Romney's Message Is Changing/Romney Secret Tape (merged)

[B5SnowDog]

Love that!

[Witsec7]

My family is part of the 47%. We have zero tax liability due to child tax credits. Remove the child tax credit and we'd be paying 13.4% of our income in federal income tax.

We also pay about 4% for State income tax, and that will probably increase soon.

And we pay property taxes, which include parcel taxes for school, sanitation, emergency services and some other weird measures and bonds.

And we pay tax on gas... over 50 cents per gallon where I live. Oh, and 8.25% sales tax....

And tax on your phone and electric, and gas if you use it. And when you buy new tires for your car a part of the price is a tax.

[Jezebel Duggar]

AKA, I hate rich people. They have too much money and don't deserve it. They should be forced by the government to give it to the poor and middle class.

The constitution never intended for it to be this way. Our God given rights allow for nobody to hold us down, NOT for the government to hold us up.

Mitt made $21 million in 2010, which is the only tax return he will release. NOBODY deserves that much while children live in poverty. And he wants to deny the poor food stamps and medical care? He is so greedy it is beyond my comprehension. It is absolutely disgusting.

And the Repubs claim Barack has no morals?

[Jezebel Duggar]

So the plan is to give the rich tax breaks and just hope that they decide to pay the poor good enough wages so that they can keep food on the table and afford insurance? And this is from the man who bought a sweat shop in China and didn't seem upset at all that the works were getting paid nothing?

And since he is claiming that he will cut duplication in the welfare system, can't he even give us an idea of what this duplication is?

Are you not even a tad bit curious as to why he is refusing to release his tax info when pretty much everyone else does? What is he trying to hide? And if he wasn't trying to hide something, why won't he release it?

Where have I heard that before? Oh, yeah.. that's exactly what the Repubs kept saying about Obama releasing his long form birth certificate because the normal one and the published birth announcements weren't good enough for them. But obviously Obama was hiding something, and Mitt isn't. They don't even attempt to be the least bit reasonable or rational anymore.

[rock_girl]

Wtf is this fawning over the rich by the lower to lower-middle classes anyway? I swear, sometimes I think the people who support Mittens are the same daft creatures who buy lottery tickets. This is what happens when you gut the k-12 education system.

[Jezebel Duggar]

Quoting this so maybe jericho will answer. Just to get it straight, Mitt has no actual plans to help the poor, he has plans to help the rich and just hope that they will help the poor? Correct?

Close. He has plans to help the rich, and he doesn't give a damn about the poor. I think he's made that crystal clear.

[Jezebel Duggar]

Well, I'm relieved. At least Mitt Romney's terrorist plans are stupid and make no sense.

Just like the rest of his plans.

[hapamama]

And tax on your phone and electric, and gas if you use it. And when you buy new tires for your car a part of the price is a tax.

Yup, and we pay a disposal tax on electronics when we buy them too, and pay a tax on beverages sold in cans and bottles...

[emmiedahl]

My family is part of the 47%. We have zero tax liability due to child tax credits. Remove the child tax credit and we'd be paying 13.4% of our income in federal income tax.

We also pay about 4% for State income tax, and that will probably increase soon.

And we pay property taxes, which include parcel taxes for school, sanitation, emergency services and some other weird measures and bonds.

And we pay tax on gas... over 50 cents per gallon where I live. Oh, and 8.25% sales tax....

Everyone pays taxes. I am below the poverty line and I pay taxes on everything I buy. A portion of my rent goes to property taxes. I am probably in the lower ten percent of wage earners right now. We are damn poor and thankful that A, we were solid middle class before and saved prodigiously, and B, that this is only temporary for us. Because of social programs, we will blow through our savings at about the same time we are equipped to embark on new and higher paying careers. I cannot imagine being in my position and knowing that I had no savings for the month when my tires need replacing or whatever.

That lower 47% that Romney seems eager to write off? It includes Jericho. It includes the base of the Republican party. White liberals tend to have the highest education and income of any voting group. Ironically, the people who think lowering taxes on the wealthy will be bad for the country are overwhelmingly the peopel who would be paying said taxes. So, Jericho, what Romney is saying is that *you* are a guaranteed vote for Obama because *you* as a member of the lower half of income earners are a leech on society. Is he correct? Or is he talking out his ass with no fact-checking yet again?

[hapamama]

My favorite Republican rant to blow out of the water is the assertion that illegal immigrants don't pay/aren't required to pay taxes. As if. LOL

[emmiedahl]

Jericho, how much more can you afford to pay in taxes so Romney can be a "job creator" outsourcing more US jobs to China? He thinks you should pay more so he can pay less. Can you really afford that? Do you really think our country will be better when you pay a higher tax rate than a man who lives on the interest from inherited wealth?

[Jezebel Duggar]

Here's a question for Jericho or any other Mitt supporter. Since we know he is definitely not racist :roll:, why did he say it would be easier to get elected POTUS if he were Mexican? Is it because of the vast number of Mexicans who have been president, while so few white men have been able to?

Because on the face of it, it seems that he is still pissed that four years ago for the first time the white guys lost some real ground in having control and power over everyone else. Screw the 47%, it's the rich white guys we should feel sorry for. Poor Mitt and his friends, don't you realize that one day their stacks and stacks of currency could actually have (gasp!) a black man's face on it?

[B5SnowDog]

Wtf is this fawning over the rich by the lower to lower-middle classes anyway? I swear, sometimes I think the people who support Mittens are the same daft creatures who buy lottery tickets. This is what happens when you gut the k-12 education system.

I think it's like the people who assume that because they dress or pray a certain way, nothing bad will happen to them. If they suck up to the rich, maybe the rich will let them play some day.

[Sola]

So Jericho ran away again?

That's about right for him. He's a coward who can't back up his reasoning.

[formergothardite]

Yeah, he tends to flounce fairly quickly when threads don't go his way.

Here is what gets me, he claims he is the rational, republican voice in the midst of crazed liberals who never look at any non-biased news. So, why is it that when we post threads about the GOP saying horrible things about rape and stuff like that, he doesn't come into those threads and say "As a rational republican I just want to make it clear that the GOP does not support people like this, we are ashamed and want nothing to do with them."

Jericho, if you ever come back, why don't you do that? Why do you avoid those threads?

[Peas n carrots]

Everyone pays taxes. I am below the poverty line and I pay taxes on everything I buy. A portion of my rent goes to property taxes. I am probably in the lower ten percent of wage earners right now. We are damn poor and thankful that A, we were solid middle class before and saved prodigiously, and B, that this is only temporary for us. Because of social programs, we will blow through our savings at about the same time we are equipped to embark on new and higher paying careers. I cannot imagine being in my position and knowing that I had no savings for the month when my tires need replacing or whatever.

That lower 47% that Romney seems eager to write off? It includes Jericho. It includes the base of the Republican party. White liberals tend to have the highest education and income of any voting group. Ironically, the people who think lowering taxes on the wealthy will be bad for the country are overwhelmingly the peopel who would be paying said taxes. So, Jericho, what Romney is saying is that *you* are a guaranteed vote for Obama because *you* as a member of the lower half of income earners are a leech on society. Is he correct? Or is he talking out his ass with no fact-checking yet again?

Not that it is representative of the entire population, but my coworkers are generally, extremely well paid and some of the execs in my department would be part of the 1%. Politics are pretty openly discussed in my office, and nearly all support Obama.

Also, I work in a business where we can monitor the economy across thr US. Generally, it is getting better. Granted, our customers tend to be wealthier but from our business point of view we have only seen sales increase in the past 6 quarters.

[tankgirl]

Considering that we are still suffering the ill effects of Reaganomics, I am surprised anyone will vote for a President who wants to re-instate them.

Those who support Reganomics today, were either too young to remember the 80's or too stupid to have put 2 and 2 together and see, that Regan, while maybe a swell guy, really did some bad crap to this country. I am old enough to remember all the cuts, and all the people out of jobs, it was a crap plan then, it's a worse plan today, cause we should know better.

But I know that Mit will get this country working! He has it all planned, it will be amazing and Jericho and his like will be so HAPPY!!! He pretty much laid it out in the video, Sweatshops! Who needs to travel all the way to China where they eat weird food, and talk funny, let's bring them to America! With a few tweaks to the Federal Minimum wage, and a few more dead Unions, we too could have a strong work force. Well not strong per se, but no worries, we can put them up in swell cities and apartments just like the Chinese! They got that working great, just ignore the fact they work 18 hour days, are tired, hungry and jumping out of buildings to their death so fast, it has become a common sight, but no worries it's just more job openings for YOU! Yeah, Mitt has all the answers.

[Austin]

Hypocrite can go both ways. Democrats are hypocrites for saying "it was just a private event" when Obama was caught, then thinking its okay when Romney is caught.

Reading comprehension is not your strong suit, apparently. I think both candidates were wrong for what they said, and I don't think there is such a thing as a "private event" for any presidential candidate, except perhaps in his/her own bedroom.

But since you say "hypocrite can go both ways", are you now admitting that you are one? Two wrongs never make a right. Even a five-year-old knows that.

[emmiedahl]

I don't think Obama said anything we weren't already thinking. And I did not even vote for him that election!

Nonetheless, it was a misstep. Everyone makes those; Obama makes relatively few of them while Romney seems to speak exclusively in them. Romney's shit-talking is already negatively affecting our relationships with the British and with NATO. It's a damn shame anyone would consider electing him. It's a vote for a nuclear bomb dropped directly on the US, as a matter of fact. And because we might not be able to build our missile shield due to Romney's comments about the Russians, that will do more damage than even his economic policies.

(http://www.alan.com/2012/09/12/putin-st ... tical-foe/)

[rock_girl]

I think it's like the people who assume that because they dress or pray a certain way, nothing bad will happen to them. If they suck up to the rich, maybe the rich will let them play some day.

I do often wonder if people like jericho really, truly hate themselves. Here you have an environment where success at any cost is the goal, and a huge underclass with little prospect of improvement in their lot. Instead of getting angry at the real villains (arseholes who take a disproportionate piece of the pie) they internalise their anger, find Jesus and with the help of a lousy television channel take up hero worship of the wealthy.

Or maybe the jerichos of the world really do believe that with a little bit of bootstrapping they too will join the ranks of the one percenters. Why support raised taxes when you'll be the one paying those taxes?

Utterly bizarre.

[Austin]

I do often wonder if people like jericho really, truly hate themselves. Here you have an environment where success at any cost is the goal, and a huge underclass with little prospect of improvement in their lot. Instead of getting angry at the real villains (arseholes who take a disproportionate piece of the pie) they internalise their anger, find Jesus and with the help of a lousy television channel take up hero worship of the wealthy.

Or maybe the jerichos of the world really do believe that with a little bit of bootstrapping they too will join the ranks of the one percenters. Why support raised taxes when you'll be the one paying those taxes?

Utterly bizarre.

There is a lot of truth in this. Jericho really believes the myth that these guys are "self-made" and that anyone can become a millionaire/billionaire if they're only smart enough and work hard enough. While that is part of a recipe for financial success, it hardly includes all the ingredients. There are a great many related and disparate circumstances that play into it which people like Jericho refuse to acknowledge. They stick their fingers in their ears and chant "la-la-la-la" because they desperately need to be believe that poverty could never happen to them because they are so hard-working, etc.

The funny thing is that people such as Jericho in red states are by far the largest recipients of government largess. Go figure.

[emmiedahl]

I'd like to think that with enough hard work and luck, I can become better off. Not a millionaire, but a hundred-thousandaire.

Of course if I had Romney's many advantages, becoming a millionaire would be a forgone conclusion. He was a millionaire the day he reached 18 and had access to his trust fund.

[formergothardite]

But, but, but, he gave it all to charity and started at the very, very bottom! How dare you say he wasn't like everyone else who wasn't born to millionaires!

What charity did he give it to?

[Austin]

I'd like to think that with enough hard work and luck, I can become better off. Not a millionaire, but a hundred-thousandaire.

Of course if I had Romney's many advantages, becoming a millionaire would be a forgone conclusion. He was a millionaire the day he reached 18 and had access to his trust fund.

Most hard working people will never earn $100K in a single year. Many very difficult, degree-required professions do not pay that kind of money.

[rock_girl]

There is a lot of truth in this. Jericho really believes the myth that these guys are "self-made" and that anyone can become a millionaire/billionaire if they're only smart enough and work hard enough. While that is part of a recipe for financial success, it hardly includes all the ingredients. There are a great many related and disparate circumstances that play into it which people like Jericho refuse to acknowledge. They stick their fingers in their ears and chant "la-la-la-la" because they desperately need to be believe that poverty could never happen to them because they are so hard-working, etc.

The funny thing is that people such as Jericho in red states are by far the largest recipients of government largess. Go figure.

Yeah, everyone who's ever achieved something did it on their own. It's not like they went to great schools or had family support. And they definitely didn't get really, really lucky. I know plenty of people who are well off and not one of them started from a position of disadvantage. That's not to say that you can't work your way up from poverty and neglect, just that in my experience freeloading off rich relatives and friends, they've all been from certain backgrounds and gone to good schools. And this in a country with evil socialised medicine and affordable higher ed. I really don't see what's wrong with acknowledging that even though we start off equal, those of us taken care of by nannies with ec degrees and given music lessons, sent to great kindergartens, etc, are going to be a little more equal. And that's just in the early years. I once read a piece by a guy about growing up poor. One of the things that resonated with me was his pronouncing Edinburgh as Pittsburgh in front of people who mattered. He'd just outed himself as the poor kid who didn't travel to Europe in the summer holidays. It sounds like such a small thing, but I've seen it with my father. Lots and lots of small things (and there will always be small things when you're the product of poverty) matter, and they'll keep you on the outer.