Romney : telling it like it is or blowing the election?

Started by mia h, September 18, 2012, 02:43:19 AM

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mia h

Mitt Romney on Obama Voters

Looks like Mitt has given up on 48,49% of voters so does he think he's got no chance of winning?

But he is right about 47% of Americans paying no income tax, he just fails to mention that the 47% includes groups like children, retirees, stay at home mom's, the disabled\long term sick, the prisoner population, oh and of course those people wth really good accountants that hide all their income *cough* old tax returns Mitt *cough*
If found acting like an idiot, apply Gibbs-slap to reboot system.

Stattick

I like the part where he says that people aren't entitled to food. [/sarcasm]
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Chelemar

QuoteSo our message of low taxes doesn’t connect… my job is not to worry about those(people without work? money? food?) people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.

What scares me is not that he's totally wrong, which he is.  It's that he believes that as President, it's not his job to worry about what he would consider the bottom 43 percent of the country.  How ANYONE can now vote for him is beyond me.  How even one citizen is not a concern for the President, there's something wrong.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/17/romney-my-job-is-not-to-worry-about-those-people/

Actually, according to the above linked article, he's not right about the 47% paying no income tax.  There's a difference between no income tax, and no federal income tax.

53% of those who do pay income tax, also pay federal income tax. 

Another 28.3 percent, who have jobs and pay taxes that are deducted from their wages in the form of S.S. and medicare still do pay those taxes.  That is not earned back.  They however, qualify for deductions in great enough amounts so that they don't have to pay anything into the federal coffures.

That is 81.3 percent.

10.3 percent are retired/elderly.

They are on Social Security.  SS is not required to pay federal income taxes, they been there done that.

That leaves a little over 8 percent, however, the number given by the site is 6.9.  This group could be unemployed or disabled.   They are not working, or not reporting their income, nor are they paying payroll taxes, or income taxes in any form.

Anyway you look at it, he's wrong. 

Chelemar

Did anyone not think that Romney came across as totally insincere when he spoke of his mother, Lenore Romney, who ran for US senate from Michigan.  He spoke highly of his mother and other women he respected, "  My mom and dad were two partners.  A life lesson that
shaped me by everyday example.  When my mom ran for the Senate,
my dad was there for her every step of the way.  I can still see
her as saying in her beautiful voice, ``why should women have any
less safe than men about the great decisions facing our nation?
-- great decisions facing our nation?''
   (APPLAUSE)
   Don't you wish you could have been here at this convention
and heard leaders like Governor Mary Fallin, Governor Nikki
Haley, Governor Susana Martinez, Senator Kay Alieanos (ph),
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice?
   (APPLAUSE)
   As governor of Massachusetts, I -- I chose a woman
lieutenant governor, a woman chief of staff.  Half of my cabinet
and senior officials were women.  And in business, and mentored
and supported great women leaders who went on to run great
companies."  Yet, he doesn't respect women enough to allow them to determine their own right to decide their own moral code, their own right to choose?"

When asked about the seperation of church and state, Romney responded

Quote"Perhaps the most important question to ask a person of faith who seeks a political office is this:
Does he share these American values:
The equality of humankind
The obligation to serve one another
A steadfast commitment to liberty"

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/30/transcript-mitt-romney-speech-at-rnc/#ixzz26oEN0lll

Seems he forgot all about that when he was talking to his secret buddies too.

gaggedLouise

Well, he's honest enough not to flinch from the gist of his statements in that video - told the press last night that he is essentially unapologetic about his view of those loser 47%. Though he admitted that "his views were not fully spelled out" on that occasion (when does a politician ever have the time to compoletely spell out all of his program in every last detail and implication?) and that he "could have communicated things better". But so far he's not backing down on the content of what he said.

I can think of a few politicians and statesmen who have made the same kind of reasoning at some point in their careers (Thatcher would have applauded him) but it's a bit more unusual when they actually stand by those statements under pressure and at a critical phase of their careers. I'll give him that.

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

Teo Torriatte

He is blowing the election. And he is also failing to mention that even though it is true that 47% of Americans don't pay federal income tax, the majority of those still pay state tax, sales tax, payroll tax, etc.

And... it's not his job to worry about them? I say that's the one thing we should make sure he is right about.

gaggedLouise

#6
A funny aspect of this: the theory that your economic conditions are going to hardwire what kind of ideas you form of yourself, what you expect from your life and hence whom you'll vote for (I think that's the underpinning of Romney's way of passing these welfare slaves off as the people who have to vote Democrat and who can't really understand a free society) - that line of thought comes from a staple, dumbed-down take on Marxist-Leninism ("vulgarized Marxism" is what it used to be called). Stalin's cronies used to put it the same way: if you're living on a country manor and have hundreds of people working for you, or you're married to the overseer at such an estate, then you're incapable of even beginning to understand what questions you ought to pose and how society really works. You're a hopeless case and your thinking will mirror this.

He's going to have some major problems with this.

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

mia h

Just realised something else about Mitt's speech.
47 - 49% of Americans are unthinking DNC zombies
5 -10% are capable of thought and changing thier votes

so by Mitt's calculations
41 - 48% of Americans are unthinking GOP zombies
90 - 95% of Americans are unthinking zombies of one type or another

Nice that he thinks so much over the voters.
If found acting like an idiot, apply Gibbs-slap to reboot system.

Oniya

Hmm.  Has he spoken out against solar power yet?  I mean, if he wants the zombies to vote for him, getting rid of those pesky plants would be a great campaign plank. 
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
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Chelemar


ReijiTabibito

I'm a conservative (Though not the kind you see on the Fox News).  I believe in the death penalty, and in a lot of fiscal conservative policies - though, to be fair, you don't need to be conservative to believe in those - I know people who are otherwise diehard liberals that advocate for them.

But hearing this from the Republican presidential nominee (albeit taken surreptitiously, it would seem), makes me say only one thing.

That.

Is.

DISGUSITNG.

Allow me to elaborate.  I'm married.  My wife works two jobs, and I've been working while going to school to get a teacher's certification (just had to quit my job because I'm starting student teaching).  We make enough money to get by - rent, food on the table, gas in the vehicles, insurance.  Plus maybe a little every so often to do something special.  When the two of us get money from another source - such as gift money for our anniversary, or birthdays, or Christmas - we stretch it out to the extreme, try and make it last months instead of blowing it all in a few days.  And that's only if we don't use it to help pay the bills first.

But this past year, we didn't pay a dime in income taxes, federal, state, or local (nor the years before it).  And between the first two, we received around $3k in tax refunds from the Powers That Be.  Now, as has been pointed out, my wife and I are part of the 28.3 percent that pay taxes deducted from wages, like SocialSec and Medicare.  But the big April 15th tax bit cost us nothing.

So, according to Romney, my wife and I are moochers who are living off the government, and will vote Obama because I believe that the government's responsibility is to take care of me.

Bull.

F**king.

SHIT!


You think I want to live this way the rest of my life, Mr. Romney?  You think I want to be trapped in a crappy apartment living paycheck to paycheck, telling anyone who pesters me about kids that we don't have the money to afford to raise a child right now?  Not when we're barely breaking even just for two of us?

According to you, anyone who doesn't pay income tax to the government is gaming the system, welfare kings and queens sitting at home, getting money from the government, never working to try and improve their condition.

I want to pay taxes!  Because paying taxes will mean I actually have a good, steady job!  Paying taxes will mean that I have income that can be spared to help out my fellow Americans!  Paying taxes will mean that I have finally gotten enough money to start a family!

I am a big believer in personal responsibility, that I have to pay for the decisions I make (and that that payment is not necessarily financial), the good ones and the bad ones.  But you?  You just take allllll that away from me and slap me with the moocher label.

Oh, and to echo Stattick?  I love how you claim that food and shelter are entitlements.  News flash, Hotshot!  You need those things to live.  Or do you believe that when the Founding Fathers advocated life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness they were just talking about yours?!

And yes, Obama will be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich, because you people don't need tax cuts!  Fact Alert: a 40% tax rate on $300,000 means that you still have $180k to live on!  And that's just the money you get from people actually willing to listen to your crap!  Doesn't count all the sweet 15% capital gains millions you have simply because you decided to take over the family business of being in business.

You are building a wall, Sir, in America.  A financial wall between men like yourself, who game the system to hoard millions, and men like myself who have no interest in gaming the system, I just want to take care of my wife and (one day) kids.

And to you, in a manner that you find memorable, I say this:

Governor Romney, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the United States: Come here to this gate!  Mr. Romney, open this gate!

Mr. Romney, tear down this wall!

[/rant]

Stattick

According to what Rmoney declared his income to be (so, it might be higher if he lied on his taxes), he only makes $55,000. Of course, unlike you or I, he doesn't get fired if he shows up to work late, or doesn't wear his uniform right. He can take time off whenever he wants. He gets all the top notch perks. And mostly, he just checks his e-mail, answers his phone, and makes a few calls per day to manage his businesses, so it's hardly "work" in the traditional sense. But with travel required for work, visiting his general managers in foreign countries and so forth, I'm sure that there's times where he spends a good twenty or twenty five hours working in a week, between visits to the nicest restaurants in town, seeing all the best attractions the region has to offer, and staying at the most exclusive and posh resort in the region.

Must be nice to make that kind of money. Think of it this way. Because of the declining wages of the middle class, most of us will never be able to make that sort of money. $55,000 a year? That might just barely be an attainable goal. But I lied by implication of course. Rmoney doesn't make $55,000 in a year. That's his DAILY income. He makes enough money to buy a nice new car EVERY DAY, without taking out a loan to do so. He can afford to buy a nice new house every other day... without a loan that would take any of the rest of us 25 to 30 years to pay back.

I just wanted to write this so no one was left with the impression that Rmoney only makes $300,000 a year. I'm sure that not what ReijiTabibito meant to convey, but one reading of his post could give the mistaken impression that Rmoney's annual income was barely over a quarter of a million per year. In actuality, Rmoney's income is around twenty million a year. If he's not lying on his taxes about his income.
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gaggedLouise

With the fire Romney has come under in the last 36 hours, and his lagging behind Obama in the sympathizer polls, it's very likely that Ryan will become more visible in the campaign - and try to do some of what the then VP candidate didn't achieve four eyars ago. They'll have to take risks and make some sweeping, antagoinizing statements - Obama too, but Romney will be forced to do more of that since he's pressed to win over people and he has more to prove about himself as a political man.

So in that way, it was logical to have these statements from the donor dinner, although they were not meant to be made public. He is not likely to go back on his idea that a large part of the American people are living off entitlements and are free eaters who are not contributing anything and still think they have the right to keep bleeding the system. They can't be worked with, they should just be forced to take charge of their own lives and leave the bigger picture to the Romneys and Trumps of the world.

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

errantwandering

I think Romney's comments are being misconstrued here.  I'm not talking about his stance on entitlements, that's something he's said before and will doubtless say again, though likely not in as aggressive terms as the red meat he's throwing to possible donors here.  I'm talking about the way he breaks down voting.  He isn't saying that it isn't his job to care about half of the country.  He's saying that 47% of people will always vote Democrat, 47% of people will always vote Republican, and then you have the independents in the middle who actually decide Presidential elections, so his job as a candidate is to worry about the independent vote, and to energize his 47% base to make sure they show up and vote.  This isn't all that wrong...if you look at every major election that's played out in the past few decades, they've all gone down exactly like that.  Obama is doing pretty much the same thing:  he's never going to get the hardcore religious right to vote for him, and he's not trying to.  He's been throwing meat to his supporters to get them excited, and he's been appealing to the independents on social issues to try to get them to swing his way this election.

Valerian

That may have been what he was thinking when he said that -- inasmuch as he was thinking at all -- but it still highlights a fundamental problem with his views.  Romney, like a lot of politicians (on both sides, though more so on the right in my opinion), thinks of getting elected as his job, not serving his constituents.  If he is elected (and allow me to hope with every fiber of my being that this won't happen), he won't magically start caring about that 47% just because he's an incumbent rather than a candidate.  He'll always be thinking of the next election or position he can grab, and he'll still be working only on behalf of those he thinks are worthy.
"To live honorably, to harm no one, to give to each his due."
~ Ulpian, c. 530 CE

gaggedLouise

#16
Quote from: Valerian on September 18, 2012, 04:00:42 PM
That may have been what he was thinking when he said that -- inasmuch as he was thinking at all -- but it still highlights a fundamental problem with his views.  Romney, like a lot of politicians (on both sides, though more so on the right in my opinion), thinks of getting elected as his job, not serving his constituents.  If he is elected (and allow me to hope with every fiber of my being that this won't happen), he won't magically start caring about that 47% just because he's an incumbent rather than a candidate.  He'll always be thinking of the next election or position he can grab, and he'll still be working only on behalf of those he thinks are worthy.

Perfectly put, Val. And with this idea that once you're elected and in office - as president, senator, MP, governor or whatever - you really don't have much of an obligation to anyone except those you think deserve to have a say, and to your own cronies and allies (the latter part being left unstated in public, but it's very much part of the equation) democracy gets very diluted. Apart from their own outline declarations of what they intend to do and the restraints of what they *can* actually achieve within the system -  this brand of politicians are pretty much left with a blank slate to do whatever they see fit up to the next election. Any in-depth criticism of what they are doing can be disparaged as "a self-serving media elite", "commie journalists", isolated idiots who are out of touch with the people or the times,  or whatever.

I do agree a government or a political leadership should be expected to anchor their mandate continuously for the entire period they are seated. Not by blindly following the gallups, but by keeping up an earnest conversation with the people about what they are trying to do, what the problems are, whether it's the right way to take on those problems, what could be ahead and so on. If the guy is only aiming to please his own hardcore supporters and thinks half the nation, and even much of his own party, are a band of trash who will only understand if it's clubbed into their heads or they are seduced by smooth talk, how can he govern for the (whole) people and by the people?

But yes, this is probably seen as unrealistic with the kind of media and parties we have today.

Good girl but bad  -- Proud sister of the amazing, blackberry-sweet Violet Girl

Sometimes bound and cuntrolled, sometimes free and easy 

"I'm a pretty good cook, I'm sitting on my groceries.
Come up to my kitchen, I'll show you my best recipes"

Pumpkin Seeds

Sounds like Romney is simply trying to play people’s insecurities and paranoia against each other.  He has run a very numbers based campaign where he gets up with a bunch of statistics, numbers and “facts” to impress the crowd.  The 47% figure he posts up looks real until investigated.  Most people don’t investigate.  People that make up that 47% wouldn’t even realize they do because they pay taxes.  So when someone hears that speech they will think to themselves, “those lazy bastards don’t pay taxes like I do!  No wonder our country is broke because they aren’t paying their share.  Freeloaders!”  While at the same time those people don’t think about their own tax refunds, benefits or anything of that sort.  People know they pay taxes if they work because they seem them on each paycheck, so immediately they do not think of themselves in that number.   He has sent out a message appealing to nearly everyone while calling half of them freeloaders.

Oniya

Found some interesting numbers a little while ago.  According to US Tax data, the states that top the list as far as percentage of non-tax-payers are....

Mostly southern, and mostly Republican-oriented.

The top ten:

MISSISSIPPI44.5%1
GEORGIA42.5%2
ALABAMA40.3%3
FLORIDA39.0%4
ARKANSAS38.8%5
SOUTH CAROLINA 38.8%6
NEW MEXICO38.7%7
IDAHO38.6%8
TEXAS38.5%9
UTAH38.3%10

And, the other end of the scale:

NEW JERSEY29.2%41
MINNESOTA29.2%42
WASHINGTON 29.0%43
WYOMING28.6%44
MARYLAND 28.2%45
CONNECTICUT26.6%46
MASSACHUSETTS26.3%47
NEW HAMPSHIRE26.3%48
NORTH DAKOTA26.3%49
ALASKA22.0%50


And, from the conservative media...

http://www.upworthy.com/when-these-6-people-think-you-blew-it-you-know-your-campaign-is-in-trouble?c=cp2

Quote6.

"He said he has a terrific campaign. Actually he doesn't. He says that the campaign workers are working well together, well, actually, no, they're not working well together, and that his campaign's going in the right direction. No, it's not. And this is not being said by liberals ... these are conservatives. ... Savannah, I'm going to go put a bag over my head now, so I will talk to you soon." — Joe Scarborough, conservative pundit and former Republican congressman
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
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ReijiTabibito

Quote from: Stattick on September 18, 2012, 01:19:40 PM
I just wanted to write this so no one was left with the impression that Rmoney only makes $300,000 a year. I'm sure that not what ReijiTabibito meant to convey, but one reading of his post could give the mistaken impression that Rmoney's annual income was barely over a quarter of a million per year. In actuality, Rmoney's income is around twenty million a year. If he's not lying on his taxes about his income.

Thanks for the point out, Stattick.  ^_^  I am quite aware that he makes millions of dollars a year.  In a moment of self-reference and perhaps stupidity, I was referring to the newsclip (found on the Daily Show) wherein Romney states that his income comes 'overwhelmingly' from investments and so on and so forth, and that, to quote: "I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much."

Said 'not very much' being the aforementioned $300k.

To understand more, check out The Daily Show's January 18 clip Tax and the Mitty.

Quote from: Valerian on September 18, 2012, 04:00:42 PM
That may have been what he was thinking when he said that -- inasmuch as he was thinking at all -- but it still highlights a fundamental problem with his views.  Romney, like a lot of politicians (on both sides, though more so on the right in my opinion), thinks of getting elected as his job, not serving his constituents.  If he is elected (and allow me to hope with every fiber of my being that this won't happen), he won't magically start caring about that 47% just because he's an incumbent rather than a candidate.  He'll always be thinking of the next election or position he can grab, and he'll still be working only on behalf of those he thinks are worthy.

And if that was what he had said, I would have wholeheartedly agreed with him.  I'm not a politician, but I'm no fool.  I know damn well that there will be people who vote Republican till the day they die, and there are similar Democrats out there.

But he didn't make that statement about ideology or credo or hell, even race.  If he'd made it about race I could chalk him up as another homegrown racist elitist.  But no, he made it about money.

I've struggled in the last 4 years since I graduated from college.  I graduated right around the time the economy was tanking in 08, and big corps and small businesses alike were freezing new hirings because of, to quote Jon Stewart, "bespoke-suited turd monkeys."

I've been drastically underemployed, but I've worked to make sure I could take care of myself and wasn't just leeching off others without something to chip in of my own.

So to hear someone so flippantly soundbite the struggles I have had pisses me off to no end.

Callie Del Noire

I find it ironic that typically the most informed viewers typically watch the Daily Show and after.. along with more than one news channel.

Oniya

Quote from: Callie Del Noire on September 18, 2012, 06:59:37 PM
I find it ironic that typically the most informed viewers typically watch the Daily Show and after.. along with more than one news channel.

The oft-quoted joke being 'I get my news from Comedy Central, and my comedy from Fox News'.

I think it might have something to do with the fact that if you're the type of person to watch the Daily Show, you have no 'sacred cows'.  You know that Jon Stewart can and will rag on anything.  Therefore, if you're willing to watch something where one of your viewpoints is just as likely to get skewered as the next guy's, you're more likely to be open-minded enough to watch more than one news station.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
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ReijiTabibito

I don't.  Jon and Stephen are hilarious, as well as their cast of correspondents, and seeing their antics (mixed in with some nice truth, of course) leads me to want to see what the other newswires are really saying.

All my friends, liberal or conservative, watch TDS and the Report.

Vekseid

Quote from: Oniya on September 18, 2012, 07:13:43 PM
The oft-quoted joke being 'I get my news from Comedy Central, and my comedy from Fox News'.

I think it might have something to do with the fact that if you're the type of person to watch the Daily Show, you have no 'sacred cows'.  You know that Jon Stewart can and will rag on anything.  Therefore, if you're willing to watch something where one of your viewpoints is just as likely to get skewered as the next guy's, you're more likely to be open-minded enough to watch more than one news station.

Did you catch how reserved he was when he held his 'rally'?

Someone took the wind out of his sails there. It depressed me. : /

Caitlin

Although I'm not an American, I will tell you that most of the people here are hoping for Obama to get a second term. He's doing great things on the international level and personally I'm getting a bad vibe from Mitt Romney. Then again, the bad vibe isn't nearly as bad as when Bush Jr. did his thing, when he was president it really felt like the entire world was doomed (and, in my opinion, a certain degree it was).

It does suck that Obama didn't manage to get the economy running yet the way it's supposed to be, but on the other hand, what can you expect after 8 years of Bush? It's worrisome that he doesn't manage to get the budget under control though, and I hope he finds a solution for that. Either way, I hope that the USA will massively vote for Obama and that in the coming 4 years a new person will be found to take over after he's done.