Mitt Unplugged

Mitt Romney was caught at a fundraiser last May telling us what he really thinks, or at least, what he really thinks his big donors want to hear:

“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…

“And I mean the president starts off with 48, 49 … he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect. So he’ll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean that’s what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to convince the five to ten percent in the center that are independents that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not.”

As a factual matter, this reflects gloomily poor staff work and preparation by Team Romney - roughly 3/4 of non-Federal filers are either retired or the working poor (benefiting from the Earned Income Tax Credit and personal and child breaks). Telling an elderly retiree who spent forty years paying Federal, Social Security and Medicare taxes that they are now a dependent who never took personal responsiblity for their lives is probably not a winning message. Since Romney is positioning himself as a smart guy, he ought to focus on saying smart things.

That said, I am hoping the AllahPundit is right with the notion that if the shoe doesn't fit, people won't wear it:

...my hunch is that Ben Domenech’s right in believing that no one really thinks they’re part of the 47 percent. Everyone thinks they’re a “maker,” not a “taker,” due to whatever little tax they pay, so when Mitt lays into freeloaders, even people who pay no income tax think he’s talking about someone else.

Still, yike!

MORE: The WSJ has two pieces on the mysterious 47%; both buttress the point that Mitt cast his net too widely and collected far too many natural Republican voters in his Disorganized Dependent Democrats club.

Let me add this - I am not a tax expert, although I would welcome a chance to play one on television. However, the good folks at H&R Block are experts, and their website includes a quick tax calculator.

I just poked some numbers in quickly - assume a 40 year old man, 40 year old wife, two kids at home. I have them renting (no mortgage deduction) and deducting nothing for state and local taxes, or for charitable contributions (very Bidenesque!).

The fellow earns $45k per year, the wife is at home with no reportable income, and the net Federal tax liability is a bit less than zero -in fact, they are due $279 due (I presume) to the child credits and the EITC. (If his income rises to $50,000 his tax bill rises to $690, a marginal rate of nearly 20%, or $970 on $5,000.)

So, if such a family exists, they have just been denigrated by Romney as dependent and disorganized. Is that really our genius message du jour? Is that the message of a smart guy saying smart things? Is that helping to connect with likely Republican voters?

Well, since such a family is clearly not in the DDD club, we can hope that since the shoe doesn't fit, this guy and his wife won't wear it, and will just assume Romney had some other free-loaders in mind.

As a caveat, even if I have managed to screw up the seemingly simple H&R Block calculation with income of $45,000, it is pretty clear that at some lower but still credible number the tax liability would be zero.

Comments

[peter]

It's like a basketball game, there are going to be good runs and times you play catch up. Keep calm and carry on. ABO

[GMAX]

Ben is right. And as Geraghty rightly points out, the "Obama is going to pay my mortgage video was not a You tube sensation for no reason. There are plenty of folks on disability for a bad back going to their bowling league, and everyone knows stories of folks who get something for nothing.

I see little of real damage, David Brooks should be your weathervane, if he zigs, zag as hard as you can. Its almost 100% predictive.

[dublindave]

"Mitt Unplugged"

That's prophetic.

[Danube of Thought]

Telling an elderly retiree who spent forty years paying Federal, Social Security and Medicare taxes that they are now a dependent who never took personal responsiblity for their lives is probably not a winning message.

That's the key for me. I think it was a dumb thing to say in public. No idea whether it will hurt him or not.

[Rex]

I think your concern with retirees is mistaken. If a married couple has both folks retired and both drawing social security for full time work, they are paying federal income taxes on at least part of their income.

And if they have additional retired income, such as retired teachers, or local, state or federal retirees, they are paying even more federal income taxes.

[Captain Hate]

And if they have additional retired income, such as retired teachers, or local, state or federal retirees, they are paying even more federal income taxes.

There *are* retirees from the private sector that are drawing pensions also. Plus drawing on 401ks is taxable income.

[matt foley]

as one of the commentators at ace o' spades so eloquently said, "seems like mother jones is making the commercials that we want the romney campaign to be making"

[narciso]

We're referring to the Democrat coalition, the ones that swooned at Red Squaw and Jiffy Lube's nonsense

[steve]

Inelegant sure, but not inaccurate in that Obama has a base of 47% who not only believe more and bigger government is the cure to everything but also that those who are successful do not deserve to keep their money.

Romney's mistake, both in the initial comments and his followup last night, was in not making the point that the 47% need to know that there is a limit to how much they can leech before there's nothing left to leech... in other words, it is in their own selfish interest that we grow the economy... through tax cuts and slimming government.

[NK]

TomM says: "Yike(s)!" Hmmm. so Tom you're apparently not a KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON kinda guy. That's fine. But if you ever see me in a foxhole, please don't jump in. As to the substance, few voters who are moochers actually consider THEMSELVES TO BE moochers. DD is a rare exception, and NO persuadable voters consider themselves to be moochers (again see DD). Romney will now go on stump saying he wants every vote from everyone who is willibng and able to work.That's a nice pitch for Indies compared to JEF's campaign.

[Rob Crawford]

Telling an elderly retiree who spent forty years paying Federal, Social Security and Medicare taxes that they are now a dependent who never took personal responsiblity for their lives is probably not a winning message.

Except he never said that.

Why do his supposed supporters feel the need to lie about what he said? To get ahead of the left?

Here's how he described this group:

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

The people who worked hard all their lives -- do they consider themselves victims? Do they believe they are entitled to benefits, or that they earned them?

Romney's mistake apparently was, in my opinion, over-estimating the intelligence of his own supporters.

[Free State Paul]

I can't imagine anyone who was predisposed to vote for Romney changing their mind over this.

But I can see some lukewarm Romney supporters getting more enthused.

Team Romney didn't invent the 47% statistic. That meme has been around a long time and has deep roots among conservatives. It's not really a "fact" but a codeword for welfare moochers. Like "The 1%"

[Melinda Romanoff]

Breaking: IMF issues impending threat to Palestinian economy. -FT

Now where is the head of the IMF from most recently? Hmmm.

Oh, yeah. Chicago.

[squaredance]

Great work JOMErs: Let the MSM panic you some more. Let make this about what Romney said rather than the ultimate meaning of it: Are we to be a socialist state or not? Are we to return to American values or not? Is it not the case that the Democrats buy votes be encouraging a Socialist culture of entitlements of"Victims".

This, along with Globalism and the Islamic threat, is a key issue.

You never see Democrats eat their own this close to an election.

The Stupid Party indeed.

[Captain Hate]

I don't think Ben has been around a lot of hard core welfare recipients, many of which aren't ashamed whatsoever of being a permanent government dependent.

[Stephanie]

Obama's reelection strategy:

“Vote for me or Romney will take away all the free goodies you’ve got coming to you!"

Today's election outrage:

"By the way, can you believe Mitt Romney called you a mooch.”

The Democrats based their whole convention around the premise that you need Obama just to survive (remember Julia??).

I see nothing to complain about with this new campaign strategy. The lines have been drawn.

OH, and we are living on retirement and SS and pay taxes.

We purposefully deferred taxes from our higher earning years through our 503B to these lower earning years and Obama calls us 'evil and greedy abusers of the tax system.' How many folks look at their 401k or 503B and think 'I shouldn't defer this income til I retire and pay less taxes on it?' Why the F did they set up a 401K anyways if not to defer taxes?

[NK]

RobC points out the other way Romney talks about this he'll say:. "Retirees? I never referred to them. They worked, they are on Soc Sec and Medicare now. I respect their work, that's why we restore $700B that Obamacare STEALS from Medicare and gives to nonworkers on Medicaid. That's why I fix Soc Sec so it pays everything promised to current retirees, and makes adjustments so there's money for future retirees. I respect retirees and I expect to get their votes." The Obamacare steals medicare to give to nonworking Medicaid is a devastating reminder.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Hey, squaredance, that's not panic, genius. It's laughter.

And you're just part of the carny side show.

[tollhouse]

The funny part of all this, is that the Carter's grandson is trying to get a paycheck from peddling this stuff.

[Porchlight]

squaredance,

Read the prior thread. Most JOM commenters there are not panicked at all and are applauding Romney.

[Appalled]

If that's all he said, I would agree that there was no problem. But Mitt also said this:

Said Romney: "My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company. But he was born in Mexico... and had he been born of Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot at winning this. But he was unfortunately born to Americans living in Mexico. He lived there for a number of years. I mean, I say that jokingly, but it would be helpful to be Latino."

I think this crack is more likely to do him electoral harm. The Mexican-American vote vote already is 60-70 percent against him because of his immigration policies. This could move that needle farther.

See LUN for source.

[Granny Jan and Jihad Kitty]

I've spent almost 5 years using his own Alinsky tactics against him and have been given little if no support by conservatives and the Republican PTB.

When I was making my new video I came across a picture of Obama from American Crossroads with the Fourth Best President on it. They never gave me credit for coining that phrase.

I did use their picture in my new video and credited them. I'll still make videos, at least until Nov 6th, but I have damn little to show for them and Republicans will not use any of my themes. They are not all over the top.

The fact that they won't use any Alinsky techniques spells their doom and our countries doom as well.

My video made last night:
Obama Watches TV While the World Explodes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2UTc1_J0A0

[Captain Hate]

Sponge Bob squaredance is proof positive that no matter how you vote, there will be some dumbasses with you.

[centralcal]

Don't even bother with the Weekly Standard today - they are all in high dudgeon, doing the work for the liberal media and the democrats. (And it is not only Bill Kristol doing so there).

Good grief.

[Captain Hate]

cc, Kristol, whom I respect, has really been dense recently. I don't know WTF is going on with that.

[Rob Crawford]

The Mexican-American vote vote already is 60-70 percent against him because of his immigration policies.

Uh-huh. Because 2/3rds of them are illegals, right, Appalled?

[Jim Ryan]

squaredance accusing someone else of panicking. YCMTU.

[Stephanie]

I think the NRO is in full on panic mode today, too.

Time to cull the herd. Don't know why those NRO cruises are so popular as the Duke & Duke mentality is in full bloom over there. Instead of feeding them, we should be replacing them. Tea Party Cruise, anyone?

[Rob Crawford]

Melinda, CH, I think you both need to apologize to squaredance. He wasn't saying anything that I haven't said, and the two of us aren't the only ones saying it.

[Thomas Collins]

The problem is not Mitt's 47% remark or Obama playing the 1% card or any other percent. The problem is the less than zero MSM, which has been effective in keeping this race close. Last week, it became clear that Obama's Mideast and Central Asia policy is in a state of collapse. It has been clear for some time that Obama's economic policies have failed. Yet, the needle didn't move. The only logical explanation for the needle not moving is MSM coverage. MSM is beyond shameless, but Team Mitt is going to have to deal with it.

[Captain Hate]

There's a difference, Rob: I like you.

[Rob Crawford]

The problem is the less than zero MSM, which has been effective in keeping this race close. Last week, it became clear that Obama's Mideast and Central Asia policy is in a state of collapse. It has been clear for some time that Obama's economic policies have failed. Yet, the needle didn't move.

The "needle" didn't move, but I bet the calibration dial did.

Again: the press lies. They lie about everything. Their polls are lies, and are intended to be lies.

[Appalled]

Rob:

Re your 12:01 == As a thought experiment, tell that to the next Latino you see, and see how well that works out for you.

[Free State Paul]

I don't think Ben has been around a lot of hard core welfare recipients, many of which aren't ashamed whatsoever of being a permanent government dependent.

Many are not only not ashamed, but are downright proud of their ability to work the system.

A friend who worked for Florida's welfare department said that not only did the recipients know of rule changes before all her staff did, but they usually understood them better.

During the holidays, the welfare grapevine spreads the schedule of every charity toy giveaway -- you'll see cars already loaded down with more toys than Santa's sleight pulling up to a Christmas party to grab more gifts.

There is an entire industry of lawyers and social workers whose job it is to help the moochers maximize their haul.

When Romney talks about the 47%, that's just a codeword for these kinds of people.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Him? No.

You? Of course, always, deeply, and heartfelt.

[Danube of Thought]

"The people who worked hard all their lives -- do they consider themselves victims? Do they believe they are entitled to benefits, or that they earned them?"

No, they don't, and that's the point. Those who do feel that way are not 47% of the population. Romney's error was to equate the two groups--the 47% who pay no income tax and those who feel themselves victims entitled to be taken care of.

[Porchlight]

Appalled,

Perhaps he will lose Mexican-American votes over it but I think those losses will be more than offset by voters who agree with his immigration policies. Immigration is one of few truly bipartisan issues and the Romney view holds the solid majority.

[Stephanie]

Rally brilliant idea at Insty:

UPDATE: Reader Kevin Murphy writes: “The Tribune Company, which owns the LA Times, is still in Chapter 11. Suppose the Romney campaign (or Romney himself) offered the receiver $10 million for the tape. Could they refuse?” I’m sure they’d find a way to stall until November. It would have to be an exploding offer — with a one-week deadline or something. Then failure to take it might be a breach of duty.

[Free State Paul]

I think this crack is more likely to do him electoral harm. The Mexican-American vote vote already is 60-70 percent against him because of his immigration policies. This could move that needle farther.

Hispanics are going to be less than 9% of the electorate in November. Who needs them?

White and black voters both know what it's like to be shoved aside by hispanic immigrants. And there are a lot more of them than there are Latino voters.

[Rob Crawford]

No, they don't, and that's the point. Those who do feel that way are not 47% of the population. Romney's error was to equate the two groups--the 47% who pay no income tax and those who feel themselves victims entitled to be taken care of.

I think you're reaching too far to find fault.

[Rob Crawford]

Re your 12:01 == As a thought experiment, tell that to the next Latino you see, and see how well that works out for you.

Huh? That was YOUR position, not mine.

You really think 2/3rds of the citizens who happen to have ancestors from South and Central America are in favor of amnesty? I don't.

[Stephanie]

One of my friends used to work in the Georgia welfare office and has been granted whistleblower status for her going to the local newsmedia which did an expose on the lack of requirements to claim benefits and the expose showed all the 'recipients' getting out of Mercedes and BMWs in the parking lot.

She's now completing her nursing training and happy as hell to be out of the cesspool. Her complaints are "working their way up the system" (her description: 86ed).

It's such a racket.

[Rob Crawford]

There is an entire industry of lawyers and social workers whose job it is to help the moochers maximize their haul.

They're called "community organizers".

[James D.]

Again: the press lies. They lie about everything. Their polls are lies, and are intended to be lies.

Then how the hell do we break through it? I'm not upset about what Mitt said during a fundraiser four months ago. He's right anyway.

But between the low-info voters, the moochers/parasites, and the RINOs who all still listen to the MSM (in some cases, that's ALL they listen to), there are a hell of a lot of peole who are ONLY hearing the lies.

And even if Mitt does get is 50.1%, and we do eke out a majority in the Senate, how the hell will anything get fixed, with 100% of the moochers up in arms and the MSM fanning the flames, and the RINOs, and the Duke & Duke types who want to keep their seats at the trough, undermining any attempts Mitt might actually make to change our course?

Beating Zero is (almost) secondary - we need to beat the MSM, and break their power, and show them for the utterly shameless liars they are, before everything collapses so far that nothing will save us.

How do we do that?

[Rob Crawford]

Then how the hell do we break through it?

Why go through?

Go around.

[Jim Ryan]

DoT, I agree. Romney should have said "all too many of the" 47%.

I guess I'm happy with what he said anyway because it wasn't the squishy lib nonsense I've been bracing for. He leaned forward in the right direction in his reaction to the U.S. apology to the Libyan rioters and he leaned forward here. May have been some ham-fistedness here, but I'm just so happy he seems to be a conservative with a spine, I can't fault him for it. I look forward to the day when I can stop bracing for squishiness from a President Romney and accept that he is in fact "severely conservative" (another nice little tidbit of his from a few months back.)

[Jim Eagle]

Listening to Boortz this morning he seemed to have some stats that the 47% doesn't include the elderly or the youth's but rather working age Americans. Does anyone know it that is a correct clarification? I'm retired but I pay income tax and other taxes as do a lot of the people in the same position as I am. It this is true (see above) then Romney needs to seriously consider clarifying his remarks to exclude those on SS.

Disability is another matter. That has grown exponentially in the last 4 years. I understand that is now 1 in 16 working age Americans. Then you have the food stamp generation which I see abused a lot at the local Publix and CVS. After buying their food necessities they always seem to have enough money to play the lottery.

[Porchlight]

Stephanie,

To look at one example, Medicare and Medicaid fraud is so profitable that it has become the vehicle of choice for organized crime. Safer than drug dealing, almost non-existent enforcement to contend with, and a higher profit margin.

[Gus]

Did Romney say anthing about bitter clingers and bible thumpers.
This is total nonsense. He said the truth live with it.

[Stephanie]

Then how the hell do we break through it?

Facebook, at the water cooler, at the cocktail party, at the football game... IOW put a face to the Obama opposition... yours.

Who has more credibility within your circle of contacts? You or some idiot on TV? Find common ground on the absurdities and point out those absurdities that they agree are absurdities and then ask why they don't think everything on the TV isn't an absurdity. If the media is so 'off' on this stuff why do you think they are so 'on' on the other stuff? Make them question everything.

Get in their faces.

[Old Lurker]

"The only logical explanation for the needle not moving is MSM coverage."

Except the other reason is Romney is correct that 47% simply do not care about anything except their checks. (That # BTW excludes SS and Medicare checks IIRC.)

So breaking out of 47/47/6 IS tough.

[Rob Crawford]

DoT, I agree. Romney should have said "all too many of the" 47%.

MAYBE he should have spent seven months carefully crafting a focus-grouped message that wouldn't offend anyone whose sensitivity meter is cranked up to "sunburnt and recently received Indian rub".

[Porchlight]

If the media is so 'off' on this stuff why do you think they are so 'on' on the other stuff?

Yes, exactly. I remember when the local (lib) paper reported a story on our organization and got virtually everything wrong. I was standing around with some (lib) colleagues who were marveling at just how badly they'd botched it. I asked the obvious: "if they got this wrong, what else are they getting wrong?" They looked at me like that had never, ever occurred to them before.

Michael Crichton wrote a great piece on this awhile back and called it the "Gell-Mann Amnesia effect," after physicist Murray Gell-Mann:

“Briefly stated, the Gell-Mann Amnesia effect is as follows. You open the newspaper to an article on some subject you know well. In Murray's case, physics. In mine, show business. You read the article and see the journalist has absolutely no understanding of either the facts or the issues. Often, the article is so wrong it actually presents the story backward—reversing cause and effect. I call these the "wet streets cause rain" stories. Paper's full of them. In any case, you read with exasperation or amusement the multiple errors in a story, and then turn the page to national or international affairs, and read as if the rest of the newspaper was somehow more accurate about Palestine than the baloney you just read. You turn the page, and forget what you know.”

[CaliCon]

If that's all he said, I would agree that there was no problem. But Mitt also said this [....] I think this crack is more likely to do him electoral harm. The Mexican-American vote vote already is 60-70 percent against him because of his immigration policies. This could move that needle farther.

So you agree that this pitch is absurd:

"If you vote for Mitt Romney, you'll lose all your free goodies. Oh, and can you believe he called you a bunch of moochers?"

... but somehow this pitch is sound:

"Don't vote for the white guy cuz he's totally white and doesn't represent or understand you cuz he's white. Oh, and can you believe he thinks you'd be more likely to vote for him if he were Latino? How offensive!"

Not seeing it.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Nd Mark Knoller says that today's iBama fundraisers will be pen and paper for the press only.

In NYC.

I wonder who's there?

[matt]

Romney was the governor of either the most or at the least the third most liberal state in the Union as a Republican. He was opposed tooth & nail by the Democrats. For all that, he did a credible job. he also was faced with an Olympic circus I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy and did a brilliant job. As one of Peter Ueberroth's acolytes, I know what it means when a federation president demand his pound of flesh or an IOC Member interjects themselves into a dispute for their own benefit.

The man lived in France for a couple of years and speaks the language fluently. In other words, he is far more multi-culti than the present occupant of the WH.

This is the Gettysburg of the worker bees versus the drones. If the current administration remains in power, we're done for as a nation.

It is time to be honest about what we stand for and not allow the media to control the message. The president just face planted on foreign policy and all we hear about it a year old video that speaks the truth.

Are we a country of proud individualists who are willing to roll up our sleeves or a country of dependency?

The real point is that by all predictions the culture of dependency is about to crash down around our heads, so we're going to need someone to clean up the mess. Romney or Obama?

Obama's record speaks for itself. So does Romney's. The only reason Romney is taking hits is that virtually the entire media establishment and the entire leftist apparatus is all in on this one. So must we be.

[Jane - Get off the couch your country needs you!]

Beating Zero is (almost) secondary - we need to beat the MSM, and break their power, and show them for the utterly shameless liars they are, before everything collapses so far that nothing will save us.

I said the same thing yesterday.

Mock them. Mock them at every chance you get, to everyone, everywhere. Make them the joke they are.

[Porchlight]

GREAT point, CaliCon.

[matt]

6.0 earthquake off of Kodiak Island. Wonder if daddy felt it.

[Captain Hate]

I remember when the local (lib) paper reported a story on our organization and got virtually everything wrong. I was standing around with some (lib) colleagues who were marveling at just how badly they'd botched it. I asked the obvious: "if they got this wrong, what else are they getting wrong?" They looked at me like that had never, ever occurred to them before.

That latter part is very disturbing because it shows an inability to connect the dots which I fear is an outcome of the education system that rse describes at length.

[Neo]

Daily Caller:
I can see why Democrats are so offended. How dare Mitt Romney say they’re dependent on the government? Only Democrats get to say they’re dependent on the government!

Has everybody already forgotten “Julia”?

[MarkO]

This is relevant only as a diversion from Obama's mideast failure and the lies he is pushing about the video.

It does raise the question (not beg it) as to how, in a fair fight, Obama is still standing given the economy, gas prices, Obamacare and the disaster of his foreign policy.

Well, yeah. It's not fair. But, why?

[Ralph Gizzip]

This remark is going to hurt Romney just as much as Obama's "bitter clingers" remark hurt him. i.e. not at all.

[hrtshpdbox]

Hispanics are going to be less than 9% of the electorate in November. Who needs them?

Maximizing whatever you can from each group is important. I think I read that Mitt needs 33 or 35 pct of Hispanics to be competitive where their votes counts, and I doubt some joke about wishing he as Latino will stand in the way of that.

[Tonto]

Completely O/T, but thinking of Porchlight.

[Sara]

CH:

cc, Kristol, whom I respect, has really been dense recently. I don't know WTF is going on with that.

Kristol is a snake. He has been a snake since at least 2006. He deserves zero respect.

[Captain Hate]

Tonto, I refuse to have my image of Porch marred by a trashy tattoo. UNPOSSIBLE!!!

[Danube of Thought]

"I think you're reaching too far to find fault."

What I said was indisputably correct.

[Melinda Romanoff]

Mitt and Cavuto at 4PM EDT.

[Rick Ballard]

"So breaking out of 47/47/6 IS tough."

OL,

Not quite so tough if it's approached from an aspirational view. The 47% is a phony number when applied to Obama supporters because it does include pensioners and the geezer cohort is already 52/43 Romney (per Gallup).

All the President's Parasites may be an apt title for the history of his single term but it's not a winning campaign theme for Obama.

[Porchlight]

Ha, Cap'n. As it happens I am tattoo-free (and always will be). But I must admit that as tattoos go, some of those are pretty cool.

Thanks, Tonto, for the link!

[Jim Eagle]

matt,

Well said.

There is evidently a David French piece out there, that I cannot find, where he parodies 6 different headlines and stories "If Barack Obama was a Republican". Boortz read them this morning and they were brutal. To think how the MFM treated Bush versus how they are laying off The Won and making Romney out to be the Worse Person in The World is a travesty of a free press.

Mitt needs to forget the way the press treated his Tuesday remarks and be more like a "hound dog on a ham bone" with regard to the economy, the debt, taxes, national security and foreign relations. He has to forget how he is being portrayed and parlay that "evil capitalism" into the topic of the day. The Won cannot prevail if the debate is about the economy and his dismal foreign policy record as reflected on 911.

Maybe Clarice can loan him her pistolas. But he has to take the offense now - not enough time remaining to continue defending himself.

[Sara]

Appalled:

Why did you leave the first sentence off your quote about Mitt's Dad? The part that led into the comment that his Dad started by selling paint out of the back of his car and despite being dirt poor when his parents arrived back to America, he was able to work hard and rise to be the head of a car company and Governor.

Romney gave a very straight forward speech to the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce convention that was well received. You should watch the video.

[Porchlight]

Here's that link, JiB:

Patheos: Top Six Newspaper Headlines If Barack Obama Were A Republican

[hit and run]

Greetings from one of the cheapest and crappiest hotels in the city which must have the cheapest and crappiest wireless in the city where Tony Bennett's heart was last seen. I am only blocks from yesterday's Occupy protest. Never saw them though.

Spent the day yesterday with Elliott and had a grand time. After lunch and a quick stroll around Stanford, we drove out to the Pacific. While standing on the beach, Elliott observed that had Obama not won four years ago, we might have been swept away by the rising oceans. Whew.

When he dropped me off at my hotel, he then observed that a number of the streets around here are named for former presidents. The cross street nearest my hotel, for example, is Grant.

The street my hotel is on? Bush Street.

I know, right?

Anyway, every time I stop and wait for the cross walk when I get to the street, I say, "God Bless Bush."

Heh. Gets me every time.

[hit and run]

(he hotel has the crappy wireless, not the city)

[(A) nuther Bub]

Let him who is without entitlement sin cast the first stone.

I cannot. My husband and I do pay taxes on our SS, earnings from investments, and his pension (from the State, BTW) but the amount is insignificant when compared with the entitlements we receive. Last year our combined Medicare and Rx expenses totaled more than $40,000 (and we're pretty-durned healthy!), the vast majority of which was paid by working couples with families to raise (and/or the Chinese, who will collect later from our great-grandchildren).

Free loader and moocher? Yes, I feel that way, which is why we avoid doctors' visits unless we have blood spurting from our ears and I take only half the prescribed amount of extremely expensive RA meds ordered for me. Is it right that we can travel abroad, dine out, etc., etc., while taxpayers cover the big stuff? No, of course not, but I don't know what to do about it.

We're in the 47 percent, if that's defined as households whose take-out far exceeds the put-in. Am I the only one here?

[Porchlight]

BTW and OT, sometimes being a librarian in higher ed is kind of depressing. Before I'd been at work 30 minutes this morning, both "To Teach" by Ayers and "Orientalism" by Edward Said had traversed my desk. Yesterday it was "The Erich Fromm Reader" and "The Big Red Songbook." Among many, many others. :(

[Stephanie]

Over the course of your life AB?

I doubt you fall in the moocher category.

[NK]

The "Erich Fromm Reader" boy, that takes me back to a misspent youth taking Frosh Philosphy classes.

[Sara]

.

[Captain Hate]

We're in the 47 percent, if that's defined as households whose take-out far exceeds the put-in. Am I the only one here?

Maybe but the only reason I wasn't in during the past was that Mrs H's income. Prior to 2008 I hadn't collected a penny of unemployment and never thought I'd ever do so. So much for that but it was the most embarrassing thing I've ever done. People would say "Oh you deserve that" but in no way did I feel that was legit.

Even though I'm employed now my billable hours have been almost nil this year. So I'm definitely under-employed in this crummy economy.

[Free State Paul]

Maximizing whatever you can from each group is important. I think I read that Mitt needs 33 or 35 pct of Hispanics to be competitive where their votes counts...

You're assuming that each voting bloc is independent of the other.

Hispanics are 9% of the electorate, whites are about 72% and blacks are about 13%. If Romney alienates the 1/3 of Hispanics likely to vote for him, he loses 3% of the votes. If he can swing just 5% of the white & black vote by being tough on illegal immigration, he comes out ahead.

[GMAX]

Again for Henny and Penny:

Gallup just releases their 7 day rolling average RV polling and guess what its now :

Obama 47
Romney 46

So just like RAS only delayed due to the inclusion of the ephemeral bounce days for a longer period.

If he is at 47% with RV today it will be lower end of the week. And if he is at 47% with RV it most definitely is significant lower with LVs despite what the cacophony of polls is telling you by putting way way too many Democrats in their samples.

[Danube of Thought]

(A)Bub, it is my understanding that the 47% to whom Romney was referring ere those who pay no income tax. You're not included.

But it is wrong to suggest that all of those 47% feel that they are victims who are entitled to be taken care of. Think, for example, of the 16% (or whatever it is) who are unemployed or underemployed. A hell of a lot of those people would like nothing more than to simply find work.

[Neo]

Just wait till they get finished going over Romney's remarks using their "Bill Ayer's decoder ring."

[Danube of Thought]

Obama 47, Romney 46 at Gallup today.

[AJS Daddie]

@Rob Crawford: "Romney's mistake apparently was, in my opinion, over-estimating the intelligence of his own supporters."

No, not his supporters. The lightweight pseudo-conservative pundits who can't seem to realize that we're actually fighting a battle for the country here.

But I really don't think he underestimated them. I think that for the most part he's ignoring them and he should. Romney's optics are worst when he and his team try to respond to these folks. Instead, as more and more of us are arguing, he should go on the offensive and turn these soundbites into commercials.

THEN he has complete control over the narrative, can explain the context, and at the same time defuse the inevitable MSM bias and eeyore hand-wringing.

[derwill]

One sure way to break through it is to speak certain truths out loud and in the open that everyone knows. That the Palestinians really don't want peace--they want the destruction of Israel. That we are rapidly approaching a point where there are more people living off the government than there are tax payers paying into it, and when that happens they whole system is going to collapse. That there are certain groups in this country that have been deemed victims and accorded special status over the rest by virtue of their skin color and sexual orientation. Romney was right, Appalled, he would have an advantage now if he were a Latino. You know that to be true, and the Latinos themselves know it to be true, so if they take offense it's only phony outrage anyway, so who cares?

I believe that truth has the power to defeat the media, but we've got to have the courage to speak it out loud and often. What the fools like Kristol don't get is that when we lose it isn't because we spoke the truth, it's because we allowed the media into intimidating us into shutting up. We've let them set the tone and the narrative and the parameters, and when we do that, we've already ceded most of the battlefield.

Look how well Empty Chair Day worked at shutting the media right up about Clint Eastwood's speech at the convention. Punch back twice as hard as Instapundit is wont to say.

[Captain Hate]

Btw is there any reporting by the MFM on what is going on in the Middle East today? Or has SMART DIPLOMACY prevailed?

[AJS Daddie]

"Kristol is a snake. He has been a snake since at least 2006. He deserves zero respect.

Posted by: Sara | September 18, 2012 at 12:48 PM"

This +1000. That last article was about as feckless as they come. He must be angling for an MSNBC spot.

[Porchlight]

Hey, remember when everyone was flipping out about Obama's huge lead in Gallup?

[GMAX]

Jen Rubin. When she is right she is right:

Mitt Romney’s hysteria-inducing comments aside, he has a fundamental advantage in the case he is making to voters. Gallup reports that, by a 54 percent to 39 percent margin, voters think government is trying to do much, as opposed to not doing enough:

Only a few times in Gallup’s 20-year history of asking this question has a higher percentage of Americans said the government should do more to solve the nation’s problems than said the government is doing too much. Two of these were in the fall of 1992 and again in early 1993, as Bill Clinton ran for and took office as president. Another was in October 2001, just after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and at a time when Americans were especially supportive of government and its efforts to help the nation recover from the attacks and retaliate against those who were responsible.

Americans have been most likely to say the government was attempting to do too much during the middle years of the Clinton administration, and in recent years during the Obama administration

Most significantly, we learn: “More than six in 10 independents agree that the government is doing too much.”

[Porchlight]

Yes, yes, yes to AJS Daddie's 1:14. Ignore the pearl clutchers, full speed ahead! If this is indeed what Romney is doing, I am thrilled.

[derwill]

500,000 "protested" in Beirut yesterday. They shouted "Death to America" and "Death to Israel." But don't worry, it's not us they hate--it's that damn video. Apparently the photo of the brownshirts hauling the man in for an "interview" at midnight wasn't enough appeasement.

I think we're going to have to behead him.

[Sara]

(A)B:

My income places me below the poverty line set by the government. I have SS plus a small retirement annuity and military retirement. I also have to come up with an amount equal to about a month and a half of my yearly income each year to pay for taxes. I would have more, but I had to sell off most of my retirement investment account in order to do 24/7 care and support the household and be able to save the gov't from having to pay, thru Medicare/SS, for my Mother to be in a nursing home.

I do not consider myself a moocher. It kills me to have to give over a month and a half of income to pay taxes. This might seem like an insignificant amount to those still in their high earning years, but for me, it means skipping meals, driving as little as possible, forgoing birthday/Christmas gifts, or just about anything that means spending extra money. My few luxuries, including internet access, I save for by eliminating some other expense. What I don't understand is how 47% can get away with paying no taxes.

[matt]

Bub;

There's something called paying it forward. You and your husband did that a long time ago with your SS and Medicare contributions.

Also, what may have cost $20 30 years ago when you paid it in now costs $100. The system really doesn't compensate for inflation on the income side, which is one of the issues the system has. Receiving SS & Medicare benefits is not the same as having worked the system or grabbing every benefit available when we know there are others much more deserving.

I was amazed today when a liberal Jewish talk show host on the drive time show began ranting about how the Democrats have screwed the Golden State up past the point of no return.He has been consistent in his mockery of the Repubs, but perhaps what must change is the way Repubs are perceived.

The Left fundamentally believes the entire right side of the spectrum is a fundamentalist, flat earth, no education mob. They are tremendously condescending.

They latch onto faux pas like leeches, conflating much of it into gargantuan proportions. And then you get a comment like Akins' which was very poorly stated.

Even a bete noir like Hitchens was excommunicated from the broad consensus of the Left when he came out for the invasion of Iraq. It didn't matter that he had been to the country numerous times and had seen the devastation wrought by the gas attacks on the Kurds or that he knew the regime intimately. Diversity of opinion these days is simply not allowed among the right thinking people.

And now one can hear a pin drop if the subject of the Obama administrations handling of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is mentioned.

The cracks in the facade of the narrative are growing, and if some liberal talk show host in LA is beginning to get the picture, we may be making progress.

[Porchlight]

derwill's 1:14 is also excellent.
Y'all are on fire today.

[zf]

So, your evidence that Mitt is wrong is one source? Sorry, but first off the term "poor" has been watered down so much that there are plenty of working "poor" that are hardly that. Second, you talk about retirees paying taxes for "forty years" but the fact is retirees are getting a lot more in benefits than they payed in, so sorry if I have no sympathy for retirees demanding more money when they are already getting more than what they paid for. And they DON'T pay income tax.

Next time don't use a non-liberal psuedo-Think Tank to get your numbers. It totally flies in the face of the massive amount of evidence that shows most people getting government help are abusing the system and could do more for themselves. It totally flies in the face of my personal experiences. Sorry, I don't buy the BS statistics you link to because it's obvious your source is biased and stupid.

And besides, retirees and the "working poor" is not what Mitt was talking about anyway. It's clear the people he is talking about was those who don't want to take any responsibility in life and who depend entirely on the government because they want to and feel entitled. How you got "working poor" and retirees out of that and why you made a non-sequitor point is beyond me.

Romney spoke the truth and most people know it, respect him for it, and want something done about it. This video will help him, not hurt him.

"Yikes", my ass. Tom Maguire = Useful Idiot.

[Jane - Get off the couch your country needs you!]

I'm reposting this here. I'm trying to decide the agenda and if it's brilliant.

~~

Did you guys hear about the MA decision a few weeks ago where Judge Wolf (a Reagan appointee) ruled that we have to pay for the sex change operation for a guy who murdered his wife and kids?

WEll yesterday teh Court ruled that teh state is on the hook for $1 million in attorney's fees.

Today, the lawyers have issued a statement that they will waive attorney's fees if teh case is not appealed.

What would you do?