Jan. 28, 2014 - Romney's State of the Union

I watched the Netflix documentary, “Mitt,” this past weekend.  A cameraman followed Mitt Romney during parts of the 2008 Republican primary season and through the entire 2012 campaign.  It ended on election night 2012 with Romney’s loss to Barack Obama.

Throughout the film, I saw a different side of Romney.  I saw someone different than the person defined by the media.  He was optimistic, funny, and warm around his large family. Romney was authentic, straight forward, and honest.  These are not adjectives I associate with the current tenant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

What follows is a “WHAT IF?” scenario.  What if Romney had prevailed in November 2012?  The 45th President of the United States would now be preparing to deliver his State of the Union after his first full year in office.  I imagine it would go as follows: 

“My fellow Americans, I’m here tonight to report on the State of the Union.  I promised when taking office one year ago that I would not look to the past to assess blame, but I would press forward and seize opportunity for change and improvement.

I would like to personally thank private citizens: Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell for voluntarily resigning their Congressional seats last January in order to end gridlock, to unify the country, and to start us in a new, positive direction.”

(Wait for long, long applause)

“Upon taking Office, I held true to my promise to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I’m happy to report the new Health, Exercise, Live, Perform or HELP Act will be ready for release this fall once we have completed full end-to-end system testing including provider payments and have ensured system security.  As we have discussed, the program will be rolled out gradually with a two state pilot, expanding to 15 states, and then to the full Union once all performance measurements including customer satisfaction are achieved. 

This plan does not claim to provide everything for everyone, but it is solid.  We were able to maintain the pre-exiting conditions clause and the dependents under 26 coverage components of the Affordable Care Act.  We have eliminated the job-killing mandates that caused harm to small businesses. We have been able to add the necessary modules of tort reform and interstate health insurance commerce that will allow for competition and lower premiums. In addition to the coverage for preventive screenings, we have added funded memberships to health clubs and fitness centers to promote healthy living.

I would like to thank Congress for expediting the Tax Reform Act of 2013.  By simplifying the Tax Code and eliminating unnecessary deductions, we will generate more revenue while lowering effective tax rates.  Through these actions, we have eliminated the need for 100,000 IRS agents. These agents will be offered paid enrollment in job-training programs for their future deployment as teachers in our new ‘Right-to-Work’ voucher-eligible school programs, run by the states.

Finally, the largest obstacle to our collective success has been our annual deficit and burdensome debt.  I pledge that the 28th Amendment to our Constitution, the Balanced Budget Amendment, will be ratified before the start of our next fiscal year on October 1, 2014.   We will not erase our $17 Trillion in debt in this generation, but our annual deficit will be ZERO, by law, going forward.

Now that we have adopted strategies to correct the direction of our country, it is time to address other significant issues that loom on the horizon.  Our 2014 goals will be to address the fiscal solvency of Social Security and Medicare.  We will also address TRUE comprehensive Immigration Reform.  To paraphrase President Kennedy on his commitment to going to the moon:

We choose to do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. 

The time to address Social Security, Medicare, and Immigration is NOW.

I want to thank Congress for their work and their efforts this past year.  The State of the Union is improving, but we are not finished. Let’s continue to work together for the next 36 months, the way we have for the last twelve.

God Bless You and God Bless the United State of America.”

Dream Over.