Mitt Romney is slated to slam President Obama at a town hall event Wednesday afternoon for focusing on his re-election campaign instead of creating jobs, and for his recent comments suggesting American businessmen owe their success to the government.
President Obama drew scathing rebukes from conservatives for saying in a speech in Roanoke, Virginia last week that American entrepreneurs owe the government for their success, at least in part.
“If you’ve got a business — you didn’t build that,” he told the crowd. “Somebody else made that happen.”
Romney will use those remarks at a town hall event in Bowling Green, Ohio this afternoon to highlight the difference between his worldview and President Obama’s, according to excerpts of his speech obtained by The Daily Caller.
“President Obama’s insult of business owners was shockingly revealing, insulting and dismissive [of] America’s entrepreneurs,” Romney is scheduled to say.
“In a world where ‘somebody else’ – government – builds businesses and creates prosperity, it’s makes sense to raise taxes on small business owners and create more and more layers of bureaucracy to manage the economy. I understand that we need to unleash the private sector and encourage small business owners, not punish them with higher taxes and burdensome regulations. This is the difference between a bottom-up economy driven by the innovative spirit of America and a top-down economy driven by the government.”
Romney will also suggest that the comments lend insight into the policies President Obama has implemented while in office.
“What made President Obama’s comments so insightful is that they reflect the policies he’s pursued in office – policies that reward people for who they know, not what they know,” the excerpts read.
“While he gave taxpayer money and special carve-outs to friends, donors, supporters, and special interest groups, the middle class has been working harder for less. This has to end, and it will when I am president.”
Romney will also knock the president for spending time on the campaign trail instead of working on creating jobs.
“We have a jobs crisis in this country, a real emergency,” the speech excerpts read.
“Yet President Obama seems to have just given up on the economy. He hasn’t convened a meeting with his jobs counsel in six months, but has held more than a hundred fundraisers for his campaign. The only job he is interested in saving is his own.”