Why the Mittster is having such a hard time getting elected UPDATED
It’s because Mitt Romney already has written off 47 percent of this country’s electorate! No wonder they say he has a hard time connecting with average folks.
And be assured, if he wins election, the Mittster’s not going to be representing them. It kind of leaves you wondering if he’s going to make them pay, huh?
Update: Mother Jones has more excerpts of the video are here. Below is Romney’s response at a hastily called press conference Monday evening.
(H/T to Americablog, and Talking Points Memo)
September 17, 2012 - 6:03 PM
I thought 0bama taking credit for getting Bin Laden was supposed to solve everything, but Al Queda/Taliban is stronger than ever. 0bama is going to have to answer why he’s allowed the Middle East to go to hell while they laugh at him. His continual blaming of this obscure unseen movie is making him look like a fool.
It’s all a lack of a strong and forceful plan, people. Bush had it. This idiot obviously doesn’t.
Romney is doing well, at this point in time, as a challenger to a sitting president. Obama has demonstrated the ability to give taxpayer money and bennies to each of his constituent group, a very big advantage. However Clinton raised the key campaign issue: It’s the numbers Stupid: Click to see “the numbers”:
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http://roanokeslant.blogspot.com/2012/09/clinton-its-numbers-stupid.html
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When I thought he couldn’t be worse, he does it again. How dare he assume this about 50% of America? Talking about American exceptionalism in public and then this garbage? He can’t even manage to run a credible campaign, how could he run a country? And speaking of tax evasion, where are the same 10 years of taxes from Mitt that he required from Ryan? He is done.
What can you say about a guy that needs an elevator for his limos?
Where’s the tax returns, Mitt?
#1 “I thought 0bama taking credit for getting Bin Laden was supposed to solve everything…”
Hmm, I wonder where you got that idea. Not from Obama or anybody on this blog.
Amazing. The GOP should have kicked him out at the convention
“I thought 0bama taking credit for getting Bin Laden was supposed to solve everything…”
Obviously you are behind on your current-events reading. Didn’t you know that 15 percent of GOP voters in a recent Ohio poll give credit for the killing Bin Laden to ROMNEY? I’d bet that many would also say they believe Santa Claus is gay.
LOL!
“It’s because Mitt Romney already has written off 47 percent of this country’s electorate! ”
Yep. He’s written off the 47% who pay no federal taxes. Why would the freeloaders want to stop the gravy train?
“The GOP should have kicked him out at the convention”
All this for only $19.95! But wait, there’s more! Let’s see how the “liberal” media spins this, if they even cover it.
“Yep. He’s written off the 47% who pay no federal taxes. Why would the freeloaders want to stop the gravy train?”
Just imagine if McDonalds or Walmart tried to attract customers with that brilliant strategy. They’d be out of business before you could say Jack Robinson.
Where are are the jobs Obama? Where’s the economic recovery? Where’s the Ammo for the US Marines in oversea embassies? husein obama is a disgrace and a coward.
Dan,
You beat NBC to the punch on this one. NBC just posted this video on Facebook and ask for comments. Way to go!!!
We pay taxes. We aren’t on welfare and never have been. And we’re voting for Obama, along with a lot of other people in the same situation. This kind of dismissive, sneering attitude might play well to the people who were going to vote for him anyway but it sure doesn’t make him likable to anyone else.
“Just imagine if McDonalds or Walmart tried to attract customers with that brilliant strategy. They’d be out of business before you could say Jack Robinson. ”
Nope. But Walmart would go out of business if they gave away their products and services for free. And that is why the government(and not Walmart) is broke.
I see that Ryan spoke at Liberty University at the values voter summit. Of course the Falwells don’t want Democrats at LU. What kind of values is this? The Falwells must think only Republicans have values. This is not the way Christians should act. If they are Christians their work does not prove it. I am not sure if LU stands for Liberty University or Liberals Unwelcome.
Amen, Angela. From what I read on these blogs, the non-taxpaying or employed masses definitely seem to lean to the right.
Rmoney’s a mean spirited jerk wad. I look forward to seeing him embarrassed by Obama during the debate.
#11 Now maloof is spreading the ammunition lie.
The most condescending, arrogant, out of touch attitude for a Presidential candidate in American History. Even Richard nixon, and the glowering prince of darkness VP candidate, Dick Cheney, can’t top this one. If it gets the play it should in the mainstream media, The Mittster
is DOA. Talk about a maccaca moment!
Dang..
If I vote for Obama, I guess I’m one of the 47 percent who pay no income tax. Who knew, now if only someone would tell the IRS, cause that’s not the way it’s working out at our house. We have to work and pay income taxes, apparently at a higher rate than the Mittmiester.
As much as I enjoy metaphorically clubbing the right like baby harp seals, my swinging arm is getting a little sore after this week. Mitt and chedderbomb’s campaign is starting to make McCain’s ‘08 effort seem like a well oiled machine. This is one of the most awkward and disjointed campaigns I’ve ever witnessed. Why didn’t they just hire a plumber instead of a campaign manger so it wouldn’t be so painful to watch?
Somebody has got to institute some damage control soon or the Koch Bros. are gonna’ start donating to Planned Parenthood just to cull out the right wing herd out and start over with a new base. This is just beyond pathetic; he’s doing everything he possibly can to alienate the independents who everyone knew all along was going to decide this election.
Video now top story on CNN, CBS, NBC, ABC. Could this be the Mittster’s Macaca moment?
I guess Obama can just quit campaigning and do some actual work for a change.
Obviously you are behind on your current-events reading. Didn’t you know that 15 percent of GOP voters in a recent Ohio poll give credit for the killing Bin Laden to ROMNEY?
I would bet 25% of Democrats think 0bama is Aunt Jemima’s grandson.
GM is alive!….. And the US taxpayer is dead!
Game. Set. Match.
This may help explain why Mitt is having trouble.
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/romney-stevens-campaign-problems/2012/09/17/id/451974
Just watched Mitt mumble his way through an explanation. Smell the cooked goose? Can you say paybacks are hell?
“Somebody has got to institute some damage control soon or the Koch Bros. are gonna’ start donating to Planned Parenthood just to cull out the right wing herd out and start over with a new base.”
Steve C, I know you like your job and your all-American capitalist bosses think the world of you. But man, you are depriving America of billions of laughs they could get if only you wrote the lines for late-night comedians.
Fascinating stuff. Much of a presidential candidate’s campaign is built around comparing their opponent to “worse than Jimmy Carter,” and now Carter’s grandson delivers the coup de grace.
Karma bites!
I’m realizing that there should have been another excuse on Saturday’s list of what regressives might be saying should Rmoney lose, and it might be the most likely one now. It’s that “it was Romney’s fault that we lost”. That primal “group blames an individual” impulse will not only focus the blame on a single factor, making it easy to grasp (always a plus for the Howdyshells of the world), but it will also avoid any thoughts of wider problems, particularly in the case of downballot losses.
On the other hand, since they didn’t ALL blame Felix Maccacawitz for costing the regressives control of the Senate in ’06, maybe Rmoney will retain political influence on the scale of Sarah Palin’s current influence. After all, as with Palin’s intellect, Rmoney insists his strong core of severe conservatism is unvarying, and unlike participation in Bain insider partnerships, he promises that it offers regressives something that money CAN buy.
Warren,
My prediction is that this is going to be known far and wide as Mitt Romney’s “Little People Moment.” That’s how it will be referred to in the years that come: Mitt’s frank acknowledgement that the little people — 47 percent of the population — simply don’t matter.
As much as I dislike Romney, it’s difficult to watch someone self-destruct before your very eyes. I felt the same watching Ross Perot address the NAACP in his infamous “you people” speech. He never recovered, Mitt won’t either.
The rabid raving racist strikes again!
I would bet 25% of Democrats think 0bama is Aunt Jemima’s grandson.
Comment by Suzie — September 17, 2012 @ 10:13 pm
Anyone recall “narcissistic entitlement” from the Vance Packard book The Status Seekers? Didn’t think so–it’s ancient history and could be required reading about now.
Mitt Romney’s problem, as this video shows, is that he’s bought into the SAME meme expressed in comments here frequently by certain RWers: that almost half the people pay no taxes. I have to admit I’m just a little tickled by the fact that Mitt’s been tripped up, to put it mildly, by that neat little nugget certain RWers are so proud of spouting.
We have demonstrated over and over and over again, how untrue that is. Many American workers may not pay FEDERAL INCOME TAXES, but that is because of two reasons: they earn too little to have any tax liabilty (nobody pays any federal income tax any on the first $X,XXX of income, including millionaires) or they are eligible for various tax credits, pushed for and enacted by conservatives, such as the child tax credit and the tuition tax credit.
To be fair to Romney, he said “47 percent of Americans pay no income tax.” But those people do pay uber-regressive federal payroll (Social Security) taxes, at a rate that’s effectively higher than ANY millionaire like Mitt. And they pay Medicare taxes at the regressively same rate as Mitt. Ditto for federal gas taxes and excise taxes.
But we are not done. The poor pay state fuel taxes, and state sales taxes at the same rate as any millionaire. Most of them pay local real estate taxes, either on homes they own, or via the rent they pay landlords. Here in Virginia, they pay personal property taxes on vehicles, and utility tax, and meals taxes at the same rate as anyone else.
The poor indeed pay taxes. And in many cases, when you add those all together they’re paying a HIGHER rate than some millionaires pay.
But Mitt’s job is “not to worry about those people” — or so he says. Amazing.
Stay tuned. Rumor is Mother Jones has more.
Romney told the truth. Everybody knows it, and it will help him. I am glad he stood by his comments. His only mistake was saying the wording wasn’t elegant. The MSM will use that to claim he’s backed off, which would imply he made a mistake.
It’s a fact that most 0bama supporters are victims of the socialist trap to keep them dependent. The fact that many of them are stupid 0prah-watchers will guarantee their dependence.
Let’s be honest. The only reason Mitt’s lead isn’t bigger is because conservatives aren’t 100% energized. We would have preferred a candidate with a history of unflagging conservatism, a canddiate who would be slamming our communist president without holding back or playing nice. The Republican leadership are the folks who gave us McCain. They’re the ones who wouldn’t stand firm in the debt ceiling deal. They’re the ones who muzzled some Republicans at the convention. We would have preferred a Bachmann, a Santorum, or a Cain, but the GOP leadership backed Romney, and he’s what we’ve got. Sure we could be winning by 15 points if we had any of the first three I mentioned, even with the rabid far-left media. A seven-point landslide win is good, but we could have had a dominant 45-state 12-15 point whitewash. The American people are itching to give us that if the GOP would just let them.
That’s how it will be referred to in the years that come: Mitt’s frank acknowledgement that the little people — 47 percent of the population — simply don’t matter.
They really don’t matter in terms of having a say, or they shouldn’t in a sane world. If you aren’t a contributor to the the system, you should have to sit out the election.
There’s no way in hell an OWS slug’s vote should carry the same weight as that of someone like my husband.
@ Suzie, Oh for pity’s sake!? Again, first things you say is ’0bama’ instead of Obama. And then you call him an idiot.
If you’re going to ask for civility from liberals,you have to be able to extend it yourself. I realize at this point it’s habitual for you, but you need to work on this.
Also, if anyone is interested in attacks on embassies which is what I’m assuming you’re talking about, please see this Wikipedia article. Note how many embassy attacks happened under Bush and how many under Obama.
Also note I called him Bush and not Shrub or idiot or moron, or etc…….
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorist_attacks_on_U.S._diplomatic_facilities
The irony of this clueless comment is that pleny of 47 percenters vote republican. There’s a whole class of low income people who won’t vote for Obama because they think he’s a Muslim, or because he isn’t really an American, or because he’s a socialist. He was apparently speaking to County Club set. It remains to be seen if he has a different message for the rural, poor fundamentalist church pew set who are fearful of the fictitious portrayal of Obama
I’m with Henry. Time to unite the country and get to work mr. President. Oh wait who am I kidding, he hates business and anyone that makes more money than him. Same old same ole country division. Bye bye miss American pie.
That ANY politician would be so dismissive and arrogant, even in private with like minded money bags, is offensive to this nation, to our founders, to our allies, to the voters. That was literally a candid moment and it shows what Romney is and what he stands for in ways no speech ever could.
Anyone who votes for Romney is seriously ignorant about what makes this nation great or how you maintain that.
How many of that “47 percent” are retirees? Disabled Veterans? College students? Working Poor? It is all well and good and flag waving when you need them though isn’t it? I do not give a tinker’s damn how rich he is, Romney is scum. That was pure Fascism, as is that whole “makers” and “takers” mentality that the TP/GOP has going on. How far that party has fallen.
Steve C is prescient! “Billionaire industrialist David Koch, who is helping steer millions of dollars to elect Mitt Romney and congressional Republicans, on Thursday told POLITICO he disagrees with the GOP’s stance on gay marriage and believes the U.S. needs to consider raising taxes to balance the budget.”
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/80483.html#ixzz26p2oDUpr
Even his supporters know this tent is folding in on itself!
Bottom line: Romney is right. 47% avoid paying federal income taxes. Most are poor but some are rich.
Therefore, the Left had to jettison their “Fair Share” and
“paying taxes is patriotic” arguments. The Left has a real quandary trying to find a meme for this issue.
If the 47% paid just 5% in federal income taxes instead of nothing or getting a free government check, the deficit would probably go away.
Many years ago when I was 11 years old, my older brother & I were caught by our father & grandfather doing something we weren’t supposed to be doing. My father took my brother into one room & my grandfather took me to a different room to question us about what we had done. My brother & I had previously cooked up a story in case we got caught. As my grandfather was talking with me it became apparent that I was having trouble remembering the story my brother & I had cooked up. My grandfather looked me in the eye and said, “Remember boy that you don’t have to remember what you say if you just tell the truth.”
Mitt Romney has told so many different stories to so many different audiences in order to get the nomination and he hopes to get elected president, that he can’t remember what he has said. However, moments like the one caught in this brief video most likely caught him in a rare moment of truth. Now he is trying to cover his tracks like my brother & I did so many years ago. It didn’t work then and it won’t work now.
Mittster didn’t think he had to be president of EVERYONE…just his buddies in the .5%
This is over. The next two months will be painful.
Looks like Romney is using a “Southern Strategy,” of sorts, albeit disparaging the South and its voters:
“His [Romney's] problem is that those people are disproportionately in red states — that is, states that tend to vote Republican…”
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/09/where-are-the-47-of-americans-who-pay-no-income-taxes/262499/
Looks like Romney has stepped into, what can one call it? Can anyone say, “massive pile of large farm animal fecal matter”?
35. Dan, you are so absolutely correct. But on top of that, Mitt sees it as his duty to “broaden the Base” which simply means pouring more taxes on these same people. This 47% are the elderly, the young, those making less than $100,000 a year as a family with children, (especially Catholics who often have more children, Suzie) and college students, single moms, and public servants such as police, fire, and teachers, waiters, blue collar workers, and lower management. These are the 47% that Mitt is euphemistically talking about. He wants everyone to think it is the lazy folks who sell drugs and get food stamps, but that is just not the reality. It is the elderly who live off social security and pensions. It is the single mom school teacher living off of $48,000 and less trying to support her kids, it is the young person starting out at minimum wage. It is the folks that I see daily come home from their first job, change clothes and head off to their second minimum wage job just to make ends meet. (I would love to talk to them about their schedule, but all they have time for is a hello and I have to hurry so I won’t be late seven says a week.)
Romney knows who these people are. He knows that they are hard working employed middle class. But he does not care about them because they cannot contribute to his campaign. He does not care about them because they cannot lobby Congress. He does not care about them because he represents credit card companies who want to take advantage of these citizens, therefore they want to remove Dodd Frank. He simply has no use for the middle wage earner; they are not his people.
A vote for Romney means lower wages for those families making $80,000 or less as he cuts minimum wages, shuts off employee benefits and pensions, raises income taxes, and cuts medicare, social security, social programs such as medicaid and food stamps, kills labor unions, lays off more teachers, firemen, and police, and forces state and local governments to raise RE, PPT, and state taxes to pay for the cuts from the federal government while giving the States more and more of the responsibilities for the poor and vulnerable.
Mitt has plainly told us in this speech what he believes. If the middle class votes for him, they will get exactly what has promised, the shaft.
Romney’s campaign team would have been well served to have sent him down to the Cayman’s where he keeps all of his millions of dollars stashed that he pays either NO TAXES on or a 13% income tax rate on, until around November 1st.
I typically don’t agree with Bortz, but here I agree. It was what, “inartful” to say the least, but he isn’t far off at all.
http://www.boortz.com/weblogs/nealz-nuze/2012/sep/18/and-just-what-was-wrong-what-mitt-romney-said/
Romney’s hastily called 10 PM press event to try to head off the damage done by this video just made it worse. It was another typuical politician’s apology. “I’m sorry for the way I said it. But I meant every word of it.”
Romney is doomed on this issue now. He only has teo ways to respond. One is “I didn’t mean it. I was just telling the donors whatn they wanted to hear to get them to give me money and support my capaign.” The other is
“I stand by those comments. They represent what I really believe.”
Either way, he loses.
“they (the poor) pay personal property taxes on vehicles”….
Interesting that the Republicans cut this tax on the poor and the liberals (Cranwell et al) fought it tooth and nail. The libs have never seen a tax that they don’t love.
More good commentary. This was was from four months ago? Hold out until it looks dire for the cause then distract.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2012/09/rodeo_clown_media_frantically_distract_from_obamas_foreign_policy_disaster.html
#23 “I would bet 25% of Democrats think 0bama is Aunt Jemima’s grandson.”
Come on Suzie’s not racist. She didn’t call Obama “monkey boy” this time.
#1 Actually Al Qaeda is not “stronger than ever”, in fact they are a weakened, fragmented skeleton of their former selves and much of that has to do with American intervention. Even in Yemen where they had been attempting to establish a more permanent presence, if not a home base, they have been, with US assistance disrupted, dislodged and weakened:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2123810,00.html
As long as they are around they will be a threat, but they are far weaker than thy once were. Of course the irony is that many who are opposed to our intervention against them are those who would just love to label Obama as weak simply because they do not want him to be succeed. Obama’s pursuit of Al Qaeda has been relentless, far more so than his predecessor.
Is Mitt trying to piss off the states that DO support him?
“In fact, according to a map published by the Tax Foundation, eight of the top ten states with the lowest income-tax liability are the heart of Romney country — the deep south. The only exceptions are Florida, a battleground state, and New Mexico, which leans toward Obama. Meanwhile, most of the states with the lowest level of nonpayers are Obama states.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/mitt-romney-caught-on-video-tape/2012/09/17/38578a5e-012f-11e2-b257-e1c2b3548a4a_blog.html
So, it turns out that one actually find out the states that have high percentages of folks that don’t pay federal income taxes, and despite Mitt’s claims to the contrary, he does, indeed have a lot of that supposed 47 percent in his corner… Or did. It’s hard to say what folks will be thinking as they process this latest political assertion from Mr. Romney.
Behold…. the states with the highest number of moochers…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/18/mitt-romney-will-probably-get-95-electoral-votes-from-moocher-states-obama-will-probably-get-5/?hpid=z2
Koch threw Mitt under the bus!
Are you sure the taxes Koch believes should be raised AREN’T those on poor folks?
#40 “There’s no way in hell an OWS slug’s vote should carry the same weight as that of someone like my husband.”
In the end, a poor OWSer doesn’t carry the same weight as your imaginary husband with money and you know it, toots. But they do each have just one vote on election day. If you don’t like it, move somewhere else.
Romney’s ’47%’ – Washington’s tax break obsession to blame:
“In fact, the main reason so many Americans end up with no federal income tax liability is Congress’ addiction to tax breaks — tax breaks both Democrats and Republicans have supported.”
“Over the years, lawmakers have increased the number of non-payers by enacting reams of tax breaks — such as tax credits for work, kids and education.
The Bush tax cuts, first passed more than a decade ago, expanded many of them. Indeed, if the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire the number of non-payers could drop significantly, according to Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center.”
http://money.cnn.com/2012/09/18/pf/taxes/romney-income-tax/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
A commenter wrote: “The only reason Mitt’s lead isn’t bigger is because conservatives aren’t 100% energized. We would have preferred a candidate with a history of unflagging conservatism…”
From this aforemention post: http://blogs.roanoke.com/dancasey/2012/09/the-post-of-the-day-predicts-apres-election-sour-grapes/
“2. ‘The GOP would have won in a landslide if they’d nominated a “true conservative” for president.’”
It seems that Warren’s prediction for after-election sour grapes is panning out, but it seems the sour grapes are being harvested *before* the election!
terps,
Gilmore won the governorship because of his clever and still unfulfilled promise to abolish with the car tax. It was a tax that Richmond didn’t see a dime of (so much for local rule) and the only way he could get it passed was to promise to refund (from the state treasury) most of the money localities would lose. It kind of like you firing your child from his or her lifeguard job, and promising to make up 70 percent of their lost earnings. Except to make up for what you’re now paying your kids, you cut the household groceries budget, tell your kids they can get only one haircut every four months, and they have to do with Wal-mart brand tennis shoes rather than Nikes.
In other words, the still yet-to-be-fulfilled “abolition” of the car tax hurt localities AND state government, too. I predict future Republican-controlled legislatures are going to allow it to be raised again, under the argument that it’s a local tax and those are the best kind because they’re imposed by government that closest to the people. We’ll see about that.
Don Beyer lost the governorship because he didn’t respond quickly enough to Gilmore’s clever and cynical campaign ploy. It was a “tax-cut” that mostly benefited people who regularly bought new and expensive cars. Beyer should have immediately responded that he would cut the sales tax on groceries. That way, people would save money every time they went to Kroger, rather than once a year.
Speaking of being thrown under the bus, it looks like most fo
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/18/pundits-mitt-romney-fundraiser-comments_n_1892994.html?ir=Politics&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009
Oops! That should be most conservative pundits have thrown Mitt under the bus. Sorry
In thinking of Mitt’s latest gaffe, I am reminded of a mantra often repeated by the conservatives here, and that is why should people pay more taxes than they required under the law? The wealthy take advantage of every tax credit afforded to them, so why shouldn’t the poor and the elderly do the same?
“Part of the reason so many Americans don’t pay federal income taxes is that Republicans have passed a series of very large tax cuts that wiped out the income-tax liability for many Americans. That’s why, when you look at graphs of the percent of Americans who don’t pay income taxes, you see huge jumps after Ronald Reagan’s 1986 tax reform and George W. Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. So whenever you hear that half of Americans don’t pay federal income taxes, remember: Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush helped build that. (You also see a jump after the financial crisis begins in 2008, but we can expect that to be mostly temporary.)”
“Some of those tax cuts for the poor were there to make the tax cuts for the rich more politically palatable. “Do you think we wanted to include a welfare payment to people who don’t pay taxes and call it a tax cut?” A top Bush administration official once asked me. “No. But that’s what we needed to do to get it done.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/17/romneys-theory-of-the-taker-class-and-why-it-matters/
I find corporations that make billions and pay no federal income taxes far more egregious than senior citizens, the working poor, etc not paying any.
This is just astonishing.
To add to Debbie’s thought:
The GOP tax cuts indeed affected the poor and middle class. In some cases, it save them hundreds of dollars and left their income tax liability at zero. In other cases (via the child and tuitition tax credits) it saved families a few thousand dollars, and wiped out their income tax liability or brought it down to hardly anything.
The GOP designed these things to do exactly that.
At the same time, other tax cuts, credits and loopholes created as part of the same tax-cutting packages (there was more than one) saved higher-income earners tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions of dollars. They got way way way more of the benefit — as the nation’s fiscal health declined and its borrowing increased to pay for wars, an expansion of Medicare, etc.
A lot of those savings for the rich have been rechanneled into Republican political campaigns. The lower-income families that save a few hundred bucks probably spent it on food or the gas bill.
Now, the chickens are coming home to roost, budget- and debt-wise. And the right wing is HOWLING. “Too many don’t pay taxes!” they cry, mindful that most people won’t remember that RWers were the people who set it up that way.
They want more tax cuts for themselves, while they insist the poor and middle class pay more in taxes to correct this outrageous inequity the conservatives themselves have created.
It’s fraud, and they believe they won’t get caught. The arrogance is amazing.
I guess Romney thought he was in one of those “quiet rooms”:
http://youtu.be/ismksjp10q0?t=53s
But it turns out the room wasn’t “quiet” enough.
Too funny.
Excellent points, and Romney/Ryan cannot recover IMO. I heard an Iraq veteran explaining that he was in that 47% and he dared anyone to say he was “dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them. Who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing.”! It is not going away, he stepped on too many toes with that one. Dumb, just dumb! And not at all “presidential”.
From the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks
The middle east is on fire in large part because of Obama’s failed policies. They are invading our embassies (which BTW IS an act of war) and burning our flag in the streets shouting “death to America”. I thought O was supposed to restore our “reputation around the world”. I missed your column on this subject Dan.
The US is going bankrupt(despite our resident CPA’s assessment that 16 trillion in dept is really not so bad).. Unemployment is STILL over 8%. Unemployment among blacks is 17%. Among black youth it’s 50%. Record numbers of people on food stamps and welfare. Gas, electric and food prices keep climbing.
Any employee of any business with such a dismal record (especially after promising to fix it all) would be fired yet most of you on this blog are going to vote to re-hire Obama.
One of the Brit papers has termed Romney “a sneering plutocrat” in a headline. What a perfect description.
Next up — Mitt says, “Let them eat cake!”
Another headline I saw “Mitt hits the fan”
@74 These people don’t care about the country. They just care about re-election.
Will, hence why Mother Jones dropped this from four months ago.
Mitt Romney has said he wants to see the rest of the video footage.
How the holder of the footage can not reply with “Sure, as soon as we see the rest of the tax returns” is beyond me.
Better a sneering plutocrat than a guy who parties with Jay-Z and Beyonce while our consulates are being attacked and ambassadors killed. But then again, Barack Hussein Obama did raise a lot of money that night.
52. Uptheriver – per the US census in 2010, there were 205,794,364 people in the US between 15 and 64 years of age. There were 153,516,000 working or looking for work. That means 74.6% of those of working age were working. Mitt’s numbers obviously include children and retirees
74. Will – Have you any support for saying the US is going bankrupt? I gave mine, how about the numbers and support thereof?
Do we know Mother Jones was hanging onto this for 4 months?
Yes Henry, maybe if Obama had been home in bed the embassies wouldn’t have been attacked. Good thinking.
#79 It IS hard to understand why Obama wasn’t out there patrolling the Arab world with RPGs and flamethrower at hand, Henry. I’m sure he could have saved lives.
Latest Romney video Palestinians don’t want peace.
All the talking heads are saying Romney needs to admit he was wrong and take ownership for his remarks. I don’t think he can. The neocons agree with everything he said at the fundraiser. Romney can’t walk it back without upsetting the hard right base who think he should have been saying it publicly all along. But, if he doesn’t eat some crow and say he misspoke, he will face the wrath of the voters. I don’t think shaking up the etch-a-sketch if going to fix this one.
According to news sources I saw this morning, Mother Jones just obtained the tape from the guy who made it in the past 10 days. They got it after Jimmy Carter’s grndson did a sleuthing job to find the guy who made it after seeing some small snippets of it on youtube. He then took it to Mother Jones. But all that begs the question. The issue is that Romney speaks out of one side of his mouth when he thinks he is making private comments to his millionaire donors and then says something entirely different to the voters. Whatr difference does it make if he said it 4 months ago or 4 days ago. He said i8t. That’s his attitude. Now he owns it.
“All the talking heads are saying Romney needs to admit he was wrong and take ownership for his remarks. I don’t think he can. The neocons agree with everything he said at the fundraiser. Romney can’t walk it back without upsetting the hard right base who think he should have been saying it publicly all along. But, if he doesn’t eat some crow and say he misspoke, he will face the wrath of the voters. I don’t think shaking up the etch-a-sketch if going to fix this one.”
Perhaps he’ll come out and say he was wrong, and then go to a private fundraiser and claim he wasn’t, but he had to say he was for the unwashed masses — and so he can pick off some votes from the 47 percent who pay no federal income taxes.
And then Mother Jones can have an operative there, tape the statement surreptitiously, and they can run another story, and finally — FINALLY — we all will be able to say Mitt Romney has shown consistency in ONE AREA:
That he tells people whatever he thinks they want to hear.
The Palestinian video clearly shows that he doesn’t have a clue or any viable strategy for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict except to “kick the tire down the road” and “just live with it.”. And he’s getting his wish. Mother Jones is releasing the whole tape later today.
And word is there are more zingers on there. Self destruct—-thy name is Mitt.
Obama up by 8 pts in Virginia?
Seems a little hard to believe.
#90 Not possible.
@90 – That’s because no one has voted yet.
Good Grief! That is hard to believe!
It gets better:
The secret video was recorded at a $50,000/plate lunch at the mansion of a hedge fund manager who holds sex parties.
Shouldn’t the repubs be excited about 47% of people not paying federal income taxes since the logical extension of their ideology is no income taxes?
Excellent question adam! Their problem is that they want their “hard earned” millions to be treated as untaxable income just like the “47%’s” untaxable thousands. Why should a disabled veteran get away with paying no income tax when they have to? Why should a person working for minimum wage get away with paying no income tax when they have to? Why should a soldier in a combat zone get a tax break they don’t get? Why should a retired person living solely on Social Security pay no income tax when they have to? Don’t you see the gross unfairness they labor under?
The Romney campaign just announced that as a part of their reorganization and retooling they have adopted a new campaign theme song:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/randy-newman-releases-parody-tune-m-dreaming-180752276–politics.html
Dan,
If Walmart or McD’s attracted customers like Obama attracts voters they would have been bankrupt long ago.
Romney is correct he can’t worry about attracting die hard Obama voters just like Obama is not worried about attracting die hard Romney voters.
Any employee of any business with such a dismal record (especially after promising to fix it all) would be fired yet most of you on this blog are going to vote to re-hire Obama.
Comment by Will — September 18, 2012 @ 1:20 pm
Really, Will?
Mike Duke, CEO, – Wal-Mart
Jeffrey Immelt, CEO – General Electric
Steve Balmer, CEO – Microsoft
Edward Lampert, Chairman – Sears Holdings
John Chambers, CEO – Cisco Systems
Google those names and see how well their companies are doing. They all still have jobs.
It seems that there is a pile of evidence that conflicts with your assertion, Will. Indeed, America seems to love it’s loser-bet bosses.
I think, even though some would never admit it, that it really boils down to Obama just being more palatable than Romney in the end. Romney’s gotten to be so shifty lately that it’s hard to tell in what direction he’s headed. We don’t need that quality in a president.
Poor Mitt can’t keep his foot out of his mouth long enough to wage a tangible campaign battle. He’s spent the majority of the last three weeks backpedaling at a time when he should be charging forward. Those are not the skills of a leader.
The man who showed up at that podium for the press conference responding to this incident was a worried, weary man. He had the look of someone who knows he’s skidding off the runway and there’s nothing he can do about it. The debates are his only hope of salvaging even a reasonable showing in the polls at this point. Considering the way he stammered through the press conference when the pressure is on him, I wouldn’t hold my breath for his chances.
When I watched that video last night and watched as it popped up on the front page of just about every major news outlet (Dan scooped about 97% of them, btw), The Doors started playing in my head. Guess which song…
Oops. I’m glad I don’t have the same problem with doors as I do with open bold tags. I’m not yelling. I promise.
Mitt says there are 47% of the citizens that pay no taxes – free loaders, welfare recipients, slackers, lazy bums. Yet, of working age people, 75% work. That means 75% of working age people pay about 13% a year of their gross pay (not income after tax deductions) in payroll taxes. That is about the same rate of tax as Mitt. Those under 15 and over 65 may or may not pay taxes depending on their income; but we know that those of working age do indeed work and of indeed pay their share in taxes (at least at the same rate as Mitt). One would assume that the 25% of those 15 to 64 either don’t need to work and live off their investments, spouse, parents, are in school, raise their children, or just don’t want to work. However, the percentage of lazy and don’t want to work is obviously much lower than the numbers Mitt and his RW cronies want to spin and obviously, there are many more paying taxes than Mitt likes to throw out. Like Lying Ryan, Mitt has no ethics.
So far in the short campaign, Mitt Romney has admitted misspeaking a number of times. He has insulted our allies, and called them enemies, he does not want to represent anyone who does not pay income taxes even though his party wrote the current laws. He can’t even vet his VP candidate or Clint Eastwood. He has shown that he simply does not have what it takes to be a President. In fact, he does not even have what it takes to be a presidential candidate. You ask hos supporters what is it about Mitt that you like and their answer is “he’s not Obama”. They simply do not like Mitt and have no reason for voting for him other than he is not Obama. Indeed, he is not Obama.
It is interesting he doesn’t save his disdain for 30 of the Fortune500 companies which paid absolutely no income tax on their millions in profits in 2010 – General Electric, Boeing, DuPont, and countless other companies.
No recriminations from Romney about the 7,000 millionaires who paid no income tax in 2011, and no condemnation of corporations with their heads in the government’s trough. Romney is a soulless plutocrat who doesn’t deserve to be the president of all of the people, including the elderly, the disabled, students, and the poor – he prefers his own kind, and to hell with “you people”.
His new slogan: I hate almost half of the American people…
Richard,
Since you are playing a numbers game; would you not agree that everyone in the US of A who makes even a nominal purchase at some point, will pay “some” tax?
Therefore “everyone” in the USA pays taxes and “nobody” is a free rider?
Funniest Tweet of the today:
“Romney’s campaign is so dead the Mormons have already baptized it.”
Drudge has dug up a 14 year old clip of Obama in which he speaks of “redistributing” funds within the Chicago school system. Of course, this is eliciting howls of “communism!” from the fringe. Redistribution, isn’t that where Mitt Romney buys a failing company and redistributes their assets into his bank account? Isn’t “trickle-down economics” a redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor? Poor Mitt is busy doubling down on his gaffes to avoid accusations of flip-flopping. His campaign is toast.
104. Mike O – I’ll bite, it is hard to imagine an adult not paying some form of taxes in the US. However, there are those that may receive refundable income tax credits that exceed the total tax they pay. They would be few but it is possible. These credits were put into place to encourage those on welfare to work and to help families with children. I believe that after the Welfare laws were changed, the EIC is not needed to encourage individuals to work and that it has become simply a means of supplementing the employers’ low wage structure. With today’s unemployment rate so high, the EIC is only effective for that purpose.
Mitt is making any gaffes. The 0bama media is pretending he is.
“108.Mitt is making any gaffes.”
Mitt’s brain much go a squadrillion miles a minute too.
“Romney’s campaign is so dead the Mormons have already baptized it.”
Dead like our Ambassador in Libya which resulted in no response from our impotent President except to hit a few champagne fundraisers?
Don’t look now, but 0bama’s lead in liberal Gallup has shrunk from 8 points to 1. And this is from an over-sampling of black Democrats who never vote.
Re: Comment by Suzie — September 19, 2012 @ 11:01 am
and
Comment by Kristen — September 19, 2012 @ 11:07 am
————–
There is an old saw, “Put brain in gear before putting mouth in motion.”
I doubt that Mitt’s brain is going a squadrillion miles a minute. OTOH, his mouth must be w/o him having put his brain in gear.
.
Re: Comment by J.M.White — September 18, 2012 @ 4:19 pm
Welcome to the club.
On the upside,you didn’t turn every subsequent comment BOLD as I have, on more than one occasion.
#102 RJB CPA, BHO is a negative, divisive individual who has drug the country down. The country is feeling the malaise of his Jimmy Carter-like presence. You’re right, a lot of voters are voting against BHO, not for his opponent.
VRWC – interesting concept voting for someone you don’t know or like to get rid of someone you do know but don’t like. That sounds like a winning idea. Especially since most of the reasons you don’t like Obama have been force fed by the Tea Party.
#110 More lies from Henry. You’re catching up with suzie, buddy.
#114 I’d say the exact opposite — its the Repubs who are negative and divisive.
Oh boy, they’re back to the parroting meme of Jimmy Carter….
And yet….Obama is leading. So, if he’s negative and divisive, what does that make his competition?
It makes Rmoney what he always was…weak sauce and the lowest common denominator of the GOP. The last man standing in a field of utter weaklings he couldn’t put away decisively. He has no chance against Obama.
And “drug the country down”? Really?
Most of you Dems claim (pretend)to be sure of a BHO victory, so why worry so much about R-MONEY? Maybe you are “whistling past the graveyard?” You know that BHO has been a FAILURE, but you think that if you keep up the bravado others won’t notice? People notice when they try to get a job, when they put gas in their car, when they try to go to a restaurant that had been around for over 30 years but it closed “because of the economy.” BHO is a disaster.
#120 Marijuana, probably.