Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney told a crowd of conservative activists Friday afternoon at the Americans for Prosperity’s Defending the American Dream summit in Washington that his goal is to “make government simpler, smaller, and smarter.” Romney outlined his own fiscal policy, criticized the federal government’s wasteful spending and inefficient practices, and focused on his own management experience at both Bain Capital and as CEO of the Salt Lake City Olympics, suggesting that a businessman’s approach can change the culture of government. 

“I learned how to balance budgets in business,” Romney said. “In the private sector, you have no choice—you either balance your budget or you go broke. And you spend every dollar like it’s your own, because it is.”