Romney: Views on Education, Healthcare, Gun Control, Taxes

With less than four weeks until the election, GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has starch views than President Obama on education, healthcare, gun control, taxes and the military.

According to Romney, if he is elected president, he will "pursue genuine education reform that puts the interests of parents and students ahead of special interests and provides a chance for every child."

Romney said his policies will ensure that "students have diverse and affordable options for higher education to give them the skills they need to succeed after graduation and that, when they graduate, they can find jobs that provide a rewarding return on their educational investment."

He said he plans to change the No Child Left Behind Act to emphasize on transparency and responsibility for results.

According to Romney, he will improve testing scores, create an 'excellent' curriculum, hire 'superb' teachers and give parents options to choose schools.

On taxes, Romney also has a not so specific plan if he is elected.

According to Romney, Obama exploded the size of the federal government, inflicted on the nation's fiscal health over the past three years. Romney said Obama "would ratchet up permanently the size of government and the tax burden on the American people."

'President Obama's proclivity for fostering uncertainty about the long-term shape of the tax code is particularly troublesome," Romney said. "He has embraced one temporary solution after the next while rejecting permanent adjustments that would bring some predictability and stability to investment decision-making. The result is a business climate marked by hesitation. When President Obama complains about banks refusing to lend and businesses refusing to hire, he should consider the impact of his own policies on that state of affairs."

Romney claims that if he is elected, he would make permanent, across-the-board 20 percent cut in marginal rates, maintain current tax rates on interest, dividends, and capital gains, eliminate taxes for taxpayers with AGI below $200,000 on interest, dividends, and capital gains, eliminate the Death Tax and repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax.

According to Romney, the U.S. economy's 35 percent corporate tax rate is among the highest in the industrial world and he would cut it to 25 percent. He said he will also strengthen and make permanent the R&D tax credit, switch to a territorial tax system and repeal the corporate Alternative Minimum Tax.

On gun control, Romney supports the right of all law-abiding Americans to exercise their constitutionally protected right to own firearms and to use them for lawful purposes, including hunting, recreational shooting, self-defense, and the protection of family and property.

He said he does not believe that the United States needs additional laws that restrict the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms and believes in the safe and responsible ownership and use of firearms and the right to lawfully manufacture and sell firearms and ammunition.

"[Mit] recognizes the extraordinary number of jobs and other economic benefits that are produced by hunting, recreational shooting, and the firearms and ammunition industry, not the least of which is to fund wildlife and habitat conservation," his campaign said. "Mitt will enforce the laws already on the books and punish, to the fullest extent of the law, criminals who misuse firearms to commit crimes. But he does not support adding more laws and regulations that do nothing more than burden law-abiding citizens while being ignored by criminals. Mitt will also provide law enforcement with the proper and effective resources they need to deter, apprehend, and punish criminals."

According to Romney, "Obamacare will take us in precisely the wrong direction and make America a less attractive place to practice medicine, discourage innovators from investing in life-saving technology, and restrict consumer choice."

On his first day in office, Romney promises to issue an executive order for the federal government to issue Obamacare waivers to all 50 states and will work with Congress to repeal the full legislation as quickly as possible.

"In place of Obamacare, Mitt will pursue policies that give each state the power to craft a health care reform plan that is best for its own citizens," his campaign said. "The federal government's role will be to help markets work by creating a level playing field for competition."