Mitt Romney calls half of America freeloaders

[Riot]

The Top Ten states where the non-taxpayers live, in red; and the Top Ten states where the highest-paying taxpayers are, in blue.

Mitt, Mitt, Mitt ... you just insulted your base.

[Thepaindispenser]

What is so bad about saying people shouldn't be dependent on government? People shouldn't be dependent on government. People should strive to get off government dependence.

[Thepaindispenser]

Romney is right, people who don't want to work and who want to live off the government are going to vote for Obama.

[Danzig]

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/20...g_to_say_.html

Romney is conflating the people who pay no net income tax with the people so dependent on government aid that they have to vote for Obama. But these aren't the same people! Most of the "lucky duckies," to use the classic WSJ term, are old people who subsist on Social Security. Elderly voters broke big for Republicans in 2010. Scores of poor whites who benefit from the Earned Income Tax Credit vote for Republicans.


and remember, the comments he made were for rich donors, not us peasants. he didn't mean for that to get out. now it has-and it's gonna cost him, as it should.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by Danzig

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/20...g_to_say_.html

Romney is conflating the people who pay no net income tax with the people so dependent on government aid that they have to vote for Obama. But these aren't the same people! Most of the "lucky duckies," to use the classic WSJ term, are old people who subsist on Social Security. Elderly voters broke big for Republicans in 2010. Scores of poor whites who benefit from the Earned Income Tax Credit vote for Republicans.


and remember, the comments he made were for rich donors, not us peasants. he didn't mean for that to get out. now it has-and it's gonna cost him, as it should.

interesting article even more interesting is to hear rationalizations from people as they vote against their own self interests. According to this it is not ok to pay no taxes because your income - legal deductions don't meet the minimum standards for taxation however it is pefectly fine to EVADE taxes by stashing your cash in the Caymans.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by jms62

interesting article even more interesting is to hear rationalizations from people as they vote against their own self interests. According to this it is not ok to pay no taxes because your income - legal deductions don't meet the minimum standards for taxation however it is pefectly fine to EVADE taxes by stashing your cash in the Caymans.

yep. all too often, people go for the overly simplistic. the easy thing is to say 'half don't pay taxes'...but that isn't close to the whole story. do some pay less or no fed tax? yes, they do. but many still pay ss, medicare (which technically goes to the same big pot with a huge hole in it) property taxes, etc. then there's what the article says, many of that 47% are on social security-they're retirees who paid into the system and now are reaping the fruits of their labor.

thing is, what mitt said wasn't meant for public consumption-it was only meant for the fat cats at that fundraiser. and i feel comments like that are far more telling than the practiced phrases you hear when they know the microphone is on.

what got me is when i read that some of the very rich also paid no federal income tax-now, that's mindboggling.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by Danzig

yep. all too often, people go for the overly simplistic. the easy thing is to say 'half don't pay taxes'...but that isn't close to the whole story. do some pay less or no fed tax? yes, they do. but many still pay ss, medicare (which technically goes to the same big pot with a huge hole in it) property taxes, etc. then there's what the article says, many of that 47% are on social security-they're retirees who paid into the system and now are reaping the fruits of their labor.

thing is, what mitt said wasn't meant for public consumption-it was only meant for the fat cats at that fundraiser. and i feel comments like that are far more telling than the practiced phrases you hear when they know the microphone is on.

what got me is when i read that some of the very rich also paid no federal income tax-now, that's mindboggling.

The funny thing is I am a hell of a lot closer to the demographic he is talking TO then who he is talking about. The thing is that unlike a lot of people I see that changing if the economy crashes. If 5% of the people have all the money then there are few left to buy my house, my stocks and products that fund my jobs. We all crash with it yet people continue to vote against their own interest. Is it mass delusion caused by reality TV? Watching some filthy rich fuk on TV doesn't mean you are days away from being there yourself.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by jms62

interesting article even more interesting is to hear rationalizations from people as they vote against their own self interests. According to this it is not ok to pay no taxes because your income - legal deductions don't meet the minimum standards for taxation however it is pefectly fine to EVADE taxes by stashing your cash in the Caymans.

Interesting aside: all those tax credits that are allowing lower income folks, people with lots of kids, mortgage deductions, etc to pay no federal taxes? Several of those tax credits were passed by Bush I and II.

And of course, half of the "no tax payers" are elderly, and pay no tax on their Social Security income. Evil moochers? Freeloaders? Hardly.

The bigger story about this, is that Mitt relaying the conservative meme that "47% pay no taxes thus they are freeloaders" is that the statement itself is a lie. They are not freeloaders. Half are elderly, and half are too poor to pay federal taxes (although they pay plenty of other taxes).

Which makes Mitt's disparaging dismissal of them as "freeloaders" both very, very cold and ignorant of America.