Romney: 'I'm Not Concerned About the Very Poor, We Have a Safety Net'

February 1st, 2012

08:11 AM ET

Starting Point|Added on February 1, 2012 
Mitt Romney says he's worried about middle-income Americans and that the "very poor" in the U.S. have a safety net.

After winning the Florida primary, GOP presidential nominee hopeful Mitt Romney explains to CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien that he is focused on a particular portion of the American population in his campaign.

Romney says, "I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair , I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich.... I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling."
O'Brien asked him to clarify his remarks saying, "There are lots of very poor Americans who are struggling who would say, 'That sounds odd.'"
Romney continues, "We will hear from the Democrat party, the plight of the poor.... You can focus on the very poor, that's not my focus.... The middle income Americans, they're the folks that are really struggling right now and they need someone that can help get this economy going for them."

The GOP front-runner says the middle class has been most hurt by the 'Obama economy'

By Sarah B. Boxer and Sarah Huisenga

Updated: February 1, 2012 | 5:33 p.m.
February 1, 2012 | 5:00 p.m.

Ralf-Finn Hestoft

GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney makes a major policy address before supporters at the Blackhawk Hotel in Davenport, Iowa on Dec. 27, 2011. 

MINNEAPOLIS – A day after a resounding Florida victory that revived his unofficial title of front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney found himself trying to dig out of comments he made about the “very poor” in a CNN interview.
"I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a repair, I'll fix it," Romney said on CNN's Starting Point. "I'm not concerned about the very rich. They're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling." Asked by host Soledad O’Brien to elaborate, Romney repeated that he was not “focused” on the very poor because they had a safety net.
Romney's chief rival Newt Gingrich blasted the remark. "I am fed up with politicians in either party pitting Americans against each other," Gingrich said. "I am running to be the president of all the American people, and I am concerned about all the American people."
Gingrich then discussed the founding fathers' intentions for the nation and said, "Let me shock Governor Romney. The founding fathers meant the very poor, who they called Americans."
The comments also set off a flurry in social media. Later, as Romney flew from Tampa to Minneapolis for a campaign rally, he said his focus is middle income families because they have been “most hurt by the Obama economy.”
He also defended his remarks on CNN. “You’ve got to take the whole sentence,” he said, and not just a fragment of it. “I've said throughout the campaign my focus, my concern, my energy is going to be devoted to helping middle income people, all right? We have a safety net for the poor in, and if there are holes in it, I will work to repair that. And if there are people that are falling through the cracks I want to fix that.”
Asked if he thinks there are holes in the safety net, Romney replied: “Oh, I'm sure there are. I'm sure there are places where people fall between the cracks. And finding those places is one of the things that is the responsibility of government.”
But he said there is “a very ample safety net in America, with Medicaid, housing vouchers, food stamps, earned income tax credit.” The real challenge now, he said, is how to “get more people in the middle class and get people out of being poor and becoming middle income."

Mitt Romney’s February to-do list

By David Chalian | The Ticket – 6 hrs ago


“In another era of American crisis, Thomas Paine is reported to have said, 'lead, follow, or get out of the way,'” Romney said. “Mr. President, you were elected to lead. You chose to follow, and now, it's time for you to get out of the way.”


After his resounding 15-point victory in Florida, Mitt Romney has taken a giant leap toward securing the Republican presidential nomination.
The nomination is now Romney's to lose as he heads into February and some very friendly turf in upcoming contests in Nevada, Colorado, Arizona, and his native Michigan.
But Romney won't be able to coast. If he is to wrap up the battle for the nomination in a position of strength by Super Tuesday (and that is the goal of his campaign), he will need to accomplish all of the items on his hefty to-do list.
1. Assuage conservatives: Newt Gingrich likes to refer to Romney as a "Massachusetts moderate" or a "Massachusetts liberal," in an effort to sow real disenchantment with Romney among very conservative Republican voters. Despite Romney's sweeping victory, 41 percent of Florida GOP primary voters said Romney is not conservative enough on the issues, according to the exit poll conducted by Edison Research on behalf of the Associated Press and the five television networks.
2. Boost his favorability: The intensified and, at times, brutally negative Republican nomination battle has taken its toll on Romney's standing with voters. In a Washington Post/ABC News poll released last week, Romney had his highest unfavorable ratings ever recorded. Of those polled, 49 percent viewed him unfavorably compared to only 31 percent who viewed him favorably. If Romney doesn't reverse this trend soon, he'll have a much deeper hole to climb out of when the general election begins in earnest.
3. Straddle successfully: As Romney made clear in his Florida victory speech, he is setting his sights on President Obama. He did the same on the night of his New Hampshire victory, only to be snapped back into the thick of a battle against Gingrich in South Carolina and Florida.
Romney's big February challenge is to successfully straddle the need to run both a general election campaign against Obama while simultaneously keeping his foot on Gingrich's neck in their intra-party contest. Romney spent much of 2011 calibrating that precise straddle with great skill, but in the thick of the fight and with attacks coming from all directions it proved much harder for him to prosecute both cases in January.
4. Quietly nudge: This task requires the most artistry from Romney and, more important, from his advisers and top surrogates. As the economy continues to show spurts of growth and with President Obama fully engaged in campaign mode, Romney can ill afford to lose any time building his case against the incumbent. And, yet, the remaining Republican hopefuls will demand that his time be spent paying attention to them.
The Romney campaign needs to be ready to open a constructive conversation with Newt Gingrich about how his pledge to continue all the way to Tampa might hurt the party's chances at winning the White House. And yet the last thing Romney would like to have happen too quickly is for Rick Santorum to leave the race and have that embolden Gingrich.
Romney's ability to successfully check through his to-do list between now and Super Tuesday will tell us a lot about what kind of general election candidate he is likely to be in the fall.

Presidential Remarks on Mortgage Assistance

President Announces New Housing Initiatives

Washington, DC
Wednesday, February 1, 2012

President Obama traveled to Falls Church, Virginia where he addressed new initiatives in mortgage refinancing, some of which he announced during last weeks State of the Union speech. He discussed mortgage refinancing and a new homeowners "bill of rights."
The President spent last week traveling to five states to talk about the economy and jobs.

Feb 1, 2012

White House Travel | Domestic Trip

President Obama spoke about mortgage assistance at the James Lee Community Center in Falls Church, Virginia. He outlined a low-interest rate plan to help homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their property is worth refinance their loans. He called on Congress to take up the plan, which would be funded by a fee on large banks.

Ron Paul Primary Night Speech

Ron Paul: "We Have Only Gotten Started"

Washington, DC
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Ron Paul was at the Green Valley Ranch Resort and Spa in Henderson, Nevada, where he spoke to his supporters. In his remarks he said that "tonight we are in 3rd place in delegates, which is what counts and we have only gotten started."
Paul decided to limit campaigning in Florida and this past week has campaigned in Maine, Colorado and Nevada.

Jan 31, 2012

Paul Presidential Campaign

Republican 2012 presidential candidate Ron Paul spoke about the results of the Florida Primary from his campaign headquarters in Henderson, Nevada. The results of the election were 47% for Mitt Romney, 32% for Newt Gingrich, 13% for Rick Santorum, and 7%for Ron Paul.

Rick Santorum Primary Night Speech

Rick Santorum: "Republicans Can Do Better"

 Washington, DC
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Speaking to supporters in Las Vegas, Nevada, Rick Santorum said he was disappointed in the tone of the campaign in Florida and stated, "Republicans can do better, this campaign went downhill in Florida." He also said that Nevada will have "a little different result than Florida."
Santorum is campaigning in Nevada ahead the caucuses which will take place on Saturday.

Jan 31, 2012

Santorum Presidential Campaign

Republican 2012 presidential candidate Rick Santorum spoke about the results of the Florida Primary from his campaign headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada. The results of the election were 47% for Mitt Romney, 32% for Newt Gingrich, 13% for Rick Santorum, and 7%for Ron Paul.

Newt Gingrich Primary Night Speech

Newt Gingrich: "We are Going to Contest Everyplace"

 Washington, DC
Tuesday, January 31, 2012Newt Gingrich spent primary night in Orlando, Florida. In remarks he said that "it is now clear that this will be a two person race," saying that the GOP nomination will be between Mitt Romney and himself.
He also said that "there are 46 states to go and we are going to contest everyplace and we will return to Tampa in August to accept the nomination."

Jan 31, 2012

Gingrich Presidential Campaign

Republican 2012 presidential candidate Newt Gingrich spoke to supporters about his second-place finish in the Florida Republican primary. In his remarks he vowed to take his campaign to the Republican National Convention and outlined his vision for the presidency. He did not congratulate the winner nor mention his opponents. The results of the election were 47% for Mitt Romney, 32% for Newt Gingrich, 13% for Rick Santorum, and 7%for Ron Paul.

Mitt Romney Primary Night Speech

Washington, DC
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

In remarks to supporters following his victory in the Florida primary, Mitt Romney said that "primary contests are not easy." He also said that "a competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us."  Romney delivered his victory speech in Tampa, where the GOP convention will be held this August.  He also stated that "I stand ready to lead this party and lead this nation."
 

Jan 31, 2012

Romney Presidential Campaign

Republican 2012 presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke to supporters about his win in the Florida primary. In his remarks he acknowledged that the primary campaign was not over but predicted the Republican Party was on its way to victory in the fall. He received 47% of the vote, with Newt Gingrich garnering 32%, Rick Santorum was third with 13%, and Ron Paul received 7%.

We're Still at War: Photo of the Day for February 1, 2012

Wed Feb. 1, 2012 3:57 AM PST

A pilot takes the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter up for its first night flight near Edwards Air Force Base, California, on January 18, 2012. (Courtesy photo Tom Reynolds/Lockheed Martin) 

Carville to GOP: You have a disaster on your hands

By James Carville, CNN Contributor

updated 2:41 PM EST, Sat January 21, 2012

James Carville says the Republican field is vulnerable.

Editor's note: James Carville is a Democratic strategist who serves as a political contributor for CNN, appearing frequently on CNN's "The Situation Room" as well as other programs on all CNN networks. Carville remains active in Democratic politics and is a party fundraiser.

(CNN) -- Memo to Republican Establishment:
I would send this memo to each of you individually, but I'm not sure exactly who you are. I've been told that you exist and that people like my colleagues Bill Bennett, Karl Rove, and Bill Kristol are charter members of it.
I am assuming you are out there and I assume there are more than three of you. At any rate, I thought I'd take a moment to catch up with you and make some observations on how things are going for your party.

James Carville

Let me break it to you gently -- you've got a first-class disaster on your hands. I know you boys thought this thing would work out and you would be able to whip the Republicans in line to fall in behind Mitt (I assume you are all males but if there is a female in the establishment, I apologize.) Not going too good, is it fellows?
It's been a terrible time to be a Republican. There have been many moments during this process that have caused me great joy. Certainly the events of Thursday, ending with the CNN debate, and even the Fox debate Monday night, have helped ease the pain of my beloved Tigers' and Saints' recent defeats.
I mean, most people thought it was kind of a watermark when your Tea Party gang booed the golden rule. You know, I've spent some time in Philly and they have always thought they were pretty radical because they actually booed Santa Claus and Willie Mays. Philly, I've got news for you -- you ain't got nothing on South Carolina Republicans. They just aren't buying any of that do-unto-others garbage.
I actually thought my favorite moment of this delightful process was when one of your eight front-runners, Herm Cain, (as Sarah Palin calls him) actually ran an ad with his campaign manager endorsing him. (Rove, why didn't you think of that in 2000? Imagine the headline: "Rove endorses Bush.")
The climax of that delicious ad is when he actually takes a drag on a cigarette. But my favorite thing about Herm's campaign manager is that he is the only person in the history of the world that was actually barred from political consulting. Let me tell you, I've been in this business for quite a while and I've never known of anyone other than Mark Block to be suspended from practicing this profession.
At any rate, let's talk a minute about Mitt. He was your guy -- he was methodical, meticulous, married once. He has completely blown himself up over an issue that everyone knew was coming. Have you had a chance to look at John McCain's research operation on Mitt? Wow. And let me assure you, that thing has been supplemented, expanded, and annotated. God only knows about the Obama people -- they've got a billion dollars! And how about my friends over at American Bridge (the Democrat-leaning political action committee)? Clearly Mitt is merely in the beginning of this tax-return, financial-disclosure, Cayman Island (and God only knows what else) fiasco.
Your new front-runner is one of your old front runners, Newt Gingrich. I would like to take a moment to revel: I cannot personally tell you how pleased I am to see old Newt rise to the top after listening to all of your nauseating, sickening lectures on the evils of government and the importance of family values.
Now, you guys have to deal with a $1.6 million Freddie Mac consultant (who says he wasn't a lobbyist) who has been married three times. Hope you, at least, enjoy the Super Bowl. It could be your last hurrah for a while.
PS -- As my former boss once said, I feel your pain. That's why I didn't mention Rick Perry.

Latinos won't forget Romney's 'anti-immigrant' talk

 

By Ruben Navarrette Jr., CNN Contributor

updated 8:29 AM EST, Tue January 31, 2012

Can Mitt Romney win the Hispanic vote in Florida?

Editor's note: Ruben Navarrette Jr. is a CNN.com contributor and a nationally syndicated columnist.

Miami, Florida (CNN) -- Responding angrily to a campaign ad from Newt Gingrich accusing him of being anti-immigrant, Mitt Romney insisted during last week's Republican debate at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville that he has no problem with immigrants.
Perhaps not. But the dishonest and cynical way in which the former governor of Massachusetts has dealt with the immigration issue on the campaign trail shows that he has a problem being consistent.
In Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, Romney attacked Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich for immigration proposals that Romney said amounted to "amnesty" for illegal immigrants.
But last week, in Florida, where Hispanics account for 22.5 percent of the population, we caught a glimpse of a kinder and gentler Romney. He told the Hispanic Leadership Network, a center-right group, that he would create a "temporary worker permit" for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States.
However, Romney said, when the permit expires, workers wouldn't be forced to leave the United States. Instead, they would decide their next move themselves depending on their job prospects. His hope is that, at this point, many illegal immigrants would simply "self-deport."

Major issues for Latino voters

Gingrich and Romney spar over radio ad

Good luck with that. Like former Wyoming Sen. Al Simpson used to say: "There is nothing more permanent than a temporary worker." People fall in love. They get married. They have children. And it becomes harder to remove them, even if we wanted to. Besides, it's not clear that Romney wants to remove anyone. The idea of voluntary deportation is absurd.
I bet none of this is going over very well with the voters in the first three primary states who cast their lots for Romney, thinking he was going to be tough on illegal immigration only to find out that he doesn't even have the stomach to forcibly deport undocumented immigrants.
Maybe Romney should ask President Barack Obama for pointers. The Obama administration has deported more than 1.2 million illegal immigrants and offers no apologies.
Meanwhile, in a telenovela unique to the Florida primary, a group of Latinos who supports Romney called on Gingrich to yank a commercial labeling the frontrunner "anti-immigrant." A similar request came from Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who while not endorsing Romney, defended him against the charge that he was anti-immigrant.
Who does Rubio think he is? His own history with the immigration issue is spotty at best.
In 2011, Rubio joined Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas in his efforts to require businesses to participate in a government-run "e-verify" program which is supposed to tell them if a Social Security number is authentic.
Rubio also supports the Arizona immigration law -- and presumably others like it around the country -- which forces local and state law officials to enforce federal immigration statutes. In addition, he opposes the DREAM Act, which would give legal status to illegal immigrants who go to college or serve in the military because he considers it "part of some broader effort to grant blanket amnesty."
Last week, in a good speech to the Hispanic Leadership Network, Rubio acknowledged that many Republicans -- including himself -- have been slow to condemn anti-immigrant rhetoric from other Republicans.
Still, I don't care what Rubio says. Romney has, in this campaign, advanced a tone that is "anti-immigrant."
It was Romney who -- bringing back a tactic he used in 2008 against Arizona Sen. John McCain -- painted Rick Perry as soft on illegal immigration. Romney attacked Perry for signing a bill in the Lone Star State that allowed undocumented students to attend state colleges and universities and pay in-state tuition rates. The narrative that Romney pushed was simple: "Illegal immigrants are takers. They take advantage of in-state tuition rates. They take spots in university campuses that should go to U.S. citizens. They take, take, and take some more." Never did Romney mention all that illegal immigrants contribute to society -- by paying taxes, increasing productivity, creating competition, and doing jobs that Americans won't do.
Later, with Perry vanquished into the single digits, Romney used the same line of attack against Gingrich, accusing him of advocating a kind of amnesty for illegal immigrants after Gingrich said that he wanted to provide undocumented workers with a "red card" that allowed them to work legally in the country. Romney accused Gingrich of letting illegal immigrants take jobs from American workers.
Now as he competes this week for Hispanic votes in Florida -- and, on Feb 4, in Nevada, where Latinos account for 26.5 percent of the population -- Romney must be hoping that Latinos have bad memories.
We don't. We never forget a slight. And, in that respect, Romney has given us plenty to remember.

Sugar Daddy: Huntsman's father gave $1.9 million to Super PAC

7

hours

ago

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Failed GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Jr.'s billionaire father, Jon Sr., provided 70 percent of the $2.68 million collected by the Our Destiny PAC, according to a report filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission. NBC News National Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff reports.

By Bill Dedman, msnbc.com, and Lisa Riordan Seville, NBC News
A Super PAC supporting Jon Huntsman Jr., the former candidate in the Republican presidential primary, has filed its annual report of donors, showing that the candidate's father provided 70 percent of its support.
Jon Huntsman Sr., who founded chemical company Huntsman Corp., gave $1,887,040 to the Our Destiny PAC in the last quarter of 2011.
Our Destiny PAC showed 2,680,560 in receipts during 2011. Other money may have come in during the first month of 2012, not yet reported.
Other top donors included:

• Peter Arnott, Research Affiliates, $250,000
• C. Boyden Gray, attorney, $50,000
• Craig McCaw and Susan McCaw (McCaw Cellular), $75,000
• William E. Oberndorf, SPO Partners, $50,000
• James R. Swartz, Accel Management Co., $100,000
• Nicholas F. Taubman, Mozart Investments, $50,000
• Christy R. Walton, Wal-Mart heir and philanthropist, $50,000
• Jim Walton, Wal-Mart heir and Arvest Bank chairman, $100,000

Susan McCaw is a former U.S. ambassador to Austria. Craig McCaw is the founder of McCaw Cellular, a mobile phone company now a part of AT&T. McCaw had a net worth of about $1.6 billion as of September, according to Forbes.
The candidate's full report is here.

Failed GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Jr.'s billionaire father, Jon Sr., provided 70 percent of the $2.68 million collected by the Our Destiny PAC, according to a report filed Tuesday with the Federal Election Commission. NBC News National Investigative Correspondent Michael Isikoff reports.

Tuesday is the day for the so-called Super PACS to file an annual report of donors. NBC News and msnbc.com will be scouring the filings, and posting details. We'll have updates on msnbc.com, and could always use your help identifying the economic and political interests behind the names.
The political action committees must disclose by midnight tonight who gave them money, and how much they spent to support or oppose candidates in the presidential race, including the Republican candidates and President Obama as well.
The official deadline for filing is midnight ET (12 a.m. Wednesday), so reports may trickle in. And it wouldn't surprise us if some campaigns file late tonight as attention is focused on voting results in the Florida Republican primary.
Super PACS are known to the Federal Election Commission as independent committees, because they are forbidden to coordinate their activities with campaigns. Outside the limits of campaign finance laws, Super PACs may raise unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals. They can use that money to advocate for or against political candidates.

GOP candidates' immigration fantasies

The presidential hopefuls' only 'solutions' would solve nothing.

February 1, 2012

For months, Republican presidential hopefuls steadfastly avoided any discussion of immigration, except to rotely demand tougher and stricter border enforcement.
Now we know why: They have no answers. In the weeks leading up to Tuesday's Florida primary, the candidates finally addressed the subject, seeking to woo Latino voters with fantastical fixes that purported to address the immigration crisis but in fact would do nothing to resolve it.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, for example, believes that the 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country will simply "self-deport" after his stepped-up enforcement of immigration laws makes it too difficult to for them find work. Under his plan, a national identification card and broader use of an electronic database that lets employers verify workers' immigration status would encourage many to leave.
But that ignores the fact that the economic downturn has already made jobs scarce, yet few illegal workers have left. Or that undocumented immigrants, who make up nearly 5% of the workforce and more than half of all U.S. agricultural workers, are already subject to harsh working conditions and low wages. Furthermore, despite his claims to the contrary, the increased use of ID cards and the E-Verify system will not prevent employers from hiring illegal immigrants, but will only drive them further into an underground economy.
Newt Gingrich's proposal is only slightly less dubious. The former speaker of the House suggests a path to legalization for aging grandparents and some undocumented immigrants who serve in the military. The remaining millions, however, would presumably have to go back to their home countries and apply for a yet-to-be-created guest worker program. Gingrich has yet to explain that program or what would happen to those illegal immigrants who leave but who, under current law, are barred from returning for up to 10 years.
And Rick Santorum refuses to engage in any discussion at all about a comprehensive approach, cautioning that such a proposal could spark a new wave of illegal immigration. He insists that all undocumented immigrants need to leave the country; if they want to return, they must get in line and emigrate legally, just as his grandfather and previous generations did. Of course, that assumes there is a line for poor immigrants. There isn't. Only 10,000 visas are granted annually to low-skilled foreign workers from around the world — a minuscule number compared with the numbers seeking visas or already in this country illegally. Those applying to join a parent, sibling or child in this country often spend years, and in some cases decades, waiting.
In the coming months, the GOP front-runners can't expect voters, especially Latinos, to settle for fictional solutions.

Gingrich camp pulls ad on Romney immigration plan after Rubio complaint

Uploaded by storyful on Jan 25, 2012

GOP presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich came under sustained attack on Wednesday for a radio ad which labelled rival Mitt Romney as "anti immigrant". The ad was criticised by Republican Senator Marco Rubio, tipped as a future vice-presidential nominee, and many other Hispanic political leaders in Florida. Rubio said the ad was "inaccurate, inflammatory and doesn't belong in this campaign". On Wednesday afternoon, the Miami Herald reported the controversial ad had been "pulled". The video above, from an unverified account, appears to have put the audio to images. A previous Gingrich ad in Spanish was posted on this channel and linked back to an official Gingrich website Newt Presidente.com. There are 450,000 Hispanic Republican voters in Florida; making them key in the Romney and Gingrich battle for the state on January 31.

  Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) talks to Charlie Rose and Erica Hill about a controversial ad on immigration as well as the race for the GOP presidential nod. (CBS News)

Published January 25, 2012

| FoxNews.com

Newt Gingrich has removed an ad calling Mitt Romney the "most anti-immigrant candidate" in the race, after Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who has decided not to endorse anyone, denounced the ad and called it "inflammatory." 
"We respect Senator Rubio tremendously and will remove the ad from the rotation" until it is edited to remove the offending language, said Jose Mallea, Gingrich's Florida campaign state director. 

Rubio, whose parents immigrated from Cuba, criticized the ad as unfortunate and inaccurate, telling the Miami Herald that the Gingrich ad not only doesn't belong in the campaign, but adopts the language of the left in casting Republicans as against newcomers to the nation.
"The truth is that neither of these two men is anti-immigrant," Rubio told the newspaper. "Both are pro-legal immigration and both have positive messages that play well in the Hispanic community."
Mallea told Fox News that the rest of the ad shows that Gingrich is by far the best candidate in the field because he will best represent the Cuban American community in Florida and is better understanding of Cuban foreign policy.
As the Gingrich campaign retreats on the vocabulary, it has not withheld ripping on Romney's immigration policy. In an interview with Spanish-language network Univision, Gingrich called Romney's claim that he supports "self-deportation" a laughable concept that wouldn't work and sounds more like President Obama's policies.
"You have to live in a world of Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island accounts and automatically $20 million income for no work to have some fantasy this far from reality," Gingrich said, alluding to details in Romney's income tax returns made public on Tuesday. "For Romney to believe that somebody's grandmother is going to be so cut off that she is going to self-deport, I mean this is an Obama-level fantasy."
Romney said during a debate earlier in the week that he favors self-deportation over a government round-up of illegal immigrants. Advocates of Romney's approach argue that illegal immigration can be curbed by denying public benefits to them, forcing them to leave the United States on their own.
At the same time, Romney's campaign directed reporters to past comments by Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond, who said that only a small percent of illegal immigrants would likely be allowed to stay in the U.S. under Gingrich's plan, and a vast majority would likely "self-deport."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES

FLORIDA

Follow the links to see all the results from the Counties and the exit polls

98% in 50 delegates jump to exit polls

projected winner

Mitt Romney		46%	775,014	delegates 50
Newt Gingrich		32%	533,117	0
Rick Santorum		13%	222,799	0
Ron Paul		7%	117,104	0

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The Austerity Debacle

Op-Ed Columnist

Published: January 29, 2012

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Blog: The Conscience of a Liberal

Related

• Times Topics: United States Economy | European Debt Crisis

Last week the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, a British think tank, released a startling chart comparing the current slump with past recessions and recoveries. It turns out that by one important measure — changes in real G.D.P. since the recession began — Britain is doing worse this time than it did during the Great Depression. Four years into the Depression, British G.D.P. had regained its previous peak; four years after the Great Recession began, Britain is nowhere close to regaining its lost ground.

Nor is Britain unique. Italy is also doing worse than it did in the 1930s — and with Spain clearly headed for a double-dip recession, that makes three of Europe’s big five economies members of the worse-than club. Yes, there are some caveats and complications. But this nonetheless represents a stunning failure of policy.

And it’s a failure, in particular, of the austerity doctrine that has dominated elite policy discussion both in Europe and, to a large extent, in the United States for the past two years.

O.K., about those caveats: On one side, British unemployment was much higher in the 1930s than it is now, because the British economy was depressed — mainly thanks to an ill-advised return to the gold standard — even before the Depression struck. On the other side, Britain had a notably mild Depression compared with the United States.

Even so, surpassing the track record of the 1930s shouldn’t be a tough challenge. Haven’t we learned a lot about economic management over the last 80 years? Yes, we have — but in Britain and elsewhere, the policy elite decided to throw that hard-won knowledge out the window, and rely on ideologically convenient wishful thinking instead.

Britain, in particular, was supposed to be a showcase for “expansionary austerity,” the notion that instead of increasing government spending to fight recessions, you should slash spending instead — and that this would lead to faster economic growth. “Those who argue that dealing with our deficit and promoting growth are somehow alternatives are wrong,” declared David Cameron, Britain’s prime minister. “You cannot put off the first in order to promote the second.”

How could the economy thrive when unemployment was already high, and government policies were directly reducing employment even further? Confidence! “I firmly believe,” declared Jean-Claude Trichet — at the time the president of the European Central Bank, and a strong advocate of the doctrine of expansionary austerity — “that in the current circumstances confidence-inspiring policies will foster and not hamper economic recovery, because confidence is the key factor today.”

Such invocations of the confidence fairy were never plausible; researchers at the International Monetary Fund and elsewhere quickly debunked the supposed evidence that spending cuts create jobs. Yet influential people on both sides of the Atlantic heaped praise on the prophets of austerity, Mr. Cameron in particular, because the doctrine of expansionary austerity dovetailed with their ideological agendas.

Thus in October 2010 David Broder, who virtually embodied conventional wisdom, praised Mr. Cameron for his boldness, and in particular for “brushing aside the warnings of economists that the sudden, severe medicine could cut short Britain’s economic recovery and throw the nation back into recession.” He then called on President Obama to “do a Cameron” and pursue “a radical rollback of the welfare state now.”

Strange to say, however, those warnings from economists proved all too accurate. And we’re quite fortunate that Mr. Obama did not, in fact, do a Cameron.

Which is not to say that all is well with U.S. policy. True, the federal government has avoided all-out austerity. But state and local governments, which must run more or less balanced budgets, have slashed spending and employment as federal aid runs out — and this has been a major drag on the overall economy. Without those spending cuts, we might already have been on the road to self-sustaining growth; as it is, recovery still hangs in the balance.

And we may get tipped in the wrong direction by Continental Europe, where austerity policies are having the same effect as in Britain, with many signs pointing to recession this year.

The infuriating thing about this tragedy is that it was completely unnecessary. Half a century ago, any economist — or for that matter any undergraduate who had read Paul Samuelson’s textbook “Economics” — could have told you that austerity in the face of depression was a very bad idea. But policy makers, pundits and, I’m sorry to say, many economists decided, largely for political reasons, to forget what they used to know. And millions of workers are paying the price for their willful amnesia.

Richard Cordray Boycott By Senate Republicans Fizzles

Michael McAuliff
mike.mcauliff@huffingtonpost.com

First Posted: 01/31/2012 1:12 pm Updated: 01/31/2012 3:00 pm


WASHINGTON -- A Republican boycott of the first official Senate testimony of President Obama's consumer finance watchdog fizzled Tuesday, as only half the GOP members skipped Richard Cordray's appearance out of pique over his recess appointment.
Republican senators had vowed to block any nominee to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, but Obama went around them, putting Cordray in the job with a controversial recess appointment while senators were away for the Christmas vacation. They had been holding only "pro forma" sessions solely to prevent such appointments.
Some on the GOP side had hoped for a complete boycott, but four members of the Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs broke ranks.
Some Democrats seemed entertained that the boycott failed to materialize.
"I can't help but note the fact that we had a healthy attendance in committee this morning," Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. "That strikes me as a good thing, but also an admission that continuing to hold this nomination hostage until we agree to gut the bureau that we just passed ... means that my colleagues have dialed down some of their opposition."
"Plans of a mass protest appear not to have gone over with many members," Schumer added, suggesting the reason. "It's a losing fight, politically, for them," he said. "Many on the other side wisely don't want to continue the fight because they know it's on the wrong side of consumers ... It makes no sense for senators to go AWOL on these consumer issues."
Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) had implored members who did attend to focus on the job of learning about the agency's first semi-annual report -- required under the law that created the bureau in order to ensure its accountability. "I would remind my colleagues that we are not here today to debate Mr. Cordray's appointment," Johnson said. "Our job is to roll up our sleeves and provide meaningful oversight."
While most senators did ask policy questions, the ones who attended insisted on focusing on the appointment as well, including the top Republican on the committee, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, who complained that the CFPB, created by the Dodd-Frank financial reform act, has far too much unchecked power.
"Unfortunately, the president has now circumvented one of the only remaining checks with his recess appointment of Mr. Cordray," Shelby said.
Other Republicans who attended were Sens. Mike Johanns of Nebraska, Jerry Moran of Kansas and Bob Corker of Tennessee.
Johanns, however, argued that Republicans had every right to be concerned with the manner of the appointment.
"If we accept the premise of your validity in this position," he told Cordray, "then we accept the premise that our ability to offer advice and consent basically disappears, because the president can determine when we're in recess and not in recess, and just appoint whoever."
Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) argued that before Obama took his nearly unprecedented step, Republicans had forced him into that position.
"This is the first time ... in American history, according to the Senate historian, where a political party has blocked a nominee simply because they don't like the agency," Brown said, arguing that at the root of the Republican opposition was their concern about protecting Wall Street.
"In the end, we know that the other side was simply doing the bidding of Wall Street. That's what they've always done, that's what they're doing today, that's what they'll continue to do."

CORRECTION: This article has been changed to reflect that the Democratic senator from Ohio is Sherrod Brown, not Sherry Brown.