Romney to CNN: Federal Reserve should not enact new major stimulus

Evansville, Indiana (CNN) - Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Saturday that he does not support the Federal Reserve enacting a new stimulus program to boost the economy, telling CNN Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger that a previous effort by the nation's central bank did not have a major impact.

"I am sure the Fed is watching and will try to encourage the economy. But I don't think a massive new QE3 will help the economy," Romney said, referring to a program called quantitative easing.

More of the interview airs Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union with Candy Crowley" at 9 a.m. and noon ET.

– Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker

While July's just-released jobs figures showed the public sector taking a major beating, Romney repeated his belief that a government stimulus program is not the right course, saying the first one did not work and "expecting a different result is, as famously said, the definition of insanity."

Romney, who is basing his campaign on his ability to be a better economic fix-it man, repeated his efforts at distinguishing his economic record from President Obama’s.

"I can absolutely make the case that now is the time for something dramatic and it is not to grow government,” he said. “It is the time to create the incentives and the opportunities for entrepreneurs - businesses big and small - to hire more people and that is going to happen. You are going to see that happen in this country but not under this president. His answer is always, ‘Can't we grow government some more?,’ and the problem with growing government, among other things, is that it stays long after these little stimulus years ... and it becomes a burden on the real job creators which are small businesses in this country.”

Romney defended as realistic his just-unveiled promise to create 12 million new jobs in his first four years in office if elected. While some economists have raised doubts about his ability to achieve that goal because it would require adding 250,000 jobs a month, Romney told CNN it is achievable.

"That is what happens in a normal process. When you come out of the kind of recession we've had you should see this kind of creation,” he said. “We should be seeing 200, 300, 400,000 jobs a month to regain much of what has been lost. That is what normally happens after a recession, but under this president we have not seen that kind of pattern. We have just been bumping along with barely enough jobs to just hold the unemployment rate about the same - above 8% - 42 months like that. You have to have the Steve Jobs of the world beginning businesses, making products that want to be purchased around the world. That gets Americans back to work."

As for the million-dollar question regarding his running mate, he would not say even if he has made the decision.

"I have nothing for you on the vice-presidential front," he said, adding, "I can assure you by the third day of the Republican convention we will nominate a Republican vice president."

– Check out the CNN Electoral Map and Calculator and game out your own strategy for November.

Watch State of the Union with Candy Crowley Sundays at 9am ET. For the latest from State of the Union click here.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.