Mitt Romney's attack on "green jobs" has risks

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns at Acme Industries in Elk Grove Village, Ill.,Tuesday, Aug. 7, 2012. / AP Photo

(AP) DENVER - Mitt Romney's presidential campaign has been savaging what it calls President Barack Obama's "unhealthy" obsession with "green jobs." The Republican challenger criticizes the government program that propped up solar manufacturer Solyndra, and he mocks Obama's vision of a boom in employment, citing a European study to argue that new solar or wind-energy positions would destroy jobs elsewhere.

But when a campaign spokesman said last week that Congress should let a tax break for wind energy producers expire at the end of the year, some Republicans were concerned the candidate had gone too far.

Republican Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, noting that nearly 7,000 Iowans work in the wind industry, assailed the Romney campaign for "a lack of full understanding of how important the wind energy tax credit is for Iowa and our nation." Iowa's senior senator, Chuck Grassley, told reporters he didn't believe Romney really opposed the extension, and he joined five other GOP lawmakers in voting for it in the Senate Finance Committee.

The Obama campaign quickly organized conference calls for reporters and circulated fact sheets showing the deep support the credit has in such swing-voting states as Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.

Obama will appear in Denver and western Colorado Wednesday to promote his economic plan, and the wind tax credit may well come up.

The backlash on the wind tax issue shows the risks Romney takes in targeting a fast-growing and popular industry that Obama has embraced. However, Romney's aides argue the campaign is just making a principled economic argument against excessive government interference in the marketplace — one that the conservative movement, which Romney has struggled to win over, has praised.

Indeed, Patrick Hedger, a researcher at FreedomWorks, a small-government group that is a prominent backer of the tea party movement, called Romney's position "a happy surprise." He added that Republicans who feared a political cost from Romney's position were stuck in an outdated way of thinking. "We've got to get out of this cycle of buying votes with money we don't have," Hedger said.

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But critics contend that Romney, who counts members of the fossil fuels industry as major financial supporters and relies on the head of an oil company as his energy adviser, has backed himself into a corner. "I think it's really a knee-jerk reaction to what this president has done," said Jeff Gohringer, a spokesman for the League of Conservation Voters. "He (Romney) is actually going to states and advocating cutting thousands of their jobs."

Surveys show the industry's popularity. A Gallup poll in March found Americans nearly twice as likely to favor wind and solar energy as coal or oil. The American Wind Energy Association released a poll last month showing that more than half of Iowa's voters say they would not back a presidential candidate who did not support expanding wind power. A January poll by Colorado College found that a majority of voters in six Western states believe that expanding renewable energy will create more jobs.

In Colorado, GOP Rep. Doug Lamborn says he was pleased the Romney campaign took a stand against the tax credit. "It shows he's standing on principle and not pandering to win votes," Lamborn said. But Lamborn is the only one of the state's seven congressional representatives to oppose the extension.

Obama made green jobs a focus of his 2008 campaign, and he included tens of billions of dollars in incentives to promote energy efficiency and the renewable industry in federal stimulus efforts. After Solyndra's bankruptcy last year, Republicans lined up to criticize the administration program that guaranteed the firm's loans, and Romney has broadened the attack to the administration's support for the entire industry, even in states where it is popular.

During a May stop in Colorado, where the poll from Colorado College found two-thirds of residents believe renewable energy will create jobs, Romney mocked Obama for spending billions to create "green jobs." He asked the crowd: "Have you seen those jobs anywhere?"

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[BWB2020]

..."I think it's really a knee-jerk reaction to what this president has done," said Jeff Gohringer, a spokesman for the League of Conservation Voters. "He (Romney) is actually going to states and advocating cutting thousands of their jobs."...

The funny part being that many of Magicbritches' supporters will vote to have their own jobs cut.

They will vote for the loss of their own jobs because of their hard-wired inability to accept a president with a permanent sun tan, no matter how much hardship they would wish upon themselves, should their candidate perchance win election.

Even funnier, some of them actually think that Willard (wasn't there a rat named "Willard" in a 70s movie?) actually cares one iota about them, or is going to spare a single thought to making their miserable lives any easier.

What suckers those poor bagger be.

[Jaylah54200]

by BenJordon August 8, 2012 10:10 AM EDT
Ummm.. no.

Romney has no stated position on Iran. He has no stated position on any foreign policy.

____________

To be honest, I haven't seen or heard an actual "position" on anything from Romney.

He loves to bash Obama, but will only run down Obama's plans. Never come out and tell us exactly what he would do instead.

Romney: "Obama hasn't done anything about jobs! I will create jobs!"

Voter: "How, specifically would you accomplish that, Mr. Romney?"

Romney: "Obamacare is bad! I would repeal Obamacare on the first day in office."

Voter: "And what, specifically, would you do to replace it?"

Romney: "Obama has repealed the requirement to work if you're receiving welfare!"

Voter: "Mr. Romney, only two (Republican) states have gotten waivers of the Welfare-To-Work law. While you didn't get it, you did ask for it. Please tell us, specifically, how you would change the welfare rules if elected."

Romney: "Obama is bad!"

Voter: "I understand that you are not a fan of Obama, Mr. Romney. You've made that abundantly clear. But what I don't know, and you still haven't said, is what -- specifically -- you would do differently?"

Romney: "No, I'm not going to release any more of my tax returns. I've released all I'm legally required to release and I don't want anybody finding out anything more about how little I pay in taxes or what other assets I'm hiding."

Voter: "Mr. Romney, if you could please just choose ONE subject and then tell us specifically what you plan to do about it?

Romney: "I'll create jobs."

Voter: "Thank you, sir. And how, exactly, will you do that?"

Romney: "Obamacare is bad! I would repeal Obamacare on the first day in office."


Rinse and repeat ad nauseum.

[A_Canadian_Opinion]

It shows that Romney is a business man. Money first, everything else second. The problem is that it's short-sighted. It's like all the oil businessmen who are currently causing the huge environmental disaster in Alberta, making huge profits now, but undoubtedly not putting enough money aside to clean up the mess when they're all done. That clean-up will be someone else's cost and problem. The leader of a country needs to be a person that is not 100% business man, so he/she develops strategies that are longer term, for the good of majority. Obama may not have enough business man in him, but Romney has way, way, way too much.

[johngalt_as]

Yeah, it risks liberals not agreeing with him. Who cares.

[Harrison_Barnes]

I think the main issue here is that Romney and Obama both differ on their beliefs about what the role of government should be. Romney believes that the economy should operate independently and make its own decisions based on the law for supply and demand --Obama believes that the government should make these decisions.

I disagree with Obama's approach. The government cannot possibly allocate tax dollars more efficiently than individuals can in a private exchange.

Look at the jobs currently available in the market --there are millions of them according to job sites that monitor the market like http://www.Granted.com. Very few of these jobs are going to be with companies that are getting money from the government to hire people.

A final point that is important about private enterprise is the fact that it can continue forever without government intervention. When the government starts favoring various industries --the industries and inefficient and typically only last as long as the administration. Then people lose their jobs. Government intervention actually creates more uncertainty in the long run ...

[nancy_naive]

"The government cannot possibly allocate tax dollars more efficiently than individuals can in a private exchange."

Medicare has a 5% overhead as compared to 20% (avg) for the insurance companies.

[cruiscinlan]

As soon as the oil subsidies are ended then there can be talk about not favoring one industry over another.

[Lindag20]

So what does Mitt propose to make the US energy independent? All he does is criticise and offers NOTHING in the way of solutions. The other countries are investing heavily in renewable energy as they realize that fossil fuels not only pollute the environment, but will run out in the not too distant future. The man is owned by the big corporations that want to maintain their current tax perks.

[Filmguy870]

Mr. Mittens sez: Blah blah blah......pie hole leaking....

[SD92040]

Romney should release his taxes if Obama releases his info as well. College transcripts, passport info, etc.....fair enough....then everyone is "transparent".

[jimbom121]

huh?

[wdrussell1]

Take the profit out of pollution and we would have green renewable energy.
Romney you worthless piece of Mitt.

[stevex47]

That's right willard. You and the boosh's need to stay in bed with middle east oil.

It will never run out.

There is no global warming, and there is no wind.