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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Several months ago I had some help in my shop that was working a few times a month on an hourly basis. I offered her a part-time job, and she declined because it would have put her over the income limit to collect welfare.
Romney told a truth that most of us don't want to hear.
ur right he told the truth!
Every time someone talks about unemployment compensation, some right-winger says, "Oh, I offered my part-time employee a terrific job at minimum wage, but she turned it down. She said, 'I like to be on the federal dole, because my Muslim Leader Hussein Obama has promised me an income for life!"
What nonsense.
So true. People need to ask themselves if they want to care for their family or do they want Government to care for their family. Distribution of wealth will not work. It is not an argument over whether Romney cares .. it is a line drawn to ask if you care.
Anecdotes. If you are patient and carefully read what follows, you may start to understand why the anecdotes and numbers used by politicians, and many others, are often misleading.
Assume that 20 people are looking for any sort of work and there is one person who wants to be on the dole. A group of 20 employers can see that one person who will not take a job and hire the next person (out of the 20) who wants a job. This means that 20 employers might think that 50% of the people in that job pool do not want to work. In reality, less than 5% of the people in the pool do not want to work.
The generalization by airgeek is unjustified. Unless people become numerically literate, reality will escape.
Romney's comment was a realistic portrayal of the political support he was likely to not get. It was NOT a comment that he that he doesn't "care" about these folks!! The real story here is that the media and Democratic party make it out as such.
exactly...and the Media better start stepping up to stop supporting the pro Obama nonsense. let the candidates debate
this man has made already three public embrassing comments. this should be enough to show america if he wins it would be four years of total embarassment. we already went throuh that , go figure
What you refer to as embarrassing, is actually the truth. Funny how you don't call the kenyan dictator's Egypt (Middle East) uprising speech not only embarrassing, but deadly to our troops and an Ambassador.
difference is many more Americas will have jobs if this guy is elected....and actually has pride in America!!Obama is reality TV star and very good at it!!
What CNN and the other liberal news media won't tell you, can be found on Drudge Report 2012. If you think we are not affected, check out the price of gas and food, and how broke your State and Local governments are.
What Robme didn't acknowledge is that aside from the people in that 46.2% of Americans that don't pay federal income taxes because they don't earn enough, it also includes retired seniors, full time students, disabled veterans, and millionaires like himself.
wolf, when rand paul lied about our President call him a liar. Good grief.
I soooo look forward to seeing all the taxes that come out of my paycheck every two weeks! It's the greatest feeling in on Earth.
The truth always hurts, people are reading way too much into the simple fact that 46.5% don't pay federal income tax. Some can dance around that figure all they want for any number of reasons but the sad fact is; that number will not create a sustainable economy and only end up in a situation where benefits must be cut to all, including the other group paying all the tax. Stop with all the rationalizing all ready.
I am getting confused. Last year I was in the 99% This year Iam in the 53% (Fortunately) Is Bill Clinton the only one who knows Arithmetic?
The gop lost 9 million jobs, talk about that cnn.
Obama's vision for America is redistribution. A certain path to creating a mediocracy.
The GOP already took care of that wealth redistribution stuff.
Middle-class has negative income growth over past 30 years.
1% income grew by over 350%.
There's your wealth redistribution.
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He is simply saying the truth. The people need help, but if we don't help ourselves first then why the heck should we get help? Corporations need to calm down and take the money for their local townships.
Tell me now this is not over.
Romney just dissed half the country and told them they are all freeloaders and he doesn't represent them.
IT'S WAY OVER for ROMNEY !!
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so let me get this straight....according to Mitt when a millionaire is using every possible loopohole to pay very little in taxes(about 13% according the tax returns he never released) it is fine because it is legal, but when an individual doesn't pay taxes because they lost their job, they are incapaitated, senior citizens, etc then they are losers who victimize themselves and do not want to take responsibility for their lives...
Also, I am wondering...given that it is people like Romney that received the bailout, if we subtract this bailout from their meager tax payments, did they pay any taxes in the end?
Also it is the same people that received the bailout that made the decisions that are responsible for the plurality of the people in the 47% not being able to pay taxes today...so it is interesting how Romney absolve his cronies of any culpability for the current situation and accuses all the people that lost their jobs of being unable to take responsibility of their lives...
it seems that Romney is very good not only at using swiss loopholes to pay less taxes but also at using loopholes of insanity to predicate his campaign on...
The context of his remark is about where he's going to spend campaign efforts. He's smart enough to realize he will never court the 47% of obama supporters so why bother. He's a savvy business man and his perspective is "why spend the energy on something with no results" Period. Romney campaigning for obama supporters is akin to trying to sell snow shovels in Key West. CNN....this is not news. This is not a big deal. When did CNN turn from a good news outlet to a complete and utter mouthpiece for the democrats? Yawn. See you at the polls mitt..i'll be clinging to my guns and religion.
Look, I would LOVE to make enough money that the government would actually tax me. I think most of us would. That means I would actually making a living wage. But even with my husband and I each working the 35-45 hours a week our day jobs are likely to give us, we will still qualify for that refund. Even if we each got second jobs to make our workload 60-70 hours a week, we would still qualify due to low income. So, tell me Mr. Romney: how can a couple working an aggregate 120-140 hours a week be considered lazy? Answer: Laziness is a justification that your friends use to not feel bad about good people starving.