Romney is not concerned about poor people

[DesiPower]

I think with last night's win in FL, Romney secured the nomination and with this morning's comment, lost the general election.

What the FL election demonstrated is that Romney loved mud slinging and if that's the case, just like the title of my post, this sound bite will be distorted and presented again and again to the votes in general election. It was a very big blunder IMO.

“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it.”

read on...

Mod, please merge is its repost, I though a post on this topic earlier this morning but cant find it anymore.

 

[woolfe9999]

I think with last night's win in FL, Romney secured the nomination and with this morning's comment, lost the general election.

What the FL election demonstrated is that Romney loved mud slinging and if that's the case, just like the title of my post, this sound bite will be distorted and presented again and again to the votes in general election. It was a very big blunder IMO.



read on...

Mod, please merge is its repost, I though a post on this topic earlier this morning but cant find it anymore.

Yeah this is not really the fodder that many liberals would like it to be. Note that he also said:

I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine.

And that he also said that if there are "holes" in the safety net for the poor, that he'll "repair" them. Sounds like he not only doesn't want to abolish the safety nets, which the "tea party" right wants to do, but that he might even consider strengthening them. This might actually be better attack material for the primary than for the general election.

That said, I'm sure you're correct that it will be taken out of context.

 

[fleshconsumed]

I doubt anyone is going to notice. And of those who do notice, most people don't think of themselves as poor, so in their minds it wouldn't apply to them.

 

[Deeko]

Completely twisted to mean something else. He's not saying he doesn't care about poor people. He's saying he doesn't believe they'll be in trouble, because there's a safety net, and if that safety net is broken, he'll fix it.

These two statements have drastically different meanings.

 

[senseamp]

GOP is trying to dismantle the safety net, not fix it.
So Romney is saying, don't worry about poor people, they got safety net, oh and btw, I am going to cut spending which provides for the safety net. But don't put the two together, don't worry, be happy.

 

[dank69]

The only fucked up parts about this speech is that he says he is concerned about the middle class, and that Obama is responsible for the economy and destruction of the middle class.

 

[fskimospy]

Yeah this is not really the fodder that many liberals would like it to be. Note that he also said:



And that he also said that if there are "holes" in the safety net for the poor, that he'll "repair" them. Sounds like he not only doesn't want to abolish the safety nets, which the "tea party" right wants to do, but that he might even consider strengthening them. This might actually be better attack material for the primary than for the general election.

That said, I'm sure you're correct that it will be taken out of context.

Except of course he is saying that he will 'repair the safety net' at the exact same time he is proposing drastic cuts to domestic spending, aka: the safety net.

 

[Lemon law]

Ask not your country can do for you, ask not what you can do for your country, ask instead what you can do to enrich Mitt Romney. Who as a vulture capitalists is equally happy stealing from both the rich or poor to enrich only Mitt.

Gotta admit, at least Romney is honest, as he feeds us no false hope in a trickle down economy. Romney is like a black hole, once the money from vulture capitalism goes into Romney's pockets, it will never escape.

Why vote for a Lobbyist idea a day phony like Newt Gingrich, when we can have Romney vulture capitalism in its perfected form?

 

[nageov3t]

ridiculous mischaracterization aside, I think he had a point.

when we're talking about something like health care reform, we're not talking about the very poor who have medicare or medicaid, we're talking about the middle class who aren't poor enough to qualify for government assistance, aren't lucky enough to have a job that pays for their health insurance, and aren't rich enough to pay out of pocket.

 

[RabidMongoose]

Corporations are people, but poor people aren't people.

 

[NFS4]

GOP is trying to dismantle the safety net, not fix it.
So Romney is saying, don't worry about poor people, they got safety net, oh and btw, I am going to cut spending which provides for the safety net. But don't put the two together, don't worry, be happy.

LOL, that's the same thing I was thinking

 

[Rainsford]

I think "Romney doesn't care about poor people" is a silly characterization of what he actually said, and I don't think a lot of people will get on board with that argument. I think his bigger problem will be from the right because he said he wants to fix the social safety net if necessary to help the poor. I don't think "social safety net" and "help the poor" are phrases that are too popular on the right at the moment, to be honest. He also said "rich people are doing fine" which doesn't really line up with the modern conservative arguments either.

He's clearly trying to position himself as a moderate, which I think he probably is. But given the incredibly anti-government position of the right lately, I wonder if he'll lose more on the right than he gains on the left...

 

[woolfe9999]

Except of course he is saying that he will 'repair the safety net' at the exact same time he is proposing drastic cuts to domestic spending, aka: the safety net.

Yes but that is a broader disagreement with his policies. If there's a case to be made that he is unconcerned about the poor, it will come from examining the particulars of his policies. This particular soundbite can only be made to support that case by taking it out of context.

 

[fskimospy]

I think "Romney doesn't care about poor people" is a silly characterization of what he actually said, and I don't think a lot of people will get on board with that argument. I think his bigger problem will be from the right because he said he wants to fix the social safety net if necessary to help the poor. I don't think "social safety net" and "help the poor" are phrases that are too popular on the right at the moment, to be honest. He also said "rich people are doing fine" which doesn't really line up with the modern conservative arguments either.

He's clearly trying to position himself as a moderate, which I think he probably is. But given the incredibly anti-government position of the right lately, I wonder if he'll lose more on the right than he gains on the left...

While I agree it's taking his statement out of context, you should go look at his plans to 'fix' the social safety net. He plans nothing of the sort, in fact his fiscal policy involves huge cuts to the safety net.

 

[Throckmorton]

Scumbag Romney should be a meme.



Not concerned about poor people because there's a safety net...



... wants to cut safety net

 

[woolfe9999]

While I agree it's taking his statement out of context, you should go look at his plans to 'fix' the social safety net. He plans nothing of the sort, in fact his fiscal policy involves huge cuts to the safety net.

Yes but the thread topic is the political implications of this so-called gaffe. Which BTW there are also several articles in the MSM today about that very same topic. Your point is relevant, BUT, it's much easier to sink a candidate based on rhetorical soundbites than digging into the particulars of his actual policies. Sad, but true.

 

[jackschmittusa]

I didn't find his comments particularly troublesome. All he really needs to say is that contrary to the current Republican agenda, he will not seek to defund the safety net.

 

[Lemon law]

The GOP problem is that they lack a single POTUS candidate able to exploit the Romney Gaffe.

But we can bet our bottom dollar, that the democrats will exploit every bit of the Romney gaffe.

If money is free speech, Romney has far deeper pockets than Gingrich, but Obama has lots of money too and every negative add Obama runs is gonna hammer Romney for his open mouth insert foot gaffe. The other thing to say is the fact that GOP tea party nuts deeply distrust Romney.

 

[IronWing]

Romney loves poor people. He helped make so many of them as he looted companies for personal profit.

 

[Jaskalas]

... wants to cut safety net

Like he did as Governor? *cough

 

[conehead433]

For Romney poor people are those making anything less than 1$million a year. What he was really saying was that he didn't give a shit about anyone but himself. Elect a sociopath as President and you get what you deserve.

 

[pcgeek11]

The only fucked up parts about this speech is that he says he is concerned about the middle class, and that Obama is responsible for the economy and destruction of the middle class.

Why would the honest truth bother you at all?

 

[MomentsofSanity]

Like he did as Governor? *cough

Ok today he wants to cut safety nets...

 

[glenn1]

I daresay the poor are worse off today after decades of "love" from the government and welfare programs. Despite good intentions, politicians have loved places like Detroit and Camden, NJ right into 3rd world shit hole conditions.

 

[Rainsford]

I daresay the poor are worse off today after decades of "love" from the government and welfare programs. Despite good intentions, politicians have loved places like Detroit and Camden, NJ right into 3rd world shit hole conditions.

You daresay based on what though? I can't imagine you're arguing that the only thing that's changed in Detroit in the last several decades is the amount of government intervention.