Romney Slams Obama in New Hampshire Op-Ed

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Mitt Romney attacked President Obama's fiscal policies Monday, writing a scathing op-ed in the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire.

"With its failed stimulus package, its grandiose new social programs, its fervor for more taxes and government regulations, and its hostility toward business, the administration has made the debt problem worse, hindered economic recovery and needlessly cost American workers countless jobs," the 2012 Republican hopeful wrote in the New Hampshire Union Leader op-ed.

Romney announced a presidential exploratory committee but hasn't officially entered the 2012 race for the GOP nomination. With a robust business background, the former Massachusetts governor's financial acumen is one of his selling points.

But Romney has been criticized by Democrats for speaking out against the president's health care legislation after championing a state-run health plan as governor of Massachusetts. In fact, the president recently praised Romney when talking to a bipartisan group of governors about the Affordable Care Act.

"I know that many of you have asked for flexibility for your states under this law. In fact, I agree with Mitt Romney, who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished on health care in Massachusetts and supports giving states the power to determine their own health care solutions. He's right," Obama said, raising an issue that could hurt Romney in a Republican presidential primary.

Monday's op-ed stayed off the subject of health care as Romney pointed to Standard and Poor's lowering of its outlook on U.S. Treasury bonds as a "significant marker" of America's "deteriorating economic position."

"The main job of any executive - whether a CEO, a governor or a President - should be to avert these dangers, or work to repair them," he wrote.