NASHUA, NH — Speaking before a packed auditorium at the Nashua offices of defense contractor BAE Systems, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney accused President Obama of making a serious tactical mistake by allowing $600 billion in defense cuts to potentially occur.
The cuts would begin taking shape in 2013 unless the twelve-member congressional super committee reaches a deal in the next two days to trim the federal deficit by $1.3 trillion.
A BAE employee who didn’t give his name responded to Romney’s remarks saying, “He’s playing to his audience.”
No fewer than six times in his fifteen-minute talk, the former Massachusetts governor said the world is a dangerous place. The presidential hopeful, who’s made the economy his major theme, didn’t hesitate to invoke Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s warning that the proposed $600 billion in defense cuts would jeopardize national security.
Romney also said that the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter is an excellent program and that it would also be tragic if the U.S. doesn’t proceed in developing the new aircraft.
The one-term Massachusetts governor and Utah Winter Olympic leader said that while he was in Britain recently he met with former Prime Minister Tony Blair and current Prime Minister David Cameron.
Pivoting to the economy, Romney touted his experience working with the largely Democratic Massachusetts Legislature.
“The Massachusetts Legislature was 80-percent Democrat. The one thing I learned to do while governor was find the leaders who loved the state and to find common ground,” Romney said.
“That’s the kind of leadership I’ll bring to the White House,” Romney added.
In response to an audience question, Romney said, the ‘do-nothing Congress,” isn’t all bad. He said it’s good that Congress has stopped ‘Cap-and-Trade’ and the union-supported card-check program.