The Romney Economic Plan

With the GOP deficit clock ticking in the hall, we’ll go deep on Mitt Romney’s plan for the U.S. economy.

Beyond everything - beyond immigration and abortion and marriage, beyond even health care, what Republicans at this convention really want to talk about is the economy.  They’ve got Mitt Romney, CEO, teed up to lead.  They’ve got millions out of work with votes to cast.  They’ve got a base in a fury over regulation.

And they’ve got lots and lots of Americans sincerely worried about this country’s future prosperity.  Its economic viability.  Paul Ryan will talk about it tonight.  Mitt Romney will talk about it tomorrow.  We’ll do it now.

This hour, On Point:  live from Tampa - Mitt Romney’s plans for the US economy.
-Tom Ashbrook

Ben White, finance reporter at Politico.

John Taylor, economic adviser for Mitt Romney.

Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor.

Bloomberg "In general, the best way to figure out a politician's intentions is to read his platform. But Mitt Romney is no ordinary politician. His ideological positions are entirely flexible and his capacity for pandering enormous. His platform reflects what he thinks will help him get elected, not necessarily what he will do if elected."

CNBC "When Mitt Romney declared during his unsuccessful campaign for the Senate in 1994 that the federal minimum wage should rise with inflation, a break with Republican doctrine, both Democrats and Republicans accused him of pandering to Massachusetts voters."

The Economist "In theory, Mr Romney has a detailed 59-point economic plan. In practice, it ignores virtually all the difficult or interesting questions (indeed, “The Romney Programme for Economic Recovery, Growth and Jobs” is like “Fifty Shades of Grey” without the sex). Mr Romney began by saying that he wanted to bring down the deficit; now he stresses lower tax rates. Both are admirable aims, but they could well be contradictory: so which is his primary objective?"