Romney’s Disdain and Contempt for Ninety-nine Percent of all Americans.
By J R Martin
It has been clear for anyone scratching off a bit of the facade worn by Willard Mitt Romney, Republican Presidential Candidate, who he really represents beside himself. Funded by billionaires and begrudgingly supported by the radical Christian fundamentalists, both of whom he has tried to hide, Romney has left no doubt now about who he represents and that he has only disdain for the majority of Americans. He mentions 47% that he dismisses as freeloaders. The other fifty-two percent he doesn’t like very much either but he needs them to use for his political ambitions. He only cares about himself and the rest of the one percent he considers himself to be included.
All of this proven in a recently released video, http://www.motherjones.com/ by Mother Jones. This video was secretly recorded at a Romney fundraiser held by Marc Leder in Boca Raton on May 17, 2012. Leder is a controversial private equity manager who has been a long term friend and supporter of Romney.
At the fundraiser, Romney replied to a question about how he would deal with certain types of voters. His answer recorded both with video and audio was:
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it, that that’s an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what…These are people who pay no income tax… My job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
Who are the forty-seven percent? Could they be the 22 percent of people who didn’t owe income taxes who are elderly people on Social Security? Seventeen percent who are students, disabled people or the unemployed? Perhaps sixty percent of the group are low-income workers, many of whom qualified for the child tax credit or the earned income tax credit. (These workers did pay payroll taxes for Social Security and other programs.) And maybe the 4000 people earning over a million dollars who also paid no income taxes in 2011, perhaps the very people who Romney was addressing in that room? The people who paid $50,000 each to attend the fundraiser.
I believe about fifty-three percent of Americans voted for President Obama in 2008. I doubt that forty-seven percent of them paid no income taxes. So it is Romney who is promoting “class warfare.” Romney continued on speaking at the fundraiser about his strategy to get the other six percent of voters to vote for him:
“Those people I told you—the 5 to 6 or 7 percent that we have to bring onto our side—they all voted for Barack Obama four years ago. So, and by the way, when you say to them, “Do you think Barack Obama is a failure?” they overwhelmingly say no. They like him.” — Romney
Romney talks about how they will claim that Obama is a nice guy but not up to the task to appease the emotional side of the five to seven percent of voters they want to win over to vote for him.
It has always been a Republican strategy to try and convince working people, blue collar and white collar, that somehow other people are using them, living off the taxes they pay, on welfare or getting food stamps. They try to make it seem as if all these people are minorities, which is not true. In hard times more non-minority people are on welfare and food stamps than minority people. This strategy is one aspect of getting working, middle class people to vote against there own best interests. “Divide and Conquer.”
It is misleading to talk about middle class people making under two hundred fifty thousand dollars per year when the mean salary for working people is more like $35,000. Here you have Romney donors dropping $50,000 to attend a fundraiser when many middle class people would love to make that much in a year.
Romney is a liar and a total fraud when he appears in public. In private he is an arrogant, unapologetic, probable billionaire (if we could only see his tax returns for more than a partial year) who represents the minority of super wealthy; the oligarchy that wants to control the United States. He pays lip service to the tea party and Christian fundamentalist because they control the Republican Party.
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47 percent: A look at who Mitt Romney is writing off.
September 18, 2012
Obama Campaign
Mother Jones has posted a video that captured the Republican nominee for president brazenly declaring to a group of wealthy donors that Americans who support President Obama view themselves as “victims” who depend on the government. Nearly half of the American people, he said, are unwilling to take “personal responsibility” for their lives and don’t pay taxes. “My job is not to worry about those people,” he concluded.
Mitt Romney’s shocking dismissal brings into question whether he could represent all Americans as president when he so willingly disparages half of them. Not only do the vast majority of these Americans pay a significant percentage of their income in taxes—whether they are federal payroll taxes, property taxes, sales taxes or other state and local taxes—but they often pay an even higher share of their income in these taxes than wealthier families. In fact, well over half—61%—are workers who actually pay federal payroll taxes, which can include military families, cops, firefighters, and teachers. And an overwhelming majority of the Americans Romney dismisses are seniors, working families, students, or people with disabilities.
Here are a few examples of Americans who—according to Mitt Romney—don’t pay enough in taxes:
U.S. soldiers in combat
U.S. soldiers’ pay while in a combat zone is not subject to federal income tax.
Firefighters
A firefighter with the average wage of $45,000 with a stay-at-home spouse and two kids.
U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeants
An Air Force military police staff sergeant with 8 years of service—who earns basic pay of $34,723—with a spouse earning $10,000 through part-time work and at least two kids.
Steelworkers
A steelworker making the average wage of $45,000 with a stay-at-home spouse and two kids.
Security Guards
A security guard making the average wage of $23,900 married to a bank teller making an average wage of $24,500, with three kids.
High School Teachers
A high school teacher making the average wage of $54,000 who is the primary source of income and has at least three kids.
Police Officers
A New Mexico patrolman with a starting salary of $39,000 married to a part-time child care worker with at least two kids.
Clergy Members
A clergy member whose income of $44,140 is the primary source of income in a family with a spouse and two kids.