On a conference call with reporters today, Mitt Romney senior advisor Ed Gillespie said that after “a successful convention where voters learned a lot about Mitt Romney as a person,” they are now “eager to hear more about policies.” “We think the American people are looking forward to hearing how we can turn our economy around. They’re open to hearing our proposals,” Gillespie claimed.
Gillespie went on to recap specifics on Romney’s plans for deficit reduction including: 1) limiting spending on some programs, including Medicaid, and capping there growth at inflation plus one percent; 2) reduce federal government employment by 10 percent through attrition; and 3) combine agencies and departments to reduce overhead. Gillespie claimed these reforms would save $500 billion a year by the end of Romney’s first term.
Gillespie then cast last week as a complete disaster for President Obama:
On Monday, the Congressional Budget Office confirmed that our budget deficit through August now stands at $1.17 trillion. That’s the fourth straight trillion dollar deficit under this president. On Tuesday, the Kaiser Family Foundation revealed that health insurance premiums rose again last year to nearly $16,000 per family. On Wednesday, we saw the Census Bureau report that 46 million Americans, nearly one in six, are now in poverty. On Thursday, the Federal Reserve cited the lack of economic growth and job creation in announcing an unprecedented open ended round to bail out our economy [sic]. Also, on Thursday, we saw that the number of Americans filing weekly jobless claims reached its highest level in two months. On Friday, initial industrial production declined more than expected, shrinking by the most in nearly three years, and confirming that manufacturing activities are continuing to contract. And of course last week we saw on a nationwide average the price of a gallon of gas average $3.85 per gallon, fully two dollars higher than when Obama took office.
“That week is perhaps why the post-convention bounce has faded already,” Gillespie said.
