Romney says he likes 'being able to fire people' [View all]

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Mitt Romney is giving his GOP presidential rivals plenty of campaign fodder, declaring today that he likes "being able to fire people." The former Massachusetts governor, who is comfortably leading in New Hampshire polls ahead of Tuesday's primary, is already under attack by Newt Gingrich and his allies for his work as a venture capitalist.

But this latest comment, made during an event in Nashua, N.H., is getting pounced on by rival Jon Huntsman and the Democratic National Committee. GOP rival Rick Perry, campaigning in South Carolina, also hit Romney today for saying over the weekend that he once feared getting a pink slip.

"It's become abundantly clear over the last couple days what differentiates Gov. Romney and me," Huntsman told a Concord, N.H., audience. "I will always put my country first. It seems Gov. Romney believes in putting politics first. Gov. Romney enjoys firing people, I enjoy creating jobs."

Romney was talking about allowing people to buy their own health insurance at a Chamber of Commerce event in Nashua, when he began to explain that insurance companies would have an incentive to making sure people are healthy and happy with their service. "It also means that if you don't like what they do, you can fire them," Romney said. "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. If someone doesn't give me the good service ... I'm going to go get someone else to provide that service to me."

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/01/mitt-romney-fire-people-jon-huntsman-rick-perry-/1?csp=34news