Mitt Romney – Mr Nice Guy’s mask slips, possibly terminally
Whilst no one with any commonsense would argue that the size of the American Government needs to be trimmed to match more closely the productivity of the country, an interesting attitude from the man who would be President for all Americans – and not just those worth millions and billions of dollars – is now on public display for all to see.
As AFP report from Washington, Mitt Romney’s campaign was rocked Monday by a secretly filmed video in which the Republican tells rich Republican Party donors that nearly half of Americans are government-dependent ‘victims’ who dodge taxes.
President Barack Obama’s team quickly seized on the film, released by the liberal Mother Jones magazine, as proof that the multi-millionaire Romney had written off half the nation, and was not fit to serve as president.
The video was the latest blow to the Romney team as it fought off reports that the Republican’s White House bid is in disarray, as he struggles to close a small but growing and consistent gap to Obama in national polls and battleground states.
In excerpts from the video, which has emerged 50 days before the November 6 election, Romney is seen to say in a closed-door, private fundraiser that 47 percent of Americans will vote for the president “no matter what.”
“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.”
“These are people who pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
I find this attitude astonishing, but it is great to see the bullsh*t stripped from the carefully-posed performances that have characterised the uber-rich billionaire’s campaign so far. Here, laid bare for all to see (except those who don’t wish to) is the reality of the new ultra-right Republican party’s attitude to the American people.
Of course, if Americans are in receipt of Government care, it doesn’t mean that they are entirely dependent on the Government. It can be anything from medical support, education and retraining, to the more desperate needs of unemployment benefit, to food staples delivered (via food stamps) to people who would otherwise, literally, be in danger of starving, starving. In the richest country in the world.
Wellthisiswhatithink asks: Is it beyond the wit and ability of the right to understand many millions of people receiving some sort of welfare support are EX tax payers who are now GETTING THEIR TAXES BACK AGAIN – loaned to the Government to do with whatever it wishes – to survive in a tough period? Frankly, I would have thought that small government right wingers would approve of that concept?
“President Romney” is, thank goodness, looking increasingly unlikely. Because increasingly he looks like a buffoon, and not a very nice one at that. As one Bloomberg correspondent put it today:
You can mark my prediction now: A secret recording from a closed-door Mitt Romney fundraiser, released today by Mother Jones, has killed Mitt Romney’s campaign for President.
On the tape, Romney explains that his electoral strategy involves writing off nearly half the country as unmoveable Obama voters. As Romney explains, 47 percent of Americans “believe that they are victims.” He laments: “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
So what’s the upshot? “My job is not to worry about those people,” he says. He also notes, describing President Obama’s base, “These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax.”
This is an utter disaster for Romney.
Romney already has trouble relating to the public and convincing people he cares about them. Now, he’s been caught on video saying that nearly half the country consists of hopeless losers.
Romney has been vigorously denying President Obama’s claims that his tax plan would raise taxes on the middle class. But now, he’s been caught on video suggesting that low- and middle-income Americans are undertaxed.
(That one is especially problematic given the speculation about what’s on Mitt’s unreleased pre-2010 tax returns.)
Corn tells us there are more embarrassing moments on segments of the video he hasn’t released yet. For example, Romney jokes that he’d be more likely to win the election if he were Hispanic. And he makes some awkward comments about whether he was born with a “silver spoon” in his mouth.
But those are survivable. The really disastrous thing is the clip about “victims,” and the combination of contempt and pity that Romney shows for anyone who isn’t going to vote for him.
Romney is the most opaque presidential nominee since Nixon, and people have been reduced to guessing what his true feelings are.
This video provides an answer: He feels that you’re a loser. It’s not an answer that wins elections.
Related articles
- I Thought I Was Doing Pretty Well, Till Mitt Romney Told Me I Was a Loser… (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)
- Mitt Romney’s missed shot at President Barack Obama (miamiherald.com)
- Romney cancels Sunday event in Pueblo, Colo. (kansascity.com)
- Michael Moore: people should start to practice saying the words ‘President Romney’ (theblaze.com)
- Obama, Romney courting key states, constituencies (kansascity.com)
- Obama Launches Aggressive Effort Against Mitt Romney In Battleground States (huffingtonpost.com)
- Obama Explains in 60 Seconds Why You’re Better Off Today than You Were 4 Years Ago (politicususa.com)
- As Mass. governor, Romney took tough welfare line (miamiherald.com)
- Mitt Romney’s Blatant Lies About Welfare (theroot.com)
- Clinton smacks down Romney welfare lie (maddowblog.msnbc.com)
Well, This Is What I Think 
I’m beginning to think that you might be on the Obama’s payroll.
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Passion and belief are always worth more than money, Paul.
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Passion and belief? My arse. I am so sick to the back teeth of this continual stream of shite that you have flowing into my computer. This one even appeared in my work one. All you bang on about is fairness to the people who continually contribute nothing to society. I am not talking about the elderly who have done their bit, the genuinely sick or disabled. I am talking about the millions who opt out and just suck on the government tit. You condemn Romney for only paying 13% – when are you going to trawl the internet and start some comment on the crackheads who pay 0%?? You make me want to spew with this stupidity. If I can find a way of blocking this garbage that is what I am going to do.
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I suggest you play the lovely Vaughan Williams music on today’s other post.
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Well as part of the 47% Mr. Romney is going on about I can attest to the fact I pay more as a % of my income than he does. I do not ‘suck’ on the government teet and never have. I am not a crackhead or any other type of ‘head’.
In fact, I top out my SS contribution every year and have done so for more than 20 years.
There is no person in this nation, not a single one that doesn’t contribute taxes of some type at some level. That is a fallacy that should be corrected. The poor contribute more in taxes as a percentage of their income than any other group.
It would behoove you and every other person that believes there is an inequity of the sort you are proposing to do some homework rather than simply repeating the standard Conservative meme.
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Well said Val – the implication that all benefit receivers are leeches is a disgrace.
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Couple of points, Yolly:
Romney was talking about the segment of voters he needs to concentrate on in order to win. That’s the 10% or so that polls say are undecided. He was making the point that he can’t spend any energy in the campaign talking to people who are dedicated to reelecting the President–that’s the 47% or so he was referring to.
He said that in the campaign, it isn’t his job to try to convince them otherwise. He was not saying that looking after them wouldn’t be part of his job as President. Recall his statement much earlier in the campaign, which was also taken out of context: he said he was worried about the middle class, but not worried about the poor because they already have a safety net of services and support. “If there are holes in the net, then we’ll fix them.” But he pointed out, the middle class doesn’t have that safety net.
Also, he never said anyone was dodging income taxes, which would mean that they were illegally evading taxes. He was referring to the fact that for the first time, around half of working Americans legitimately pay no federal income taxes. That is according to the Internal Revenue Service statistics. If you’re already at a zero federal tax rate, talk of lowering the rates across the board will not resonate with you, will it?
FYI, I am a registered Independent, and have yet to decide for whom I’ll cast my vote. To that end, I try to listen attentively to what’s actually said and meant, and the context of it. Both campaigns and their dedicated supporters, as always, seize on tidbits that make the other guy look bad. I suppose that’s politics. But I prefer trying to suss the actual arguments and in-context statements, and weed out the spin.
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What I find objectionable, James, is the implication that ANYONE receiving government support of any kind are automatically “victims” – read, losers – whereas many of them will be ex tax payers or as Val points out, current taxpayers! He also conveniently forgets that one very large group of non income tax payers are service people. Then again, he forgot them in his convention speech, too …
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If by service people you mean those serving in the military, they do pay income taxes, both at the federal and, if appropriate, at the state level.
I agree that categorizing anyone who receives government benefits as a victim or any of the other epithets is not only objectionable, but disingenuous, ill-advised, and flat out stupid.
Any program, government or otherwise, will have abusers and frauds. But the vast majority are people who legitimately qualify for the programs and genuinely need the help. And while I can’t back the following up with a reference, I believe that the majority of participants aren’t “chronic,” but instead, work their way out of whatever circumstance qualified them for the program in the first place. Obviously this doesn’t include the disabled or similarly situated people, but those are the very ones that society ought to take care of anyway.
That said, I also think that Romney is correct in thinking that virtually none of the people who survive on government programs are likely to vote for him. That’s simple common sense: if your on that thin an edge, then odds are you won’t be voting for anyone that you see as a threat to the life jacket.
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Ah, I was advised that serving military personnel did not pay income tax. I am glad for the correction.
As an occasional political strategist, I think Romney is foolish to consider all receivers of benefits ‘ironed on” to the Democrats. Some may consider his brand of capitalism to offer more hope for an upturn in the economy and thus help them in that manner. His general point had some validity, but the devil is in the detail. In this case the detail was the sneering manner in which he made the remarks, and his characterisation of welfare recipients was stupid. Anyhow, after today’s gaffe over Palestine/Israel his performance against Jewish voters will worsen even further. A long uphill climb for him from here.
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Truly, we even pay taxes on our taxes. Unemployment payments are taxable income, Social Security retirement benefits are taxable income, I don’t think food stamps are taxable but they are paid on debit cards that charge a fee for every transaction (that generally goes to Chase or in a few states some other big bank). I don’t know about Social Security disability, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s also taxable income. I doubt whether Willard knows much about taxes.
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