Coral Springs, FL

Governor Romney has been focused on the economy since before his win in Michigan, but today he spoke at all of his campaign stops about the federal interest rate cut and the potential of a recession:

“The stock market means a great deal to people living on fixed incomes that may have savings that are being affected by what’s happening there and they want to see greater stability,” Romney continued, “But of course more significant even than the stock market turbulence is the concern in the overall market and the fear we may head towards a recession. It is important that we take very aggressive action to turn the market away from recession. “

At a restaurant that the GOP candidates and elected officials frequent, Wings Plus, the former Massachusetts governor took reporters’ questions standing in front of a new ‘Economic Turnaround’ sign. He called the federal rate cut an “unusual action” and he said he hopes Congress is able to act “very aggressively” and “quickly.”

“It’s just that a rate cut of three quarters of a point is a large change and I think indicates that Ben Bernanke and the federal reserve are concerned about the direction of the overall economy and are taking very aggressive action to try and tip it back in the right direction and I have no reason to take exception with the move they’ve taken but I do believe that Congress needs to act immediately. “

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The presidential hopeful stumps daily on his experience in the business world and how that gives him the know-how he needs to fix a struggling economy. Over the weekend he announced his 233 billion dollar short -term economic stimulus plan which focuses on businesses, individuals and the housing market. For businesses, it aims to cut the corporate tax rate to stimulate growth. For individuals, it eliminates pay roll taxes for working senior citizens and it will permanently lower the income tax brackets from 10 percent to 7.5 percent. In the housing market, the plan will loosen FHA requirements so people can have more secure FHA backed mortgages and loans, calming fears of an unstable housing market.

A reporter asked Romney if the negative economic news is good for his campaign because it is a vital part of his stump. He denied it and used it is an example of his “Broken Washington” message:

“I don’t think bad economic news is good for anybody, and bad economic news is a reason for soberness and concern. I think actually that what we’re seeing in the stock market today is only one peak at what’s been happening for some time in the overall economy, and that is we have some intractable problems that Washington has not been willing to solve. “