The American Spectator

Mitt Romney is set to give a major speech on the national debt in Des Moines today as part of his offensive against the Obama administration’s big-spending fiscal policies. Some excerpts:

A prairie fire of debt is sweeping across Iowa and our nation and every day we fail to act we feed that fire with our own lack of resolve.  This is not a Democratic or Republican problem. That fire could care less if you have a donkey or an elephant in your front lawn, it’s still coming for your house.  There’s plenty of blame to go around for both parties. But in my years leading businesses, an Olympics and a state, I’ve learned one simple principle of leadership that never falters: Leaders lead.  I will lead us out of this debt and spending crisis.

Romney on Obama:

President Obama started his days in office with the trillion-dollar stimulus package – the biggest, most careless one-time expenditure by the federal government in history.  And remember this: the stimulus wasn’t just wasted – it was borrowed and wasted.  We still owe the money, we’re still paying interest on it, and it’ll be that way long after this presidency ends in January.

Then there was Obamacare.  Even now nobody knows the exact cost of that new program.  And that uncertainty has done great harm to our economy.  Employers aren’t hiring, entrepreneurs are worried, all because of a massive, European-style entitlement that Americans didn’t want and can’t afford.

Romney’s record as somone who has experience turning around troubled financial institutions may be his hottest hand in this race, and it is certainly a qualification the country needs in the next president. There nevertheless remain serious questions about the price tag of his actual policy proposals, since he is vague about his domestic spending cuts and specific about his defense budget increases.