Mitt Romney campaigned in President Obama's home state of Illinois Tuesday where he criticized the President for altering the welfare reforms enacted by Democratic President Bill Clinton.
"I hope you understand that President Obama in just the last few days has tried to reverse that accomplishment by taking the work requirement out of welfare. That is wrong. If I’m president I will put work back in welfare" Romney said.
He made these remarks at Acme Industries, a precision-parts manufacturer, in Elk Grove Village. Romney was then scheduled to attend two private fundraisers at Harry Caray's and Maggiano's restaurants in downtown Chicago where he was expected to raised two million dollars.
Earlier in the day, the Romney campaign held a conference call with reporters to discuss President Obama's "dismantling of bipartisan welfare reforms. The call included Senior Adviser Ed Gillespie, Deputy Policy Director Jonathan Burks and U.S. Senate Republican Candidate from Texas Ted Cruz.
They also released a new campaign ad, "Right Choice" and a memo by Romney Campaign Policy Director Lanhee Chen to highlight this issue.
The Obama campaign responded to Romney’s "false, hypocritical attack on the Obama Administration’s recent welfare action" by holding a conference call with reporters. The call included John Podesta, former White House Chief of Staff for President Clinton, Obama for America Deputy Campaign Manager Stephanie Cutter, and Obama for America Policy Director James Kvaal.