"Romney says dependent 47% back Obama; Dismisses those who won’t take ‘responsibility’" by Matt Viser | Globe Staff, September 18, 2012
WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney, during a private May fund-raiser captured on video, talked disparagingly about nearly half the electorate, saying they were “dependent on government” and could not be convinced to “take personal responsibility” for their lives.
In blunt terms clearly not intended for public consumption, Romney said that 47 percent of the country’s citizens see themselves as “victims’’ and will, without fail, vote for President Obama.
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what,” he said in the video, over sounds of waiters pouring drinks and clearing plates. “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.”
He's including the Wall Street banks that were bailed out and other corporations in that group, right?
As for the second part, that is one entitlement I happen to agree with.
“My job is not to worry about those people,” he added. “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
Romney, aware that his comments could cause lasting damage, hastily convened a brief press conference Monday night. He did not apologize for his remarks, but acknowledged they were not “elegantly” crafted. He did not dispute the authenticity of the video.
Short clips from the video have been appearing online in recent weeks, but quickly became a political force Monday afternoon when more complete versions were published by the liberal magazine Mother Jones. The full video has not yet been released.
And now you know that Mother Jones is deep controlled opposition available for agenda-pushing. Otherwise, they don't appear in the intelligence agency asset we call a newspaper.
Jim Messina, Obama’s campaign manager, immediately took issue with Romney’s comments.
“It’s shocking that a candidate for president of the United States would go behind closed doors and declare to a group of wealthy donors that half the American people view themselves as ‘victims,’ entitled to handouts, and are unwilling to take ‘personal responsibility’ for their lives,’ ” Messina said in a statement.
Mitt said that is where he would prefer to do things.
Messina added: “It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation.”
They have written off way more than that. Both parties serve the 1%.
The video of Romney’s controversial remarks comes as his campaign is struggling to deliver its message, and as he has slipped in public opinion polls. The video is also reminiscent of Obama’s comment in 2008 that people “cling to guns or religion,” and it is a reminder that few moments in a politician’s life are private.
At his press conference Monday night, Romney sought to clarify what he said, even as he conceded that his comments were “not elegantly stated, let me put it that way.”
“I’m speaking off the cuff in response to a question,” he said. “And I’m sure I could state it more clearly and in a more effective way than I did in a setting like that. . . . Of course I want to help all Americans — all Americans — have a bright and prosperous future.”
Related: Romney says he supports the 100%
“It’s a message which I’m going to carry and continue to carry which is: Look, the president’s approach is attractive to people who are not paying taxes because, frankly, my discussion about lowering taxes isn’t as attractive to them,” he added. “And therefore I’m not likely to draw them into my campaign as effectively as those who are in the middle.”
Romney also said that donors expect to hear a little bit of the campaign strategy, which he said he was trying to convey, more than any policy positions.
David Corn, the author of the Mother Jones piece, told MSNBC Monday night that the video was taken at a May 17 fund-raiser at the Boca Raton, Fla., home of Marc Leder, co-chief executive of investment firm Sun Capital Partners.
Corn used to write for the Nation, another left-wing controlled-opposition that fails the 9/11 litmus test.
The 47 percent figure that Romney used probably came from the Tax Policy Center, which found that 46.4 percent of US households didn’t pay any federal income tax in 2011. But most still paid other forms of taxes, such as payroll taxes that go to Social Security and Medicare, sales taxes charged at the checkout counter, or property taxes for homes or cars.
Taxes themselves are a form of theft, although I suppose they are needed on some level that should be kept minimal.
Related: U.S. Government Stole Social Security Surplus
As for the income tax, it is a little-known fact that it is technically illegal -- as is the Federal Reserve itself.
Groups such as seniors — some 16 million — avoid federal income taxes due to the tax breaks for which they are eligible, while others receive credits to help offset child care costs that take their taxable income below cutoff levels.
At Monday’s press conference, Romney called for the full release of the video, instead of the clips that have been appearing online.
Few of the other clips are damning in and of themselves — and some showcase him talking more comfortably than he does in staged settings — but they play into some of the images people may already have of Romney as an out-of-touch politician.
See: Romney: ‘Middle-income’ is $200K to $250K and less
That is out of touch.
“My dad . . . was born in Mexico,” Romney said in one clip. “Had he been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot at winning this . . . I mean, I say that jokingly. But it would be helpful to be Latino.”
If your dad was born in Mexico he could not have become president. Maybe someone should call for Mitt's birth certificate.
Romney also spoke of his wealth, saying he is a self-made millionaire.
“I have inherited nothing,” he said. “There is a perception, ‘Oh, we were born with a silver spoon, he never had to earn anything,’ and so forth. Frankly, I was born with a silver spoon, which is the greatest gift you can have: which is to get born in America.”
Related: Romney’s father received public aid
Even though he was president of GM?
Also see: Sunday Globe Special: Mitt Romney's Instinct
Romney's Reminisce
Okay, that's enough of that.
Although Romney made almost all of his fortune himself, his family provided a strong safety net, sometimes more. His parents gave him money to buy his first home, and Ann Romney once explained that neither she nor her husband worked while at Brigham Young University, because Romney “had enough of an investment from stock that we could sell off a little at a time.”
If Mitt were in touch with today's students he would be campaigning with a ball-and-chain.
Also see: Romney's Report Card
I will say this, kids: finding out both parties are screwing you for banks sure is an education.
At one point during the fund-raiser, Romney said that although women are “open” to supporting his campaign, he was having a much harder time with Hispanic voters.''
“If the Hispanic voting bloc becomes as committed to the Democrats as the African-American voting block has in the past, why, we’re in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation,” Romney said.
Some video snippets of the fund-raisers were uploaded to YouTube several weeks ago by a user with the pseudonym “Anne Onymous.”
James Carter, the grandson of former president Jimmy Carter, told New York Magazine on Monday that he had helped track down the more complete videos and present them to Mother Jones. Romney often compares Obama to Carter, saying they have both mishandled the American economy.
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"Romney holds to views, tries to quiet uproar; Speaks of opportunity; says in video that Palestinians don’t want peace" by Matt Viser | Globe Staff, September 18, 2012
WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney sought on Tuesday to quell the controversy surrounding his comments disparaging nearly half of the electorate, attempting to engage in a philosophical debate over the role of government even as some in his party began distancing themselves from their presidential standard-bearer....
Uh-oh.
Question: does dog s*** on the shoe still smell on a rich man?
In newly released portions of the video, made without Romney’s knowledge at the Florida fund-raising event, he was also seen telling the donors that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “is going to remain an unsolved problem” in large part because “the Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace.”
Yes, it looks like one of the rabble that slave, 'er, serve the elite set it up. They tink we stoo-pid and not listening.
Related: Palestinian official critical of Romney on Mideast peace
Also see:
Racist Romney is Prejudiced Against Palestinians
Where Mitt Romney Learned Racism
Romney, Obama defend Israel stances
Actually, I'm tired of candidates for the AMERICAN presidency bending over backwards to see who can be more butch for Israel.
“I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes — committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues — and I say, ‘There’s just no way.’ ”
No, that's a mischaracterization if not outright lie, but there are no rules in elections or ass-kissing.
In one striking passage that some saw as indicating a Romney White House would not actively pursue an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, he said: “We kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it.” A spokeswoman for Romney’s campaign said Tuesday that as president he would still address the conflict and attempt to reach a two-state solution.
Romney’s remark triggered rebukes from Palestinian leaders, and the video overall continued to reverberate across the political world.
With some polls showing that Obama is continuing to extend his lead in the polls just 48 days before the election, Romney’s campaign held a conference call with top donors on Tuesday to reassure them that the situation was under control and that the campaign was marching forward....
I can't figure out why is is out raising money at this late hour, but that's me.
Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard, called Romney’s comments “stupid and arrogant” and suggested that Romney step down and allow Republicans to instead have a ticket that would include Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio....
Kristol one of the a**-hole neo-cons that was part of PNAC and that helped sell the Iraq invasion to the American people.
James Carter IV, the grandson of Jimmy Carter, the former president, said he played a key role in helping to release the video, contacting a source who had been posting short clips online in recent weeks and persuading the source to provide the video to Mother Jones, a liberal magazine.
Carter did not identify the video source, saying only that it was safe to assume it was not one of Romney’s donors.
He told NBC News that he was motivated to help make the video public in part because of Romney’s frequent criticism of his grandfather....
Romney went through several reasons why a Palestinian state would not work — largely because of its close proximity to Israel, he said, and because Iran would try to exert influence....
Romney also highlighted the need to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but he did it in a different way from what he does on the campaign trail.
“If I were Iran — a crazed fanatic — I’d say let’s get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago or some other place,” he said.
(Blog editor read this with alarm and satisfaction!! Mitt just BLEW the WHISTLE on the PLANNED FALSE FLAG meaning THAT NARRATIVE has to be THROWN OUT!!)
“And then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we’ll just say, ‘Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we’re going to let off a dirty bomb.’ ”
“I mean this is where we have — where America could be held up and blackmailed by Iran, by the mullahs, by crazy people,” he added. “So we really don’t have any option but to keep Iran from having a nuclear weapon.”
Good thing Iran isn't making one (although one could hardly blame them if they were).
Related: Netanyahu To The West–Destroy Iran Before Israel Destroys You
Who is blackmailing who?
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More lies from Mitt:
Fallacies mark Romney’s depiction of the 47%
Research by the nonpartisan Tax Foundation showed that in 2008, the states with the highest percentages of tax filers who did not pay federal income taxes were Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, New Mexico, Florida, Idaho, Louisiana, and Texas. Obama won Florida and New Mexico but lost the other eight.
In other words, the vast majority of the 47% live in what is projected to be Mitt's base.
Some of the country’s poorest regions are Republican strongholds. Patchwork Nation — a collaborative research project of the Wall Street Journal, Christian Science Monitor, PBS NewsHour, WNYC Radio, and the Jefferson Institute — analyzed county-by-county voting patterns in the last three presidential elections and found overwhelming GOP support in places characterized by low incomes and high populations of service industry and agricultural workers and evangelical Christians.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Ralph Reed's Redemption
“Romney seems to have contempt not just for the Democrats who oppose him, but for tens of millions who intend to vote for him,” William Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, wrote in a blog post Tuesday."
Yeah, that will win him some votes.
"Romney’s words hinder his campaign" by Matt Viser | Globe Staff, September 20, 2012
WASHINGTON — There is deep unease among Republicans, and no shortage of advice for Mitt Romney on how to right his campaign ship in the seven weeks remaining before the election. Some have called for a campaign staff shake-up. Others want Romney to be more visible on the campaign trail. They want more backbone, bigger ideas, and sharper ads.
“An intervention is in order,” wrote Peggy Noonan, a conservative Wall Street Journal columnist and former speechwriter for President Reagan.
But underlying many of Romney’s struggles is his longstanding penchant for saying things that redound against him. Whenever he is struggling, it is usually not the result of a staff error or something his political opponents have done, but because of something the candidate himself has said....
Some donors have grown frustrated, and some partisans worry that Romney’s struggles could start to drag down Republican congressional candidates unless there is a quick course correction. Republican candidates continued to distance themselves from Romney’s contention that some 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay federal income taxes are dependent on government and refuse to take responsibility.
“[You’ve] got to understand, I grew up with five brothers and sisters. My father was an auto mechanic. My mother was a school cook,” Senator Dean Heller, a Republican from Nevada who is in a tight election, told Politico on Wednesday. “I just don’t view the world the same way he does.”
Heller joined a list of other Republicans — including Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts, US Senate nominee Linda McMahon of Connecticut, and Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico — who distanced themselves from Romney’s comments.
Few have been more direct, though, than Noonan, a respected commentator in conservative circles.
“It’s time to admit the Romney campaign is an incompetent one,” she wrote. “It’s not big, it’s not brave, it’s not thoughtfully tackling great issues. It’s always been too small for the moment. All the activists, party supporters, and big donors should be pushing for change.”
Democrats, who had already experienced a bounce in the polls following their convention, are hoping the video has provided them with the turning point they need to create a meaningful gap between Obama and Romney after months of polls showing a neck-and-neck race....
A new Pew Research poll released on Wednesday put Obama up by 8 points, putting him in the strongest position at this point in the race of any candidate since 1996. A new AP-GfK poll released yesterday put Obama’s approval rating among voting-age adults at 56 percent, the highest level since the death of Osama bin Laden more than a year ago.
But the poll also showed the race a statistical tie among likely voters, which is what some Republicans have been seizing on as a sign that Romney still has time to recover. Another poll — taken by NBC News and the Wall Street Journal — put Obama up 50 percent to 44 percent.
“With just under 50 days to go, this race is a dead heat,” asserted Romney press secretary Andrea Saul when asked for comment.
Following the video’s release on Monday night, Romney conceded that his comments were “off the cuff” and “not elegantly stated.” His running mate, Paul Ryan, on Wednesday called Romney’s comments “obviously inarticulate.”
Romney’s self-inflicted verbal wounds have come throughout the campaign. In the crucial final days before the New Hampshire primary, Romney said in reference to insurance companies, “I like to fire people who provide services to me.”
WTF?
During his foreign trip, it was Romney who upset his hosts by
questioning whether Britain was ready to host the Olympic Games.
See: Summer Olympics Safe and Secure
Last week, it was Romney who signed off on a late-night statement, deemed ill-timed by many, questioning President Obama’s leadership in the midst of an unfolding Middle East crisis — going even further out on a limb the next morning. And in the most recent troubles for his campaign, it is Romney’s blunt and dismissive comments in a private fund-raiser that are at the center of the controversy.
It is striking to see such struggles from a candidate who is so guarded, who is so often carefully scripted, and who seems constantly worried that he will make the type of verbal mistake that doomed his father’s 1968 presidential campaign (George Romney said he had been “brainwashed” by US officials about the war in Vietnam)....
Related: The Reincarnation of George Romney
It's
Related: Stereotypes, assumptions in Romney’s words
Now about those other remarks:
"Romney causes stir with remarks on attacks" by Matt Viser | Globe Staff, September 13, 2012
WASHINGTON – Mitt Romney on Wednesday strongly criticized President Obama’s response to attacks on Americans in the Middle East, prompting both Republicans and Democrats to warn Romney against seeking political points over a crisis involving the death of US citizens abroad.
It's just the kind of thing he was trying to avoid because of his father!
Romney, in a hastily arranged press conference in Jacksonville, Fla., said the Obama administration had made a “severe miscalculation” in its approach to the attacks in Libya and Egypt, and was sending “mixed signals” to the world by issuing a statement that he called “akin to an apology.”
Romney alleged that Obama was sympathizing with the attackers because of a statement that the US Embassy in Cairo issued condemning an online video offensive to Muslims as an example of religious intolerance. Romney said Wednesday the statement was issued after the attack in Cairo, as a response to it. But it was actually issued before the attack, specifically in response to growing anger in Egypt over the offensive video.
What we have come to find out is that the film was basically an intelligence agency creation (most likely CIA) to provide cover for their activation of assets in selected countries. I base that simply on the amount of coverage given to it and them in my agenda-pushing, war-promoting press. The message to the American people is the crazy, predisposed to violence Muslim.
The day was one of the most dramatic in the presidential race, illustrating how rapidly the conversation could shift, and reflecting first reactions to a quickly evolving international crisis.
Obama did not mention his Republican rival in a Wednesday morning Rose Garden appearance condemning the attacks that killed four Americans, including the ambassador to Libya. But the president fired back at Romney on Wednesday afternoon in a prearranged television interview.
“There’s a broader lesson to be learned here: Governor Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later,” Obama told CBS’s “60 Minutes.”
We don't need that kind of president.
“And as president, one of the things I’ve learned is you can’t do that — it’s important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts and that you’ve thought through the ramifications before you make them.”
The drones are still dumping missiles on people over a damnable lie, right?
The tenor of Romney’s critique — coming just hours after the deaths of four Americans on foreign soil — set off a vigorous debate over whether it was appropriately assertive, or cast Romney as out of his depth on foreign policy.
Critics said that in a moment that called for statesmanlike sobriety before all the facts are known, Romney went for partisan sniping and disregarded a long history of caution in the midst of unfolding foreign violence. But Romney stuck by his criticism throughout Wednesday, and expanded on a statement his campaign initially sent out late Tuesday night.
“I don’t feel that Mr. Romney has been doing himself any favors, say, in the past few hours, perhaps since last night,” Peggy Noonan, a conservative commentator and former speechwriter for President Reagan, said on Fox News. “Sometimes when really bad things happen, when hot things happen, cool words or no words is the way to go.”
If he's lost Peggy Noonan he's lost middle America.
But most Republicans were more tempered than Romney. House Speaker John A. Boehner did not criticize Obama, and Senator John McCain was complimentary of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Now McCain says there were warnings.
“It’s sad for the country that political ambition and expediency trumps decency and common sense,” Senator John Kerry, the Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said in an interview with the Globe. “The interests of our country did not beg for a political fight with the loss of an ambassador and others in its first hours without even knowing the story. I find it very, very unfortunate.”
Related: Kerry Decries Libya Rhetoric
Romney’s press conference was sandwiched between one held by Clinton, who struck a somber tone reflecting on the life of a US ambassador, and Obama, who condemned the attacks.
“Since our founding, the United States has been a nation that respects all faiths. We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others,” Obama said. “But there is absolutely no justification to this type of senseless violence. None. The world must stand together to unequivocally reject these brutal acts.”
Turns out is was an "Al-CIA-Duh" attack.
Also see: FALSE FLAG PSY OP - US AMBASSADOR ATTACK
ISRAELI AGENTS 'KILLED US AMBASSADOR
Why am I totally not surprised?
**************************
Some commentators and elected officials stood by Romney.
“He spoke in the tradition of conservative internationalism,” wrote Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard.
That would last for about 8 more days.
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Also see: Op-ed by Romney slams Obama’s policy on Mideast
"Donors, it seems, want to give advice; Romney video reveals views of his backers, too" by Matt Viser | Globe Staff, September 20, 2012
WASHINGTON — The secretly taped video from a Mitt Romney fund-raiser in Florida provides a rare peek into the type of events that Romney has been holding almost nonstop since April — his schedule shows him interacting more frequently with high-dollar donors than with average voters.
And while Romney has been criticized for not talking specifics or in-depth policy, the video shows that he actually is — on what he thinks about Middle East peace, and what he makes of income inequality — but it’s just not often in public forums....
In the only other instance where Romney was captured speaking candidly to donors, he also offered unvarnished views that he doesn’t allow average voters to hear....
Massachusetts figured in some exchanges. When he lamented that his father was born in Mexico to American parents — “Had he been born of Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot of winning this” — a female donor spoke up.
“You can pull an Elizabeth Warren,” she said.
Romney explained to the audience, “Elizabeth Warren, she’s the woman who’s running for US Senate in Massachusetts who said that she’s Cherokee.”
“It turns out that at most she’s 1/32d Cherokee,” Romney added. “And even that can’t be proven. So, at any event, I mean I could put down my dad was born in Mexico and leave it at that.”
At one point a donor said that she had called George H.W. Bush “years and years ago” when, she said, “he had helped me in my campaign in Massachusetts when I ran for Senate.” She said she had told Bush, “there’s a guy named Clinton who’s going to beat him for the following reasons.” Bush simply laughed, she said.
She was warning Romney not to fall into the same trap, telling him that women, Hispanics, and college students don’t want to vote for him and he had work to do.
Who is this former Massachusetts Senate candidate?
Her identity could not be determined. However....
Who cares?
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And what is it all about?
"At issue are deductions and other breaks relied upon by individuals and businesses to lower or eliminate their taxes to the federal government. The tax code includes deductions for everything from home mortgage interest to child care to oil exploration. The issue has been magnified by Romney’s statement in a surreptitiously recorded video, made public earlier this week, that 47 percent of Americans pay no income taxes. In some cases, that is because they take advantage of existing tax credits or deductions pushed by both Democrats and Republicans."
One final remark:
"Romney, in an interview with NBC News, cited his Massachusetts health care law as a sign of his empathy."
That he allegedly wants to repeal on the national level.
The first votes are in, folks.
