Romney: GOP involvement in debt deal was "mistake"

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks during a campaign rally at Union Terminal on September 1, 2012 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

/ Justin Sullivan

(CBS News) In comments that contrast with those of his running mate, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney told NBC News' "Meet the Press" in an interview aired Sunday that Republican involvement in the 2011 bipartisan deal to extend the nation's debt ceiling was "a big mistake," even though it averted a government default and possible chaos in the world's financial markets.

Romney's vice presidential choice, Paul Ryan, also differentiated himself further from Romney by refusing to say that he would reject a hypothetical debt reduction deal - composed of a 10-to-1 ratio of spending cuts to tax increases - which Romney (and other GOP candidates) rejected during a presidential primary debate last year.

"You know, it depends on the quality of the agreement," Ryan said on ABC's "This Week." "It depends on the quality of the policy. Our negotiators in the 'supercommittee' offered higher revenues through tax reform. John Boehner did as well. . . . What really matters to me is not ratios but what matters is the quality of the policy."

During the interview with NBC's David Gregory, Romney said President Obama is to blame for provisional defense cuts that were part of the deal with Congress. When Gregory noted that Republican Congressional leaders agreed to the so-called sequestration provision, Romney responded:

"And that's a big mistake. I thought it was a mistake on the part of the White House to propose it. I think it was a mistake for Republicans to go along with it. The president was responsible for coming out with specific changes they'd make to the defense budget. ... The American people need to understand how it is that our defense is going to be so badly cut."

Romney's comments are at odds with those of his running mate, who wrote in a National Review opinion column last year that the deal "takes an important step in the right direction."

"We still have a long way to go toward getting the key drivers of our debt - especially federal health-care spending - under control," Ryan wrote. "But considering that House Republicans control only one-half of one-third of the federal government, I support this reasonable, responsible effort to cut government spending, avoid a default, and help create a better environment for job creation."

A little over a year ago, as part of a deal to extend the nation's borrowing limit and avoid default, the Obama White House and Congressional Republicans agreed to $109 billion in automatic spending cuts for the upcoming fiscal year, including $55 billion from defense programs, if a Congressional "supercommittee" failed to find adequate savings elsewhere to meet budget targets. The supercommittee admitted failure in November.

In another portion of the interview on "Meet the Press," Romney complimented former President Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention, which concluded Thursday, and said he thinks Clinton upstaged Mr. Obama.

"He did stand out in contrast with the other speakers," Romney says of Clinton's Wednesday night stem-winder. "I think he really did elevate the Democrat convention in a lot of ways. And frankly, the contrast may not have been as attractive as Barack Obama might have preferred if he were choosing who'd go before him and who'd go after."

Clinton spoke a day before President Obama delivered his acceptance speech on Thursday night.

[MTATL670]

The man is a FOOL.

[A_Canadian_Opinion]

The next big televised debate should be Romney vs. Ryan!

[YourRearViewMirror1]

LOL LOL LOL!

[dj_chi]

Pretty funny! Romney thinks we shouldn't have made a deal to have automatic cuts in case Congress couldn't come to an agreement. So instead, we should've let Congress agree to nothing (they had almost half a year to work it out) and let the country default on its debts. Yeah, cuz that's the responsible thin to do. Nothing.

And you wonder why Congress has an approval rating half to a third of Obamas, and why Romney's backsliding in the polls. The GOP just can't find a reason to put country before party.

[dj_chi]

Hey Willard, getting a running mate who actively sought to undermine a debt agreement, while voting for all the big spending bills the GOP put forward might be more of a boat anchor to your election that you planned.

[Kestrel88]

And Romney picked a running mate who voted for the debt deal! After voting for eight years to run up the debt under Bush! What's wrong with this picture indeed.

Heaven help us all if these dorks even get near the White House.

[josephp5]

Romney feels that the debt deal was a mistake? Really? He would let the United States default on its financial obligations, sending our credit rating into the toilet and sending the economy into a tailspin? That's an absolutely insane position! Congressional Republicans were posturing that they supported that radical outcome, but in the end they came around because even they could not be so crazy as to destroy the credit rating of the US just for a political ideology (the credit rating still suffered a bit because of the Republican-driven hijinks). And now we hear Romney claiming that it was a mistake for Republicans to back down. This man is a joke!

[Kestrel88]

They could have avoided the whole mess if they didn't decide to get cute and play chicken with the debt ceiling. After all, serial liar Paul Ryan voted five times to raise the debt ceiling under Bush.

And he still had time to make stuff up about being elite marathon runner and mountain climber...

[Phaerisee]

It was funny. The day after the convention the Romney people were paying all these journalists to write about the monthly jobs report instead of Obama's speech. He still got the bounce.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92L4LHcT75s&feature=relmfu

[atlanta30305]

For those of us that viewed both Meet The Press and Paul Ryan on ABC, the slant in this piece is simply odd. CBS news seems to have surrendered its responsibility to objective journalism and is catering to the majority of the respondents on this particular site.

However for us independents who will actually decide this election, Mitt's answers on MTP were right on target. The sequestration deal was a BAD deal in hindsight because it punted the decision making process to the end of this year. Now President Obama is violating that very law by refusing to identify his plans for the upcoming defense cuts. It was indeed a bad deal, and that is now being proven right before our eyes.

The US indeed needs $1 trillion in spending cuts. However there seems to be only one person in this race with proven bi-partisan leadership abilities to possibly get this done.

[gardentiller]

Who do you think you're fooling. You are not an Independent. Go vote for that lying Mitt the Twit. GOPers don't want bi-partisan. They want to run everything. With the way they have acted over the last 4 years, One would have thought that they won instead of Obama.

[RollotheNorman]

LOL, Paul Ryan, you mean the serial liar Paul Ryan?

[RollotheNorman]

Holy Cow! Now Willard is flinging his slop at Boehner, Cantor, and McConnell. I think they're reprehensible too, Willard, but for dealing deceitfully and trying to back out the agreement after making it. LOL, maybe its enough to turn voter's stomachs in their home districts and state. Seeing the RepubiCON leadership not return would be sweet.

[walkthetalk]

Aren't credit cards wonderful. They let us buy the things NOW that are parents had save for months to buy. Like most people starting out I made a application for a credit card. This was the greatest thing in world getting a card that was like cash. Now I could buy what I wanted when I wanted. The freedom of being able to go buy stuff and never have to wait and save money like my parents did. Now I had arrived, I had shopping list in hand and most stupid young audlts

[walkthetalk]

See my above Post and attach to. Dumb cat. . I went on speeding spree. Life was good I had all the stuff I wanted now. Then one the bills rolled in and found myself wallowing in debt. Several months passed and I was struggling just to pay the minimum balance. After a couple of years and eating alot beans, I was now free of debt. This was greatest feeling imaginable. I made myself a promise this will never happen again. I'm now debt free and save for the things I want. My purchases are payed for in cash. Now if I can do it, why can't my Government do likewise? Why does our Government think that it's Great idea! to saddle future generations with debt, for the stuff they thought they needed now? This is a attachment to my previous post. Gotta learn to keep my cat away from my keyboard.

[venusvegasvada]

Neither of these two pathological, career yes men have a plan.

They have two buckets of @#$@ and they throw it at the wall and see what sticks. So far, none of it is sticking.

So what's a power hungry duo to do that has promised the Rich they will take care of them? Look around and see what the other side is doing and change your tune.

The only way forward is the way the Democrats have been fighting for all these years. You really think unless the Democrats pushed for anything, these guys would offer anything? Romney says now he's ok with some of the things in Obamacare! Cripes almighty! The GOP has done nothing but crucify the Dems for Obamacare. "first thing I'ma gonna do is totally delete Obamacare". Yeah. Sure you will moron. It IS not only the only real way forward, but let's face it. How many years was Bush in the White House and how many times did you EVER here ANY of the GOP say it's high time we fixed anything besides taking care of the Rich? Fact is the GOP doesn't ever do jack @#$@ for the working class. Not even on their radar.

You reap what you sow guys. You sold your souls to the Rich and offer no vision or plan that makes sense for anything. Congratulations. You made your bed, now live with it. Be men about it and take it like men. Don't go around changing your tune to match the Democrats at the last second because you see you are going to lose.

[stevehamilton858]

Thank you for your straight talk. I voted for every Republican presidential candidate from Eisenhower through McCain, and the only guy who really let me down was "W". I am now a campaign volunteer, at age 78, for the Democrats. The people managing the GOP are lazy, just like GM's old Board; the RNC and other senior GOP officials have let their constituency shift to the way right, and now the party is loaded with radicals. If they don't change their constituency back to the mix that Eisenhower had, the GOP will be a rump party before 2013 ends. BTW, Roberta McCain, John's mother, agrees. So apparently does Jeb Bush, who appears to have gotten all of the smarts that didn't go to "W".