Mitt Romney: 'The Banks Aren't Bad People'

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney said corporations "are people too." Now, he says not only that banks are people, but they "aren't bad people."

The comment came Tuesday in Florida, which has the seventh-highest foreclosure rate in the country. "In this case, it's because of the banks," he said to a small group in front of a Fannie Mae-foreclosed home in the town of Lehigh Acres in the southwest part of the state. "Well, the banks aren't bad people. They're just overwhelmed right now."

The remarks echoed Romney's previous response to a heckler last August two days before the Ames Straw poll. "Corporations are people, my friend...of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to the people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People's pockets. Human beings my friend," he said.

It's part of a pattern of Romney making offhand remarks that make him sound out of touch with the nation's economic crisis, which he says he can fix.

"Don't try and stop the foreclosure process. Let it run its course and hit the bottom," he said in Las Vegas last October, which has the highest foreclosure rate of any metro area over 200,000 people according to RealtyTrac. Nevada leads the states among foreclosures.

"I'm also unemployed," he said to a group of unemployed people in June, also in Florida, which has jobless rates above the national average.

"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," said Romney in New Hampshire earlier this month as part of an answer on why he favored competition among health insurers. "If someone doesn't give me the good service I need, I want to say I am going to get somebody else to provide that service to me." Romney later defended his remarks as being taken out of context; however, Romney himself took a quote of Obama out of context in an attack ad.

The remarks came on the same day that the former Massachusetts governor -- who has an estimated wealth between $190 million and $250 million -- released his tax returns, which showed that he and his wife paid a 13.9 percent effective rate on $21.7 million in 2010--much lower than most middle-class taxpayers due to their income entirely deriving from investments.

 

 

Comments

[freeze24]

07:55 PM on 02/08/2012

oh gosh, did i read the banks donate money to the politicians.bunch of rip-off 's. that is one reason that i took my money eleswhere, from a certain bank. no wonder they charge up to the nose in fees,like a dumpy i made business with them for years,but i'm glad i got out of dodge sooner than later.

[markdolph]

10:10 PM on 01/27/2012

The whole republican narrative, that Fannie and Freddie are to blame for the housing crisis, is out of touch with the reality. It places the entire blame on government efforts to expand housing ownership, and totally absolves the banks of their predatory lending practices and speculation in high-risk financial instruments. If Obama and the democrats allow this narrative to continue throughout the 2012 campaign, they deserve to lose.

[OneInEveryFamily]

08:58 PM on 01/26/2012

It is not a person if it can't be kicked in the genitals.

[Mamadea]

04:46 AM on 01/26/2012

He believes banks and corporations are people.

Wonder what he thinks of "real people".

[Barbara Brown Baulding]

05:41 PM on 01/25/2012

Question for willard - will this be the last time that you will run for presiident?

[morphyous]

03:33 PM on 01/25/2012

"Stick a fork in him, he's done", that saying, seems to apply to good ol' Mitt .

[dil123]

02:40 PM on 01/25/2012

It would be laughable if it wasn't so tragic. Does Mitt the Rich understand ANYTHING about real people? Not the banks, not multinational companies, but regular, everyday people who get up in the morning, take their kids to school, fight traffic and go to a job (if their lucky enough to have one). This man is BEYOND the pale. He knows nothing!!! He especially knows nothing about good old bread and butter economics. He would do something like short sell the country for the profit, because it would be a good business deal, I can't believe anyone would think he'd be a good president. Wake up repubs. this is the man you want to vote in!! How is he looking out for you? If your not a multimillionaire you need not apply for the republican party....they don't have your best interest at hand.

[workinguy]

02:19 PM on 01/25/2012

"Well, the banks aren't bad people. They're just overwhelmed right now."

ROFL....you just cannot make this stuff up. The only thing banks have been overwhelmed with is A) covering up their F.raud and B) paying off institutional investors for securities, mortgage, and accounting F.raud so they don't go to court and have to open up documents, e-mails, transactions, etc. that clearly shows the F.raud.

[boomcat44]

02:14 PM on 01/25/2012

He just can't help himself.
It's like he just walks around looking for the biggest stick he can find to pick up and smack himself in the face with.

[Femfelis]

01:37 PM on 01/25/2012

I guess I'll believe that banks aren't bad people when I see one walk into a drugstore to buy a bottle of aspirin for its--er, his?--headache.

Really now, Mitt. Were you raised by a barn? Sorry. I mean, by a chalet? Or a parking garage, maybe (valet parking, of course)?

[dvncmdy]

02:14 PM on 01/25/2012

Really....I get so tired of structures being classified as people. Those bathrooms, you gotta love 'em.....they actually flush all the cr@p away. Now those are great folks, those bathrooms

[Femfelis]

02:36 PM on 01/25/2012

The clean ones, yes. Dirty bathrooms just aren't exposed to good work habits, and so they wind up full of filth and are too ignorant and lazy to clean themselves. It follows that associating with these is usually bad for one's health.

[Michael Sandy]

01:05 PM on 01/25/2012

Please, Romney didn't take Obama "out of context". Taking the "McCain said" out of a comment isn't "out of context" any more than taking the word NOT out of a sentence takes it "out of context". Romney flat out misquoted Obama.

Out of context is implying someone likes to fire people as a boss when he SAYS he likes to fire people as a consumer. Of course, that isn't MUCH better. Lots of people in the service industry can speak of costumers who ask for unreasonable stuff to try to get them fired.

[RCnDC]

12:22 PM on 01/25/2012

Oh.. the little people.... the little people..

[mrJJ]

10:29 AM on 01/25/2012

Romney Collects More In Donations From The Five Biggest Banks Than All Other Candidates Combined

Mitt Romney has been leading the way in the 2012 presidential race when it comes to donations from Wall Street, pulling in millions from the financial sector since he launched his campaign. And the industry’s favor for Romney comes across even more when looking at just the five biggest banks in the U.S.: JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs

In fact, as McClatchy News noted, Romney has received more in donations from employees of the nation’s five biggest banks than all of the other presidential candidates combined:

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/01/24/410080/romney-donations-five-biggest-banks/?mobile=nc

[Tom Joad]

10:23 AM on 01/25/2012

...not long before he utters "well, then, let them eat cake!"...

[ElizabethRoo]

10:13 AM on 01/25/2012

Mitt simply can't keep his foot out of his mouth.