Mitt Romney’s jobs plan

Next year’s presidential election will be a referendum on the economy and job creation.

Considering no state has endured as much economic hardship as Nevada, and no state needs jobs more, it’s fitting that Republican candidate Mitt Romney will reveal his campaign’s job-creation strategy in a Sept. 6 speech somewhere in Nevada. Mr. Romney announced the speech Monday on Fox News.

The address likely will precede President Obama’s planned jobs speech, which hasn’t been scheduled but is expected to take place that week.

Mr. Romney’s speech will highlight Nevada’s status as a battleground state and an early caucus state. Nevada’s GOP caucuses will be held Feb. 18, just after the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary and just before the South Carolina primary. Additionally, the address will give Mr. Romney some policy chops heading into the Sept. 7 GOP presidential debate at the Reagan Library in California.

The Romney camp hasn’t tipped what his jobs strategy might include, but based on his 2008 presidential bid, it’s safe to say it will have components that encourage investment, innovation and opportunity. Among the policies Mr. Romney has advocated previously: eliminating taxes on capital gains, interest and dividends for households that make less than $200,000 per year; making the Bush tax cuts permanent; free trade; and tort reform.

President Obama, likewise, has not revealed the specifics of his jobs plan, but it is expected to include another round of stimulus-style spending focused on public works, transit and infrastructure; an extension of the current employee payroll tax cut; and spending in education and research.

There is little doubt that the men will offer drastically different plans. The president sees government intervention and control as critical to an economic recovery. Mr. Romney, on the other hand, has vast experience in the private sector and is a big believer in economic freedom.

In a January 2008 speech to the Economic Club of Detroit, Mr. Romney said, “The 20th century history lesson is that America’s economy is strong because we put our trust in the American people, and in the free enterprises they create.”

Regardless of how the race for the Republican nomination plays out over the next six months, the dueling proposals put forward by Mr. Romney and President Obama should return the country’s focus to the seminal issue of the November 2012 election — an issue that has extraordinary relevance in recession-ravaged Nevada.