Romney Continues to Hit Obama on Defense Cuts and Foreign Policy

September 28, 2012, 2:28 pm

By ASHLEY PARKER

RADNOR TOWNSHIP, Pa. - Speaking to his second military group in two days, Mitt Romney hammered President Obama over cuts to military spending, as well as of his handling of foreign policy issues.

Before an audience of straight-backed, stone-faced cadets at Valley Forge Military Academy and College here, Mr. Romney returned to a criticism introduced earlier this week, over comments Mr. Obama made on “60 Minutes” in which he described recent developments in the Middle East as “bumps in the road.”

“The other day the president said that, you know, he has a vision for what's going to happen in the Middle East, but that there are going to be bumps in the road along the way,” Mr. Romney said. “You know, I don't consider 20- or 30,000 people dying in Syria just a bump in the road, or a Muslim brotherhood president in Egypt a bump in the road. I don't consider the killing of our diplomats in Libya a bump in the road, and I sure as heck don't consider Iran becoming nuclear a bump in the road.”

He added: “We need someone who recognizes the seriousness of what's ahead and is willing to lead.”

Turning to the topic of cuts to the defense budget, Mr. Romney told the cadets that he felt he would do more to help the military than Mr. Obama.

“I have to tell you that I don't know how a single person who goes to this institution could consider voting for the incumbent for president,” he said. “And I say that for this reason: If they want to go into the military - why, he is planning on cutting our military by about a trillion dollars over the next decade.”

The military spending cuts Mr. Romney was ref erring to are set to automatically occur if the president and Congress can't come to an agreement over alternate cuts to the budget, a fact the Obama campaign was quick to point out.

“Mitt Romney's campaign said that they wouldn't be dictated by fact checkers, and that much was clear from his remarks in Pennsylvania today,” said Lis Smith, an Obama campaign spokeswoman. “He falsely accused the president of supporting automatic defense cuts that could be prevented if Republicans in Congress, including Romney's running mate, would drop their refusal to ask for a penny more from millionaires and billionaires.”

Mr. Romney, who while campaigning in Ohio on Wednesday warned voters “don't be expecting a huge cut in taxes because I'm also going to lower deductions and exemptions,” on Friday promised not to raise taxes on middle-income Americans. Mr. Obama, he said, “wants to raise the income tax.”

“I don't want to raise taxes on the American peopl e, not when our economy's in the kind of trouble it's in,” Mr. Romney said. “I will not raise taxes on middle-income Americans.”

The Obama campaign, however, promised to challenge Mr. Romney over his tax assertion, as well.

“He said he wouldn't raise taxes on the middle class, but independent, nonpartisan experts agree he'd have to raise taxes on middle-class families to pay for his $250,000 tax cuts for multimillionaires,” Ms. Smith said. “In next week's debate, facts will matter - and Mitt Romney simply failed to meet the bar of honesty today.”

Campaigning in Pennsylvania, a state where he trails in the polls, Mr. Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, ended his speech on a confident note.

“You know, I've got a little secret here and that is that the Obama campaign thinks Pennsylvania is in their pocket - they don't need to worry about it,” Mr. Romney said, as the crowd booed. “And you're right and they're wrong we're going to win Pennsylvania. We are going to take the White House.”