Candidate Positions

Original source: http://www.mittromney.com/Issue-Watch/Competing_with_Asia

“We have to keep our markets open or we go the way of Russia and the Soviet Union, which is a collapse. And I recognize there are some people who will argue for protectionism because the short-term benefits sound pretty good, but long term you kill your economy, you kill the future. What you have to do in order to compete on a global basis long term is invest in education, invest in technology, reform our immigration laws to bring in more of the brains from around the world, eliminate the waste in our government. We have to use a lot less oil. These are the kinds of features you have to invest in, you have to change in order to make ourselves competitive long term.”
- Governor Romney, Kudlow and Company, March 22, 2006

Original source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/05/07/romney_hedges_on_global_warming/

During a news conference at which he formally announced the Massachusetts Climate Protection Plan, Romney said he decided not to take sides in the debate about “is there global warming or is there not, and what’s causing it.”
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…suggesting he remains unconvinced on the issue at the heart of the proposal.

Original source: http://myclob.pbwiki.com/Education

In 1994 Romney, as a candidate for US Senate, pledged to vote to establish a means-tested school voucher program to allow students to attend the public or private school of their choice. He also supported abolishing the federal Department of education and favored keeping control of educational reform at the lowest level, closest to parents, teachers, and the community (Boston Globe review of 1994 campaign issues Mar 21, 2002)

Original source:http://freedompointnews.blogspot.com/2007/04/who-is-mitt-romney.html

Romney ‘94 embraced the Brady Bill, which imposed a 5-day waiting-period for handgun sales and a ban on certain semi-automatic weapons (called “assault weapons” by gun control advocates).
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Romney now “believes Americans have the right to own and possess firearms as guaranteed under the US Constitution,” according to a campaign spokesman. Furthermore, he’s a proud (there’s that word again) member of the organization he refused to be a hero to in 1994. He even designated May 7, 2005 as “The Right To Bear Arms Day,” in Massachusetts — a right to which he never alluded in 1994 or 2002.

Original source:

An enthusiastic supporter of legal immigration, Mr. Romney not only opposes illegal immigration, but he told National Review that he is also “against an amnesty and against anything that provides an incentive for people to come here illegally.”

Original source: http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/02/11/romney_draws_fire_on_stem_cells/

Governor Mitt Romney set off a storm of criticism yesterday after he declared in a published interview that he favored banning a specific type of stem cell research. Scientists and the leader of the state Senate accused him of trying to block a promising avenue of research, even as antiabortion groups assailed him for declaring that he did not object to stem cell research involving embryos from fertility clinics.

Romney took aim at stem cell research being planned at Harvard University, where embryos created by cloning would be used.

The governor said that he opposes “the creation of new human embryos for the purpose of research” and his aides indicated he would support criminal penalties for researchers who use new human embryos.

Original source: http://www.newsmax.com/archives/ic/2005/7/27/94535.shtml

When he ran for governor in 2002, Romney pledged not to change the state’s abortion laws, despite his personal opposition. But his veto Monday of an emergency contraceptives bill and his comments in recent months have fueled speculation among critics that Romney is hardening his opposition to abortion and other sensitive social issues to gain support from GOP conservatives.

Romney says his anti-abortion views have “evolved and deepened” since he took office, colored in part by the debate over embryonic stem cell research.

“In considering the issue of embryo cloning and embryo farming, I saw where the harsh logic of abortion can lead - to the view of innocent new life as nothing more than research material or a commodity to be exploited,” Romney wrote in an opinion piece in Tuesday’s Boston Globe.

He also said he believes each state should decide whether to allow abortion, rather than having the “one size fits all” precedent of Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 Supreme Court case that legalized abortion.