If you haven’t read Governor Romney’s speech to the NRA yet I highly recommend it.

Click here for recap.

Click here for text of entire speech. (Recommended)

Topics covered in the speech: second amendment (obviously), Obama’s spending binge, health care, cap and trade, where Obama is right and where he is wrong.

I had two prevailing thoughts when I read the speech. 1 – Wow, what a fantastic speech! 2 – He is almost certainly running in 2012!

~Nate G.

You may recall that Governor Romney was one of several conservatives invited to do a revolving column at the Washington times. Well, Romney’s first column is up today and he takes on the issue of card-check.

Click here for the whole column. Head over there to read/leave comments.

In 2006, my last year as governor of Massachusetts, I vetoed a card-check bill that allowed public workers to organize if a majority signed union authorization cards as opposed to casting a traditional secret ballot. The veto was a gain for the rights of employees and employers to a fair election, but the victory was short-lived.

After I left office, organized labor had another run at replacing the secret ballot with a card check. With the support of Democrats in the legislature, that same bill I had vetoed was passed again in 2007 – and my Democratic successor signed it into law. What happened next is a cautionary tale for Congress as it moves toward a vote on national card-check legislation.

With this powerful new tool, for the first time ever in Massachusetts, a charter school was unionized. One reason so many parents want their children in charter schools is precisely because they operate free of union contracts, so that when administrators want to try something new, they can implement it quickly.

For this, charter schools are fiercely resented by teachers unions as a competitor to failing public schools. Charter schools use a merit system, rewarding teachers according to results in the classroom. They don’t have complicated work rules that smother creativity, nor are they burdened with termination rules that make it almost impossible to dismiss an incompetent teacher.

The union drive started last year when the American Federation of Teachers met with a small group of teachers from the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Boston. Throughout the summer, they worked behind the scenes to sign up a majority of the 20 teachers at the school. Administrators learned of the successful organizing effort only after the decision to unionize had been made. For parents who may have liked the idea of a union-free school, there was no chance to be heard.

Not surprisingly, the chairman of the school’s trustees is worried that a collective bargaining contract will be loaded with so many workplace restrictions that it will make it harder for the school to fulfill its mission to experiment with new ideas.

Unfortunately, these kinds of underhanded power plays are what we can expect across the nation if card check becomes the law of the land.

By tilting the playing field in favor of unions, card check not only robs workers of a secret ballot, it deprives management of the right to express its point of view. It will dramatically change the workplace as we know it, just as it’s beginning to do for charter schools in Massachusetts. Small businesses will have to hire labor lawyers and follow burdensome new rules. If the parties can’t agree on a contract, mandatory arbitration follows and employers that don’t yield to union demands will have contracts foisted on them.

All of this will raise costs, leading to more unemployment. The Labor Department reported that nemployment in February rose to 8.1 percent as American employers cut another 651,000 jobs. Unions are supposed to serve the interests of working people, yet in this case more power for the unions would help destroy many thousands of jobs throughout the economy.

Conservatives like me are opposed to card check, but not to unions. At their best, labor unions have always fought for the rights of workers, and generations of Americans have been better off for it. But the card-check proposal is not an example of unions at their best – it is a case of union organizers rewriting the rules at the expense of working people.

Its advocates claim that card check is a step forward for labor, as if workers should thank them for making unions less democratic. But anyone who would deny a worker’s right to vote on unionization by secret ballot is not advancing the cause of labor. They are just expanding the power of labor bosses. No one should be forced to publicly declare their intention before their employers and co-workers.

Leaders in the Democratic Party are eager to pay back the union bosses for their campaign support, even if it means selling out the American worker. Responsible members of Congress need to make it clear that Washington will not act to virtually impose unions on businesses. It is undemocratic, and it would devastate business formation and employment, worsening the present economic crisis.

By guarding against coercion and intimidation in the workplace, we can protect our economy from great harm, and secure the rights of employers and employees alike. The working people of America should be able to unionize the way their fathers and mothers did – by free choice and secret ballot.

I voted in this straw poll last night and with only 40 votes Romney had a commanding lead with 60% of the votes. This morning I noticed a strange change in the results and had only look to one place to see who was flooding the results.

I know the poll is insignificant but I hate to see him lose anything to the Former Governor of Arkansas (and I’m not talking about Bill). Please remember to send (retweet) this to your other Romney buddies.

VOTE BY CLICKING HERE!

~Nate G.

Feb 7, 2008, during his speech at the CPAC convention, Mitt Romney graciously drops out of the race for the Republican Presidential nomination.

This speech and the “Faith in America” speech are, for me, the two most memorable speeches of his campaign. Time to watch the video of his remarks at CPAC 2008 again:

Transcript:

I want to begin by saying thank you. It’s great to be with you again. And I look forward to joining with you many more times in the future.

Last year, CPAC gave me the sendoff I needed. I was in single digits in the polls, and I was facing household Republican names. As of today, more than 4 million people have given me their vote for President, less than Senator McCain’s 4.7 million, but quite a statement nonetheless. Eleven states have given me their nod, compared to his 13. Of course, because size does matter, he’s doing quite a bit better with his number of delegates.

To all of you, thank you for caring enough about the future of America to show up, stand up and speak up for conservative principles.

As I said to you last year, conservative principles are needed now more than ever. We face a new generation of challenges, challenges which threaten our prosperity, our security and our future. I am convinced that unless America changes course, we will become the France of the 21st century – still a great nation, but no longer the leader of the world, no longer the superpower. And to me, that is unthinkable. Simon Peres, in a visit to Boston, was asked what he thought about the war in Iraq. ‘First,’ he said, ‘I must put something in context. America is unique in the history of the world. In the history of the world, whenever there has been conflict, the nation that wins takes land from the nation that loses. One nation in history, and this during the last century, laid down hundreds of thousands of lives and took no land. No land from Germany, no land from Japan, no land from Korea. America is unique in the sacrifice it has made for liberty, for itself and for freedom loving people around the world.’ The best ally peace has ever known, and will ever know, is a strong America.

And that is why we must rise to the occasion, as we have always done before, to confront the challenges ahead. Perhaps the most fundamental of these is the attack on the American culture.

Over the years, my business has taken me to many countries. I have been struck by the enormous differences in the wealth and well-being of people of different nations. I have read a number of scholarly explanations for the disparities. I found the most convincing was that written by David Landes, a professor emeritus from Harvard University. I presume he’s a liberal – I guess that’s redundant. His work traces the coming and going of great civilizations throughout history. After hundreds of pages of analysis, he concludes with this:

If we learn anything from the history of economic development, it is that culture makes all the difference. Culture makes all the difference.

What is it about American culture that has led us to become the most powerful nation in the history of the world? We believe in hard work and education. We love opportunity: almost all of us are immigrants or descendants of immigrants who came here for opportunity – opportunity is in our DNA. Americans love God, and those who don’t have faith, typically believe in something greater than themselves – a ‘Purpose Driven Life.’ And we sacrifice everything we have, even our lives, for our families, our freedoms and our country. The values and beliefs of the free American people are the source of our nation’s strength and they always will be.

The threat to our culture comes from within. The 1960′s welfare programs created a culture of poverty. Some think we won that battle when we reformed welfare, but the liberals haven’t given up. At every turn, they try to substitute government largesse for individual responsibility. They fight to strip work requirements from welfare, to put more people on Medicaid, and to remove more and more people from having to pay any income tax whatsoever. Dependency is death to initiative, risk-taking and opportunity. Dependency is a culture-killing drug. We have got to fight it like the poison it is.

The attack on faith and religion is no less relentless. And tolerance for pornography – even celebration of it – and sexual promiscuity, combined with the twisted incentives of government welfare programs have led to today’s grim realities: 68% of African American children are born out-of-wedlock, 45% of Hispanic children, and 25% of White children. How much harder it is for these children to succeed in school and in life. A nation built on the principles of the Founding Fathers cannot long stand when its children are raised without fathers in the home.

The development of a child is enhanced by having a mother and father. Such a family is the ideal for the future of the child and for the strength of a nation. I wonder how it is that unelected judges, like some in my state of Massachusetts, are so unaware of this reality, so oblivious to the millennia of recorded history. It is time for the people of America to fortify marriage through Constitutional amendment, so that liberal judges cannot continue to attack it.

Europe is facing a demographic disaster. That is the inevitable product of weakened faith in the Creator, failed families, disrespect for the sanctity of human life and eroded morality. Some reason that culture is merely an accessory to America’s vitality; we know that it is the source of our strength. And we are not dissuaded by the snickers and knowing glances when we stand up for family values, and morality, and culture. We will always be honored to stand on principle and to stand for principle.

The attack on our culture is not our sole challenge. We face economic competition unlike anything we have ever known before. China and Asia are emerging from centuries of poverty. Their people are plentiful, innovative and ambitious. If we do not change course, Asia or China will pass us by as the economic superpower, just as we passed England and France during the last century. The prosperity and security of our children and grandchildren depend on us.

Our prosperity and security also depend on finally acting to become energy secure. Oil producing states like Russia and Venezuela, Saudi Arabia and Iran are siphoning over $400 billion per year from our economy – that’s almost what we spend annually for defense. It is past time for us to invest in energy technology, nuclear power, clean coal, liquid coal, renewable sources and energy efficiency. America must never be held hostage by the likes of Putin, Chavez, and Ahmadinejad.

And our economy is also burdened by the inexorable ramping of government spending. Don’t focus on the pork alone – even though it is indeed irritating and shameful. Look at the entitlements. They make up 60% of federal spending today. By the end of the next President’s second term, they will total 70%. Any conservative plan for the future has to include entitlement reform that solves the problem, not just acknowledges it.

Most politicians don’t seem to understand the connection between our ability to compete and our national wealth, and the wealth of our families. They act as if money just happens – that it’s just there. But every dollar represents a good or service produced in the private sector. Depress the private sector and you depress the well-being of Americans.

That’s exactly what happens with high taxes, over-regulation, tort windfalls, mandates, and overfed, over-spending government. Did you see that today, government workers make more money than people who work in the private sector? Can you imagine what happens to an economy where the best opportunities are for bureaucrats?

It’s high time to lower taxes, including corporate taxes, to take a weed-whacker to government regulations, to reform entitlements, and to stand up to the increasingly voracious appetite of the unions in our government.

And finally, let’s consider the greatest challenge facing America – and facing the entire civilized world: the threat of violent, radical Jihad. In one wing of the world of Islam, there is a conviction that all governments should be destroyed and replaced by a religious caliphate. These Jihadists will battle any form of democracy. To them, democracy is blasphemous for it says that citizens, not God shape the law. They find the idea of human equality to be offensive. They hate everything we believe about freedom just as we hate everything they believe about radical Jihad.

To battle this threat, we have sent the most courageous and brave soldiers in the world. But their numbers have been depleted by the Clinton years when troops were reduced by 500,000, when 80 ships were retired from the Navy, and when our human intelligence was slashed by 25%. We were told that we were getting a peace dividend. We got the dividend, but we didn’t get the peace. In the face of evil in radical Jihad and given the inevitable military ambitions of China, we must act to rebuild our military might – raise military spending to 4% of our GDP, purchase the most modern armament, re-shape our fighting forces for the asymmetric demands we now face, and give the veterans the care they deserve.

Soon, the face of liberalism in America will have a new name. Whether it is Barack or Hillary, the result would be the same if they were to win the Presidency. The opponents of American culture would push the throttle, devising new justifications for judges to depart from the Constitution. Economic neophytes would layer heavier and heavier burdens on employers and families, slowing our economy and opening the way for foreign competition to further erode our lead.

Even though we face an uphill fight, I know that many in this room are fully behind my campaign. You are with me all the way to the convention. Fight on, just like Ronald Reagan did in 1976. But there is an important difference from 1976: today, we are a nation at war.

And Barack and Hillary have made their intentions clear regarding Iraq and the war on terror. They would retreat and declare defeat. And the consequence of that would be devastating. It would mean attacks on America, launched from safe havens that make Afghanistan under the Taliban look like child’s play. About this, I have no doubt.

I disagree with Senator McCain on a number of issues, as you know. But I agree with him on doing whatever it takes to be successful in Iraq, on finding and executing Osama bin Laden, and on eliminating Al Qaeda and terror. If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win. And in this time of war, I simply cannot let my campaign, be a part of aiding a surrender to terror.

This is not an easy decision for me. I hate to lose. My family, my friends and our supporters – many of you right here in this room – have given a great deal to get me where I have a shot at becoming President. If this were only about me, I would go on. But I entered this race because I love America, and because I love America, I feel I must now stand aside, for our party and for our country.

I will continue to stand for conservative principles. I will fight alongside you for all the things we believe in. And one of those things is that we cannot allow the next President of the United States to retreat in the face evil extremism.

It is the common task of each generation – and the burden of liberty – to preserve this country, expand its freedoms and renew its spirit so that its noble past is prologue to its glorious future.

To this task, accepting this burden, we are all dedicated, and I firmly believe, by the providence of the Almighty, that we will succeed beyond our fondest hope. America must remain, as it has always been, the hope of the Earth.

Thank you, and God bless America.

Below is the Q and A portion of Time’s recent interview with Governor Romney. The article on their site has what I think is an awful picture of Romney. He looks like he’s about to cry and is thinking about how sad it is that he lost in the primaries. The picture is very dark, unlike the shining glowing photos they post of Obama.

The most interesting nugget I gathered from the article is that Romney spends most of his time writing a book. Well, I’m already excited. What’s it going to be called? When is it going to be released? Is he going to trash on the GOP like Huckabee did in his recent book? Inquiring minds want to know. Romney has only penned one book before, but I believe he is a great author. I was fascinated by his book “Turnaround” about the 2002 Winter Olympics.

~Nate G.

President Obama has announced an executive pay cap at some companies taking federal bailout money. A wise move?

I am very uncomfortable with government dictating the course for managing an enterprise. This should be done by the shareholders and by the board of directors, not by the federal government.

November was a rough month for the Republican party, and a Gallup analysis recently found only five states left in the “red” column. What explains the GOP’s rut?

I think politics is largely associated with individuals and less with party labels. I think without question that the economic downturn, occurring as it did during the tenure of President Bush, has cast a shadow over anyone in his party.

The prospects of our party I think are bright. I fundamentally believe that the Republican Party will do what is right for the country, and the Democratic Party will do what is right for their special interests.

Some observers have warned of a potential schism in the party between moderate voices and those farther on the right, like Sarah Palin or Rush Limbaugh. Does that possibility concern you?

I’m not terribly disturbed by the fact that our party is a relatively large tent. After all, we aspire to receive the support of slightly over half of the American people, and that’s not going to be a homogenous group.

Gov. Palin excited a lot of voters last year. Can you imagine rallying around her in 2012?

Gov. Palin is an effective and popular political voice, and I believe she will continue to draw interest among party faithful and that she’ll have an impact on the party’s direction in the future.

What are your thoughts on the anniversary of leaving the presidential race?

This has been a good year. I wish I would have won the nomination, and won the presidency. And yet, you don’t look back.

What’s keeping you busy now?

I help an entity called the Free and Strong America PAC. Our efforts are to help elect conservative candidates across the country. Perhaps the activity that is taking the most of my time these days is writing a book.

Could that book lay the groundwork for a future presidential run?

It’s not a political book so much as it is a discussion of the economic and foreign policy challenges that we face.

Okay, but can we expect to see you running for office again?

I really don’t know what the future holds. Like most Americans, I want to see Barack Obama adopt effective, correct principles and successfully lead our country. And so any discussion of future politics for me is, I think, premature.

Were you at all surprised by how much attention your hair got during the campaign?

(Laughs) It’s long been a source of self-deprecating humor. I love to make fun of my helmet hair. And so, I guess I bring that on myself.

Senator John Cornyn, Chairman of the NRSC, has formally invited Governor Mitt Romney to headline a fundraising dinner scheduled for April 1st.

From the NRSC.org

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will headline the National Republican Senatorial Committee’s annual fundraising dinner, keeping the potential 2012 presidential candidate’s name in the news while providing minority Republicans with some much-needed cash.

The dinner, slated for April 1, will bolster Senate Republicans’ coffers as they head into what is expected to be difficult fundraising terrain.

Romney accepted an invitation from NRSC chairman John Cornyn (Texas) to headline the dinner during a phone call two weeks ago, an aide said.

“Gov. Romney expects to be active helping Republicans running in the 2010 cycle, so when Sen. Cornyn invited him to headline an event this spring, we were happy to accept,” spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom said.

…

Romney “is one of the most respected and trusted voices in the Republican Party today,” one NRSC official told The Hill on condition of anonymity because the committee has not formally announced the dinner.

“As the Republican Party rebuilds and particularly as our country faces the most serious economic crisis in recent history, our party leaders and Republican faithful across the country will undoubtedly look to Mitt Romney for his leadership and advice,” the official said.

…

Romney is the second potential White House contender to agree to headline a big GOP fundraiser this year. The National Republican Congressional Committee announced in January that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal would keynote its March 24 fundraising dinner.

Romney has a series of other fundraisers planned, many for his Free and Strong America PAC. The PAC will host a Washington fundraiser on Feb. 17, according to an e-mail sent to supporters.

The former governor raised money at more than 30 events for GOP candidates after dropping out of the presidential race, including fundraisers for 28 House candidates and five candidates for the Senate. He raised money for the NRSC in Boston, the NRCC in Simi Valley and the California Republican Party.

During his presidential bid, Romney was no slouch either; he raised more than $113 million for his campaign, including a heavy investment of his own funds.

Emphasis mine.

That’s a lot of praise for Governor Romney in one little article! I had to bold his name so you could see how many times he was mentioned. I’m very excited to see him remain active in the political realm, and even more so that he is looked to as a leader.

It brings to mind a Tweet I read a few moments ago: In the battle between Mitt Romney and Sarah Palin to stay relevant as 2012 candidates, Mitt is winning, hands down, so far. Prob. b/c of $.
Money, true. But also because of more free time because of not having to govern a state so far separated from the mainland. Me thinks Romney is in Pole Position for 2012. Plus he’ll be able to do a lot of good for the GOP in 2010, which we desperately need.

~Nate G.

Interesting, but it’s not going to happen. Besides, I don’t think that Obama would want his 2012 replacement in his own Cabinet. That would be a little awkward during cabinet meetings in 2011.

From Karen Tumulty at the Swampland:

Now that the former Senate Majority Leader has withdrawn his nomination to become Health and Human Services Secretary, speculation in Washington turns to who might take the job.

…

What we know of Barack Obama in situations such as these is that he is willing to make an unconventional choice. Who would have predicted him naming New Hampshire Republican Senator Judd Gregg to be Commerce Secretary, when his pick of Bill Richardson fell through? So I’ve got an out-of-the-box suggestion that he might consider. My suggested nominee is a proven problem-solver on the health care issue, who has shown that he is willing to invest whatever political capital it takes to get the job done. Someone who has shown that, on this issue, he can work pragmatically across party lines. Someone who has partnered with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, the chairman of the Senate health committee, on a plan. In fact, he’s the only person in America who has ever put together and passed a universal health care program.

That man: Mitt Romney.

Check the article if you want to see all of the liberal comments being left. It is Time.com after all.

~Nate G.

P.S. I little nugget I heard on twitter: “Think Geithner is glad he made it through before the tax cheat door shut behind him?”

ADDENDUM: In response Marc Ambinder also discusses Mitt for Health Czar

The RNC Chair election is now over. The 2010 congressional seats will be next. Then we will come full circle to the Presidential primaries all over again. Much can and will change over the course of the next couple of years, but the anxious are already asking questions. So…

If Romney Runs in 2012, who will be his biggest GOP nominee challenger? Please vote in the poll on the left sidebar.

Notice I don’t write the question “who do you think will win the GOP nod?”. Such a poll would be useless as this is a pro-Romney blog and most my visitor are Romney fans.

I have my thoughts on the other potential nominees. To me, some I like, some are so-so, and then there’s one who I hope fails miserably on his Fox News show. Three guesses which that one is. I should be honest, I saw about 15 minutes of it once and he did a very funny segment, very clever.

~Nate Gunderson

P.S. At a popular fan-site for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, there are some that think Mitt is not even a force to be reckoned with. They’re also saying that Romney didn’t come in second, but a weak third in the primaries. Uh huh, right.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 22, 2009

ROMNEY SALUTES PRO-LIFE MARCHERS

Former Governor Mitt Romney today released the following statement:

“Today in Washington, many thousands of American women and men have proudly gathered on the National Mall for the March for Life. In a city of many competing political interests, these marchers have come to speak for only one cause: the goodness of every life, and the rights of the unborn.

Thirty-six years ago, those rights were denied by our highest court, in a decision that also denied the rights of all Americans to resolve the abortion issue through democratic debate and legislation. To their great credit, the organizers of the March for Life never let this anniversary pass without speaking to the conscience of America , and calling our nation to uphold its highest ideals in the protection of human life.

America owes these marchers a debt of gratitude for their perseverance in a noble cause. I am honored to count myself as their friend and ally. And because of their dedication and their goodness of heart, I am certain that one day this cause will prevail. “