Key adviser responds to attacks on Romney

>> ferguson is a senior adviser to the mitt romney campaign. good morning, eric. it's nice to see you.

>> thank you, ann.

>> first let me ask you about this $2 billion loss by trading loss by jpmorgan. as we just heard the president said this is why they passed wall street reform. what is mitt romney 's reaction to that, given his position that these reforms should be repealed?

>> well, jpmorgan is a public company , with public shareholders, and a board of directors , and the leadership of that company will be held accountable for this trading loss. but we don't want to punish companies, ann, for taking risks. there was no -- there was no taxpayer money at issue here. these losses went to investors in the company, which is how it works in a market.

>> but considering how vulnerable our economy is to mistakes on wall street , just what would president obama -- president romney do to prevent the kind of risk taking that could lead to a loss like this?

>> well, of course, we need regulations. mitt romney is not advocating that there be no regulations. but our regulation should be effective, it should be streamlined. it should not be cumbersome, and it should not act as a wet blanket, or a damper on the economy. look, there will be companies that take risks. not every risk turns out to -- to work for the investors in the company. in a case like the one that before us now with jpmorgan, there is accountability. people will be held to account for the losses that occurred. there was no taxpayer money at risk. all of the losses went to investors which is how it works in a public market .

>> you know, meantime as we just heard in chuck's report there is this mood now by the obama campaign , aggressively, to now attack your candidate, his record at bain capital , including with the two-minute ad and the six-minute video that really focuses on the closing of -- of the steel mill . i wonder if mitt romney now thinks that closing of that steel mill was a mistake.

>> well, i think these attempts by president obama to distract from his own poor record on the economy is the biggest smokescreen since mount st. helens erupted. look, steve ratner had it right when he called this attack by the obama campaign unfair. he is a former top official on the obama economic team, and he said that bain capital has a superb reputation in the community and that they acted responsibly, and that they're one of the leading private equity firms in the world. look, we know from our own 401(k) investments that not every stock we buy, not every company we invest in, turns out to be a winner. but over the long haul, mitt romney has had many more successes than failures. he learned from both experiences, and that's what makes him so qualified to lead on jobs and the economy.

>> meantime i don't have a lot of time left but i really need to ask you this question about mitt romney 's reiterating his position that marriage is between one man and one woman, while the president is painting gay marriages as an expansion of human rights . and there's a -- there's a gallup poll now that shows an increasing support by americans for relationships between same-sexes. i'm wondering do you believe that on this issue mitt romney is on the wrong side of history?

>> well, look, we -- mitt romney understands that people have different opinions on marriage. his opinion is that marriage is between a man and a woman. why does he have that opinion? it's because he believes a home headed by a man and a woman, married, is the best environment for the raising of our children. but we understand that -- that this is a tender and emotional subject for many people. not everybody comes down on the same side. but where mitt romney stands is that marriage is between a man and a woman.

>> all right. well, thank you so much for joining us. it's good to get your perspective this morning.