New Romney ad outlines Day 1 of his presidency. Realistic?
Mitt Romney has got a new ad out that outlines what he鈥檇 do on his first day as president of the United States. It鈥檚 a positive, introductory spot 鈥� probably an attempt to counter President Obama鈥檚 attacks on his Bain Capital record. But is it realistic?
We ask that because candidates for president often make sweeping campaign promises that actual presidents don鈥檛 have the power to carry out. And to us it appears as if the Romney ad is no exception to this rule. (Candidate Obama did the same thing. We鈥檒l get to that in a second.)
Let鈥檚 take a look at the video, shall we? The ad is only 30 seconds, short and punchy. 鈥淲hat would a Romney presidency be like?鈥� is the first thing viewers see. Then the narrator, over upbeat music that sounds like a newscast theme, says, 鈥淒ay One, President Romney announces deficit reductions, ending the Obama era of big government, helping secure our kids鈥� futures.鈥�
Let鈥檚 hold it right there. The president of the United States cannot 鈥渁nnounce deficit reductions.鈥� He can propose deficit reductions that Congress may or may not approve, after months of partisan dispute and enough press conferences to fill 10 C-SPAN channels. We鈥檙e not questioning Romney鈥檚 commitment to fiscal discipline. We鈥檙e just saying the magic spell 鈥渄escendum budgetata鈥� works only in Harry Potter.
OK, back to the ad. Second, the narrator says, 鈥淧resident Romney stands up to China and demands they play by the rules.鈥� Yes, the US president can completely do that. It鈥檚 not an exaggeration. Whether China will do anything in response, or whether that鈥檚 different from what the current administration thinks it鈥檚 been doing, is another question.
Finally, the ad ends with, 鈥淧resident Romney begins repealing job-killing regulations that are costing the economy billions.鈥� This is mostly doable 鈥� presidents do have the power to issue executive orders and (generally) control the regulatory output of executive agencies. We鈥檒l note, however, that the word 鈥渂egins鈥� here is crucial 鈥� it鈥檚 a longer process than you鈥檇 think, involving proposed new rules, publishing in the Federal Register, comment periods, and bureaucrats who may or may not want the whole thing to slow to a slug鈥檚 pace.
So there you have it. As to Obama, remember the campaign slogan 鈥淐hange鈥�? One word, big promise. Turns out that requires a lot of other people to go along, and is harder to accomplish in many areas than 2008 campaign spots implied.
