Mitt Romney's recent track record of making inappropriate comments has come to an insurmountable head. His failure to correctly shield the wicked things crossing his mind from our ears seem genetic, as the video of classically unfiltered Mitt can destroy the presidential hopeful's campaign just as happened to his father's botched-via-foot-in-mouth campaign several decades ago.
Mother Jones first received this video from a source who attended a Romney fundraiser in Boca Raton, Fla. David Corn posted this video and we can all sit in shock as Romney reveals what he thinks about his perceived voter base that will vote for President Obama.
In the video, someone in the crowd asked Governor Romney how he plans to win in November. Without hesitation, Romney quickly stated his true feelings about Americans who he considers poor and unlikely to pay taxes:
There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it. That that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. These are people who pay no income tax.
At first look and consideration, it seems Governor Mitt Romney goes on to say what he thinks about any person who needs help from the government, who may need and deserve to have Medicare, who are college students from working class to poor families, who is a veteran of the army and relies on TRICARE and subsidy to provide for their families and themselves while they defend this nation. Is Mitt Romney calling all these people irresponsible?
My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.
Does this mean in Mitt Romney's eyes, at least 47 percent of Americans are quite possibly worthless degenerates who will never take personal responsibility and care for their own lives, no matter what encouragement Mitt may try to give to them?
First instinct on answering that question would seem yes, but in what will now be called a classic Romney maneuver, the candidate may also frustrate his own voting base. David A. Graham at The Atlantic asks the great question: "Where Are the 47 percent of Americans Who Pay No Income Taxes?" The American Tax Foundation breaks the answer down in quite simple fashion.
In one impressive flap of the lips, Romney has again made himself seem elitist and out-of-touch with everyday Americans. Yes, there are many who do not pay taxes but are wonderful people. These Americans are hardly irresponsible and definitely care about their personal lives.
But the most shocking and peculiar thing about Romney's statement, and perhaps he was just ignorant of the facts, is that most people not paying income taxes are from red states. These are the people who would probably be voting for Romney, not Obama.
It will be interesting to hear how Romney and his colleagues coyly respond to this amazing video that basically shows one of the GOP presidential candidate's most major faults: He's a flip-flopping opportunist whose words always catch up with him. Romney may also suffer from amnesia, as he always forgets about how he gamed a $10 million dollar federal bailout for Bain Capital in 1993. Some irresponsible entitlement-state Americans may just see that $10 million handout as mooching.
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 |
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| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Electoral Votes (270 to win) |
332 | 206 |
| Obama | Romney | |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 65,899,660 | 60,932,152 |
| Percent | 51.1% | 47.2% |
| Democrats* | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Current Senate | 53 | 47 |
| Seats gained or lost | +2 | -2 |
| New Total | 55 | 45 |
| Democrats | Republicans | |
|---|---|---|
| Seats won | 201 | 234 |
If Romney gets in there, it is going to be even worse. If anything, he is more on the side of the roaches than Bush was. In fact, he is a bit of a 'roach himself. If you don't believe me, check out the video "How Did Mitt Romney Get So Obscenely Rich?" by Robert Reich. It is factually accurate and detailed in a way that any objective person can judge for him/her self.
There is one BIG problem with the article. The polling data he cites is data that sampled opinion BEFORE the Mother Jones Article on the 17th.
The most recent of the Polls that Karl cites was a Gallup poll from the 17th. However it samples opinion from the previous several days as does Gallup's most recent poll which he doesn't cite shows a tie, but draws on data going back to the 13th. Rove also cherry picks the polls. He completely ignores the Pew poll of the 16th which gives Obama an 8 point lead.
He was not saying that every person in the group is all of the things on the list. Nor was he saying that everyone who is in those groups will not vote for him.
Had he said instead:
"All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are [doctors] who are [lawyers], who believe in [creationism] . . .
He isn't saying that everyone in the 47 percent is a Lawyer doctor who believes in creationism. Nor is he saying that no doctor is outside of that set.
Both candidates are only running ads in 10-12 swing states.
Neither Candidate is "worried" about how the other 38 states vote.
I suspect the writers of all these articles realize this, they just think they've cleverly got Romney in a Gotchya.
So, if Romney feels that it is not the responsibility of democratic government to care for its citizens, then what is the responsibility, or even the purpose, of that government? If the government is not a government for the people, then what?
Your article hammered Mitt over a goofy statement he made to a group of contributors in what he thought was a private meeting. I think it is sad that a candidate may be destroyed for by a "spy" whose only reason for being is that private meeting was to find one word that was out of line. Do you really think the media would make such a big deal if Obama made a similar statement? That is my most important point.
With the U-6 currently at 14.7 percent and with over $16 trillion in debt, Mitt will still be receiving my vote and I am a registered Independent.
when Americans were not dependent upon government, What a glorious free market time that was.
We were free of all financial regulation, it did not matter that desperation ruled as the stock market crashed, and banks closed never to reopen their doors. There was no intrusive FDIC to guarantee bank accounts, so in the time it takes the eye to blink, or the heart to beat, a lifetime of savings was wiped out. Yet, even thought we were free of regulation, businesses failed, jobs were lost, homes and farms were foreclosed, and dreams were swept away.
As it should be, those who could not take personal responsibility and care for their lives, such as the old and disabled, literally died in the street from starvation. Unfortunately, they were too weak to wait for hours on breadlines at soup kitchens for a meal. World War One veterans, who had lost their homes, set up an encampment in Washington. They were calling for the bonus they had been promised after the war. They believed that they were victims. Rightfully, instead of being honored, they were brutally attacked and expelled by other soldiers. No leeches here. Hundreds of thousands homeless men, women, and children traveled from town to town, in open boxcars on the rails, and falling apart jalopies looking for work. Any job, at any wage, just to put a scrap of bread on the table and end the relentless hunger that consumed them.
There are more people collecting from the US Government now than ever before. Whether it be food stamps, unemployment insurance or disability. The fact is that with $16 trillion in debt, it can no longer be afforded. Although his remarks were crass, they were true. In this political game, he will not earn many votes of whom depend on the system. With that in mind along with the U-6 currently at 14.7 percent, my vote as an Independent will still go to Romney.
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I agree that we need to cut spending. Scapegoating people in the piecewise fashion Romney seems to do is not the way to fix our economy.
For healthcare, and I say this as a fiscal conservative, we need it to be universal. I will not let anyone convince me a child, an elderly person and anyone in between should have to suffer through disease, illness, a cold or needing medicine if they do not have health insurance. I have trouble accepting that unless you can afford hospital ICU medical stays and clinical treatment that exceed millions of dollars, you have a less likely chance of surviving cancer than someone who is rich and has an excellent private heath insurance program.
Just focusing on healthcare, for instance, we can see one problem with Obamacare: lack of structure. There is a tendency of hospitals to overcharge for service. There is a tendency for primary care doctors to refer their patients to hospitals at the end of a shift. There is a tendency for people with state-issued, federally funded insurance, to visit an ER over a primary care doctor. For each transaction, we're talking about $3 - $4000 dollars difference in price of care. There needs to be a public safetey net for healthcare, but it needs to be cast out responsibly, with oversight and instruction.
There is nothing bad about Americans helping Americans. We just need to use wisdom. Destroying what makes this country great and what restored us from near failure is not going to get us anywhere. Healthcare issues are just the tip of the iceberg on how responsible reform is the way to go in insuring all Americans enjoy a great quality of life, while at the same time watching our expenditures decrease.
Romney seems to just be going after quick scapegoats and not really giving a solid, realistic plan on how to restore America to a higher place of excellence.