Roemer, who has been "out of politics for 16 years," recently decided to come out of retirement to run for president because of two current trends he observed in politics, he said.
The first issue, poor economic decisions that have led to a large federal debt, is central to Roemer's campaign platform, he said.
"Excessive debt shrinks a nation, and that's what's happening to America," he said.
Recent economic tendencies have also been devastating to Americans, especially in the area of job creation, Roemer said.
"The middle class of America, an imperfect group of people who fight the wars and build the nations, have had their prospects diminished," he said. "We have fewer jobs in America than we did 12 years ago, and they pay less."
While he does not fault President Barack Obama for many of the economic problems plaguing America, Roemer said Obama's administration has not sufficiently addressed those problems.
"I don't think the Obama administration caused this recession, but they seem to be making it permanent," he said.
According to Roemer, Obama has been more concerned with raising funds "a billion dollars" for his upcoming campaign than with solving the economic problems.
In addition to the actual amount of money raised, Roemer criticized President Barack Obama's sources of fundraising.
"Where does he go for his first big fundraiser? Wall Street," he said. "And what's the ticket price? How do you raise a billion dollars? It's $35,000 a ticket, led by Goldman Sachs."
Banking reforms have not led to any incarcerations of Wall Street bankers who lied, cheated or stole money, according to Roemer. These reforms, he said, have not resulted in any changes to the banking system and "too big to fail' is still the law." As a result, bankers now believe that they will always have the support of the government in times of crisis, according to Roemer.
"Any risk they took, if they failed, you would be bailed out," he said. "That's the American banking system now."
Roemer emphasized the importance of middle class Americans rather than large corporations in the campaign process. However, 98 percent of Americans do not contribute funds to politicians during the campaign season, he said.
"These are plain, unimportant small business people," he said. "They can't write a big check."
He then discussed the types of organizations on which politicians rely for contributions, including tort lawyers, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies, and added that this special interest money is the "only way" that Republicans can win in the upcoming election.
Romer also raised concerns about the economic recovery.
"I think we're headed for a second recession, a double-dip," he said, adding that America's current debt is "about 100 percent of the GDP."
Roemer also condemned America's current corporate taxing policy, stating that General Electric did not pay "one dollar of American taxes" last year, even though the company earned $14.2 billion.
In addition to corporations, Roemer said that the U.S. government protects pharmaceutical companies, seen in Obama's recent health care bill.
"They didn't have to have price discounts," he said. "They didn't have to welcome competition from Canada or anywhere on earth. They were written in. Protected."
Roemer said it is imperative that American voters stop accepting such political actions.
"My view of the middle class is that they're in trouble," he said. "It's why I stepped out of my private life to take my imperfections to public life."
In response to a question about health care reform posed by College President Jim Yong Kim during his presentation for the lecture series last week, Roemer said he would "start by doing three things" to improve the American health care situation.
Roemer said tort reform lowered health care costs in Louisiana when he was governor. He also insisted that competition among insurance companies is necessary to make health care more accessible to Americans.
"I would take out the protection of pharmaceutical companies and let them compete in the North American continent," he said, adding that this would lower health care costs by 1.5 percent each year.
Roemer said he would incentivize private health care providers to lower the cost of health care delivery.
"I would allow them to keep 25 percent of their savings," he said. "I think we would be inundated with innovative ideas."
Public policy professor Charles Wheelan asked the former governor about the debt ceiling which may be raised on Aug. 2 to address the deficit issue and whether or not raising it is necessary.
"I think our debt is entirely too high," Roemer said. "It's unconscionable what we've done."
Roemer added that Obama's current 10-year plan includes a $1.3-trillion deficit each year, which he said is unsustainable for the nation.
"We're a nation that cannot live like that," he said. "We are giving away our children's future."
