Memoirs of Retesha: Rock the vote!!! Candidates edition- Governor Mitt Romney

In continuing in my quest to educate vote on the candidates I am continuing to highlight each candidate and hopefully this will help you determine who has your vote in the 2012 Presidential Election. The next Candidate that I will be profiling is Governor Mitt Romney.

Mitt Romney was born on March 12, 1947 in Detroit. Mitt came from humble beginnings with a father who never graduated from college and a mother who gave up an acting career to marry Mitts father and raise a family. Mitt met and married his wife Ann in 1969. Mitt was never a career politician. He worked mainly in the private sector creating a distinguished career for himself. Mitt was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 and in 2008 ran for President but lost the Republican ticket to John McCain. He came back strong in 2012 beating out hard hitters such as Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich to become the Republican candidate for the Presidential election. I am going to try and sum up a few of Mitt Romney's views found on his personal website. Hope you find them helpful.

Social Policy:

Abortion

Mitt Romney is Pro-Life- "I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I wish the people of America agreed, and that the laws of our nation could reflect that view. But while the nation remains so divided over abortion, I believe that the states, through the democratic process, should determine their own abortion laws and not have them dictated by judicial mandate". During the 2012 presidential campaign, Romney promised to nominate Supreme Court justices who would help overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing states to individually decide on the legality of abortion. His website states that he would "nominate judges who know the difference between personal opinion and the law.

Equality of opportunity (race and gender)

As governor of Massachusetts, Romney eliminated the state’s Office of Affirmative Action. Romney has expressed support for decreasing barriers to entry into the workforce for women and minorities. He has expressed support for Muslims who face discrimination due to their religion.

Crime and Punishment

Mitt Romney supports sentencing under the three strikes law. He also supports mandatory increases in sentencing for repeat drunk drivers. He supports the death penalty.

Education

Mitt Romney supports offering school choice options such as school-voucher programs and charter schools for both public and private schools. He supports performance based pay for public school teachers along with bonuses for the best teachers as well as incentives to help improve the quality of education. Governor Romney stated that as president he will stand to the National Teachers Union.
Governor Romney has stated in 2012 that college students should not expect government handouts to fund their education. He encourages young people to be more entrepreneuially-minded and take risks, even considering borrowing money from their parents if necessary to further their careers.

Immigration

Romney favors increased legal immigration and opposes illegal immigration. In 2008 he showed support for Arizona's Maricopa County Sheriff and his tough stance on immigration. He called Arizona's approach to illegal immigration "a model for the nation". Romney stated that he would seek to make the U.S. a much less hospitable place for undocumented immigrants. He openly opposed the DREAM Act and vowed to have it vetoed if he became president and if it was enacted. Romney has said that making employers have systems set up such as E-verify will reduce undocumented workers.

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Rights

Romney supported domestic partnerships and stated "We must make equality for gays and lesbians a mainstream concern". He supported Don't ask don't tell during the Clinton administration and have shown support during the Obama administration. Romney supports traditional marriage and is opposed to both same sex marriage and civil unions, though he has shown support for domestic partnership benefits. He also supports anti-discrimination laws to protect gays and lesbians in the workplace.

Social Welfare

Romney called for increase state funding for childcare so that the mothers of two year old children can "have the dignity to work". However in August 2012, he stated his opposition to Obama's plan to offer more flexibility to those states that move more people from welfare to work.

Healthcare

As governor of Massachusetts in 2006, Romney proposed and signed into law a private, market-based reform that ensures every Massachusetts citizen will have health insurance, without a government takeover and without raising taxes.Romney opposed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (also known as the Affordable Care Act or Obamacare) that was ultimately passed by Congress and signed by President Obama in 2010. In June 2012, Romney pledged to enact a system to replace the Affordable Care Act, but did not release details of how it would be paid for. Romney's plan includes expanding health savings accounts to pay for premiums, increased competition and consumer choice, and lawsuit reform. In August 2012, Romney indicated that he might retain parts of Obamacare such as coverage for pre-existing conditions, but this was quickly clarified as only ensuring insurance coverage for people who already had insurance coverage.

Jobs Plan

Romney argued during the 2012 presidential election campaign that his proposals to reduce government regulation of business activity and to revise the federal tax code and federal trade and energy policies would foster an environment that would lead businesses to create 12 million jobs within his first four years in office.

Taxation

As the new Governor of Massachusetts in 2003, Romney declined to publicly support the federal tax cuts proposed by the Bush Administration. In 2007, after leaving the governor's office and deciding to seek the party' presidential nomination, Romney said that he had supported the Bush tax cuts overall. In that same year, Romney signed the anti-tax pledge put forth by Americans for Tax Reform, pledging no new taxes or increases of existing taxes. Romney opposed the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, the compromise tax package between President Obama and the Republicans Congressional leadership that centered around a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts.During his 2012 presidential campaign, Romney said he would seek income tax law reforms that he says would help lower federal deficits and would stimulate economic growth. Among the series of tax changes he has proposed are: reducing individual income tax rates across the board by 20 percent, maintaining the Bush administration-era tax rate of 15 percent on investment income from dividends and capital gains (and eliminating this tax entirely for those with annual incomes less than $200,000), cutting the top tax rate on corporations from 35 percent to 25 percent, and eliminating the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax.