WHO'S ON AMERICA'S SIDE?BY MAUREEN DOWDNEW YORK TIMESCampaigning Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Romney called Obama’s course as president “extraordinarily foreign.” But it is the Mitt-bot who keeps getting caught doing things that seem strangely outside the norm to most Americans. ... Aside from his time running the Salt Lake City Olympics, which he’s happy to publicize, Romney’s whole life, from his $250 million fortune to his tenure at the cultish Bain to his Mormonism, seems as though it’s secreted in a hidden shelter. Like W., he’s coming across as the privileged kid who grew up at the country club and got special deals because of his dad, but then runs around claiming to be a self-made businessman. That lack of self-awareness, and Romney’s refusal to take responsibility for his own company, are disturbing traits in a leader.
CHENEY SINGS AN OLD SONGBY DANA MILBANKWASHINGTON POST...The Republicans’ invitation to Cheney was worrying. In office, he championed policies — huge tax cuts, fighting two wars on credit and expanding Medicare benefits — that created much of today’s fiscal mess. Three years later, as the consequences of such policies have become clear, he is essentially advising the GOP on the same course. ... With both sides dug in, the Republicans’ decision to summon Cheney raises the specter that they’ll do as he says — call off the automatic spending cuts — without agreeing on a plan for deficit reduction.
Must-Read Op-Eds for Tuesday, July 17, 2012
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THE OFFSHORING SQUABBLEEDITORIALWASHINGTON POSTMr. Obama’s effort to portray Mr. Romney as an evil outsourcer exploits, rather than addresses, those insecurities. The president knows that the globalization of markets, including the market for labor, is irreversible, which is why he hasn’t proposed policies even remotely commensurate with his campaign’s alarmism. Rather, he’s for boosting education and infrastructure and tweaking the taxation of multinational firms’ foreign profits. If anyone has sounded protectionist, it’s Mr. Romney, who has promised to risk a trade conflict with China by labeling that country a currency manipulator. This polarized quarrel — we wouldn’t dignify it with the word debate — is beneath both of these intelligent, capable candidates.STAPLES VS. SOLYNDRAEDITORIALWALL STREET JOURNAL...President Obama's attacks on Mitt Romney and the company he founded, Bain Capital, are deceptive and hypocritical. But Team Romney is compounding the damage from this character assault by conceding too much of the Obama critique. ... Instead, Mr. Romney should enthusiastically defend Bain, and the job-creating contrast with Obamanomics that it represents. Did Bain have to cut some jobs as it built companies that ultimately created many more jobs? Yes, but its companies created more than they lost, and this dynamic spirit of improvement and enterprise represents a far better path to prosperity than the government-directed, political investing of Mr. Obama.