I actually think it will be interesting to listen to the president tonight. What I'd like him to do is report on his promises. But there are forgotten promises and forgotten people.
Over the last four years, the president has said that he was going to create jobs for the American people and that hasn't happened. He said he'd cut the deficit in half and that hasn't happened. He said that incomes would rise and instead incomes have gone down. And I — I think this is a time not for him not to start restating new promises, but to report on the promises he made. I think he wants a promises reset. We want a report on the promises he made.
And that means let's hear some numbers. Let's hear 16 — $16 trillion of debt. This is very different than the promise he made. Let's hear the number 47 — 47 million people in this country on food stamps. When he took office, 33 million people were on food stamps. Let's understand why it was he's been unsuccessful in helping alleviate poverty in this country, why so many people have fallen from the middle class into poverty under this president. Let's have him explain to the American people the 50 percent number: why 50 percent of college graduates can't find work or work that's consistent with their college degree. The president needs to report tonight on his promises rather than try and reset a whole series of new promises that he also won't be able to keep.
Mitt Romney, Remarks in Concord, New Hampshire Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/315944