Makers, takers, and Mitt Romney's 47 percent comment

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks to the American Legion National Convention on Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012 in Indianapolis. When Romney commented at a fundraiser that 47 percent of voters were locked into Obama because they pay no income taxes, some commentators dug into the numbers and debated the merits of his claim.

Evan Vucci, Associated Press

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When Romney suggested at a fundraiser that 47 percent of the voters pay no income tax and thus, with no skin in the game, are not open to persuasion on government spending or lower taxes, the firestorm that followed was to be expected.

The 47 percent, Romney had said, are those who "are dependent upon government, who believe they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to take care of them, who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it."

"Here is the sneering plutocrat," wrote Jonathan Chait at New York Magazine, "fully in thrall to a series of pernicious myths that are at the heart of the mania that has seized his party. He believes that market incomes in the United States are a perfect reflection of merit."

"Thurston Howell Romney" headlined David Brooks at the New York Times, adding that "as a description of America today, Romney's comment is a country-club fantasy. It's what self-satisfied millionaires say to each other. It reinforces every negative view people have about Romney."

These are, of course, only a small sample of the multitude of expected responses from the expected directions.

Republicans, meanwhile, were divided. Bill Kristol at the Weekly Standard called the comments "arrogant and stupid." He also noted the obvious parallel to Barack Obama's famous "bitter clinger" comment in 2008, also at an "off-the-record" fundraiser.

"You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest," Obama had said of people in failing communities and long-term unemployment, "And it's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations."

Kristol questioned the merits of Romney's claim, noting that many who don't pay income taxes still support Romney. These include, Kristol argued, "seniors (who might well) believe they are entitled to heath care," a position Romney agrees with), as well as many lower-income Americans (including men and women serving in the military) who think conservative policies are better for the country even if they're not getting a tax cut under the Romney plan."

The Wall Street Journal, as one might expect, broke out the numbers, relying on a study by the Tax Policy Center.

19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865562693/Makers-takers-and-Mitt-Romneys-47-percent-comment.html
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