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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Sure you did.
Experian Credit Reporting was owned and managed by Mitt Romney and may have sent this letter to the President regarding cuts in programs:
"...Upon review of your account, Mr Obama, your line of credit has been reduced...for one of the following reasons:
(1) Too many accounts at or near maximum allowable credit
(2) Has been late one or more times in the last 90 days
(3) No verifiable means of income to pay outstanding balances
Possible he is telling the truth ,what i like is he don't want to apologize or cover up so that he get votes .Some one who is going to lead the Nation should be truthful .TRUTH always hurt ,but point us to right direction
If Obama wins the USA may be in ver bad shape. The terrorists may win with weak USA military.
Romney is just another tight a@# rich white guy. Obama is so cool and so nice. Even though the national debt is about to implode America, I believe all his programs and spending will bring more real jobs to Americans. How could it not work? We are moving forward just as his campaign slogan says. And Obama saved GM. He says they are doing great. So many jobs saved and so many more to come.They are making so much profit, especially on the that new Volt, OMG what a lifesaver for this planet. And I think their stock is so high now that we taxpayers will soon get paid back in spades from their success. Obama's plan will soon do this for all American businesses. My grandkids will look back and say my Dad sure was right back in 2012. Look at us now. I hate Romney. He is so uncool.
FUNNY!
By his comments, Romney shows simply what an empty and contemptuous politician he is. Do we seriously want a man with such disdain for many of his fellow citizens in charge?
EXPERTS, POLITICIANS, ECONOMISTS, ACADEMICIANS HAVE BEEN SAYING THIS FOR THE LAST YEAR OR SO-AFTER IT WAS ANNOUNCED BY THE IRS.
Signed
DEL CAPSLOCK
Anything anyone says at a fund raiser is, to some extent, a lie no matter what it is. The problem with Romney is that he has absolutely no concept of what it means to work for a living. He got his start because his parents were rich; he has never held a working job in his life, and he made the additional money he has torpedoing companies and their employees. So, it's probably what he thinks, but his opinion doesn't hold any water.
Yeah all our nations governors Dont really work! and organizing the Olympics, talk about the hobby of an arrogant piece of crap.
Romney's hot mic statement is not shocking inasmuch as it reinforces the stereotype of the aloof, uncompassionate, "severe" conservative. On the flip side, the 99% have become the 47% overnight so things are looking up.
and his mother was from Jupiter and father from Africa.
Keep trying to distract/deceive lib media...it won't work. Obama is toast.
I THINK OBAMA'S SECOND TERM WILL BE A BETTER ONE AND I NEED TO SEE ROMNEY'S BIRTH CERTIFICATE.
Since the repubs are always screaming about transparency, I'd like to see his tax forms too!
Prosperity attracts poverty, poverty breeds poverty. Prosperity induces complacency, complacency leads to sloth. There are a great deal of people who need the system but there are many more that simply abuse it. Example, I personally had a runaway for a day come to my home after his aunt a social worker for the state would not buy him a iPhone. He actually hustled some kids and got the phone but came no where near the money needed for a cell phone plan. He was a child of about 14 with siblings from 2 to 24, black and wanted to get his. Through his story he gave enough information that his mom keeps having kids for the check, they spread the kids around the family and share the money. He figured out his mom doesn't want him and he just wants his cut. Actually a really bright kid, but unwanted and purposely brought to life for a government check. I immediately took him home when he told me the kicker that his aunt was a social worker. I wanted no part of it. Romney is the type of guy I honest wouldn't be friends with because I couldn't stand to be around him. As a business man you have to make tough decisions, there are winners and losers in everything. But on this statement his is correct and now that has made a stand has my vote. Takes guts to stand by your words and not following the polls and sway with the wind. Obama dropped the ball on Arab Spring and will be remembered as one of the worst leaders in history. Our ambassador and others paid with their lives due to sheer incompetence. Obama is likeable, I'd shoot a game of hoops with him but he has no spine and is a coward.
While I think Romney is a better choice, it is a shame he didn't distinguish between people taking government assistance who have no desire to do anything else with their lives against those who are on assistance due to medical reasons or those who only have a temporary need for it. Just as Obama goes after groups of people who he feels he can bring to his side, I truly think Romney realizes there are some he can never reach, and he'll try getting support from others. I do believe he'll be a president to "all the people".
We don't know if he did or not. The whoel statement ins not available.
Selective Edit? Mother Jones Admits Romney Tape Missing 'One to Two Minutes'
Mother Jones, the left-wing magazine that released a controversial video of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's remarks to a fundraiser in May, now admits that it has no full tape of what Romney said, and that its video is missing "one to two minutes" at the most important moment.
The Legal Insurrection blog's William Jacobson and The Blaze both raised questions on Tuesday about whether Mother Jones had, as promised, revealed the full video, given an apparent jump cut in the critical section of Romney's remarks.
"Something is missing. Romney’s 47% answer was cut off before completed, and is not picked up on the Part 2 audio video," Jacobson noted.
Late Tuesday evening, Jacobson obtained the following comment from David Corn of Mother Jones:
According to the source, the recording device inadvertently turned off. The source noticed this quickly and turned it back one [sic]. The source estimates that one to two minutes, maybe less, of recording was missed.
Corn was forced to update his original post, which promised the "full" video, to reflect the fact that a key portion of the video is, in fact, missing.
There is no way to know, without the missing footage, exactly what Romney said. On Monday evening, Romney called for a complete video of his remarks to be released.
This is what CNN 's big scoop when there are so many relevant things going on in the world to report on.
OBVIOUSLY he's right. The sad thinig is after the "Messiah" get's elected to a second term, the U.S. will end up a broke and a dependent nation. Just like California and other states where socialism failed.
What this country needs is a sense of self-responsibility
OBVIOUSLY he's right. The sad thing is after the "Messiah" get's elected to a second term, the U.S. will end up a broke and a dependent nation. Just like California and other states where socialism failed.