Romney hits Obama on jobs council, economic record at Ohio town hall

Mitt Romney ramped up his criticism of President Obama at a town-hall meeting Wednesday in Ohio, calling the president's economic plan "the height of foolishness" and mocking the president over reports he has not held a meeting of his jobs council in more than six months.

"You know what he’s been doing over the last six months? In the last six months, he has held 100 fundraisers. And guess how many meetings he’s had with his Jobs Council? None. Zero. Zero, in the last six months," Romney said. "So it makes it very clear where his priorities are. His priority is not creating jobs for you, his priority is trying to keep his own job, and that's why he's going to lose it."

Romney also continued his attacks on comments the president made stressing the importance of large government projects in stimulating economic growth, asking supporters who build their own businesses to raise their hands.

"Take that, Mr. President," Romney said defiantly.

Romney's team has harped on a comment Obama made during a town-hall meeting Friday. Discussing transportation infrastructure, Obama said "if you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen." Republicans have said the comment underscores the president's belief that government is central to business.

"I hope you understand that the logic of what the president said extends to all of you," Romney said.

But the president's campaign team has accused Team Romney of using the quote out of context.

“The Romney campaign is ripping the president’s remarks out of context," said Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt on a conference call with reporters on Wednesday. "The president certainly credited entrepreneurs and innovators with the creation of start-ups and businesses.”

LaBolt went on to say that the president was referring to the help those entrepreneurs got along the way from teachers, infrastructure and other amenities provided by the government.

"Romney has ripped his remarks out of context in an attempt to change the subject, and I think most Americans will find that to be transparent.”

The White House also defended the president's decision not to hold a jobs council meeting in recent months.

"There's no specific reason, except the president has obviously got a lot on his plate, but he continues to solicit and receive advice from numerous folks outside the administration about the economy about ideas that he can act on with Congress or administratively to help the economy grow and help create jobs," said White House spokesman Jay Carney on Wednesday.

—Jonathan Easley contributed.

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