President Obama’s recent decision to protect many undocumented young people from deportation has put Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in a bind. A poll of likely voters found that only 30 percent disapprove of the President’s new policy. At the same time, Romney has explicitly stated he would veto the DREAM Act, legislation that would enshrine into law a policy very similar to what President Obama has been able to temporarily achieve with his directive.
So when Romney has been repeatedly asked whether he would continue Obama’s policy as president, he’s done everything possible to avoid answering the question. Watch it:
ThinkProgress intern Ben Sherman contributed research for this video.
Today, the Senate votes on Sen. James Inhofe’s measure to derail the first Environmental Protection Agency regulation to reduce mercury pollution and other toxics. The EPA projects the new standard will prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths. The push by the coal industry’s GOP allies isn’t likely to move forward, however, with a White House veto threat on the table.
Mitt Romney’s campaign has once again drawn where the candidate stands on reducing mercury pollution, and it doesn’t happen to be on the side of most Americans. Though a majority of Americans support the standard, Romney and other Republicans have argued on behalf of the coal industry, which has lobbied aggressively against the EPA. Romney spokesperson Andrea Saul told the National Journal:
“Governor Romney has made clear that he opposes the Utility MACT…. President Obama cannot claim to support clean coal while imposing regulations that his EPA admits would prevent another coal plant from ever being built.”
Romney’s position reversal is the latest example of the candidate’s etch-a-sketch transformation. As governor, Romney said pollution is akin to “killing people,” and Massachusetts joined several states to sue the EPA for the very regulations Inhofe wants to derail.
In 2003, Romney unveiled regulations that would require older power plants to reduce mercury pollution, “putting Msssachusstetts in the forefront of reducing air pollution.” The state’s Department of Environmental Protection proposed its own mercury standard, to capture 95 percent of the mercury by October 2012. At the time Romney touted, “Our comprehensive mercury reduction efforts are a major step towards eliminating mercury pollution and will have a positive effect on the environment and public health for many years,” according to a press release from Romney’s office.
Romney and the 35 dirty Senators backing Inhofe’s push are out of step with public opinion. A new United Technologies/National Journal poll finds that 57 percent of Americans support the EPA’s finalized rule. The rule draws broad bipartisan support in the poll, as well, with 57 percent of Republicans in support of the rule with more time to comply.
Here’s the pre-Etch-A-Sketch Romney standing in front of a Massachusetts coal-fired power plant, explaining that he would “not create jobs or hold jobs that kill people”:
Mitt Romney’s campaign may or may not be vetting Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for vice presidential consideration, but in the meantime, he continues to maintain space in the media spotlight. In an interview with Christianity Today published yesterday, he reiterated his opposition to same-sex marriage, pointing out that the Bible opposes it, as do all of the faiths (Catholic, Mormon, evangelical Christian) he’s experienced. Though he qualified his answer in some ways, he also suggested that society shouldn’t “tolerate” less-than-”ideal” family structures:
RUBIO: In terms of the Bible’s interpretation of marriage, what our faith teaches is pretty straightforward. There’s not much debate about that. The debate is about what society should tolerate, and what society should allow our laws to be. I believe marriage is a unique and specific institution that is the result of thousands of years of wisdom, which concluded that the ideal — not the only way but certainly the ideal — situation to raise children to become productive and healthy humans is in a home with a father and mother married to each other. Does that mean people who are not in that circumstance cannot be successful? Of course not.
It’s not a discriminatory thing. I’m not angry at anyone because of it, but I also have to be honest about what I believe marriage should be in our laws.
In May, Rubio broke from Romney on the issue, coming out against a Federal Marriage Amendment — a resolution of his past “mixed feelings.” He told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto that the regulation of marriage should be left to the states.
Mitt Romney’s campaign may or may not be vetting Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for vice presidential consideration, but in the meantime, he continues to maintain space in the media spotlight. In an 
