Spain quip adds to Romney’s foreign policy trouble

[DonViejo]

WASHINGTON (AP) — If Mitt Romney becomes president, he might need a crash course in Diplomacy 101.

He irritated Britons and Palestinians during a summer tour abroad and has declared Russia to be America’s No. 1 geopolitical foe. Just last week, the Republican candidate, who plans a foreign policy speech Monday, raised eyebrows in Spain by holding it up as a prime example of government spending run amok.

That left Spaniards confused, and threatened to reinforce Romney’s perceived handicap in international affairs, precisely at a time when lingering questions over the Sept. 11 attacks against the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, has President Barack Obama on the defensive.

“I don’t want to go down the path of Spain,” Romney said Wednesday night during the first presidential debate. He argued that government spending under Obama has reached 42 percent of the U.S. economy, a figure comparable with America’s NATO ally. “I want to go down the path of growth that puts Americans to work.”

Continue reading:
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/07/spain_quip_adds_to_romneys_foreign_policy_trouble/

[bemildred]

1. I was wondering when that would bite him in the ass. nt

[DonViejo]

2. You might appreciate and enjoy this OP:

Romney's debate showing puts Europe on edge

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1251123934

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Spain ran government surpluses from 2005 to 2007 inclusive

Spain had a budget surplus before the economic collapse. Spain had a budget surplus before the economic collapse. Spain had a budget surplus before the economic collapse.
...
Spain ran budget surpluses in the years from 2005-2007. Its debt to GDP ratio fell from 50.3 percent in 2000 to 26.5 percent of GDP in 2007. There is no remotely plausibly story of government profligacy here.

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/beat-the-press/the-myth-of-profligate-euro-zone-countries

Spain's problem was a construction bubble, which, when it burst, hugely increased unemployment, and put the banks in trouble.