Remarks at a Campaign Event in Pueblo, Colorado

[in progress] — [cheers and applause] — number three — number three, I want to make sure our workers have the skills to succeed in the jobs of today, and I want to make sure that we finally fix our schools so that kids get the skills they need for the jobs of tomorrow. [cheers and applause]

And look, we — we know what it takes to have great schools. This is not a mystery. We go around the world and we can look at school systems that are succeeding, we can look at those that are not. We can do so in our country. I'm proud of the fact that in my state the schools are ranked number one in the nation. How'd that happen?

Let me tell you how it happens. The key to great schools? Great teachers. That's where we have to put our focus, is helping get the best teachers and rewarding them for their excellence. And we do that, and you'll see our schools succeed. And for that to happen, we have to make sure we put our focus on the kids in school, their parents and the teachers, and put the teachers' union behind. [cheers and applause]

So, number one, energy. Number two, trade. Number three, great schools and training systems to help our people have the skills they need. Number four. Number four, you're not going to get entrepreneurs to risk their life savings to start a business, or big companies to build a new facility and start manufacturing products here if they think we're on the road to Greece. And this president's put us on the road to Greece. These trillion-dollar deficits, they lead to Greece or Italy or Spain. They lead to economic crisis. We can't go there.

And so in my first days in office, I will sit down and work to make sure we cut federal spending, we cap federal spending and get us on track to a balanced budget. [cheers and applause] And I know how to do that. This is not a mystery to me. I've done that before. I did that in business, I did that at the Olympics, I did it in my state, and I'll do it in Washington. [cheers and applause]

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: [chanting] Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!

[cheers]

MR. ROMNEY: You know — you know, I think if you spend too many years in Washington, something sets in. You get used to this idea of spending money you don't have. It's kind of — kind of strange for families to even imagine how that happens or for people who are running little businesses — it's like, you run a business, if you keep spending more than you take in, you'll be out of business and out of work in a big hurry.

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: That's right!

MR. ROMNEY: And — and the same thing in states and cities and communities and charities and all — everybody in America learns you can't spend more money than you take in, except Washington. And that's got to change because it's not just bad economics and bad policy, it is immoral for us to pass on these burdens to the next generation. And I'll stop it. [cheers and applause]

One more. One more. If we're going to get this economy turned around, we have to champion small business. We've got to make it easier for small business to grow and to thrive. [cheers and applause] I've seen small business across this country, and I've been inspired by it.

Tax policy relates to small business, by the way. I — I was in St. Louis, and I met a guy who is an electronics engineer. He has a small business, four employees. He said that he and his son sat down and calculated how much tax they pay to government, federal income tax, federal payroll tax, state income tax, state sales tax, gasoline tax, real estate tax. They added it up. It was over 50 percent of what they were making.

And the president's plan, by the way, with federal income tax is to take the rate from 35 percent to 40 percent. That will kill jobs. I want to lower the rate so we can create more jobs in small business. [cheers and applause]

Our tax code is extraordinarily complicated.

I understand that there are about 7 times as many pages in our tax code as in the Bible, and it's a lot less interesting. [laughter] And so I want to simplify our tax code.

One way I'm going to do that, by the way — and this also helps jobs and middle-income families across America — I'm going to make sure we stop taxing — for anybody making $200,000 and less, we stop taxing interest, dividends and capital gains, let you save your money and not pay taxes on it. [cheers and applause]

We do those five things, and this economy's going to come roaring back. We're going to see more jobs. We're going to see more take-home pay. You're going to see your kids — when they graduate from high school or graduate from college, there are going to be jobs waiting for them. We're going to make sure — [cheers and applause] — all of you who are waiting — who are — who are living paycheck to paycheck, you'll finally be able to save a little bit, put a little aside. You'll be able to go to the movies again and go out to dinner.

Look, this is the way it's supposed to be in America. We can do better than this president. I will do better than this president has done for the American people. [cheers and applause]

This matters.

AUDIENCE MEMBERS: [chanting] Mitt! Mitt! Mitt! Mitt!

MR. ROMNEY: This matters, you guys. This really matters. It matters not just for the 23 million that are searching for a better job. It matters also for these young people, as you know, that are wondering whether they're going to have a bright future. It matters for every mom and dad who are concerned that their child might not enjoy the kind of prosperity and peace that we've known. This matters for us.

It also matters for the world. I was in — in Poland a few weeks ago and met a — a world hero, Lech Walesa, a guy who — who stood down the Soviet Union, shipyard worker who said no to the Soviets and helped change the world. And I came in to meet with him.

He said, you've come from America; you must be tired. You sit; I talk; you listen. [laughter] So I sat, and he spoke and I listened. And he said this time and again. He said America is the only superpower in the world, and the world needs American leadership. Where is American leadership, he said; we need America's — America to lead; we need American leadership.

Look, the world looks at the events going on. They don't see these events as bumps in the road. These are lives. This is humanity. This is freedom. Freedom must be on the march. We must stand for freedom. I see these extraordinary aircraft here and know that behind them are men and women who've flown them in peace, in times of danger. They fly them to protect us. They fly to make sure the world is a safer place.

American leadership is derived from a strong military, which, by he way, is derived from a strong — a strong economy, which is derived from strong values and principles. I will strengthen America by restoring the principles that made it the hope of the earth! [cheers and applause]

The president's plan — the president's plan is based on a concept of government. He sees government as the source of America's strength. The other day he said — and you heard this, his now pretty infamous quote. He said, look, if you have a business, you didn't build it, someone else did that. [boos] And that wasn't a gaffe; that was his philosophy. It's this idea that government — that government is the source of our greatness. I don't believe that. I believe the founders were right. They said our rights came from God and they included life and liberty and the pursuit of happiness. [cheers and applause]

In this nation, people pursuing their dreams, dreamers, that's what's built this country. People of all backgrounds who go out and say I'm going to do something and make ad difference for myself and my family, and then they end up helping lift the whole nation.

I met some dreamers over this campaign, a lot of them, met a woman who had her own business. I said, how'd you get into business? She said, well, my husband lost his job, and he — he took a class in upholstering. And she said, I decided, because I'm the better business mind in the family, that I'd start a company. So she did, and she hired him as her first employee. (Laughter, cheers.) And she's gone on to hire 39 more people as upholsterers. She has an upholstery business and employs people doing that. And I — and I salute that.

I met another woman, Sarah Fry — Sarah Fry . I spoke with her, and — and I said, how'd you start your business? She said, well, I really got going at age 16; I sold pumpkins from the back of my pickup truck. I said, what do you do now? And she said, well, as a matter of fact, I sell more pumpkins and melons than any other person in America. She has the largest melon business in America. [cheers and applause]

That's — I mean, this — this — I met another guy named Jim Liautaud, from central Illinois. Jim — Jim graduated from high school second in his class, second from the bottom. [laughter] And — and he concluded that college was not part of his future, so he — he talked to his dad and talked his dad out of some money for a loan. And they were going to start a business together with his dad's money and with — with his entrepreneurship. And it's going to be a food business, a — a restaurant kind of thing.

And he went out to get one of these hamburger griddles, you know, and — and — and the rollers that make hot dogs and the — the ventilation hoods. And it was a lot more money than he had. He concluded the only thing he could make with the money he had was sandwiches, because sandwiches don't take a lot of equipment. So he got some tables and set them up in a garage and made sandwiches and then delivered them to people at work. And now Jimmy — Jimmy John's restaurant has 1,500 restaurants and employs 60,000 Americans. [cheers and applause] That's what makes America go. We did build it. [cheers and applause]

I can commit to you this: I will do everything in my power to restore the principles that drive our economy and make us the hope of the earth. I'll do everything in my power to get our economy going again, so people could have good jobs and don't have to worry about living paycheck to paycheck.

And I will make sure we do not cut our military. I will keep our military so strong — [cheers and applause] — no one would ever think of testing it.

And now I need you — this is a big group here — I need you guys — [cheers] — I need you guys as well to make a commitment. If you're convinced that the last four years are not what we want for the next four years, if you're convinced that your young people deserve a good job when they get out of school, if — if you're convinced that we can see rising home values again, if you're convinced that we can do a lot better than these last four years, then I need you go and convince some of your friends who voted for Barack Obama to get on our team and to take a new direction in America. [cheers and applause]

This is our time. We've got to take this country back. We've got to put it on a new road to prosperity and to strength. I will do it. With your help, we're going to win Colorado. [cheers and applause] We're going to win Pueblo, big time. We're coming back. We're going to keep this nation the hope of the earth.

Thank you so very much. Great to be with you. [cheers and applause]