Mitt Romney (Republican)
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's Strategy for a Stronger America is made up of eleven subject areas, including Combating Nuclear Terrorism, Ending Energy Dependence, Global Economic Competition, Raising the Bar on Education, and Reducing Spiraling Health Care Costs. Romney has focused much importance in his campaign on national security and tax reform.
Competitiveness & Innovation
Romney opened his campaign in February 2007 with a speech at the Henry Ford museum stating that "innovation and transformation have been at the heart of America's success" and claiming that if elected he would regain the American spirit of ingenuity. Emphasizing math and science education is part of Romney's plan for Global Economic Competition, although most of his strategy on the issue focuses around tax cuts.
With respect to the growth of American technology in international markets, Romney has stated that the United States needs to protect its products and technologies while still allowing foreign markets to be opened. He encourages bringing specialized expertise to the United States by increasing the number of H-1B visas issued to foreigners, and has coupled this with an emphasis on reforming immigration laws to end illegal immigration.
STEM Education & Workforce
Romney has stated that "closing the achievement gap in our schools is the civil rights issue of our time." His plans for strengthening education include emphasizing math and science while promoting charter schools as well as public-private partnerships. Romney has drawn attention to the fact that he supported legislation that would bolster the amount of attention paid to math and science in Massachusetts high schools by adding 1,000 new math and science teachers, requiring math and science Advanced Placement classes, and providing laptop computers to all middle and high school students.Romney has argued for the need to streamline the immigration system in order to recruit and retain skilled workers, and has coupled this with an emphasis on ending illegal immigration. He has stated that we need more H-1B visas to recruit the necessary skills and experience that we do not have, but has stated that we must regularly evaluate the needs of employers and size of the American workforce.
Better Health for Americans
Romney proposes a state-by-state approach to health care reform, and bases his theory for improving health insurance on making the market more competitive. When he was Governor of Massachusetts, he enacted a major health care program requiring all citizens to enroll in Medicaid or to purchase health insurance.
Romney opposes research cloning, but supports research using human embryos left over from fertility treatments. However, he does not support federal funding for embryonic stem cell research.
Energy & Environment
Romney plans to increase American energy independence by supporting basic research in key technologies such as improved energy storage, bringing clean energy technology to market through commercialization of large-scale renewables and advanced nuclear technologies, improved smart-grid technology for power distribution, and clean, efficient uses of existing fossil fuels, e.g. clean coal, coal-to-liquids, carbon sequestration. He has stated that he will "dramatically increase federal spending on research, development, and demonstration projects that hold promise for diversifying our energy supply and increasing our energy efficiency." He also argues for the opening of the Artic National Wildlife Refuge and the Outer Continental Shelf to drilling in order to provide more domestic sources of oil.
Romney claims that international emissions mandates like those of the Kyoto Protocol would be a detriment to the American economy and would "shift manufacturing to the dirtiest developing nations." Although Romney insisted that a coal power plant meet tough emissions standards even at the cost of losing jobs, he later pulled Massachusetts from a multi-state agreement to cut power plant emissions because he believed that costs to businesses and consumers outweighed the benefits of the agreement.
National & Homeland Security
Romney's plan for Keeping Americans Safe does not explicitly mention issues of science or technology. However, he argues that importing much of our oil from unstable regions of the world threatens our national security. He thus plans to "dramatically increase federal spending on research, development, and demonstration projects that hold promise for diversifying our energy supply and increasing our energy efficiency." Promoting nuclear energy is also an important part of Romney's plan.
