Romney to criticize 'Obama Misery Index' in address to GOP in early primary state

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) will hit President Obama's economic policies and handling of the recession hard in a speech in New Hampshire on Saturday night.

Speaking at the Carroll County Lincoln Day Dinner in Bartlett, N.H., Romney, a likely 2012 Republican presidential candidate, will criticize the Obama administration on its relationship to American business and efforts to solve the country's economic woes, according to remarks obtained by The Hill.

"Senator Obama campaigned hard in New Hampshire but he apparently didn’t like what he saw. He certainly didn’t learn from it," Romney will say in the speech. "Instead of lowering taxes, he raised them. He wrapped businesses in red tape, he grew government, he borrowed trillions of dollars, and he made it clear that he doesn’t like business people very much."

Additionally, Obama will blame the Obama administration for an insufficient economic recovery.

"He created a deeper recession, and delayed the recovery," Romney continues in the speech. "The consequence is soaring numbers of Americans enduring unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcies. This is the Obama Misery Index, and it is at a record high. It’s going to take more than new rhetoric to put Americans back to work—it’s going to take a new president."

Romney, one of the heavyweights for the 2012 presidential nomination, has recently received criticism from other possible Republican hopefuls for his term as governor in which Massachusetts passed a healthcare law in some ways similar to the Obama administration's. The criticism is a clear indicator that high-profile Republicans are thinking about the upcoming presidential nomination and ways to distinguish themselves from potential rivals.

Romney himself has been raising his profile as an already well-known Republican. His political action committee recently contributed the maximum amount of money he could to Republicans in Wisconsin trying to pass a bill that would curtail some bargaining rights for unions.

---