Mitt Romney

www.mittromney.com

Mitt Romney suspended his campaign on February 7th.

The bolded Divided We Fail principle is listed first, then the statement we identified for the candidate. In some cases, we may not have identified a statement for the corresponding principle.

We believe all Americans should have access to affordable health care, including prescription drugs, and these costs should not burden future generations.

Governor Romney Proposed Six Concrete Steps To Reach His Health Care Reform Goals:

• Step 1: Establish Federal Incentives To Deregulate And Reform State Health Insurance Markets So Market Forces Can Work.
• Step 2: Redirect Federal Spending On "Free Care" To Help The Low-Income Uninsured Purchase Private Insurance.
• Step 3: Institute Health Savings Account (HSA) Enhancements And The Full Deductibility Of Qualified Medical Expenses.
• Step 4: Promote Innovation In Medicaid.
• Step 5: Implement Medical Liability Reform.
• Step 6: Bring Market Dynamics And Modern Technology To Health Care.

(Campaign website, October 2, 2007) http://www.mittromney.com/News/...Health_Care

We believe wellness and prevention efforts, including changes in personal behavior such as diet and exercise, should be top national priorities.

"One of the reasons we went after health care in my state was we had about a half a million people that didn't have health insurance. And we found that if they don't have health insurance, they are less likely to see a primary care physician - a family doctor - less likely to be diagnosed with something like high blood pressure or early stage diabetes or something of that nature, less likely to get medicines to keep those sicknesses in check, and therefore more likely to end up with a severe, acute condition that requires them to go to the hospital."
(Divided We Fail forum, Iowa state fair, August 11, 2007)

We believe Americans should have choices when it comes to long-term care - allowing them to maintain their independence at home or in their communities with expanded and affordable financing options.

"I also believe that when we have caregivers going into homes, we did something we called 'Senior Options' in my state. That was this: we said, look, if you're qualified to go to a nursing home, we as a state are willing to pay with Medicaid dollars to have you go to the nursing home, but we're going to give you an option; you can stay home instead. And have home care. And so seniors had the option, because they are healthier if they stay home."
(Divided We Fail forum, Iowa state fair, August 11, 2007)

We believe our children and grandchildren should have an adequate quality of life when they retire. Social Security must be strengthened without burdening future generations.

"I think you are going to have to have a President that will work with the Democrats and sit down and say, 'We need to make sure that Social Security is strong and can meet all of its promises, not just over the next 20 years, but over the next century.' Modest changes in the program today would allow us to do that, and they are going to have to be done in a bipartisan basis, and in my view the Republicans are going to do that together with the Democrats, no one can talk about it alone without the other party demogogging them and saying, oh, you are going to reform Social Security and trying to scare people."
(Romney event, Tampa, FL, August 16, 2007)

We believe workers should be provided with financial incentives to save, should have access to effective retirement plans, and should be able to keep working and contributing to society regardless of age.

"I believe people should be allowed to earn interest dividends and capital gains, up to a certain amount per year, tax-free and without restrictions on how or when their savings or investments are spent. As an example, let's take the number of 5,000 bucks…What I'd say is people ought to be able to save annually or to be able to receive income annually, in capital gains, dividends in interest on 5,000 bucks and not have to pay any taxes on it at all, and not have to worry where that investment got spent. This would help the middle class to be able to invest and save. It also would allow them to spend their savings the way that Americans like to spend their savings, - any way they want."
(Speech to The Detroit Economic Club, February 7, 2007) http://www.mittromney.com/News/Speeches/DEC_Speech

We believe Americans of all ages should have access to tools to help manage their finances, and save for the future and better, easy to understand information to help them increase their financial literacy and manage their money wisely.

"[The Massachusetts state treasurer] began a program in our state of having the state treasurer and his people go out to high schools and teach kids about economic literacy. I'd like to find a way for us to do this in our schools. Just have people around the country realize that, as a part of math, perhaps, or, who knows which subject, that you teach people about the economics of saving."

"And one of the things I would like to do is to…help our seniors when they are in their homes about something about their economics and what Medicare part D is. I mean, Medicare A, B, C, D and Medicaid, it's pretty complicated."
(Divided We Fail forum, Iowa state fair, August 11, 2007)

Republicans Mike Huckabee John McCain Ron Paul Mitt Romney

Democrats Hillary Clinton Barack Obama