The 47%

[Amskeptic]

an exerpt
Thurson Howell Romney
May 17th
Boca Raton FL

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.

Is this how you perceive the Americans who elected Obama?

[Westy78]

47%? Absolutely not. Definitely some people have that mentality but not 47%.

[Hippie]

47%? Absolutely not. Definitely some people have that mentality but not 47%.

How would Mitt know? He has always lived in a separate America...Had no avenue for failure, basically.

[Westy78]

47%? Absolutely not. Definitely some people have that mentality but not 47%.

How would Mitt know? He has always lived in a separate America...Had no avenue for failure, basically.

You mean someone who thinks making 250-350k a year puts you in the middle class might be out of touch with reality? Nahhh.

[hambone]

"believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."
what sane person WOULDN'T want these things? Who wants to slave away a life? Who wants disease?
The sad thing is, there is plenty to go around. No one needs to slave or starve. Yet they do, and all humanity is stained because of it.
I believe the "good neighbor" philosophy should permeate all of life, not just those of the same color and culture.

[Amskeptic]

"believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."
what sane person WOULDN'T want these things?

"Entitled" . . . that is what Mitt is saying. People believe they are "entitled" to food.

I just cannot believe that the man running for President in the Republican Party is spewing such generalizations and stereotypes. He has hobbled his ship. It will be a slow swamp.
Colin

[Bleyseng]

"believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."
what sane person WOULDN'T want these things?

"Entitled" . . . that is what Mitt is saying. People believe they are "entitled" to food.

I just cannot believe that the man running for President in the Republican Party is spewing such generalizations and stereotypes. He has hobbled his ship. It will be a slow swamp.
Colin

Swamp! more like quicksand. Hopefully the Creature from the Black Lagoon (Ryan) will sink into the depths to. Even my father is thinking about not voting for Romney! OMG!

[Westy78]

"believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it."
what sane person WOULDN'T want these things? Who wants to slave away a life? Who wants disease?
The sad thing is, there is plenty to go around. No one needs to slave or starve. Yet they do, and all humanity is stained because of it.
I believe the "good neighbor" philosophy should permeate all of life, not just those of the same color and culture.

I took it as him saying that 47% of the population felt that they were entitled to have those things given to them by the government.

[Amskeptic]

I took it as him saying that 47% of the population felt that they were entitled to have those things given to them by the government.

That attitude has a rich history from Marie Antionette through Ronald Reagan.
Never have they sat at a kitchen table with a person desperate for work, for dignity, for the chance to support their family, no . . . it is easier to sneer that the lower rungs are lazy and unmotivated.

I hope I am seeing the beginnings of the slow destruction of the neo-Con era, an era characterized by snottiness and sarcasm and selfishness.
"Double down!" suggest Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh to Mitt Romney. That is a clue right there.
Colin

[Spezialist]

So Mitt is not his real name?

[hambone]

I think it's more of a vulgar verb, like a padded "motion".

[zabo]

nice NYT article - http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/opini ... .html?_r=0

...But these are not the sensible arguments that Mitt Romney made at a fund-raiser earlier this year. Romney, who criticizes President Obama for dividing the nation, divided the nation into two groups: the makers and the moochers. Forty-seven percent of the country, he said, are people “who are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to take care of them, who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.”

This comment suggests a few things. First, it suggests that he really doesn’t know much about the country he inhabits. Who are these freeloaders? Is it the Iraq war veteran who goes to the V.A.? Is it the student getting a loan to go to college? Is it the retiree on Social Security or Medicare?

It suggests that Romney doesn’t know much about the culture of America. Yes, the entitlement state has expanded, but America remains one of the hardest-working nations on earth. Americans work longer hours than just about anyone else. Americans believe in work more than almost any other people. Ninety-two percent say that hard work is the key to success, according to a 2009 Pew Research Survey...

[Bleyseng]

So we're really talking about 8% who think they are "entitled" then?
I think Seniors are entitled to housing, health care and food which I can't believe are some of Romney's strongest supporters!

[Spezialist]

So what I'm getting is this, the 47% that he can't reach are too apathetic to vote at all and or can't because of new voter id laws.

I think if he ran on the My father was a welfare king platform he might recover.

[RSorak 71Westy]

The problem he made is that this 47 percent figure includes SS recipients and medicare, these people are not freeloading just entitled to a return on what they paid in....Also he threw a lot of poor republicans in that figure too. It was just a dumb thing to say.