoped would predict the future direction of the American economy. Today, the Composite Index of Leading Indicators is composed of ten components, from weekly jobless claims to building
permits to consumer sentiment. I believe that we could identify useful signals what would inform us of conditions that are likely to exist over a much longer time horizon, from 25 to 50 years. We might call it the Index of Leading Leading
Indicators. Such an index ought to include the following indicators:- The Prevalence of Freedom
- National Security Assessment
- Relative Productivity
- Relative GDP and Growth Rate
- Trade Share of the GDP
- Relative Market Shares in Growing,
Traded-Product Industries
- Innovation Index
- National Debt and Liabilities
- Tax Bite (percentage of all taxes)
- Health-care Funding Gap
- Energy Burden
- Children Born Out of Wedlock
- Relative Educational Attainment
- Citizen Engagement
Source: No Apology, by Mitt Romney, p.282-286
Mar 2, 2010
Page last updated: Feb 19, 2019