Romney's recovery flip flops

June 26, 2012

Earlier today, ProgressVA reported, "Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney will hold a campaign rally Tuesday morning at Carter Machinery in Salem, a company that has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the American Recovery Act, legislation Romney sometimes opposes. Romney's penchant for mind-changing seems to be rubbing off on his chief Virginia cheerleader as well. Governor Bob McDonnell recently acknowledged on CNN that the Recovery Act had benefitted Virginia."

Progressive Point: Virginians want leaders who are true to their word and will work for us. Unfortunately, these days too often politicians say one thing and do another. What are we supposed to think when they flip-flop on their own positions? Mitt Romney, who supported the stimulus in 2009, began attacking it in his current run for President, and today will hold a campaign rally at a company that has received over half a million stimulus funds.

Virginians know creating jobs requires more than changing your mind when it's politically convenient. To grow our economy, Virginia and America need leaders who prioritize investing in our economy and put implementing solutions above partisan politics. Rhetoric won't get us recovery.

Get the Facts:

• According to Recovery.gov, Carter Machinery Co. received two vendor awards from the Recovery Act totaling $146,175. The two awards were grants from the Department of Agriculture for $50,000 and $95,175. (Recovery.gov, 6/29/09; Recovery.gov, 9/30/10)


• According to Recovery.gov, Carter Machinery Co., Inc, received a subcontract worth $368,324 for a ship repair project. The funds were awarded through the Department of Commerce. (Recovery.gov, 3/8/10)


• Romney Slammed Obama For "Failed Stimulus Schemes." According to Free And Strong America, Romney said, "President Obama knows where he wants to go, but he has no idea how to get there. Under President Obama's economic leadership, more Americans have lost their jobs than any time in modern history. The on-the-job economic education of the President has cost American families almost a trillion dollars in failed stimulus schemes and, unfortunately, he's still failing the course. Rhetoric, however soaring, does not put pay checks in pay envelopes at the end of the week. You can't build a high speed rail system fast enough to outrun the President's misguided regulations, higher taxes or lack of focus on jobs. Hopefully he is learning. American families are depending on him." (Free And Strong America, 1/26/11)


• Bob McDonnell Said On CNN's "State Of The Union" That The Recovery Act Helped Virginia." McDonnell, a potential vice presidential candidate who has sought to walk a tightrope between conservatives and moderates, acknowledged on CNN's "State of the Union" that federal assistance aided Virginia in balancing its budget, but said it had no positive long-term impact. "Did it help us in the short run with health care and education and spending to balance the budget? Sure," McDonnell said." (Washington Post, 6/3/12)

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