Romney Gets Warm Welcome in Muskego

A surprise to many, Mitt Romney's stop in Muskego was seen by the city and the business that hosted him as quite an honor.

The GOP candidate, who is the frontrunner for the party's nomination for president, placed on his agenda for a town hall meeting Saturday afternoon.

Mayor Kathy Chiaverotti, who was on hand at the event, said it was a great day for the city.

"It's an honor to have a presidential candidate visit the City of Muskego and be part of it. It's natural that InPro would be the host. InPro Corporation is an American business success, and Mitt has grown businesses and turned businesses around," she said. "We need more companies like InPro in Muskego, where we have room to grow, and throughout the country.

"I've served on Congressman Paul Ryan's Small Business Advisory Board, and I'm pleased to see him publicly support Mitt because we need leadership at the state and federal level that can return us to a healthy economy," Chiaverotti said.

A friendly crowd assembled in the warehouse of the business, and most were already decided on Romney as their candidate in Tuesday's Wisconsin primary.

"It was a tough decision, but we are decided now," said Barb Schroeder of Muskego. "I didn't like that (Rick) Santorum voted against things that he says he is in support of. I also want a businessman in office, because they seem to have a better grip on the economy."

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Others said it was Ryan's endorsement of Romney that swayed their decision toward Romney, and all said they wanted "anybody but Obama."

InPro CEO Steve Ziegler greeted the crowd of about 500, telling them that the company's growth meant they could hire more people and expand. He said the company has seen growth over nearly 10 years from $10 million to more than $100 million. He warned that a second term for President Barack Obama would bring about "continued socialism."

Ziegler later told Patch: "It was an extreme honor to be asked to host this event. We are proud of the growth of our company, and what that has meant to our employees."

State Rep. David Craig was on hand as well, speaking briefly before he introduced Ryan, who has been talked about as a vice presidential candidate. Ryan drew a standing ovation, and continued the criticism of the president's stance on business.

"He is imperiling entrepreneurship in this country, and it's taking us down a dangerous path," Ryan said. "He is not leading and we have a choice to make."

Ryan's introduction of Romney again brought the crowd to its feet, and he continued to rail on what he saw as the President's lack of leadership, and his part in damaging Medicare.

"Republicans aren't going after Medicare," he said. "Obama has cut the legs out on the program, by cutting it $500 billion."

Romney explained his plan would take the federal oversight and funding of Medicare and put it back to the states to manage, which he said would keep dollars where they need to be and decrease the amount spent on the program.

He called for more careful scrutiny of government spending: "I'm going to take every single program ask if it's worth borrowing from China to pay for it and if not we're going to get rid of it." 

Romney named PBS, Amtrak and Planned Parenthood as budget items he would defund. At the same time, he said more spending was required on the military, citing that the "Air Force and Navy have been stretched thin."

The stop in Muskego was part of a , and included other GOP candidates in Waukesha as well.