Decision 2012: GOP Candidates on Infrastructure

This webpage will serve as a one-stop-shop for the candidates’ public comments regarding transportation and infrastructure investment and reforms.

As the 2012 Presidential Candidates leave New Hampshire and head to South Carolina , we'd like to highlight a few important developments that have resulted from our educational outreach pilot program - Invest in America - designed to create a publicly informed environment for moderates, conservatives and progressives to join together in support of infrastructure investments in an era of hyper-deficit sensitivity.

We are heartened by the progress and positive results in New Hampshire and South Carolina including two candidates – Governor Romney and Speaker Gingrich – publicly affirming their support for infrastructure initiatives. We hope to continue to make a difference in the tone and substance of the debate as we work towards bringing our transportation system into the 21st Century.

Are we missing anything? Send video, audio or quotes to bill@bafuture.org and we'll add it ASAP.

GENERAL/OVERALL NEWS AND ANALYSIS

• Washington Post: 2012 ABC/Yahoo/WMUR New Hampshire GOP Primary Debate Transcript (1/7/12) 
• Huffington Post: GOP Candidates' Transportation Infrastructure Talk Praises Tolls But Ignores Jobs (1/4/12)
• Politico: Candidates steer clear of transportation before Iowa (1/3/12)
• DC Streetsblog: In Iowa, GOP Candidates Ignore Transportation and Urban Issues (1/3/12)
• NY Times: For High-Speed Rail, Support in the Past From G.O.P. Presidential Hopefuls (1/2/12)

NEWT GINGRICH

• New York Times: Subsidizing the Elite and Their Drivers, on Buses and Trains (2/13/12)
• Video: ABC/Yahoo/WMUR Debate in Manchester, NH (1/7/12)
• Video: Comments from event in Columbia, SC (12/26/11)
• Transportation Nation: Newt Gingrich: Rail Visionary, Lover of Oil (12/20/11)
• DC Streetsblog: Who Said It: “Let’s Be Really Bold… in Developing Maglev Trains” (12/20/11)
• In Charleston, SC, Gingrich Called On The Port Of Charleston To Be Expanded And Ready By The Time The Panama Canal Expansion Is Complete. “I’d like to see a substantial part of that money go to modernize the port of Charleston and I’d like to see the corps of engineers modernize and streamline to get the job done in the most rapid possible time so we can actually have the port ready by the time the Panama Canal is ready so the largest ships carrying freight could come right here.” (Newt 2012, www.newt.org, Accessed 12/1/11)
• Video: Port Infrastructure at a Town Hall in Charleston, SC (Scroll to 5:55) (11/28/11)
• Video: Speech: 8 Principles for a 21st Century Infrastructure System (7/11/09)
• Video/Audio: Speech: Infrastructure Forum: Transforming Our Transportation System (6/24/09)
• Video: Interview on Infrastructure and Economic Growth (6/24/09)
• Government Technology: Newt Gingrich on Intelligent Transportation Systems (4/30/95)

RON PAUL

• Video: Debate clip re: Abolishing the Transportation Security Administration (9/7/11)

MITT ROMNEY

• WQAD: Mitt Romney talks Quad Cities jobs, infrastructure, and future (3/18/12)
• Frying Pan News: Highway Robbery: Mitt Romney’s War on Mass Transit (3/6/12)
• Romney Op-ed: U.S. Can Be Energy Superpower (3/5/12)
• Radials: Would Mitt Romney Invest in the Highway System? (2/20/12)
• Boston Herald: Mitt Romney backed earmarks as governor (2/12/12)
• Video: ABC/Yahoo/WMUR Debate in Manchester, NH (1/7/12) 
• Transportation Nation: Mica Endorses Romney (1/6/12)
• Audio: Amtrak Funding in Clive, Iowa (1/2/12)
• Video: Transportation Infrastructure at a Town Hall in Charleston, SC (12/17/11)
• Transportation Nation: Mitt Romney: Metro-Friendly Moderate? (12/12/11)
• Video: Transportation Infrastructure at a Town Hall in Hudson, NH (Audio and transcript HERE) (12/11/11)

RICK SANTORUM

• CNN: Rick Santorum, Joe Lieberman and Jack Lew on "State of the Union" (2/12/12)
• Video: Interview on the benefits of Broadband Access (12/20/11)

Last Updated: March 20, 2012