fbpx
05.14.2012 1

Analysis of Mitt Romney’s platform

Smaller, Smarter, Simpler Government

Photo Credit: MittRomney.com

By Adam Bitely — 2012 Presidential candidate Mitt Romney makes many promises in his 2012 platform. According to one of the prominent themes on his website, Mitt willbuild a simpler, smaller, smarter government.”

But a close examination of his platform shows that his statement of making a “smaller” government is not exactly what he intends to do. Rather, his platform exposes that Mitt is a typical politician that takes stances that conflict with other stances he has taken.

On Mitt’s page regarding his stance on national defense, he attacks Obama for making cuts that affect the military. Mitt complains that government spending is overblown on his page about restoring fiscal responsibility, but as soon as he touches defense spending, he is suddenly singing from a different song book and a book in which increased spending is not detrimental to the nation. This is an attempt by Mitt to reach out to voters who generally don’t like government spending outside of the military. And judging by the fact that defense spending is one of the largest portions of government spending, this is a politically popular idea.

When it comes to his position on education, Mitt again takes a position contrary to his “simpler, small, smarter government” theme. One specific instance is when he suggests that a college education shouldn’t be a luxury but rather all students should have the opportunity to go to college. Such a statement signals that government will get involved in making sure that more students get in to college, which will raise the level of education spending.

Mitt promises that as president he will take heavy action to stop China from harming the U.S. Without getting into any specifics of what he will do to stop China from engaging in what he believes are terrible acts against America, Mitt shows again that his commitment to small and smarter government is questionable. Using the powers of government to punish the Chinese will only result in negative economic consequences in the U.S., harming the very consumers he promises to champion.

Smarter government is subjective. It’s a buzzword that Romney hopes will attract people in the middle his way, because after all, who is opposed to “smarter” government? Calling for “smaller” government is a reach towards Tea Party conservatives who he needs in his base of support.

Romney’s platform is simply that of a typical politician attempting to reach out to the median voter. While making broad statements that would lead one group of people to believe he will govern a certain way, he makes promises to many different groups appealing to many preference sets hoping to grab a diverse crowd of votes that will result in his victory. This technique is to be expected by anyone mounting a serious campaign for public office, especially anyone running for president.

Adam Bitely is the Editor-in-Chief of NetRightDaily.com. You can follow him on Twitter at @AdamBitely.

Copyright © 2008-2024 Americans for Limited Government