Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke to about 100 CEO members of Business Roundtable in Washington today, laying out his vision of a stronger, more growth-oriented economy.

The 25-minute open portion of Gov. Romney's address, given during the BRT's CEO Quarterly Meeting at the Newseum, began with sharp, point-by-point criticism of President Obama's record on the economy and jobs. Several reporters described the remarks as a "pre-buttal" to the President's speech planned for Thursday in Cleveland.

Romney then moved to his economic program, building on his campaign theme of what he would do during his first 100 days as president.

The former governor of Massachusetts also spent about a half-hour in a closed-door Q&A session with the CEOs, participating in a robust discussion of top economic issues including America's fiscal troubles, tax policy and trade.

News coverage naturally highlighted the political conflict between the Republican challenger and President Obama. President Obama addressed Business Roundtable at the last quarterly meeting in March, before the Republican nominee had yet to be determined, and the political jabs were less striking then. In both cases, the issues were thoroughly covered, and the CEOs had a chance to give their views on how current economic policy is falling short.

And in both cases, BRT's members made it clear: Washington's failure to act on the pressing issues facing America is doing real harm to U.S. global competitiveness, economic growth and the creation of new jobs.

Business Roundtable President John Engler appears on CSPAN's Washington Journal program to discuss the meeting and BRT's priorities at 7:45 a.m. Thursday.

News coverage...

• The Hill, “Romney offers prebuttal to Obama economic speech at CEO lunch”
• McClatchy Newspapers, “Romney to business: Help is on the way
• Reuters, "In mini-surge, Romney predicts empty words from Obama on economy"e
• Politico, “Mitt Romney: Obama’s ‘words are cheap’
• AFP, "Romney reminds Washington: business not the enemy”
• Associated Press, “Romney amends budget goals, assails Obama's record”
• MarketWatch, “Obama’s ‘antibusiness,’ Romney charges”
• CNN.com, Romney details 'First 100 Days,' says Obama's 'words are cheap'