Oh no!
WASHINGTON -- The overwhelming majority of voters who back President Barack Obama do so because they are "dependent on government" and "believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing," Mitt Romney told a closed-door gathering of about 30 major donors earlier this year, according to video of the event that has surfaced on the Internet.
The person who uploaded a series of potentially inflammatory videos from the fundraiser has claimed authorship of them in an email exchange with The Huffington Post. The source said he or she wishes to remain anonymous for professional reasons and to avoid a lawsuit. The videos, which have created a buzz on the Internet, were blurred and at times blacked out to obscure the location of the filming, the source said.
"I have obviously degraded the quality to attempt to camo the location," said the clandestine filmmaker. The original, which has not been posted in full, is very high quality, the source said.How could Mitt Romney say such a thing? How could he?
From the Economic Collapse Blog:
The following are 16 statistics which show that the number of Americans dependent on the government is at an all-time high....
#1 According to the Census Bureau, 49 percent of all Americans live in a home that gets direct monetary benefits from the federal government. Back in 1983, less than a third of all Americans lived in a home that received direct monetary benefits from the federal government.
#2 The amount of money that the federal government gives directly to Americans has increased by 32 percent since Barack Obama entered the White House.
#3 The number of Americans receiving Social Security disability benefits has increased by 10 percent since Barack Obama first took office.
#4 Back in 1990, the federal government accounted for 32 percent of all health care spending in America. Today, that figure is up to 45 percent and it is projected to surpass 50 percent very shortly.
#5 The number of Americans on food stamps recently hit a new all-time high. It has increased by 3 million since this time last year and by more than 14 million since Barack Obama first entered the White House.
#6 Today, one out of every seven Americans is on food stamps and one out of every four American children is on food stamps. This is unprecedented in American history.
#7 In 2010, 42 percent of all single mothers in the United States were on food stamps.
#8 Back in 1980, government transfer payments accounted for just 11.7% of all income. In 2010, government transfer payments accounted for 18.4% of all income, which was a new all-time high.
#9 By the end of 2011, approximately 55 million Americans received a total of approximately 727 billion dollars in Social Security benefits. As the retirement crisis becomes much worse, that dollar figure is projected to absolutely skyrocket.
#10 According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Social Security system paid out more in benefits than it received in payroll taxes in 2010. That was not supposed to happen until at least 2016.
#11 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid, and things are about to get a whole lot worse. It is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
#12 The U.S. government now says that the Medicare trust fund will run out five years faster than previously anticipated.
#13 The total cost of just three federal government programs - the Department of Defense, Social Security and Medicare - exceeded the total amount of taxes brought in during fiscal 2010by 10 billion dollars.
#14 It is being projected that entitlement spending by the federal government will nearly double by the year 2050.
#15 Right now, spending by the federal government accounts for about 24 percent of GDP. Back in 2001, it accounted for just 18 percent.
#16 When you total it all up, American households are now receiving more money directly from the federal government than they are paying to the government in taxes.
UPDATE -
I heard another statistic quoted tonight which made it a little clearer what, precisely, Romney was getting at:
So, I would say, some of what Romney said here seems seems to be a conflating of the stat that
1) a group of 47% of Americans do not pay income tax
with
2) all Obama voters.
The two are not identical.
However, being that Obama is for growing government (expanding usage of Food Stamps, for instance, as well as other forms of government assistance), it is not completely unreasonable to suggest that the 47% of people who do not pay Federal Income tax would be more likely to vote for Obama.
Sloppy wording? Maybe.
Evil intent? I don't think so.
Another Lib Meme, DEAD ON ARRIVAL.
So what did Romney say that was wrong? And isn't that what Obama wants, more voters receiving government support so they vote for him. The truth hurts doesn't it.
ReplyDeleteInteresting statistics but here are some sections in Romney's remarks that are going to get highlighted:
ReplyDelete"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what."
He said people which implies all voters. So it reads like ALL Obama supporters.
"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."
Again, implying ALL Obama supporters. And that's not true. I know more than a few Obama supporters that are financially well-off and don't need any government support.
"I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
Since I'm a betting man I'll wager that there are substantial amount of Obama supporters who are personally responsible EVEN IF their politics lean towards spend spend spend.
It's how it sounds and reads. Conservatives tattooed Obama good with the "you didn't build it" angle because it fit a narrative. Well Romney's comments fits a narrative that Liberals been rolling out.
Also, long time reader, first time commenter!
Interesting statistics but here are some sections in Romney's remarks that are going to get highlighted:
ReplyDelete"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what."
He said people which implies all voters. So it reads like ALL Obama supporters.
"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."
Again, implying ALL Obama supporters. And that's not true. I know more than a few Obama supporters that are financially well-off and don't need any government support.
"I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
Since I'm a betting man I'll wager that there are substantial amount of Obama supporters who are personally responsible EVEN IF their politics lean towards spend spend spend.
It's how it sounds and reads. Conservatives tattooed Obama good with the "you didn't build it" angle because it fit a narrative. Well Romney's comments fits a narrative that Liberals been rolling out.
Also, long time reader, first time commenter!
HuffPo Slogan: Facts? What facts? We don't need no steeenking facts!
ReplyDeleteT-Steel,
ReplyDeleteYes, some of what Romney did seems as if he was conflating the stat that 1) a group of 47% of Americans do not pay income tax
with
2) Obama voters.
The two are not identical.
However, being that Obama is for growing government (expanding usage of Food Stamps, for instance, as well as other forms of government assistance), it is not completely unreasonable to suggest that the 47% of people who do not pay Federal Income tax would be more likely to vote for Obama.
Sloppy wording, maybe.
Evil intent? I don't think so.
Another Lib Meme, DEAD ON ARRIVAL.