I’m not a big fan of conservative writer David Brooks but kudos to him for nailing this one.
In 1980, about 30 percent of Americans received some form of government benefits. Today, as Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute has pointed out, about 49 percent do.
In 1960, government transfers to individuals totaled $24 billion. By 2010, that total was 100 times as large. Even after adjusting for inflation, entitlement transfers to individuals have grown by more than 700 percent over the last 50 years. This spending surge, Eberstadt notes, has increased faster under Republican administrations than Democratic ones.
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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.
It’s important to note that Romney’s words (“My job is is not to worry about those people.”) could easily have been spoken by almost any member of the Republican Party. Their job, as they see it, is not to worry about the poor, the aged or an entire middle class. Their job is to create an environment where the rich get richer. Romney is simply the current front man for the right’s agenda.
In a way, it’s not even mostly Romney’s fault. It’s the fault of the party and movement that introduced and spread this toxic propaganda in the first place. When Romney is licking his wounds on Nov. 7, that party and movement will fire all its arrows at him. He’ll deserve a lot of them. But they will have buried him with the ignorance and rage they demanded he adopt. His chief crime will have been his weakness in failing to confront them.
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If Romney wasn’t a Mormon, you’d almost have to assume he’d had a few* before those remarks.
*There’s a major thoroughfare on Milwaukee’s south side called Howell Avenue, and on that street is located a bar called “Thirst On Howell”. Maybe Romney should stop in – if he’s going to say things like that, he might as well be a few sheets to the wind.
Mitt doesn’t worry about those 47 percenters and he will do his best to require republican states to require ID at the voting booths. Since 47 percenters are poor and aged,people will prefer to pay $35 for food rather than buy an ID card and repubicans will have an advantage if this is constitutional.
I hope the supreme court votes nay on this tactic because not only will superpacs want to buy this election but robbing a right to vote will hijack the democracy America is trying to defend and protect. Tactics should never be a compromise for justice in voting rights
I don’t believe that Romney said something that we ALREADY DIDN’T KNOW about him.
That may be true, but not everyone realized it. Most of his other statements could concievably be considered out of context, such as “I like being able to fire people” (i.e., he likes having a choice of service providers – I liked telling my phone company to go to hell when I switched to one with better terms) or “corporations are people” (i.e., people work for and comprise corporations)*, but this is unambiguous and it brazenly and truly depicts his heartfelt opinions.
Now if we could only get some recordings from meetings of ALEC, Americans for Prosperity and some of the Koch Brothers’ confabs, that would really be great.
*Note that I am not agreeing with or soft-pedaling Romney’s other comments – I am only pointing out that his supporters can claim those as reasonable interpretations of what he said. Of course we know otherwise.
Is Romney human? No!
Besides,Romney freeloads if he uses public schools,roads,transportation,libraries,the DMV,calls the cops or firefighters,takes out a SBA loan for Bain Capital,or so many other things. Sadly,it’s easier to pick on those less fortunate.
To me, the burning question is: What will America do with this blatant, forthright rhetoric coming from the bowels of the Conservative Movement?
In my memory, which I admit is sometimes faulty and dial-up slow, I can’t recall when the extreme wing of the once powerful and pragmatic Republican Party had such a clear voice and unapologetic public pronouncements as now, laid out in full sentences for all the world to see, naked in their ideology and contempt of the vast majority of their fellow citizenry.
I wait with tentative anticipation to see just how large their tent is this November.
I often appreciate Borowitz..
http://links.newyorker.mkt4334.com/ctt?kn=16&ms=NDc3NDgxMQS2&r=MjczNzc1MzkyMzcS1&b=0&j=Mjg3MzAwMzQ0S0&mt=1&rt=0