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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TRUTH!
TRUTH!
Really? Well, let's review...Romney said 47% of Americans who don't pay taxes and rely on government handouts are Democrats who vote for President Obama. However, I believe that his statement is shamelessly incomplete. For example, Romney has failed to mention what category the millions of whites who live off welfare and foodstamps and vote Republican fall into. So how come? If 47% of Americans who don't pay taxes and live off government handouts are Democrats, then where do the whites who vote Republicans and live off government handouts and food stamps come in? I'm afraid Mitt Romney is a blatant bigot and racist who has deliberately ommitted from this equation the whites welfare recipients who vote Republican. Stinking racist white supremacist.
Yes, this is a Romney "truth". Take a fact, spin it out of context, and use it to attack. Fact 47% don't pay income tax. Truth: this is becase 1/2 of them are elderly and don't work, so they draw social security, which many of them paid into their whole lives, or (40%) people who make little enough to not pay income tax due to Republican tax cuts. Only a small portion draw welfare or other government "handouts". Romney "truth": All these people are freeloaders who think they are "victims" dependent on Obama. Funny. Here is another fact: Romney's father drew welfare when he first move to this country. Must be one of those freeloading victims.
...if anyone heardthe WHOLE clip, and many of you have not, he was trying to explain that folks who don't pay taxes, will not identify with his tax cutting messages, and will most likely side with Obama. Like if you are not ready to buy a car, you will tune out car commercials.
hope, I think it is hopeless to try to explain. The spin doctors of the liberal media only want libs to hear what they have to say about it. They would NEVER report the truth. How sad that Obama is one of the leaders in the fight to silence conservative voices.
What an inane comment. He clearly stated those 47% felt like victims, and were dependent on the government and Obama, but that is very far from the truth as 1/2 of those are the elderly who are on social security (which, don't forget, most of them paid money into their whole career) and something like 40% of the rest are those that don't make enough (50k for a family of 5) to pay income tax due to REPUBLICAN tax cuts. Many of these people still of course pay payroll, sales, property tax. You acting like his words make sense in any sort of context... well, doesn't make sense in any sort of context.
“The American Republic will endure, until politicians realize they can bribe the people with their own money,” the French philosopher and historian Alexis de Tocqueville once said.
“Patriotism is the virtue of the vicious.”-Oscar Wilde
See how that works.
What Mitt said was largely true. He probably should have qualified his statement with "A LARGE PORTION OF the 47%..." Obviously, there are some exceptions.
So people who don't have federal income tax obligations because they make low enough wages ($50k for a family of 5) or are the elderly on social security make up the minimum? Maybe you need to check your facts. The people who take welfare are the minimum. The "Large majority" are those that are on SS or don't pay federal income tax due to REPUBLICAN tax cuts. They are not "freeloaders" or "victims" or taking government handouts. (SS isn't really a handout, as you pay money into your whole working career)
WHAT A SHOCKER!
This is all you heard on CNN for the last two days. But shockingly enough the clip of Obama telling the Russian PM he will have more flexibility on missile defense after the election just didn't get the same scrutiny from CNN.
I wonder why?!
It was posted, it was commented on, and as Russia doesn't vote in the Presidential elections, it was dismissed.
You're right, let's also show the clip of the Russians saying they should rearm thanks to Mitt's delusional 'we are at war with the Russians' comment from the RNC.
It really does not matter what Romeny says or does. Republicans are republicans. Even if their candidate insutls them they are still repbulicans. Even if they have no job, no health insurance, no education, they are still republicans just like the 61 year old in your story! So, who cares? If Mitt and Ryan beat them with a stick the way they will do with their budget, they will still vote for them. So, it is like saying you can insult me but I still love you! You can hate me but I still love you! Oh My God! Gone are my social values and Christianitiy is in danger! So, let's save it by voting anybody but Obama! So, it can be a dog or pig or donkey or a tree may be! But hey it is not Obama! So, I love you, you got my vote!
What you say is funny because you are the opposite of reality. I am conservative, but not republican. I think most independents are conservative on the economy, foreign policy, and the military, but think things like abortion and gay marriage don't matter at all. Yes, at all who cares. But Obama and the democrats walk lock step and continue to say the same talking points. Most are lies too. So believe what you want lib.
@Seanster, just because someone doesn't share your "reality" doesn't mean that they are lying. I know you right-wingers doesn't like to observe facts and evidence, but give us a break. The fact that Obama and democrats are lock step, is – duh – because he is a democrat. Not like the completely fractured and bewildered republican party where the term "moderate" is now derogatory. Independents are not easily categorized and claiming that "abortion and gay marriage don't matter at all" is not based on facts, my take is that a lot of independent are values voters, either because of religious reasons or opposite. Social values makes some folks vote against their best financial interests.
Mitt was right
Doesn't the statistic that 47% of Americans did not pay income tax last year raise a flag that there is something drastically wrong with how the federal government is managing OUR money? That is what Romney was trying to point out.
Do you ever research anything or do you just swallow kool-ade all day?
Romney's remarks are clearly the truth. Look at Chicago. They elect Democrats year after year. Chicago has been delcared the most politically corrupt city in the nation by the Univ of Illinois. The public schools have a graduation rate below 60%! The public schools have a grade level reading rate of 20%. There are 10 shootings per day in Chicago. The majority of Chicago voters could never find a decent job as they are uneducated or uneducated and criminal! We now live in a Dumbocracy supported by the Democrat Party. What happens when the smart people start leaving the US? More violence, civil war, third world status and a Democrat Dictator Obama!
That his low Mitt Romney look at the poor people of America. I know he is rich but there are rich people who cares for fellow human being, e.g. Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, etc. Mitt Romney cannot even call himself really rich compared to these two. Why is he like that could be how he was raised by his parents and grandparents. DISGUSTING!!!
The context of Romney's comments was merely to define the voters in the undecided column that he needs to move his way. He's talking to potential donors, and making his pitch on what theire donations would be used for.
In the process, he managed to hit a nerve that actually defines the choice we have in November. If you belong to Romney's 47%, will you keep the chip on your shoulder, or will you acknowledge that he's calling you out? If you are receiving government assistance, in any form, can you justify that with at least a nominal contribution back to society? If you have paid into SS and Medicare all your life, that's fine. If you are taking unemployment benefits, are you doing any volunteer work? Nearly everyone is willing to help those in need, but it wears thin pretty quickly if it appears that nothing is offered in return.
Can't fault him for telling the truth. You all know there are too many that are able to work but feel they don't need to so the govt takes care of them.
Blah Blah Blah, Republicans are only out for themselves. To stand up for what THEY believe in. Not give others a chance to decide on their own. I'm not really sure why everyone is upset about the economy and why are we blaming the President. You wanted to elect a President and expect a better result right away. Now, logic tells me that thats not possible. In fact, its highly unlikely. That's like getting shot and the nurse is putting a bandaide on it and saying it will get better right away. Sadly, it won't and much to my dismay people think Obama put us here. Nope, it was dear old Bush (republican by the way) who decided that we needed to go to a country that we know that we shouldn't be in, looking for something that never even was there. So, lets not blame the President for something that he didn't do, and start noticing something he is trying to do...as was once said "Rome was not built in a day"
I have been working and paying taxes since I was 14 years old. I'm voting for Obama because the middle class have been victimized in this country. I work at a University where our salaries will always be low as dictated by the government despite the important jobs we have. Ever wonder why College Professors are almost always liberals? It's because we teach this stuff, you can't lie to us.
those that know, do those that dont...teach...
It doesn't matter whether the statements were a mistake (meaning a lie Romney didn't want heard) or truly reflected Romney's beliefs. If Romney tells a different story to every crowd he addresses, then we don't know who he is and cannot trust him. If, on the other hand, he really believes the cold, cynical nonsense he said he believes, then he is the ordinary One-Percenter who cannot empathize with ordinary people or imagine that his own success may have been largely luck. In either case, it would be a tragedy if we were to elect him (and we would no doubt get what we deserve if we did).