Gianfranco+Portuondo

=Mitt Romney=

"About Mitt | Mitt Romney for President." //Mitt Romney for President | Mitt Romney for President of the United States of America in 2012//. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. [].


 * 1) ## Mitt Romney restructured and consolidated government programs, paring back where necessary and finding efficiencies throughout.
 * 2) Facing a state legislature dominated by Democrats, Mitt cast more than 800 vetoes as he brought conservative principles to state government.
 * 3) He cut red tape for small businesses, signed into law job-creating incentives, and fought hard to bring new businesses to the state.
 * 4) He eliminated a $3 billion deficit without borrowing or raising taxes.
 * 5) By 2007, at the end of Mitt’s term, the state had accumulated a $2 billion rainy day fund in its coffers.
 * 6) This stringent fiscal discipline provided an essential backdrop for economic recovery.
 * 7) When Mitt came into office, the state was losing jobs every month.
 * 8) When he left office, the economy was generating new jobs by the thousands.
 * 9) In 1999, the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics was on the verge of collapse.
 * 10) Thanks to his reputation as a superb manager, Mitt was asked to take over.
 * 11) The event had been bogged down in a bid-rigging scandal, sponsors were fleeing, and the budget was bleeding red ink.
 * 12) The attacks of September 11, 2001, just months before the start date, created a security nightmare.
 * 13) Some were contemplating scaling back the competition or even moving it out of the country.
 * 14) In a remarkably short period, he revamped the organization’s leadership, trimmed the budget, and restored public confidence.
 * 15) He oversaw an unprecedented security mobilization to assure the safety of the athletes and millions of international visitors, staging one of the most successful games ever held on U.S. Soil.
 * 16) Mitt began his career in business.
 * 17) After graduating from Brigham Young University in 1971, he earned dual degrees from Harvard Law and Harvard Business School.
 * 18) After working as a business consultant for several years, Mitt founded the investment firm Bain Capital in 1984.
 * 19) Under his leadership, Bain Capital helped to launch or rebuild hundreds of companies, including household names such as Staples, Domino's Pizza, and The Sports Authority.
 * 20) As Bain Capital was growing in prominence, Mitt returned to his old consulting firm, Bain & Company, as CEO.
 * 21) In a time of financial turmoil at the company, he led a successful turnaround.

"Mitt Romney Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story - Biography.com." //Famous Biographies & TV Shows - Biography.com//. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. [].


 * 1) Mitt was born in Detroit on March 12, 1947.
 * 2) His mother, Lenore, gave up an acting career when she met and married his father, George.
 * 3) Mitt’s father came from humble origins and never graduated from college.
 * 4) He apprenticed as a lath and plaster carpenter and sold aluminum paint before beginning a career that brought him to the head of American Motors and then the governorship of Michigan.
 * 5) Mitt married his wife, Ann, in 1969.
 * 6) They first met in elementary school when he was a Cub Scout; he remembers tossing pebbles at her when she rode by on a horse.
 * 7) When they met again years later at a friend’s house, he was smitten.
 * 8) Between them, they have five sons and sixteen grandchildren, who are the center of their lives.
 * 9) Like any family, the Romneys have faced hardship: Ann was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998, and more recently fought a battle with breast cancer.
 * 10) She credits her husband’s unwavering care and devotion to her for helping her through these ordeals.
 * 11) Mitt is not a career politician.
 * 12) He has spent most of his life in the private sector, giving him intimate knowledge of how our economy works.
 * 13) He has also been an outstanding public servant.
 * 14) In one chapter of his distinguished career, he reversed the decline of a state mired in recession.
 * 15) In another chapter, he salvaged the 2002 Winter Olympic Games from certain disaster.
 * 16) When Mitt was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002, the state was in severe disarray, its budget was out of balance, spending was soaring, and taxpayers were being required to pay more and more in taxes for diminishing services.
 * 17) Mitt made hard decisions that brought state spending under control.
 * 18) After serving one term, he declined to run for reelection and announced his bid for U.S. president.
 * 19) Romney made it through Super Tuesday, winning primaries in Massachusetts, Alaska, Minnesota, Colorado and Utah, before losing the Republican nomination to John McCain.
 * 20) In total Romney spent $110 million on his campaign, including $45 million of his own money

"Mitt Romney on the Issues." //OnTheIssues.org - Candidates on the Issues//. Web. 13 Nov. 2011. [].
 * 1) First challenge as governor was $3B budget gap. (Aug 2004)
 * 2) Remedies for budget imbalance: cut expenses or raise revenue. (Aug 2004)
 * 3) Balance state budget by removing waste and folderol. (Mar 2002)
 * 4) Will cut deficit and help Americans save. (Oct 1994)
 * 5) To compete as a nation, draw on skills of women & minorities. (Oct 1994)
 * 6) Help women thru glass ceiling by requiring annual reporting. (Oct 1994)
 * 7) Welcome nativity scenes in public places on holidays. (Dec 2007)
 * 8) Safe streets will be a campaign theme. (Mar 2002)
 * 9) Will bring new businesses to urban areas. (Nov 1994)
 * 10) Supports death penalty and “three strikes” sentencing. (Oct 1994)
 * 11) Supported abolishing the federal Department of Education. (Mar 2002)
 * 12) Schools can teach family values, but not religion or prayer. (Aug 1994)
 * 13) Supported means-tested vouchers for public & private schools. (Mar 2002)
 * 14) Encourage others to welcome democracy, without military. (Aug 2007)
 * 15) Move Muslim world toward modernity so they reject extreme. (Aug 2007)
 * 16) Businesspeople should negotiate trade, not politicians. (Oct 2007)
 * 17) Emergence of Asia is an opportunity for trade and commerce. (Dec 2006)
 * 18) Pharmaceutical companies create products to make us better. (Jan 2006)
 * 19) Subsidies for health coverage for low-income individuals. (Mar 2002)
 * 20) The 12 million illegal immigrants can’t stay forever. (Jan 2006)

//NY TIMES//. Web. [].
 * 1) With his second-quarter fund-raising disclosure, Mitt Romney confirmed his status as a force in the race.
 * 2) $18.5 million more by multiples than any of his Republican rivals.
 * 3) Gov. Rick Perry has emerged as his main target in the G.O.P. field, with Mr. Romney's campaign leveling charges of flip-flopping and unelectability at the Texas governor.
 * 4) With job creation and the economy likely to be front and center in the 2012 campaign, Mitt Romney is hoping that his background as a successful businessman and former Massachusetts governor positions him as the most qualified contender to jump-start the nation’s economy.
 * 5) His frequent appearances before conservative groups and in the news media have given Mr. Romney opportunities to court crucial conservative support after his unsuccessful campaign for the Republican nomination in 2008.
 * 6) During that bid, some conservatives were skeptical of his convictions, as well as of his Mormon faith.
 * 7) This time around, Mr. Romney faces similar conservative skepticism.
 * 8) While he has increasingly leaned to the right since his time as governor, his embrace of a health care program in Massachusetts similar to one that Mr. Obama pushed years later continues to dog him.
 * 9) His moderate stances on gay rights and abortion also concern conservatives.
 * 10) By the green-hued yardsticks of Wall Street, the 1990s buyout of an Illinois medical company by Mitt Romney ’s private equity firm was a spectacular success.
 * 11) Mr. Romney’s company, Bain Capital, sent in a team of 10 turnaround experts from Boston to ferret out waste, motivate executives and study untapped markets.
 * 12) The eight major Republican candidates for president joined in a united attack against President Obama as commander in chief during a debate.
 * 13) At times though they differed sharply over how to block Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the way forward in Afghanistan.
 * 14) Mr. Romney’s campaign against the tax loopholes put him at odds with the values and expectations of the corporate world from which he came.
 * 15) Today, in seeking the Republican presidential nomination, Mr. Romney promotes himself as the pro-business candidate who understands what companies need and how to create jobs.
 * 16) Massachusetts business leaders says he raised their taxes, a view that could complicate Mr. Romney’s bid for the presidency
 * 17) His campaign swelled with donations from employees of the state’s biggest corporations: Fidelity Investments, Staples, Liberty Mutual.
 * 18) His campaign promise never to raise taxes left him with few options once in office.
 * 19) The state’s budget deficit had reached $3 billion, a gap that could not be eliminated by cutting spending and reducing the state work force.