Home Tags Posts tagged with "mother jones"
mother jones
President Barack Obama has rebuked Republican candidate Mitt Romney, saying that anyone seeking to be president needs to work for all Americans.
Barack Obama told chat show host David Letterman that Mitt Romney was wrong to describe 47% of Americans as “victims”.
Earlier, Mitt Romney defended his remarks after secretly filmed video of a speech to donors became public.
He told Fox News he knew those “dependent on government” would not vote for him in November’s election.
Mitt Romney also decried the notion of government “redistribution”, calling it an “entirely foreign concept”.
Barack Obama told David Letterman that Mitt Romney was wrong to describe 47 percent of Americans as victims
More leaked video emerged on Tuesday, showing Mitt Romney saying Palestinians do not want peace in the Middle East.
The full video of the Florida fundraiser was also published by liberal investigative magazine Mother Jones.
In Tuesday’s Fox interview, Mitt Romney stood by his comments about the 47% of Americans who do not pay income tax. He said they support President Barack Obama and would never vote for him. He said his statement was “about the campaign”.
“I’m talking about a perspective of individuals who are not likely to support me,” he said.
“Those that are dependent on government and those that think government’s job is to redistribute, I’m not going to get them,” Mitt Romney said.
Mitt Romney says he expects Barack Obama to receive about half of the vote in the November election because of these voters.
The real problem, he added, was that so many people were not eligible to pay income tax because they had fallen into poverty.
Recent polls indicate that the election is likely to be a close contest, although an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released on Tuesday evening showed that Barack Obama’s approval rate has hit 50% for the first time since March.
In addition, the poll put the president ahead of Mitt Romney by 5% among likely voters polled across the nation. The poll had a margin of error of 3.6%.
On David Letterman’s show, Barack Obama said he told the US on election night in 2008 he would work for everyone, including those who did not vote for them.
“One thing I’ve learnt as president is you represent the entire country,” he said.
“There are not a lot of people out there who think they are victims” or simply entitled to benefits, Barack Obama said.
Barack Obama’s rebuke came at the end of a day in which more clips of Mitt Romney’s fundraising address emerged. In one, Mitt Romney said the Palestinians are “committed to Israel’s destruction”.
“The Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace,” he says in the video, adding that “the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish”.
But chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Reuters news agency that Mitt Romney was wrong to accuse the Palestinians of not seeking peace.
“Only those who want to maintain the Israeli occupation will claim the Palestinians are not interested in peace,” he said.
In another clip, the former Massachusetts governor is shown discussing Iran’s nuclear programme, and warning that America itself could come under attack.
The first clips released on Monday showed the Republican candidate saying those who did not pay income tax would never vote for him.
“There are 47% who are with him [Barack Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,” he said.
Mitt Romney said in the video that his role “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
The video clips provided to Mother Jones are said to have been filmed at a $50,000 per head fundraiser at some point after Mitt Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee.
They were made public as the Romney campaign announced a new shift in strategy after several difficult days for the candidate.
Campaign advisers told the US media on Monday that Mitt Romney would speak more specifically about his budget plans and tax policy.
[youtube 0fNUQQBE8iE]
A new secret video clip has emerged of remarks by Mitt Romney, saying the Palestinians are committed to Israel’s destruction.
The Republican candidate tells donors the Middle East will “remain an unsolved problem… and we kick the ball down the field”.
The video is from the same event as a clip released on Monday, in which Mitt Romney says almost half of Americans “believe that they are victims”.
It comes less than two months before the presidential election.
The new footage was posted on Tuesday on the website of the liberal investigative magazine Mother Jones, which said it was taken at a fundraiser in Boca Raton, Florida.
A new secret video clip has emerged of remarks by Mitt Romney, saying the Palestinians are committed to Israel's destruction
Mitt Romney is shown saying that Palestinians are “committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel”.
“The Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace,” he says, adding that “the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish“.
In another clip, the former Massachusetts governor is shown discussing Iran’s nuclear programme, and warning that America itself could come under attack.
“If I were Iran – a crazed fanatic, I’d say let’s get a little fissile material to Hezbollah, have them carry it to Chicago or some other place, and then if anything goes wrong, or America starts acting up, we’ll just say, <<Guess what? Unless you stand down, why, we’re going to let off a dirty bomb>>.”
On Monday, Mother Jones posted another clip from the same fundraiser in which Mitt Romney disparages those who would vote for his Democratic rival, President Barack Obama.
The Republican candidate is shown saying that the 47% of Americans who back the president do not pay income tax and would never vote for Mitt Romney.
“There are 47% who are with him [Barack Obama], who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”
Mitt Romney said in the video that his role “is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
In a late-night appearance on Monday, the Republican candidate said those remarks were not “elegantly stated”, but did not retract them.
The Obama campaign was quick to pounce.
“It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation,” Jim Messina, Barack Obama’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
The video clips provided to Mother Jones are said to have been filmed at a $50,000 a head fundraiser at some point after Mitt Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee.
The pictures are blurred out with the exception of his face, and no attendees are visible.
Also on Monday, Mitt Romney’s campaign unveiled a significant reworking of its strategy less than two months before election day.
Until now his message to voters has largely consisted of repeated attacks on President Barack Obama’s economic record.
Campaign advisers told the US media on Monday that Mitt Romney would speak more specifically about his budget plans and tax policy.
The videos bookended a difficult 24 hours for the Romney campaign. On Sunday, a lengthy Politico story detailed apparent divisions and indecision within the campaign.
A series of opinion polls at the end of last week showed Mitt Romney trailing Barack Obama both nationally and in several swing states.
The two men square off in the election on 6 November, but early voting begins soon in several states.
[youtube ziFW-t9fC0A]
A secretly filmed video has emerged showing Mitt Romney disparaging Barack Obama voters at a private donor dinner.
The Republican nominee is shown saying the 47% of Americans who back the president do not pay income tax and would never vote for Mitt Romney.
“I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives,” Mitt Romney says.
In a late-night appearance, Mitt Romney said his remarks were not “elegantly stated”, but did not retract them.
“This is the same message I give to people in public,” he said in response to the video, released by liberal investigative magazine Mother Jones.
Earlier, his campaign said Mitt Romney “wants to help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy”.
“As the [former Massachusetts] governor has made clear all year, he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government, including the record number of people who are on food stamps, nearly one in six Americans in poverty, and the 23 million Americans who are struggling to find work,” spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said in a statement.
A secretly filmed video has emerged showing Mitt Romney disparaging Barack Obama voters at a private donor dinner
The Obama campaign was quick to pounce.
“It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation,” Jim Messina, Barack Obama’s campaign manager, said in a statement.
This may prove to be a significant setback for Mitt Romney, who has been relentlessly characterized by his political opponents as privileged and out of touch.
Also on Monday, Mitt Romney’s campaign unveiled a significant reworking of its strategy less than two months before election day.
Campaign advisers told the US media on Monday that Mitt Romney would speak more on his specific policy proposals in the coming days and weeks.
Until now his message to voters has largely consisted of repeated attacks on President Barack Obama’s economic record.
The video provided to Mother Jones is said to have been filmed at a private fund-raiser at some point after Mitt Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee.
Its picture is blurred out with the exception of Mitt Romney’s face, and no attendees are visible.
The income tax segment is one of several clips posted online, in which Mitt Romney expands at some length on his approach to the forthcoming election, and how his campaign will take on President Barack Obama.
“There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what,” Mitt Romney is seen saying, referring to the percentage of Americans who have no income tax liability.
“There are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”
Mitt Romney is later seen saying that his campaign has not been as harsh on Barack Obama as possible, because the president remains likeable and because of a desire to win the support of his otherwise disenchanted former supporters.
“Because they voted for him, they don’t want to be told that they were wrong, that he’s a bad guy, that he did bad things, that he’s corrupt,” he says, referring to independent voters who chose Barack Obama in 2008.
“Those people that we have to get, they want to believe they did the right thing, but he just wasn’t up to the task.”
Mitt Romney also told the fundraising dinner he believes that if he won, there would be an immediate market-driven boost to the economy.
The videos bookended a difficult 24 hours for the Romney campaign. On Sunday, a lengthy Politico story detailed apparent divisions and indecision within the campaign.
That was followed by a public revising of campaign strategy on Monday morning.
“We are not rolling out new policy,” campaign adviser Ed Gillespie said.
“So much as we are making sure people understand that when we say we can do these things, here’s how we are going to get them done and these are the specifics.”
In that vein, the campaign released an online ad on Monday that discusses his economic plan. Advisers say the campaign will now speak more specifically about his budget plans and tax policy.
A series of opinion polls at the end of last week showed Mitt Romney trailing Barack Obama both nationally and in several swing states.
The two men square off in the election on 6 November, but early voting begins soon in several states.
Who pays US income tax?
The US federal government runs off two kinds of taxes: payroll taxes, which fund benefits such as Social Security, and income taxes, which largely fund the rest of the federal budget.
In 2011, the Tax Policy Center studied the tax liability of US households:
• 53.6% paid income taxes, 46.4% did not
• 28.3% paid payroll taxes but not income taxes
• 10.3% were elderly and retired and were not taxed on Social Security benefits
• 6.9% did not pay any tax with household incomes of less than $20,000
The majority of those who pay payroll but not income tax do so because of tax benefits for the elderly, families with children and low-income earners.
[youtube XnB0NZzl5HA]
[youtube v5iazS-hjv0]
[youtube LkPBNi7D1hA]
