Political positions of Mitt Romney

In 1994, during his campaign for US Senate in Massachusetts, "Romney has cast himself as a moderate Republican, socially liberal and fiscally conservative" and The New York Times likened his views to those of Governor William F.

[32] Five months later, while speaking on agricultural subsidies at a roundtable discussion with Iowa farmers and business leaders, Romney said, "I'm not running for office based on making promises of handing out money.

"[34] Romney declined to respond to survey questions from the Iowa Corn Growers Association requesting his positions on crop insurance and conservation during the presidential primary campaign.

[29] He responded to an American Farm Bureau Federation questionnaire in 2012 by saying, "my immediate priority [as president] should be given to enacting disaster relief for those not traditionally covered by crop insurance as this year's drought has worsened.

[58] In 2007 Romney began criticizing the McCain-Feingold Law, saying "We step into dangerous territory when politicians start eviscerating our fundamental freedoms in the name of amorphous principles, like campaign finance reform.

"[59] In November 2011, Romney said that the Supreme Court had made the right decision in its 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission ruling, but that he did not like some of the consequences of it: "I'm not wild about the idea of corporations making political contributions as a concept.

[73] Romney opposed the Budget Control Act of 2011 that was passed to resolve the United States debt-ceiling crisis as part of a deal struck between President Obama and congressional leaders, including his future running mate, Paul Ryan.

"[83] Campaigning for the governorship, he argued in support of measures such as imposing higher taxes on SUVs to help reduce auto emissions and conserve energy; revitalizing urban neighborhoods using fees charged to developers for cutting down trees in suburban areas; and doubling the rate of cleanup of brownfield lands.

Should the foreclosure process run its course, Romney sees recovery for the market as investors are allowed to salvage property values and move people back into their homes as renters, with the possibility to buy when they are fiscally prepared.

"[169] Romney opposes the Employee Free Choice Act, a bill that would add penalties for labor violations and would allow union recognition based on signed requests from a majority of the workers.

During the primary campaign, rival Republican candidate Newt Gingrich promised that if elected he would work to reinvigorate the nation's space program with a goal of establishing a permanent colony on the moon within a decade and seeking to have humans travel to Mars in the near future.

Just months into his tenure as governor, in April 2003, while he shied away from any public endorsement of the tax cuts proposed by the Bush Administration, he argued for federal funds to stimulate the local economy: "I very much support an economic stimulus.

"[179] That same year, he proposed his own economic stimulus package of tax credits and grants to promote the state's high technology industry, ultimately totaling $100 million when agreed to by the legislature.

[227] In September of that year he protested Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking at the 62nd session of the United Nations General Assembly, stating that the invitation should be revoked and he should instead be greeted with an indictment under the Genocide Convention for threats against Israel.

[143][236] In his 2007 speech announcing that he would run for president in 2008, Romney said, "so long as there is a reasonable prospect of success, our wisest course is to seek stability in Iraq, with additional troops endeavoring to secure the civilian population."

CNN contributor Paul Begala criticized this remark and called it "[a] huge mistake, a gaffe that -- that's, if this were a general election debate, would be a disqualifier," pointing out that inspectors had been allowed into Iraq.

[238] In October 2011, Romney criticized the Obama administration's announcement that all American combat troops had been withdrawn from Iraq calling the withdrawal either "naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude.

"[239] In October 2011, during his 2012 presidential campaign, Romney said, "I believe our relationship with Israel, a nation which shares our values and is our best friend in the Middle East, should be of support and confidence rather than criticism and blame.

[247] In candid remarks to high-value donors at a secretly recorded May 2012 private fundraiser, Romney said of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, "I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, 'There's just no way.'

"[257] Romney has opposed ratification of New START, a bilateral nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation,[258][259] in part because he wishes to deploy defensive missiles on submarines.

[270] Romney criticized at the time Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama for saying that in his first year as president, he would meet with the leaders of several nations hostile to the government of the United States, including Syria, North Korea, Cuba, and Iran.

"[298] The executive director of Massachusetts NARAL at the time, Melissa Kogut, stated that in her organization's endorsement interview with Romney, he was "emphatic that the Republican Party was not doing themselves a service by being so vehemently anti-choice.

[143][clarification needed] Speaking before The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank he consulted on policy issues, as governor of Massachusetts in 2005 Romney suggested that mosques should be wiretapped and foreign students should be placed under surveillance to improve domestic intelligence gathering in the fight against terrorism.

The quick departure was viewed as a win for anti-gay advocates and Politico later reported that according to their sources, the campaign had chosen to not publicly defend Grenell from the homophobic criticism because of concern about losing religious support.

[418] At a commencement address before Regent University, the Evangelical Christian school founded by Pat Robertson, Romney said, "Pornography and violence poison our music and movies and TV and video games.

[citation needed] He also said, "I am not pursuing an effort to try and stop adults from being able to acquire or see things that I find objectionable—that's their right—but I do vehemently oppose practices or business procedures that will allow kids to be exposed to obscenity.

[426] The legislation Romney proposed would have called for the death penalty in cases that included terrorism, the assassination of law enforcement officials, murders involving prolonged torture, or multiple killings.

The legislation called for a pool of certified capital case lawyers to ensure proper representation for the accused, and would have allowed citizens who do not personally support the death penalty to still serve as jurors in the pre-sentencing phase of trials, during which decisions are made on the defendants' guilt.

"[456] While campaigning to represent Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate in 1994, Romney supported the Brady Bill, which imposed a five-day waiting period on gun sales, and a ban on particular semi-automatic rifles.

"[494][495][496] In June 2012, President Obama issued an executive order instructing officers of the federal government to defer deporting young undocumented immigrants who had been brought to the U.S. as children and who met certain requirements, such as serving in the military or being successful students.