Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
The headlines just hours after Mitt Romney's trouncing of Newt Gingrich in Florida could be better. Romney is getting a lot of attention for a line from his interview with CNN this morning. He said:
"I'm not concerned about the very poor."
So of course everyone is flipping out. Two points in defense of his comment. The full context absolutely makes it better. The full quote:
"We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I'll fix it. I'm not concerned about the very rich. They're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling."
Reporters should stop ripping lines out of context and publicizing them under the banner "This could look bad." They should just report the news, not tell people what to think about it. Further, the idea that the very poor are taken care of by an extensive safety net is what the vast majority of Democrats have been saying for decades. That the media would be so upset when Romney says it annoys me.
And yet, this line also shows why so many of us are not exactly excited by a candidate Romney. Even if it weren't ill-advised to let these words come out of your mouth, ever, it's the underlying sentiment that gets me.
It bothers me both that a president would say "if" the safety net needs fixing, he'll look at it, suggesting that he believes the welfare state actually does a good job taking care of the poor.
As The Weekly Standard's John McCormack points out, "The safety net DOES need repair. The poor DO need jobs. The Obama economy and debt hurt the poor too. Stupid thing to say. As Paul Ryan says, when a debt crisis hits the elderly and the poor are hit the worst and the first. If it needs repair? Like we're not on the verge of a debt crisis? Like Medicaid in its current form is smart?"
I want a president who wants to reform our welfare state because he is worried about the very poor in our midst and he recognizes how poorly the federal government has handled their plight, frequently making it worse. I want a president who always thinks that a man should have a job over a safety net and remembers to talk about that at every opportunity.
I know that Mitt Romney didn't mean to sound cavalier and heartless. I don't think it was a sparkling moment of presidential politics to announce on national television that he's not concerned about the poor. But just last night he gave a speech with a powerful message about jobs and the future of the country. He should have remembered a few of those lines for his morning interview with CNN.
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Comments :
Sep '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
I miss Dan Quayle
Sep '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Charlotte
Pseudodionysius
RIM. · 10 hours ago
Pseudodionysius: RIM and Canadian healthcare; they go together like...
Well, never mind. · 10 hours ago
Romney-In-Motion? · 2 hours ago
Very well done.
Sep '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Canadian style healthcare is but the first step in our continuing plans to spread Kaos throughout your country.
Jan '11
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Here we go again, another teleprompter president. Yet another non-change.
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Instugator ...
<good God, I can't believe I am defending Romney>
He said he didn't worry about poor people, they have a safety net - full stop. Complete sentence, phrase, thought.
Then, thinking there MIGHT be something he doesn't know allowed there MIGHT be a hole in that net and he MIGHT have to fix it. But it wasn't a priority.
My point is that he answered the question - maybe he was wrong there, but I hate it when a politician dodges a question.
But don't characterize his answer as class-warfare based on the people he wouldn't help - not helping isn't the same thing as hurting despite protestations here.
Fair point. I don't think he was engaging in class warfare either. But I'd much rather hear him advocate across the board growth (which will be difficult when he limits capital gains rate reductions to those making less then 200K, accepting yet another faulty premise of the left), than classifying levels of concern for various groups. I expect that from Democrats.
[I share your consternation at having to defend him. Get used to it if he's the nominee.]
Dec '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Instugator
Stuart Creque
What is he going to do to liberate the 90-95% from the burden of subsidizing the choices of "the poor"? · 5 hours ago
Well, since 47% pay no income tax (and only those employed pay the payroll tax) your number ought to be in the 61-68% range. (1-(%who pay no income taxes - %unemployed)).
Apart from that, I would like to escape $1T deficits/ year for the next decade so my priorities for reform are, in this order. · 1 hour ago
Did Romney say ANYTHING about 2-6?
Dec '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Instugator
He said he didn't worry about poor people, they have a safety net - full stop. Complete sentence, phrase, thought.
YES! Full stop!
Not a word, phrase, sentence or thought given to the idea of growing the economy, getting the very poor into work and getting them OFF THE BACKS OF THE MIDDLE CLASS.
Sep '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Bill Bennett once made a comment that while Bill Clinton could work a room, when Al Gore came up to you and shook your hand, you could hear the gears grinding away as he classified you into your appropriate socio-economic slot and then calculated whether you were a potential supporter.
The thought process here, where Mitt divides up the American public like they're a market segmentation pie chart in a power point slide is disturbingly similar. Paul Rahe raised doubts before as to whether Mitt could articulate first principles in a thoughtful manner and Mitt's 6 year preparation for the Republican nomination culminating in this morning without his double latte half gaffe didn't reassure anyone.
Aug '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
@DaveCarter " But I'd much rather hear him advocate across the board growth (which will be difficult when he limits capital gains rate reductions to those making less then 200K, accepting yet another faulty premise of the left), than classifying levels of concern for various groups. I expect that from Democrats." I agree, our nominee needs to stop letting the left define the problem.
May '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Trace Urdan
You're on fire this morning Kitty. Time to lay down a couple of chapters in your comic novel while you're hot. · Feb. 1 at 7:18am
Oh! He called him Kitty again!!!! I'll be smiling all. Day. Long.
May '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
I miss him already.
Dec '10
Re: Romney Defends Status Quo, Poorly
Dang, the body snatchers got to Instugator, just like they did Ann Coulter! -- I kid, I kid.
I hate it when the family fights.