The headline in the
Hill said it all: “Romney’s $106M Haul Stuns Dems.”
The fact is that Governor Romney is attracting a breadth and depth
of supporters who are willing to dig deep into their personal
pockets to support his candidacy. Why?
I believe this is because President Obama has been the biggest
job-killing,
anti-business President in my lifetime. Not long ago, I easily
counted
50 ways he has hurt jobs in America.
I don’t think this is just my view. Recently, I was contacted by
an editor of a major trade publication who asked me to write a
pro-Romney piece she hoped would be countered by another business
leader writing a pro-Obama piece. Later, she confessed that the
effort collapsed because she could not identify one CEO who was
willing to speak out on behalf of Obama.
Another public epiphany occurred in late June when
I was interviewing Randy Fry, the CEO of Fry’s Electronics, a strong, regional
36-store technology chain based on the West Coast. When I asked Fry
about his expansion plan to develop new stores, he said it would
depend on the November election. He said that if Obama was
reelected, the economy would continue to stagnate and he would not
expand. But if Romney was elected, he would hope to open more
stores and in turn, create more jobs.
Four years ago, as the
Wall Street Journal reported, members of my trade
association supported the election of President Obama. Today, our
industry, and I suspect many other industries, overwhelmingly
support Governor Romney. So what has happened in the past four
years?
Despite absurd claims that he has reduced federal spending since
his first year record pace, Obama has greatly increased the size of
government. His story has changed drastically from 2008, when he
initially called the deficit left from President Bush “unpatriotic.”
But in the past four years, he has increased that deficit by
$5 trillion. Channeling funds into the public sector does not
add value to the economy nor does it create anything other than
government jobs.
Next, Obama has suffocated businesses further by
increasing red tape.
A report released on March 13 by the Heritage Foundation
details how 106 Obama administration rules have added $46 billion
per year in new costs for Americans – exceeding the Bush-era
comparable time period by four times the number of rules at more
than five times the cost. More, hundreds of new rules are being
actively considered. Every one of these is a huge cost on business
and a jobs killer.
Lastly, Obamacare will hurt businesses by imposing rules that
affect the way businesses hire. With another
poor jobs report in June, businesses have already
said that they would try to hire less or only hire part-time
employees to defer the costs of Obamacare. Romney getting
$2 million immediately following the Supreme Court’s decision
upholding the law underscores businesses’ dismay at Obamacare.
Business leaders around the country are feeling the effects of
these policies. Most business owners I talk to are concerned that
the re-election of President Obama will adversely affect the
economy for the next four years. They worry about uncertainty more
than they worry about higher taxes. They express concerns about the
wave of choking regulatory rules they deal with now. And they are
simply overwhelmed by the President’s anti-business rhetoric as
well as how he divides America along class lines.
Fundraising is simply a proxy for the depth of concern. More,
other Americans who understand that businesses, not government,
create jobs are also likely the ones who are strongly supporting
Governor Romney, both financially and soon at the polls.
If the November election is about the economy and jobs, rather
than about personal attacks on Mitt Romney’s success and wealth,
then the American people will elect a president who will create an
envronment for economic improvement and job creation.
