Politics
Election 2012:Obama, Romney seek advantage on health care and the economy
Romney has criticized Obama’s health care law, saying it calls for US$500 billion in cuts to Medicare. But Obama would make most of those cuts by reducing payments to service providers such as hospitals and nursing homes, not beneficiaries.
“(Obama) has offered no serious plan of his own to save Medicare and is content to use it as nothing more than a political issue,” said Lanhee Chen, the Romney campaign’s policy director.
Romney pointed to new government figures showing that the number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits rose by 34,000 last week, a figure that may have been skewed higher by seasonal factors.
The former Massachusetts governor is finishing off a week of aggressive anti-Obama rhetoric with a campaign stop in Bow, N.H., on Friday, where he is expected to renew his economic critique of the president.
Romney has faced repeated criticism for his record running Bain Capital and for refusing to release several years’ worth of tax returns. He has tried to go on the offensive, seizing upon comments last week in which the president said, in part: “Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.” Romney said the remarks showed a lack of understanding about how small businesses operate.
The Romney campaign has produced a new TV ad attacking Obama’s remarks. The campaign has not said when and where the ad would run.
Obama’s team has dismissed the line of attack, saying the president’s words were taken out of context and intended to distract voters from Romney’s business record. White House press secretary Jay Carney said Thursday that Obama was “using every tool in his toolbox to advance economic growth” despite resistance to his jobs agenda in Congress.
