He and I had had a rousing discussion on the topic a few nights before, as we soaked in the hot tub.
He grew up in a family business that has served a large population of Welfare Abusers, and, as such, didn’t see anything wrong with Romney’s 47 statement.
“I think it’s good,” he said, “but I’d argue one thing.”
I expected him to launch into another rant about how he agrees with Romney, that forty-seven percent of the population doesn’t pay income taxes, and are looking for handouts.
“Read that part about the two and three jobs, again.”
And that money is coming, in part, from the other caste of your 47 who don’t pay income taxes.
Those of us who work one, two or three jobs.
“Now read Romney’s quote, again.”
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. … These are people who pay no income tax. … [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.
“If you work, you pay income taxes.”
I argued that we had, at a time in our married lives, fallen into the category of people who didn’t pay income tax.
“The government takes income tax out of every paycheck you receive and I pay self-unemployment tax every year.”
“But we’ve gotten refund checks,” I argued.
“Yeah, but we still paid in,” he said, “that money that we got back was because of Earned Income Credits we received. You don’t qualify for earned income credit if you don’t earnany money.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Checkmate.
“There’s nothing wrong with Romney’s statement. The only thing wrong with it is that I think it’s really going to hurt his campaign. He’s not talking about people like you and me and the millions of others who do work. He’s talking about those who do nothing and do expect free food and housing and electricity and health insurance.”
Well, folks, it’s gonna happen every now and again…
Warren was right. (Tongue in cheek, folks, tongue in cheek…)
I was wrong to jump into the emotional fray that really did take Romney’s statement out of context…
And I hate to say it, but no matter your party’s banner, this one’s kind of hard to deny…
Soon…
4 Comments on “There’s More to Romney’s 47 Fallout”
“There’s nothing wrong with Romney’s statement.”
I have to respectfully disagree with Warren. Romney’s statement is not his; this has been floating around Conservative slash Republican circles for over a year. It is unfortunately a statement which is in part true and there lies the rub. It makes it all that much harder to discern exactly what is not necessarily true per se but meaningful and important. This, more than anything else, is what brings the entire political process to a dead halt as both sides argue over who’s right and who’s wrong; what’s the truth and what’s a lie.
I won’t launch into a lengthy rebuttal here; this is neither the time nor place and I have written enough articles which attempt to find the truth. But I will say that this statement, like other statements from the Republicans, serve to obfuscate the important issues which matter. I am assuming from your article, you are Democrat while Warren is Republican. Taking into account the potential for some lively political debates, I can see that your tub would indeed be “hot”.
I’m reading. wb 🙂
Hi wb,
Glad to know you’re still here. 🙂
I am a bit of a political condundrum… http://open.salon.com/blog/thefivefacets/2012/07/13/people_vs_politics
Glad you enjoyed the hot tub pun.
It is both a benefit and a curse that everyone in our world doesn’t see eye to eye on what is right or wrong, what is moral or immoral, what is truth or lie…
Keep reading. 😉
See you around!
Actually, there’s a lot wrong with Romney’s statement, because he says 47% of the population wants the government to take care of them— supposedly the 47% that does not pay taxes. This lumps many people in that category— for instance, seniors, who have spent their lives working and paying taxes and who now are retired. He is generalizing, which is insulting, and never a good idea. I’m sure he alienated many people with his statement.
Hi, CoincidentAli,
Those seniors have paid into the system, and served their time…
That said, you are correct: Romney did alienate many people with that statement. And it is never a good idea to generalize or stereotype, even though we all do it…
No matter how you slice it, though, the comment has made for some engaging conversations. 🙂