David A. Rice feels like Mitt Romney wrote him off.
The 61-year-old has always been a values-based voter, generally votes Republican and could be a key vote in the swing state of Florida. But he's also among the 47% of Americans that Mitt Romney said don't pay income tax and rely on government support.
"There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what," Romney says in a clip from a secretly filmed private donor meeting in May, which was first posted on Monday afternoon. "There are 47% who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that, that they are victims, who believe that government has the responsibility to care for them. Who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing."
Romney's '47%' – Washington's tax-break obsession to blame
Rice says he is working part-time and doesn't pay taxes because he can't find a good job. And the fact that Romney wrote him off in those comments is frustrating.
"I am insulted. I support you and you just wrote me off with the 47% who pay no taxes. In that group are those who cry every time they use food stamps; people who would trade them in a minute for a real job. In that group are Christians who shudder at the thought of voting for abortion and gay rights," he wrote in an iReport. "You have strengths that appeal to the demographic you just wrote off ... use it! In the middle of rich supporters you cannot afford to write off a huge group with a careless word."
The 61-year-old said that he has been forced once or twice to take food stamps - and unlike what Romney contends in his comments - he maintains it was not something he was proud of or hopes to ever have to do again.
"It really hurt me," the iReporter told CNN. "It was not something that I wanted to do, I did it because I didn't have a job."
Rice says he didn't think it was right for Romney to lump every low-income person into the same group.
"Not everyone who takes food stamps is a food stamps junkie," Rice told CNN. "There are people who think the government owes them a living and that the government ought to take care of them and be their momma and daddy all their life. That doesn't apply to everyone."
It all left Rice a bit uneasy.
Which leads to the big questions swirling around the Romney campaign: How much damage will Romney's comments do to his chances for winning the election? Were his comments a big enough gaffe, combined with previous missteps, to really dent his campaign? Were his comments just the brutal truth others don't want to hear? Will it sway the votes of Republicans, independents or the undecided?
Rice says he'll still be voting for Romney because of the candidate's social views. But he knows it may not be the same for others.
"I think it was a mistake on his part because he insulted a lot of people who he needs to vote for him," he said.
CNN asked our readers on Facebook what they thought about the remarks and more than 71% said Romney was wrong and should apologize. Twenty-four percent of readers who answered our unscientific poll said he was right, and it was something someone needed to say. Just about 4.5% felt that Romney was right but shouldn't have phrased the remarks the way he did.
Nevin Sanli, from Los Angeles, California, said he is in the 47% and Romney's recent remarks, as well as other gaffes, have sealed his decision to vote for Obama.
"I never took a penny in help or government assistance money or otherwise. I own two businesses, and all I have been doing, along with my business partners, is creating jobs. I am not a victim," Sanli said in response to the CNN poll on Facebook. "I worked hard and built it all from scratch and I pay a lot of taxes. I am not as rich as Romney, but I sure pay a much bigger percentage of my income in taxes than he does. I find his remarks to be un-American, shocking and insulting."
And definitely unbecoming a president, he added.
"Elitism, silver-spoon arrogance and outright divisive statements, with undertones of racism, cannot be attributes of an American president," Sanli wrote.
For his part, Romney has stood behind the comments from the secretly recorded video. They were an honest reflection of his campaign's message, he said.
"This is a message I'm carrying day in and day out and will carry over the coming months," Romney said on Fox News. "This is a decision about the course of America, where we're going to head. We've seen the president's policies play out over the last four years."
Kristopher Daughtrey agreed with those tough words and took them to show that Romney won't shy away from the truth and will stick to his convictions.
"I applaud Romney for his remarks. He's the only one willing to not sugarcoat it. I'm not a huge supporter of either party, but at least Romney has the guts to speak out frankly about it, instead of Obama, Congress, and other politicians trying to justify their actions constantly or running away with their tail between their legs," Daughtrey said. "If you're going to be president then you need to have the backbone to walk the walk and not just talk about it."
Jason Asselin, an iReporter from Iron Mountain, Michigan, is an independent who says that he generally votes for the best candidate, despite their affiliation, though he likes the ideas and stances of the tea party.
While Asselin is normally a critic of Obama, he said Romney's comments really angered him because he doesn't pay taxes, but it isn't because he doesn't want to.
"I try paying taxes each year and every year they say we don't make enough, it isn't that I don't want to pay my taxes - they won't take them," he says. "Our government put rules and regulations in place for the lower class of people. It isn't our fault for falling under that. I don't like being called the 47%, I'd like to be called American."
Asselin said he is frustrated that Romney makes assumptions about how he will vote. And he is not alone.
Jeff Zicker, 21, might have been a candidate for the 47% category. He's college-aged, but left college because he landed a job performing with a national Broadway tour. He worked two jobs all through college, and these days he pays all his taxes, which puts him in the 53% category.
“For (Romney) to say his plan only appeals to those who don’t victimize themselves just further proves how out of touch he is with the rest of the American public,” he said.
Zicker is a moderate Democrat who will be voting for Obama this fall.
“I honestly believe that somebody that would say that a large of a portion of Americans, that this group victimizes themselves and tries to appeal to voters in that way, I don’t think that shows that they would be fit in any way to be president," he said.
But others say that Romney is merely beginning a dialogue that many Americans refuse to have. Steven Evans said that he thinks the discussion is an important one as the country moves forward.
"It is time to start a national dialogue on whether we are creating a major dependency class," he said on Facebook. "I am glad to see him tell the truth. Let's decide whether we are going the way of Greece or the traditional USA."
But some believe that having that conversation with only half of the country is problematic.
“It’s not in touch with what America’s values are and what we should be in a country," Zicker said of Romney's comments. "At the end of the day, we’re all connected. What I do affects you economically and socially. We shouldn’t see it as an one-for-all system.”
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If you all listen to what Romney stated and claified...he spoke the TRUTH. There are Oidiot supporters who want the handout and will not in a million years vote Republican. To Jaon Asselin, your point is what Romney is stating. There are millions of Americans who want to pay taxes but the need the income to do so. They only way they can get that income is by growing the economy which hasn't been able to happen under Oidiot. ROMNEY'S PRIORITY IS TO GET YOU BACK TO WORK OR AT LEAST MAKING AN INCOME WHERE YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE TO TAXES. NOT KEEP YOU ON GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS!!! THAT'S THE VOTE HE WANTS AND THAT'S THE VOTE HE NEEDS!!!
Unfortunately the liberal media won't communicate that information to you.
so he spoke the truth that he need to be latino to just win the election. Also voting for a guy who believes in love with a 15 year old isn't good. Also a guy who was President of bain capitol who kicked employees out of there jobs is really a guy who will get jobs back into the fold. Romney is a flip flopper . He doesn't know anything at all. Obama needs your vote! 4 more years of a obama is a 4 years of not ending the u.s.a to romneys wickedness.
Since the Republicans vetoed the Jobs Act, maybe you can detail Mitt's jobs plan for us?
So,will Mitt raise the income for Teacher's aids in public schools who only make $12,000-$20,000 a yr!H NO!So sthu!
The problem is that its Mitt's job to deliver his message, and he can't seem to do it in a clear or succinct mannner
I am a Democrat and certainly anyone would agree that in a nation of 300 million there are SOME to are leaching off the government BUT to say that 47% (nearly half of us) are doing so is an INSULT to Americans and certainly shows that he fails to understand the situation of low income earners. When Ronald Regan signed the Low Income Tax Credit (which is why many do not pay taxes) he said it was the best thing to come out of Congress; Romney missed that point.
When Romney closes his off shore bank accounts, puts the money into U.S. Banks and pays more taxes than I do then I will consider voting for him. I always voted Republican but not this time.
I'm sad that a republican believes all the liberal hype out there...make this election about Romney's taxes and not about the failing foreign policy or economic policy of this administration. Very short sighted and please if this administration stays in for another four years please do not complain that you have no job, no house or no income because you had to redistribute your wealth for whoever this administration thinks is worthy of it.
He does pay more taxes than you. Income tax he pays more. Investments are on a different tax percentage roughly 14%. Which is legal. I would bet money that if you have stocks you have most oversees.
Mitt paid 14% on $21 million. That does not mean that $100 million does not sit tax free in Switzerland or the Caymans.
So Liz you paid more in taxes then Romney? I find that hard to believe.
you may pay a higer % then him but you did not pay more in taxes.
Why is it that my wife and I both had to work 2 jobs paid for college by working and now since we both make good money people think I should give it to a lady in Chicago so she can sit on her backside and have another baby to milk the system even more!
Yeah. That'll teach him. We've never elected a wealthy citizen to be President before. Oh wait. They've ALL been of the wealthy 1%. Duh.
The fact that 24% of respondants to the question posed on Censored News Network's own Facebook page said Romney was right, means that probably 80% of the general population feels this way. Good to know.
Finally people are seeing the true Romney we had the snake here in Mass as governor and he is as two-faced as they come. He'll say one thing to one group and then another to a different group. The only value he has is the one that will gain him more money.
I won't say Obama has done a great job and if the Republicans had put up a good candidate I'd most likely have voted for them but W dug this hole and he dug it wide and deep so Obama had a big job to fill it but Mitt has the back hoe ready to go to make it wider and deeper than ever before so he can bury the 47% and make a place for the wealthy to thrive in.
All I know is that George W. Bush spent a lot of money in 8 years. Obama has outpaced that in less than 4 years. Where does it end? Time to vote for change. If Romney doesn't work out, then it will be a one-term proposition like Obama.
You're kidding right....have you done the research on the origin of the debt increase in the last 4 years? You just pass these comments off like you know what you are talking about. The 5 trillion addition is coming from the wars, TARP, and Bush Tax cuts....they just keep rolling forward. Obama is responsible for just under 1 trillion. Research it...independent groups have laid it all out...open your eyes and ears.
Bush BORROWED a lot of money in 8 years and just declined to pay for some programs he put in place. Has everyone forgotten Sept 2008 when everything collapsed as the Bush bill came due? If the economy had been allowed to collapse, you would have gone to the store and your credit/debit cards would not have worked. Your bank would have locked its doors. Do you get the picture. So retroactively choose again...Stimulus or folks looting the supermarkets.
Lola, you are wrong. The Bush deficit increased at a much higher rate than under Obama. It has increased at a higher rate under every Republican who claimed they could cut taxes, increase military spending and balance the budget. According to the Wall Street Journal, a conservative newspaper, from May 22, 2012, this is how the annualized growth of federal spending checks out.
Reagan term one: 8.7%
Reagan term two: 4.9%
Bush term one: 5.4%
Clinton term one: 3.2%
Clinton term two: 3.9%
Bush term one: 7.3%
Bush term two: 8.9%
Obama term one: 1.4%
The deficit has increased because of decreased tax revenues as a result of the depression started under Bush, a continuation of the budget authorized under Bush during Obama's first 9 months in office, and the unpaid interest on the debt. Only 1.4 trillion is a result of actual spending increases under Obama. Bush took a budget surplus and turned it into a 10 trillion deficit.
HEY MITT ROMNEY, WHAT CATEGORY DO THE MILLIONS OF REPUBLICAN WELFARE RECIPIENTS FALL INTO? BLATANT RACIST!
How is he racist?
Oh you poor leeches can't handle the truth. Embarassed by it?
Are YOU too embarrassed to say exactly what YOU mean? Go on, tell us specifically who Mitt was talking about. You can say it. In fact if you do, i give you Brownie points for standing up and letting it all hang out. Don't worry about the millions who are going to flame you if you do. Get the "nastiness" out in public, so we can get rid of it for all time.
I believe Mitt Romney's comments to be right now; anyone who doesn't like them doesn't live in the REAL WORLD!!
Yes, he is right about the part of 47% not paying any income tax. He is dead wrong about them all voting for Obama and not taking responsibility for their lives and expecting the government to take care of them. Half of that 47% are on Social Security and people don't pay taxes on their SS income and shouldn't. Others are soldiers who do not pay income tax on their earnings while in combat. Still others are students who are working part time while going to school. Most of the states that have the largest number of people who do not pay income tax live in the south and nearly every one is voting Republican. Also, over 4000 millionaires paid NO income taxes in 2011. Of the 47% who paid no income taxes, the majority of those did pay payroll taxes, like Social Security and medicare payments.
The propaganda against this guy is terrifying. With a president in office who has so many grey areas around him, his administration, his past and yet no one sees it. By the time they do it will be too late, this country as we know it will no longer exist.
The country as you imagine it ALREADY does not exist. The horse is already out of the barn. The criticisms without facts are just the death throes of radical conservatism. It would seem that conservatives would know that they fight a lost cause because the only constant in the Universe is change.
The truth hurts. Not everone who is on government assistance has made it a career but almost half the country has no interest in the income tax rate and no interest in how much the Government spends, how much the Government borrows, and how much the Government wastes because they get their benifits regardless of all that. Everyone should pay income taxes so that everyone has a vested interest in how the Government operates. I don't care if it is $10 a year, but everyone who works should pay something; it is there Government and they should have an ownership stake in it so that when Government waste is revealed it upsets them too. Relieving almost half of the population of their finanacial responsibility to the nation is wrong. The bottom 40% of tax returns has an effective rate around negative five percent because of all the transfer payments built into the tax system; that money has to ome from either the remaining tax payers or our creditors which means that our children end up paying it off. Everyone needs some skin in the game otherwise we get the type of Government that racks up huge deficits, keeps growing the debt, and keeps wasting billions of dollars all the while promising almost half the country a free lunch. And it doesn't matter which party controls which parts of Congress or the Whitehouse; both the Democrats and the Republicans spend way too much. There ain't no such thing as a free lunch and its time that we all realize that.
Doc, tax breaks are a bipartisan matter. Republicans and Democrats came up with these rules. Mitt is using a DOOZY of a tax break to keep money in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands. Are you angry with him about that? Or are you just angry with the poor working stiffs who are so grateful to actually get some money back at tax time. Do you get money back at tax time Doc?
Im voting for Mitt because he is telling us the truth. I pay income taxes, I pay taxes on everything, Im paying school loans, it isnt fair some of these lazy people do nothing and get all this government handout from Obozo.
"I pay income taxes"...
Well, you're doing more than Mitt did then. He stored his money in a Swiss bank account to avoid paying taxes. He didn't even report his income to his church, which is why they ratted him out to Mormon-in-good-standing Harry Reid.
Hey Junior, half of those people not paying income taxes are not lazy. They are on Social Security and don't have to pay income taxes. Others are soldiers who are putting their lives on the line so you can spout off your ignorance with impunity. Those soldiers don't pay income tax on their earnings when in combat. Others are working at jobs, some at two jobs, but they don't get paid enough to pay the tax. What about those 4000 millionaires who paid no income tax. Are they lazy too?
Which government handouts are you speaking of? Social Security? Medicare? Disability? Veterans Benefits? Or did you think half the nation (47%) is on welfare? Since you obviously have a computer, I know you can Google the actual number and demographics of the people on government programs. You will find that REAL welfare is a very small percentage. Although the Right would like you to think it is very big. Don't trust me. Look it up.
Mitt is talking about eliminating the programs that YOU have been paying into since you began to work. Is that OK?
People watching CNN/MSNBC most likely to vote for President Obama anyway. What is CNN and such like media promoting anyway?
As an active duty military member, I can't remember a year where I paid any sort of taxes due to constant deployments. There are countless others of my brothers/sisters in arms who share my situation. Apparently we are in that 47% of deadbeats who contribute nothing to society and are dependent on government for our subsistence.
Whenever I feel that Mitt couldn't be more out of touch he one-ups himself.
Romney misstated when he talked about not caring about 47% of the country. It's actually 99% he doesn't care about.
People need to decide if they want to care for themselves or have Government take care of them. With 46.7 Million people on Food Stamps alone, we have a very serious problem. We need less Government, less regulations, and someone willing to make the hard decisions. For every job Obama claims he created, 4 dropped out of the work force. It has become extremely clear that Obama is striving for distribution of wealth. Will not work, has never worked, and goes against what America stands for.
Why won't Romney release 12 years of his personal tax returns like his father did when running for president? Answer: There is a good chance that one or more of those years Romney paid no inomce tax. What is Romney hiding? They harped on Obama's birth certificate. Where's Romney's tax returns?
Why hasn't OBAMA? Why hasn't OBAMA released his college transripts? With all that is going on in this world all you can do is focus on 12 years of taxes?