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              Romney Returns to Campaign Trail After Strong Debate

   by VOA News

   With the first debate of the U.S. presidential campaign behind them,
   President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney are
   heading back on the campaign trail Thursday.
   Romney will hold a rally in Virginia with his vice presidential running
   mate, Congressman Paul Ryan, while Obama begin his campaign day in
   Denver, Colorado, the site of Wednesday's debate.  He will also travel
   to Ryan's home state of Wisconsin.
   ''Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, used the debate to
   describe the president's approach of higher taxes and government
   spending as  "trickle-down government" that would harm the American
   economy and worsen the federal deficit.
   "So how do we deal with it [the deficit]? Well, mathematically, there
   are three ways that you can cut a deficit," he said. "One of course is
   to raise taxes, number two is to cut spending and number three is to
   grow the economy, because if more people work in a growing economy,
   they are paying taxes and you can get the job done that way. The
   president would prefer raising taxes, I understand. The problem with
   raising taxes is that it slows down the rate of growth and you can
   never quite get the job done."
   Romney says middle-income Americans have been "buried" or "crushed"
   under high taxes and that tax rates need to come down, both for
   corporations and individuals.
   But Obama countered that Romney's plan to cut taxes, especially for
   wealthy Americans, would lead to severe cuts in important domestic
   programs.
   "This is where budgets matter, because budgets reflect choices. So when
   Governor Romney indicates that he wants to cut taxes, and potentially
   benefit folks like me and him, and to pay for it, we're having to
   initiate significant cuts in federal support for education, that makes
   a difference," he said.
   ''
   The president says, although the "first role" of the federal government
   is to "keep the people safe," it should also create frameworks in which
   people can succeed.  He noted that, in the past, the government has
   helped create railroads, research institutions and educational
   institutions.
   The two men also sparred about the health care reform law Obama pushed
   through Congress. Romney repeated his pledge that he would repeal the
   law, commonly known as "Obamacare," if he were elected.  He criticized
   the president for focusing on health care rather than the economy
   during Obama's first years in office.
   "There was a survey done of small businesses across the country that
   said, 'What has been the effect of Obamacare on your hiring plans?' And
   three-quarters of them said it makes us less likely to hire people. I
   just don't know how the president could have come into office facing 23
   million people out of work, rising unemployment, an economic crisis at
   the kitchen table, and spent his energy and passion for two years
   fighting for Obamacare instead of fighting for jobs for the American
   people," he said.
   But Obama countered that health care reform was key to both small
   businesses and individuals.
   "Well, four years ago when I was running for office I was traveling
   around and having those same conversations that Governor Romney talks
   about. And, it wasn't just that small businesses were seeing costs
   skyrocket, and they couldn't get affordable coverage even if they
   wanted to provide it to their employees; it wasn't just that this was
   the biggest driver of our federal deficit, our overall health care
   costs;  but, it was families who were worried about going bankrupt if
   they got sick," he said.
   The president said, in closing, that he wants to build on the strengths
   of his first four years in the White House. He says he will fight just
   as hard in his second term as he did in the first.
   Romney concluded by saying that re-electing the president four more
   years of Barack Obama would mean more hardship for the middle class.
   ''
   The Republican is hoping to re-energize his campaign with new momentum
   after observers declared he won the debate with his aggressive stance
   against the incumbent Democratic president.  He has been struggling
   since a secretly-recorded videotape emerged in which he described 47
   percent of voters who believed themselves as "victims" who depended on
   government benefits and would not support him.
   The two candidates are to meet again October 16 for a town hall-style
   debate during which they will take questions from the audience.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/romney-returns-to-campaign-trail-afte
   r-strong-debate/1520156.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/romney-returns-to-campaign-trail-after-strong-debate/1520156.html