Romney defends Wall Street but vows to fight for middle class
Milford, New Hampshire (CNN) - Mitt Romney cast himself as a fighter for the middle class Monday at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire and mocked President Barack Obama for creating a "Where's Waldo economy."
But the former Massachusetts governor also defended Wall Street and said the financial sector is not entirely to blame for the nation's economic slump.
Romney, campaigning on the same day a poll showed him with a commanding lead over his Republican rivals in the key primary state, opened his remarks by flagging a New York Times story on how median household income has declined by nearly 10 percent since Dec. 2007.
"Those who are working are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet," Romney said. "This is the definition of a failed presidency."
Debuting a new line, he called the Obama economy "a Where's Waldo economy."
"Finding a good paying job in this economy is harder than finding Waldo in one of his books," he said.
Romney promised to be firmly on the side of the middle class, even those in labor unions, if elected president.
"I am not running for rich people," he said. "Rich people can take care of themselves. They are doing just fine. I am running for middle class Americans."
Romney, who made a fortune running a private equity firm before entering politics, was asked by one voter if Wall Street financial institutions were to blame for the financial collapse in 2008.
He said bankers made mistakes in the run-up to the economic crisis, but was careful not to blame them alone.
"Are there bad actors on Wall Street? Absolutely," he said. "Are there
bad actors on Main Street? Absolutely."
Romney faulted low-income individuals for taking on home loans they could not afford, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for making those mortgages available.
"I don't consider these bad people, or people on some kind of, you know, corrupt effort," Romney said. "I see them as people who made extraordinary errors."
He said the financial sector should be regulated to track "what's going on in the market and track derivatives."
But he also said banks help make the Americans economy "the most powerful in the world" and said President Obama should not make Wall Street a "scapegoat" when the government and individuals were also to blame.
Romney said Obama should "stop blaming" others for the sad state of the economy.
"Be a Truman Democrat, say the buck stops here and do not blame the American people," he said.
Also see:
Voters bid on the ties off candidates' necks
New website, old attacks on Romney
From CNN Politics
- Untitled
- 10 Cards Charging 0% Interest Until 2024
- Exclusive: Communications between Stormy Daniels and Trump attorney turned over to Manhattan DA
- Former Florida lawmaker pleads guilty in Covid-19 loan fraud case
- Untitled
- Justice Department convinces federal judge Trump used his attorney in furtherance of a crime in classified docs probe
"Be a Truman Democrat, say the buck stops here and do not blame the American people," he said as he blamed the American people.
Obama was on Food Stamps
========================
And he's now trying to make sure ALL OF US end up int he same bad situation. End the madness. End the Obama nightmare in 2012. I don't want anymore of this food stamp presidency.
People hate taking blaim for stupid things they do. This applies to both banks and people who ran their credit up, frankly. I went into this economic crisis making as little as everyone else and loosing my job, yet I stayed afloat because i didn't have debt built up on a bunch of credit cards like an idiot.
Blaming Fannie and Freddie has been discredited a thousand times. Mitt Romeny knows this and he knows it is not true at all. That makes Mitt Romeny a complete liar and a fraud. Romney is not fit to be governor, let alone president. He was born a millionaire and had no idea what the middle class is like. Total Fraud.