GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney told a factory floor full of supporters Thursday that if he makes it to the White House, he'll make it easier for fossil-fuel producers to create jobs, abolish Obama-care, cut the deficit, and crack down on China's alleged theft of America's intellectual property.
The presumptive Republican nominee mocked President Obama, who at the very moment was in Ohio for a campaign stop in Cleveland.
"Now you may have heard that President Obama is on the other side of the state and he is going to be delivering a speech on the economy.
He's doing that because he hasn't delivered a recovery for the economy," Mr. Romney said during the event at Epcor Foundries, a division of Seilkop Industries Inc.
Mr. Romney stopped at the gritty manufacturing plant on the north side of Cincinnati to lay out his plan for his first 100 days in office.
He said the President's policies, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, informally referred to as Obama-care, has hindered job growth.
"So as you look at the President's record, it is long on words and short on action that created jobs," Mr. Romney said.
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Among his promises, Mr. Romney said, was to make it easier to drill for oil and gas and he also criticized the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
"Did he get that pipeline in from Canada?" Mr. Romney said referring to Keystone pipeline.
"No, I can guarantee you if I am president, I tell you what, we are going to get the approval for that pipeline from Canada and if I have to build it myself to get it here, I'll get that oil to America."
He also said: "I happen to like the sources of energy that we have in abundance in this country: oil, coal, and natural gas, and I am going to take advantage of those."
Mr. Romney went on to accuse President Obama of policies that are bad for business.
He said the stimulus plan failed; Obama-care has resulted in fewer hires; that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act hurt banks' ability to lend, especially to small businesses, and that President Obama's energy policy is flawed.
The Republican also talked about his foreign policy philosophy, which includes more trade agreements and a tougher stance with China.
"It is good for us to be able to trade with other nations. It creates jobs here," Mr. Romney said.
China and European Union nations the past 3.5 years have negotiated 44 trade agreements with other countries while President Obama has negotiated zero, he said.
Mr. Romney said he wants China to "be on the same page as us" regarding trade and claimed that the country has a propensity for stealing intellectual property, counterfeiting U.S goods, stealing technology, and copying trademarks -- all of which cost American jobs.
"On Day One, I will label China a currency-manipulator and that will allow me to apply [tariffs] where they steal our intellectual property," Mr. Romney said.
Mr. Romney's remarks on China came on the heels of a survey by the Pew Research Center in Washington that found international opinion has China's economy on top of America's.
The survey, which included more than 26,000 phone interviews in 21 different countries, found that 42 percent of respondents cite China as having the leading economy, compared with 36 percent who chose the United States.
Mr. Romney spoke about several things he has addressed during other stops throughout the campaign, including his claim that President Obama will make America more like Europe "with a bigger and bigger government taking more from the American people."
Instead, Mr. Romney said he will cut government and promote entrepreneurship and job creation to create an economic vitality not seen under the Obama Administration.
On Wednesday night, Mr. Romney was a guest for a fund-raiser held by Ken Seilkop and his son Dave, owners of Seilkop Industries, which employs 125 workers and describes itself as "five individual companies specializing in aluminum sand casting die making, pattern making, and metal stampings."
Company President Ken Seilkop, before introducing Mr. Romney, said his small business has lost much work to China.
"I am especially passionate about the unfair business practices of China," Mr. Seilkop said.
The Obama campaign released a statement attacking Mr. Romney for his infamous "let Detroit go bankrupt" comment, and again pointed out that the President's auto-industry bailout saved millions of jobs.
"The fact of the matter is that the auto industry is the backbone of Ohio's economy and no matter where Mitt Romney goes, from Lorain to Euclid to Cincinnati and everywhere in between -- he is faced with the stark reality that President Obama had the courage to bet on the American worker and save the auto industry -- and the 1 in 8 jobs it supports in Ohio -- while Romney turned his back on the hardworking middle class when he said he would have 'let Detroit go bankrupt.'"
Obama spokesman Jessica Kershaw said: "Ohioans deserve a president with a forward vision for our country -- who is working to create an economy built to last, not someone who supports the failed policies that crashed the economy and devastated the middle class in the first place."
The Obama camp also pointed out that two divisions of Seilkop Industries received small-business loan guarantees. In January, Epcor Foundry received $25,000 and in April, 2009, Hamilton Precision, LLC received $34,100 in small business loan guarantees, according to USASpending.gov.
