Romney at first townhall: We are going to Listen to and strengthen the American people

"Let's not underestimate the people of America. Let's make sure and listen to the people of America and that's what Congressman Cantor is attempting to do with this Council. Make sure we get the chance to go across the country, and listen to what people are feeling and get their ideas because that will make a real difference.



"I remember I was in my office - I had just been elected. It's a humbling experience to be elected and to have the responsibility to try and help a state and help its people. I campaigned with a pretty simple slogan which is I was running for office to try and help people. I wanted to help people. One of my constituents came in after I had been elected. He said, 'Mitt, you said you wanted to help people right?' I said, 'Yeah.' He said, 'Well, if you really wanted to help people, you'll find a way to get everybody health insurance.' I said, 'Tom, that's impossible. I'm not going to raise taxes and I'm not going to have government take over health care.' He said, 'No, I know. I don't want those things to happen but I want you to find a way to get everybody health insurance.' And again I said it was impossible and again he said no, that's why we elected you, to help people. "So I went to work on that with a group of people - not government people - from all sorts of sectors and we spent a lot of time on it. Long story short we found a way to do just that.

"Listening to people can make a difference and we've got ideas about how we can help people get health insurance, how we can improve our schools, how we can make our economy strong today as well as down the road, how we can reform entitlements. These are the people of America that have these ideas. We want to share these ideas with one another and make sure that we're laying out a vision and a plan for America that makes our lives and the lives of our kids better. "There's a divide about how you think of America. There are some folks who think that government really does know best. That people who are elected know better how to run the country and what to do than everybody else. Then there are those who say no, America is great because of the American people and the skill, and ingenuity and entrepreneurship of the America.

That's what we happen to believe. We're going to work very hard to listen to the American people, and to do our very best to strengthen the American people and thereby to strengthen our nation. "I happen to think right now with regards to our economy that we're risking doing the very thing to our economy that government did to our housing market and that is borrow so much money that you create a bubble that ultimately collapses. And that's the worry that I have. And I want to make sure that we turn this economy around and we stimulate the economy in the right way but not in such a way that we create a bubble of massive spending and debt that ultimately comes crashing down on us or on our kids.