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    Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

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    News Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by Chris Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:01 am

    http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0212/72297.html

    Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor'

    Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video) 111213_mitt_romney_605_ap
    By MACKENZIE WEINGER | 2/1/12 10:14 AM EST





    Mitt Romney said Wednesday he’s “not concerned about the very poor.”

    Romney told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien during a morning interview after his Florida primary win that his focus is on the middle class — and not on the “very poor.”

    “I’m in this race because I care about Americans. I’m not concerned about the very poor — we have a safety net there,” he said. “If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich — they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”

    O’Brien jumped in, asking him to clarify his statement that he’s not concerned with the very poor. “I think there are lots of very poor Americans who are struggling who would say, ‘That sounds odd,’” she said.

    “Well, you had to finish the sentence, Soledad,” Romney replied. “I said, I’m not concerned about the very poor that have a safety net, but if it has holes in it, then I will repair it.”

    “But my campaign is focused on middle-income Americans,” he added. “My campaign — you can choose where to focus. You can focus on the rich. That’s not my focus. You can focus on the very poor. That’s not my focus.”

    Romney said he is open to talking about whether the “ample safety net” for the poor — such as food stamps, Medicaid and housing vouchers — needs to be strengthened or fixed.

    But, he said, the middle class “are the people that have been most badly hurt during the Obama years.”

    Romney addressed his controversial comment later Wednesday, telling reporters on his campaign plane that his statement was taken out of context.

    “No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I — no no,” he said. “You’ve got to take the whole sentence, all right, as opposed to saying, and then change it just a little bit, because then it sounds very different. I’ve said throughout the campaign my focus, my concern, my energy is gonna be devoted to helping middle-income people, all right?”

    Romney said he is “concerned about all Americans” before reiterating his statement that middle-income families are the focus of his campaign.

    “We have a safety net for the poor in, and if there are holes in it, I will work to repair that. And if there are people that are falling through the cracks I want to fix that. Wealthy people are doing fine. But my focus in the campaign is on middle-income people,” he said. “Of course I’m concerned about all Americans — poor, wealthy, middle class, but the focus of my effort will be on middle-income families who I think have been most hurt by the Obama economy.”

    Romney added he is “sure” there are holes in the safety net and that “finding those places is one of the things that is the responsibility of government.”

    “We do have a very ample safety net in America, with Medicaid, housing vouchers, food stamps, earned income tax credit. We have a number of ways of helping the poor. And yet my focus and the area that I think is the greatest challenge that the country faces right now is not, is not to focus our effort on how we help the poor as much as to focus our effort on how to help the middle class in America, and get more people in the middle class and get people out of being poor and becoming middle income,” he said.

    Meanwhile, Rush Limbaugh commented on the situation on his radio show Wednesday, noting that two of Romney’s now famous lines — “I like firing people” and “I’m not concerned about the very poor” — leave the Republican candidate open to attacks.

    “Both of them, if they’re stand-alones and taken out of context, are big problems — and they indicate a problem. Taken in context — which isn’t going to happen with the Drive-By Media. Taken in context, it’s understandable. But I even have a problem with this in context,” Limbaugh said. “‘I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there.’ The safety net is one of the biggest cultural problems we’ve got! We had better be worried about it just like we had better get angry over Obamacare. Obamacare is worth getting mad about. Mitt said that it wasn’t. This biz, ‘I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there?’”

    “Right, the safety net is contributing to the destruction of their humanity and their futures! Everybody knows what he’s trying to say but he didn’t say it and he makes himself a target with this stuff. He comes across as the prototypical rich Republican. And it’s gonna make it harder and harder and harder and harder to go after Obama because this turns around on him,” he added.

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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by Nystyle709 Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:27 am

    Typical
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by CeCe Fri Feb 03, 2012 10:50 am

    Born into wealth & privilege & not one damn clue.
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by Forgiveness Man Fri Feb 03, 2012 11:29 am

    Notice they leave out the tagline where he says that he's not concerned about the very rich either. This is just more evidence of an anti-GOP "gotcha" media. If you look at what he ACTUALLY said, it makes perfect sense. The rich don't need his help and the poor got plenty of programs to help them. It's the middle group struggling to make payments (but can't qualify for most charitable help) that really need the most help right now.

    But of course, the liberals looking for any excuse to hate on somebody who doesn't conform to their picture will only pay attention to the parts they can exploit for political gain.
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by Marc™ Fri Feb 03, 2012 6:21 pm

    I don't know why he even bothered to say "but..."

    There is no "safety net." Like every Republican, he's only interested in people whose annual income tops the 100k mark.
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by CeCe Fri Feb 03, 2012 6:40 pm

    Marc™️ wrote:I don't know why he even bothered to say "but..."

    There is no "safety net." Like every Republican, he's only interested in people whose annual income tops the 100k mark.

    co-signs He's out of his mind if he actually believes that. As things go downhill for people there are more & more in need while this so called "safety net" (his word for welfare I imagine) is coming unraveled. But he was born with a golden dick for a head & can't relate to the reality the average person is living these days. I hope people who believe these magical programs exist will need them one day & get back to us on that. He's only doing the "middle class" cheer because he knows those are the people he needs to get him into office.
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by Forgiveness Man Fri Feb 03, 2012 6:45 pm

    Mitt Romney ACTUALLY said that he isn't concerned about the very rich OR very poor, but rather those in the middle struggling to get by, ie most of the country. lol So in other words, like usual, the left is misquoting the GOP in order to twist the words to suit their agenda. Well, two can play at that game. Since all Romney said was that his main concern is the middle class, if you don't agree with him, you hate the Middle class and love rich people. lol

    I suppose the Democrats are the party of the poor in that under them, we have more poor people. lol Yes, that's one population that always goes up under Democratic rule, poverty.
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by captainbryce Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:01 am

    Forgiveness Man wrote:Mitt Romney ACTUALLY said that he isn't concerned about the very rich OR very poor, but rather those in the middle struggling to get by, ie most of the country. lol So in other words, like usual, the left is misquoting the GOP in order to twist the words to suit their agenda.
    Nobody has misquoted anyone. A misquote is when you say that someone said something contrary to what they actually said. That didn't happen. The media is focusing on what he ACTUALLY said. And if you want to argue that "they left out the part about the rich", it really doesn't matter. Nobody cares about that because as he said, the rich are doing just fine. The poor on the other hand ARE NOT. So if you're going to run for President of the United States and your job is to be concerned about ALL Americans, regardless of socio-economic status, it kind of makes you look like a douchebag when you say you're not concerned with the people who are most struggling in our society. And it also makes you look out of touch when you suggest that these people have a "safety net" that allows them to somehow 'not struggle' even though they are poor. That's why whatever he says about the rich is irrelevant. Because what he said about the poor is so retarded and cold, that nobody can take this guy seriously anymore.

    Forgiveness Man wrote:Well, two can play at that game. Since all Romney said was that his main concern is the middle class,
    Except that this is NOT all he said. He said he wasn't concerned about the poor (HIS WORDS). Its very convenient to ignore that part if you're a republican isn't it.

    big grin
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by Bluesmama Sat Feb 04, 2012 1:45 am

    I think Forgivenessman is right.

    Problem is, the poor sector is multiplying. And with three decades of jobs moving south ~ or to Asia ~ and our politicians allowing illegal immigration to bring our economy down for, also, three decades (and, yes, I absolutely DO believe this!), it's small wonder that there's almost nothing left for Middle America.

    But much of this has to be blamed on state-by-state irresponsibility, and I'm going to give you Oregon as a good example.

    This is a liberal state that is bound and determine to KEEP its liberal title no matter what! We have always had a poor job economy here, even when the US in general was solid, and it's a sorry mess right now. Our current governor. . . He was Governor of Oregon from '95 to '03, he wasn't effectual, and he pretty well ended his term with a 'screw you all!' to the state. Fast-forward to '10 and he ran again, this time against an opponent whose main, big focus was on JOBS. But, hey, we can't have a Republican governing Oregon, y'know, even if it means bettering our state economy. So we have this MORON "leading Oregon" again, and so far I don't know what in hell he's been doing. But that's obviously just fine with the voters. Let's keep it poor, and right at #3 for (just ahead of Miss) for the hungriest state in the nation, with no job growth, all for the sake of keeping it liberal. Makes me sick.

    Okay, done with my rant now.
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by wants2laugh Sat Feb 04, 2012 3:59 am

    I completely understand what he meant. The very poor pay no taxes (they might have it taken out of their checks, but they get it all back and then some when they file), they can use (and some abuse) programs such as medicaid, section 8, WIC, food stamps, nearly free college tuition for their kids, plus refunds of unused money, etc.

    YEAH this is NOT enough to live on, but you are aware of the 99% vs 1%. Those 99% are mostly middle income families who are for the first time in history struggling to survive. They are losing jobs as Bluesmama said, and then are TAXED on the unemployment--- so they are in even greater debt. We used to have a pyramid in this country when it came to the wealthy and the poor diagram... but more and more it is becoming a wide base with a very narrow cylinder upward. In order for the country to not completely collapse, the middle class needs to be reinstated.

    the govt just plays a shell game with money to make it look like the national debt is lower than it is. They include the social security fund--- and now the postal retirement (which has NOTHING to do with tax payer money---it is entirely postal money) funds to rob peter to pay paul. (If they left the money alone for the postal retirement, the post office would be fine---the money in the fund is paying for the retirement of people who weren't even born yet!)

    So yeah... what Romney said was "he isn't worried about the very rich or the very poor". that means the people he IS worried about is the middle class--- fix them, and the rest of the nation will prosper. When the middle class owns and operates businesses, they can provide more jobs, pulling the lower class upward. when the middle class HAS more, they also DONATE more to charities which in turn help the lower class.

    And-- one way to help the middle lower class is to stop giving moving out all around the world in foreign aid! We do not need to give $3.1 BILLION to israel, another $1.8 BILLION to egypt, or anywhere else for that matter. Since they are giving it... maybe they should add up ALL of the foreign aid that is slotted for dispersion, and instead give it to every LEGAL working or unemployed (meaning has worked and currently receiving unemployment) US citizen. So take the $58 Billion per year, divide it by only the adult us citizens who are legally working or are collecting unemployment... and you are left with $2300 per citizen--- approximately. That $2300 might keep someone from getting foreclosed on, it might help pay someone's medical bills---why should we be funding weapons for israel or paying for doctors in africa when our own people are homeless, jobless, and without medical treatment????
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by Alan Smithee Sat Feb 04, 2012 11:02 am

    First, Marc is right: there is no "safety net".
    Second, it was a politically dumb thing to say. Despite the protestations that the liberal media left out that he also said he isn't concerned about the very rich, his statement implies that he's fine with leaving the approximately 46,000,000 people currently living below the poverty line right where they are because they have a safety net instead of saying that his goal is to eliminate the need for any safety net by giving everyone the oportunity to support themselves.
    Third, to wants2laugh, where did you get 25.2 million as the number of "every LEGAL working or unemployed (meaning has worked and currently receiving unemployment) US citizen" (58 billion divided by 2,300)? The US population is over 300 million. Only about 8% of the population fall into that category? Or did I do the math wrong?
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by wants2laugh Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:02 pm

    ooopppsss sorry.. somehow i left out a whole paragraph about the war spending (too lazy to go look up the numbers again)... and combine that with the foreign aid... True we have 312 million people here, approximately 12 million are illegals, another 75 million kids under the age of 18 (according to childstats.gov), 2 million in jail (according to the bureau of justice statistics).

    Hell, if we would not have bailed out the banks and done the same thing... we would have made out just as good.
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    News Re: Mitt Romney: 'I’m not concerned about the very poor' (video)

    Post by CeCe Sat Feb 04, 2012 11:39 pm

    Alan Smithee wrote:First, Marc is right: there is no "safety net".
    Second, it was a politically dumb thing to say. Despite the protestations that the liberal media left out that he also said he isn't concerned about the very rich, his statement implies that he's fine with leaving the approximately 46,000,000 people currently living below the poverty line right where they are because they have a safety net instead of saying that his goal is to eliminate the need for any safety net by giving everyone the oportunity to support themselves.

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