Iraq
“Finally, inferring that our troops may be withdrawn from combat positions before Iraq is secure runs counter to my view and to the views I have heard from some of America’s most accomplished military leaders. I am not suggesting that there are simple solutions for Iraq. But it is clear to me that some of these recommendations will not meet our objectives in Iraq, or in the broader long war America is fighting today.”
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“Our objective would not be a Korea-type setting with 25-50,000 troops on a near permanent basis remaining in bases in Iraq."
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"I think we would hope to turn Iraq security over to their own military and their own security forces, and if presence in the region is important for us than we have other options that are nearby."
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“Helpful measurements could include power-sharing with the Sunnis, division of oil revenues, the status of certain militias, as well as the numbers and training levels of Iraqi military and security forces.”
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"If you don't publish any kind of milestone or benchmark, you're only telling us the things that you wanted to tell us."
Other Foreign Policy Issues
“Proposing that we negotiate with terrorist regimes like Syria and Iran — without a rigorous analysis of how our incentives could ever be aligned — is just counter-productive. I have no quarrel with talking, especially if it yields valuable intelligence and insight about an adversary. But that’s a far cry from actually negotiating with Iran, which sponsors Hezbollah, has nuclear ambitions, and has been clear in its intention to wipe our ally Israel off the map. And Syria is systematically undermining the sovereignty of Lebanon and funding and arming terrorists. Any suggestion that we might trade something for their help or forbearance is out of the question. When considering a negotiation, one must ask what kind of leverage we have, and recognize that there are situations where we have more to lose than gain by negotiating.”
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“We're going to defeat violent jihad with a two-part strategy. First: an unquestionably strong military. The best ally for peace in this world is a strong America.”
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“Conservatism is a belief in strength. It's because of America's strength that we don't all speak German and that our kids don't all speak Russian. And it's because of America's strength that our grandchildren won't have to speak Farsi or Arabic or Chinese.”
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“The defeat of this radical and violent faction of Islam must be achieved through a combination of American resolve, international effort, and the rejection of violence by moderate, modern, mainstream Muslims. An effective strategy will involve both military and diplomatic actions to support modern Muslim nations. America must help lead a broad-based international coalition that promotes secular education, modern financial and economic policies, international trade, and human rights.”
Climate Change/Energy
“You're seeing the climate get warmer or climate change is occurring and I believe that human activity is contributing to that. I don't know what proportion of the change is due to human activity but my policy is to adopt what I refer to as a 'no regrets policy' -- to take action that allows us to become more energy efficient and ultimately become energy independent as a nation. ... I would like to see us work on a global basis on this effort. I really don't think it's productive for us to act solely on a unilateral basis to reduce our greenhouse gases if we have developing nations like China and India continue to increase their output of greenhouse gases and not be party to a greenhouse gas effort.”
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“I want to make sure we don't do something which costs hundreds of billions of dollars in this country and make us less competitive with China and India," he said. If carbon-emitting manufacturing moves to other countries, he added, `we've done nothing for the planet and we've hurt ourselves immeasurably.”
Healthcare
"I'm pretty proud of what we've been able to do.”
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"We can't have as a nation 40 million people -- or, in my state, half a million -- saying, 'I don't have insurance, and if I get sick, I want someone else to pay." "It's a conservative idea," says Romney, "insisting that individuals have responsibility for their own health care. I think it appeals to people on both sides of the aisle: insurance for everyone without a tax increase."
Education
“I've taken a position where, once upon a time, I said I wanted to eliminate the Department of Education. That was my position when I ran for Senate in 1994. That's very popular with the base. As I've been a governor and seen the impact that the federal government can have holding down the interest of the teachers' unions and instead putting the interests of the kids and the parents and the teachers first, I see that the Department of Education can actually make a difference. So I supported No Child Left Behind. I still do. I know there are a lot in my party that don't like it, but I like testing in our schools. I think it allows us to get better schools.”
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“The Department of Education can look at overall policies that can encourage our kids to be more competitive globally… The fact that our nation has children who are not competitive on a global basis, particularly in math and science is a real concern. And the response to that gap … is largely going to be met at the state and local level.”
Homeland Security
“I'm glad they're at Guantanamo. I don't want them on our soil. I want them on Guantanamo, where they don't get the access to lawyers they get when they're on our soil. I don't want them in our prisons. I want them there. Some people have said, we ought to close Guantanamo. My view is, we ought to double Guantanamo. And enhanced interrogation techniques have to be used -- not torture but enhanced interrogation techniques, yes.”
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"When we talk about homeland security, we hear about money coming from Washington, which is fine, coming to the states and localities — and most of it goes to buy interoperable radios, mobile command centers, fire trucks — and that's fine, but all that's going to be used after the bomb goes off. What I want to do is make sure we're spending money to keep the bomb from going off."
Family
“I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion. A person should not be elected because of his faith, nor should he be rejected because of his faith. I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law. If I'm fortunate to become your president, I will serve no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest.”
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“Like the vast majority of Americans, I’ve opposed same-sex marriage, but I’ve also opposed unjust discrimination against anyone, for racial or religious reasons, or for sexual preference. Americans are a tolerant, generous, and kind people. We all oppose bigotry and disparagement. But the debate over same-sex marriage is not a debate over tolerance. It is a debate about the purpose of the institution of marriage and it is a debate about activist judges who make up the law rather than interpret the law.”
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"I've changed my view with regards to the role of government in abortion. I've always been personally pro-life. But the question for me was what role government should play in the matter of abortion." "My own view is that abortion is not right. But states should be able to make their own decisions rather than have a single pronouncement by the federal government."
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"I took the same course that Ronald Reagan and George Herbert Walker Bush and Henry Hyde took, and I said I was wrong and changed my mind and said I'm pro-life. And I'm proud of that, and I won't apologize to anybody for becoming pro-life."
Taxes/Fiscal Policy
"I want to lower the taxes for middle-income Americans to zero on savings, on interest, dividends and capital gain.”
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“I want to make it very clear that I'm not going to raise taxes. As governor of Massachusetts, I made it very clear there, and I did not raise taxes. We faced a huge budget gap, and I went in and said, you know, what? I know some people want to raise taxes, but that's going to hurt working families and scare away jobs. I recognize that raising taxes could also lead to a slowdown in our economy, and so we didn't do it. We balanced our budget, and that's exactly what I'll do with the federal government.”
Illegal Immigration
"I ... don't think it makes sense to have an immigration policy that says that if an illegal couple — a couple that comes across the border illegally — has a child here, that child becomes a U.S. citizen, that then the whole family gets to come in, if you will, through 'chain migration.'"
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“First of all, the Z visa that was offered in that Senate bill let everybody who's here illegally, other than criminals, stay here for the rest of their lives. And that may not be technically amnesty, but it is certainly amnesty in fact. [The magnet for illegal immigrants, besides] having amnesty, is saying, if you come and you're willing to work and pay taxes, we'll sign you up. That's not the right message. We've got to enforce the law, welcoming legal immigration, but ending illegal immigration.”
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"I would suggest or would recommend that the first thing we do with those that are here is require them to register. And when we learn how many people there are and what their individual circumstances are, then we could decide how to proceed with each individual."
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“The U.S. must "replace gradually and humanely people who are here working illegally today with our own citizens and with legal immigrants."
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