US President Barack Obama jabbed at Mitt Romney’s record with a private equity firm in an ad that aimed to keep his rival on the defensive just as the Republican challenger’s campaign hoped to take advantage of poor economic data to gain an edge on the incumbent.
Obama on Saturday met Romney’s plea for an apology for earlier attacks with a mocking ad that charged that the firm Romney founded shipped US jobs to China and Mexico, that Romney has personal wealth in investments in Switzerland, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, and that as Massachusetts governor, he sent state jobs to India.
“Mitt Romney’s not the solution. He’s the problem,” the ad says.
Romney’s spokeswoman, Andrea Saul, fired back on Saturday, accusing the president of being less than truthful about Romney’s record.
“The American people deserve the truth and they certainly deserve better from their president,” she said from Boston.
At stake in the November election is Romney’s chief contention that as a former businessman, he has the experience to create jobs and spur a struggling economy. The Obama campaign has countered that Romney ran a firm that pioneered the practice of sending American jobs out of the country and that his background is one of an investor rather than a job creator.
For three months, the US economy by most measures has faltered. Yet the White House contest has remained locked in place, with Obama holding on to a slight national lead or in a virtual tie with his rival.
Pressure was also building on Romney from within his own party to be more forthcoming with his finances, a day after he declared that he would not release past income tax returns beyond his 2010 tax records and, before the November election, his last year’s taxes
On the sidelines of the National Governors Association meeting, Alabama’s Republican governor, Robert Bentley, called on Romney to release all the documents requested of him.
“If you have things to hide, then maybe you’re doing things wrong,” Bentley said. “I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people.”
Obama campaigned on Saturday in a downpour in closely contested Virginia. The US president is not chosen by a nationwide popular vote, but in state-by-state contests. That makes battleground states like Virginia — which are neither reliably Republican nor Democratic — especially important in tight elections.
Obama hewed to his middle class-centered pitch in remarks in the district represented by one of his top Republican nemeses, House of Representatives Majority Leader Eric Cantor. He attacked Romney and his Republican allies for pursuing what the president branded as outdated and discredited economic policies.
Later on Saturday, in Clifton, Virginia, Obama again tried to tie Romney to the loss of US jobs, contrasting himself with his rival.
“I want to stop giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas,” Obama told the audience of 2,100 at a local high school. “Let’s give those tax breaks that are investing right here in Virginia, right here in the United States of America, hiring American workers to make American products to sell around the world.”
While Obama hammered Romney for a second consecutive day in Virginia, Romney spent time with his family in New Hampshire. The candidate was taking a weekend off from public events. His last public event was on Wednesday and he did not plan other public campaign appearances until tomorrow.
Ever disciplined, Romney has kept his campaign message exclusively on economic themes, casting the election as a referendum on Obama’s economic stewardship.
Romney aides began the week drumming Obama on stubbornly high unemployment which remains above 8 percent but watched their upper hand fade. Romney’s advisers said Saturday they would keep to their plan and not be distracted by Obama’s criticism.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number