Romney Slams CAF? Fuel Requirements

By: Steve Chaggaris
Topics: Mitt Romney

(CBS)

From CBS News' Scott Conroy:

WARREN, MICH. -- In front of a backdrop of automobiles in this Motor City suburb, Mitt Romney said that federal regulations intended to improve automobile efficiency have unfairly hurt jobs in Michigan.

"I wasn't wild about those because even though we all agree we want to see our fuel economy standards go up, when CAF? was put in place, it helped the foreign manufacturers and hurt the domestics," Romney said. "It hurt our jobs here."

Returning to Michigan for a four-day stretch of campaigning before Tuesday's primary, Romney told a crowd of about 100 people at Macomb Community College that a new CAF? requirement did not adequately address the concerns of the automobile industry.

"I want to make sure that if we're going to have a change in fuel standards that this has been worked out with our domestic manufacturers in a way that helps them rather than hurts them and it's not what I'll call an unfunded mandate, which is the federal government says, 'You've got to do this—now find a way to go pay for it,'" Romney said. "Instead, we're going to have to work together—federal government and state government, manufacturers and labor—to make sure that if there's gonna be a dramatic change in the industry, it works for the benefit of American jobs, not for the benefit of foreign jobs."

The Romney campaign has staked its viability on winning in Michigan, and Romney is playing up his roots here in order to try to connect with voters in a way he wasn't able to do in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"My roots are deep here as you know," Romney said. "Born here. Go blue and go green — got to take care of both sides. My brother is on the board of Michigan State. Met my girlfriend here. We are still going steady and my mom and dad are buried here."

Romney also took a swipe at John McCain, who, along with Mike Huckabee, is also running hard in Michigan.

"And I hear from time to time from Washington politicians that they're aware of the difficulty that Michigan is having, but what have they done?" Romney said. "I hear even Senator McCain the other day said that, speaking with straight talk, he said that some jobs are gone that are never coming back. I'm not willing to accept defeat like that."

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by peterfromnh January 13, 2008 12:35 PM EST: THE REAL McCain Record -----
McCain''s lifetime voting record in Congress is rated a solid 82 percent by the American Conservative Union. He''s a fierce fiscal conservative, unwaveringly pro-life on abortion issues, staunchly free-market on trade and economic matters, favors making the Bush tax cuts permanent, supports nuclear power as a clean-energy alternative, champions school choice as the vital lever for education reform, advocates smaller and more accountable government, and, of course, is a lifelong proponent of a strong national defense and an assertive foreign policy.

The "real conservatives" should realize that McCain is their best chance at keeping the http://www.shortnews.com/start.cfm?id=67619 WH and they should buck up and support him.; Reply to this comment


by peterfromnh January 13, 2008 12:34 PM EST: To top it off is the phoniness of Mitt caring about auto workers. He made his fortune (like growing up in the house of an auto exec is the bottom) building a company called Bain. This is a company that makes money buying and selling other companies. They don%u2019t actually build anything. The usually improve the balance sheet by firing everyone, selling the assets and dumping the company on some other sucker. AKA Pump and dump.

The fact is that the GOP %u201Cestablishment%u201D cooked up a toxic stew like they have in the past. The NH voters took a taste and spit it right back at them. Just next time the "true" conservatives, who ever they are, want to play Frankenstein sewing all the radical right parts together to make a monster in their image, don''t forget a soul. This one is truly not even aware when he lies and can''t imagine why people have a problem with that.

The morning after Mitt went down in flames here, the morning AM talkshow (Howie Carr) said "A grateful nation breathes another sigh of relief".; Reply to this comment


by peterfromnh January 13, 2008 12:31 PM EST: Mitt is against or for anything that helps Mitt.

Here''s what we found out in NH; (part 1)

Mitt lies about his resume
Mitt says he is a hunter, he isn%u2019t.
Mitt said he didn%u2019t lie, he did.
Mitt says he saw MLK, he didn%u2019t.
He said he used the word %u201Csaw%u201D figuratively, he didn%u2019t.
Mitt said he had the endorsement of the NRA, he didn%u2019t.
After exposed he said he kinda did, he didn%u2019t.
There is a length limit so I will stop here.

Mitt distorts what the others say.
Mitt said the McCain plan would give Social Security benefits to illegals, it doesn%u2019t.
Mitt says the McCain immigration position is horrid but before he was running for president said it was reasonable.
When running for governor Mitt supported Campaign finance reform. He even got John McCain to come out and endorse him (there is video). Not of course McCain is the devil for this.
He does the same and worse to Huck.

Mitt%u2019s positions change based on the election.
When running in MA he supports abortion, *** more than Ted Kennedy, gun control, campaign finance control, what everyone now is calling amnesty for illegals and more. Otherwise he would never have been Governor of MA.

All this changed in 2005, half way through his only term as Governor when he started running for President. In 3 years he went from more liberal than Ted Kennedy to more conservative than Rush.; Reply to this comment


by surf710 January 12, 2008 9:55 PM EST: That whole example of a flat screen t.v. is a joke!! That''s not going to help a university student like myself now is it? I don''t pay hardly anything with what I make to the government to begin with, I actually get a pretty good return. The fair tax is a joke. I''d hate to pay a 26% sales tax on every single item I bought! And don''t act like $190 isn%u2019t so much. I don''t know who you are, but take it from a student%u201Ds vantage point who is struggling through school. There%u2019s no way in heck I%u2019d want to pay 20% more sales tax on everything I buy. REDICULOUS!! I''m totally not in favor. So down with the fair tax and FORGET HUCKABEE!!; Reply to this comment


by giantrobot2 January 12, 2008 12:49 AM EST: ALERT! *** ALERT! *** ALERT!

$75,000 = $375 per week
$50,000 = $250 per week
$35,000 = $175 per week
$25,000 = $125 per week

Vote for HUCKABEE and get richer!

Based on your annual salary on the left, you get to take home this much more (per week) if you vote for HUCKABEE!

Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is the ( ONLY ) candidate to commit to implementing the "Fair Tax" system for Americans.

Income tax is eliminated and Sales tax increase from 7% to 26%.

$1,000 LCD Flat screen TV:
Now cost $1,070 with 7% tax
New cost $1,260 with 26% tax

$260 - $70 = $190 more for tax. But just think how fast you can save up $190 now! You can save up that amount in 3 to 5 days, that''''s all with HUCKABEE''''S new Fair Tax system.

To save up to buy that new TV will be very quick now.

Now you put away say $20 a week. That would take you 50 weeks or just about 1 year to save up for that. ($1,000 / $20 = 50 weeks)

But with HUCKABEE''''s plan you can save up say $375 week and pay it off in just 2 to 3 weeks! That''''s all! ($1,000 / $375 = 2 to 3 weeks)

If you want to become richer than you MUST vote for HUCKABEE. He is the ( ONLY ) presidential candidate committing to do this for all Americans.

VOTE for Mike Huckabee! Go to his web site and check him out at Mike Huckabee dot com.

You can walk home a richer happier man or woman each week if you vote for HUCKABEE!!!; Reply to this comment


by niqueie January 11, 2008 10:18 PM EST: Mitt Romney is the number one leader if you are looking for an experienced, educated, hard-working conservative. He is the only one in the debates that has anything constructive to say. His responses prove very profound in comparison to the other candidates. They seem like they are trying to get more laughs than show their political ideas.
I think that McCain and Huckabee are really exaggerating their stances on 2 very important key issues: Immigration and Economy (taxation).
Both act like they are super conservative with both, but when you actually look at their records they are only conservative compared to Edwards. They consistently choose softness on immigration. Both also act as if they are so against taxing, but both have histories of tax increases.
Mitt Romney is not a phony, he is the real deal. He has never personally attacked any of them. Instead he attacks their records, somehow earning him the bad sportsmanship award. The media wants him out of the way, so that whoever wins the Democratic Nomination will win the white house. There is no way Huckabee can win the white house, especially how he can%u2019t speak a sentence without cramming some religious theme into it. It might work well when you are courting the highly evangelical states, but it really puts off people who are not evangelical. I am highly religious, but do not feel the need to constantly bring it up in every conversation. He is offensive. He is damaging to the Republican Party.; Reply to this comment


by scottfromaz January 11, 2008 7:37 PM EST: If you want the same talk , talk, talk with no results, vote for career polictans like Huckabee and McCain.. These people have never changed anything. They have actually have made things worse really...

John McCain has been in DC 25 years and what has he done that has made a strong difference.

Zero. Don''t get me wrong, he is patriot and a hero. But we need Romney.

Romney balanced the budget and erased a 3 Billion dollar decefit of the Commonwealth of Mass in 2 years and turned it into 1 Billion surplus....

If you don''t listen to me, your pocket book will.

Scott Taylor
Chandler, AZ; Reply to this comment


by mhayes51 January 11, 2008 7:14 PM EST: hey boatdocster, do you realize what will happen if the democrats win? I think Hillary could use your vote.; Reply to this comment


by JedMerrill January 11, 2008 7:12 PM EST: Mitt is right on. I am all for reducing emissions, oil usage, etc., but did Congress even take into consideration the impact on the American worker?

Time to invest in technology and our own economy, and Mitt is the man to do it.

Does Huck even know what an economy is? Also, McCain has shown his ignorance by not recognizing the plight of the American worker. No one gets the economy like Romney. No one!; Reply to this comment


by eric_nb January 11, 2008 6:22 PM EST: Reducing dependency on foreign oil is fine. Absolutely we should do that, but we shouldn''t shoot our foot in the process. There are plenty of things that can be done to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil outside of punishing the auto manufacturers to death.; Reply to this comment