Disclaimer: This is a political rant and I express my personal opinion. You are entitled to your own, but please do not post disrespectful or troll comments. Insights, respectfully stated opinions and different sides are welcome to comment. Just remember, if you can’t say anything nice…
I usually don’t post about politics because I think that they are all out for themselves and I prefer to just avoid it since I find it unsavory. I was not going to vote this year as a kind of personal protest because I am repelled by both candidates. (Before anyone gets on my case for not voting; I will absolutely vote when acceptable candidates are chosen).
I don’t know if you follow the news, but Mitt Romney made some pretty horrible comments during a fund-raising dinner. I will say that it was a secret recording and was from several months ago, so this has definitely been released to hurt his campaign. However, this is not his first major case of mouth-diarrhea, just in my opinion, the worst. I will give you some background and then, I’ll tell you why it pisses me off and makes me want to vote for Obama just because I think Romney is a bad person and Obama seems to be the lesser evil.
Facts: The video transcript first came off MotherJones.com, you can find the full transcript here: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/full-transcript-mitt-romney-secret-video It’s very long, but here’s the part the news has focused on:
“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 that 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. And I mean, the president starts off with 48, 49, 48—he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect. And he’ll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that’s what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people—I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the 5 to 10 percent in the center that are independents that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not, what it looks like.”
My opinion: Basically, he’s written off half of the US as deadbeats that just want to sponge off the government. Where he’s wrong is that included in that number are retired people, people who are too poor to qualify to pay income tax and disabled people. It’s unfair and shows just how little he understands about how the rest of us live. I know that 49% of Americans received some sort of benefits in the 2nd quarter of 2011, which is too many, I agree, however conditions in our economy are likely driving that excessive number. I don’t know about anyone else, but I appreciate the safety net in case I lose my job, get hurt somehow or just fall on hard times. I do not feel entitled or would ever intend to just live off the government and I take personal responsibility for my life. I think a lot of the people included in his statement feel the same way. Sometimes, you just need a hand up. Yes, we should find the people who are just working the system and get them off, but the system should be preserved for what it was intended for, emergency help.
Here are some stats pulled from an APP article about the 47% who don’t pay taxes and a link to the article http://www.gainesville.com/article/20120920/WIRE/120929980?p=2&tc=pg
– About half don’t earn enough money for a household of their size to owe income tax. For example, a family of four earning less than $26,400 wouldn’t pay.
– About 22 percent get tax breaks for senior citizens that offset their income.
– About 15 percent get tax breaks for the working poor or low-income parents.
– Almost 3 percent get tax breaks for college tuition or other education expenses.
Who they are:
– The vast majority have below-average earnings: Among all who don’t owe, 9 out of 10 make $50,000 or less.
– But some of the wealthy escape taxes, including about 4,000 households earning more than $1 million a year.
My opinion again: I think Romney is out of touch, doesn’t care about real people or poor people and has made his money off the backs of those he keeps in the mud. I think he thinks he’s entitled to say whatever the hell he wants and do whatever he wants because he’s rich. What’s with that anyway? How much money do you need dude? 250 million? The first million or the 10th weren’t enough? It’s greedy and I hate that. I’d be more than happy with 1 single million dollars. I’d use it wisely and make it last my lifetime. I also believe you can’t make as much money as he has without destroying companies and lives. I think he’s vile and a snake and I might just go vote Obama as much as I hate to just to avoid this train-wreck of a human being.
Also opinion, but based on old news: And what’s with all your crappy foreign policy comments? You go to London and criticize our closest ally on the Olympics? You call for war in an unstable region without waiting for more details? (the recent killing of US embassy staff in Libya) What the F? Can you imagine what he could say next and what it could spark? The whole middle east is at a tipping point, one or two more incidents and the whole thing is going to go up in flames. I personally would rather not start yet another war or World War 3 because Romney can’t filter his fool mouth. Anyhow, that’s my rant on Romney.
