Romney uses Cincinnati stop to lay out plans for first 100 days in office

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney gestures during a campaign stop at Seilkop Industries in Cincinnati. ASSOCIATED PRESS Enlarge

CINCINNATI — GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney told a factory floor full of supporters today that if he makes it to the White House, he’ll make it easier for fossil fuels producers to create jobs, abolish Obamacare, cut the deficit, and crack down on China’s theft of America’s intellectual property.

The presumptive Republican nominee mocked President Obama, who at the very same moment was also 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 a campaign stop at a die making and metal stampings factory on the north side of Cincinnati. The Republican stopped at the gritty manufacturing plant 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 Obamacare, has hindered job growth.

“As you look at the president’s record it is long on words and short on action that created jobs,” Mr. Romney said.

Among his promises 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 the 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.”

Mr. Romney went on to accuse President Obama of policies that are bad for business.

“Let’s go through them one by one,” he said. “Failed stimulus; Obamacare resulted in fewer hires; Dodd-Frank hurt banks’ ability to lend, especially to small businesses; failed energy policy.”