PELLA, Iowa — Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is staying laser-focused on the economy in his first appearance in Iowa in weeks, criticizing federal regulations on banks and pushing his trade agenda at a meeting with business leaders.
“[There is an] overreach of the federal government and an intrusiveness of the federal government into the banking industry,” Romney told more than a dozen business leaders in Pella, Iowa on Wednesday. He said businesses are finding it hard to borrow money and grow productivity because “banks are scared to death about what regulations are coming down the road.”
Romney also criticized the federal government for not being more aggressive with trade agreements.
As president, Romney said he would be “working out trade agreements with more and more countries one after the other.”
Casting some blame on organized labor, he said unions “don’t want us to compete with other nations.”
