Posts Tagged ‘Mitt Romney’
Ted Cruz asks Republicans to embrace the fictional ’47 percent dependent on government’
Monday, 11 March 2013 12:42
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is calling on Republicans to court “the 47 percent who are dependant on government,” a false statistic that may have been one of the reasons former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney lost the 2012 election.

Speaking to The Shark Tank’s Javier Manjarres at the Cuba-Democracy PAC luncheon on Saturday, Cruz seemed to take the wrong lesson from secretly recorded video of Romney telling wealthy donors that he wasn’t worry about the “47 percent who are with him [President Barack Obama], who are dependent upon government.”

(Read more…)

“I think the reason why Republicans did so poorly in this last election was actually not primarily immigration,” Cruz explained in video posted on Sunday. “I think it was two words: 47 percent. And by that I don’t mean that unfortunate comment. I think Mitt Romney is a good man and a decent man who ran a very hard campaign.”

“What I mean is the narrative of the last election,” he continued. “The 47 percent who are dependant on government, we don’t have to worry about them.”

“And I got to tell you, I can’t think of an idea that is more antithetical to what we believe to conservatives and Americans than that idea. Look, this country was built on the notion that anybody with hard work and perseverance can achieve anything. That’s why I’m a Republican… And what I think Republicans did a poor job of last time around is making the case to the single mom, making the case to the young African-American and the young Hispanic coming out of school looking for his first job that the party of opportunity is a party that allows and encourages small businesses to thrive, that encourages economic growth. That’s the message we didn’t carry.”

But, like Romney, Cruz seems to be making the mistake of conflating the 46.4 percent of Americans who pay no federal income taxes with a much smaller group of people who actually receive government checks.

As the Christian Science Monitor pointed out last year, only about 25 percent of Americans received an “entitlement” in 2010, a year with higher-than-average unemployment. The number could be as high as 35 percent if Social Security and Medicare are included, which arguably shouldn’t count because they are considered earned benefits.

Cruz suggests that the “47 percent” is made up primarily of single mothers, Hispanics and African-Americans, but The New York Times noted last year those voters were more likely to live in red states, and about 25 percent of those who paid no income taxes were exempt because they received Social Security. And over 20,000 household earning over $200,000 paid no income taxes in 2009 thanks to loopholes like exemptions and deductions.

Watch this video from The Shark Tank, broadcast March 10, 2013.

(h/t: The Blaze)

 
Parody: Mitt Romney says he lost because minorities understood his message
Tuesday, 05 March 2013 21:27
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Mitt Romney explained in his first post-election interview that he lost the 2012 election because minorities clearly understood his message, The Onion reported on Tuesday.

“At the end of the day, we just articulated our intentions clearly and concisely to millions of African Americans and Latinos across the country,” the former GOP candidate explained.

“That was our downfall. (Read more…)”

Romney said he was confident he would be elected president and was shocked when he was defeated. He admitted he failed to realize that minority voters had become aware of his actual policies.

“I really feel that if I had been more secretive or vague about what I truly believe I might be in the White House today.”

Watch video, courtesy of The Onion, below:


Romney Blames Loss On Successfully Communicating His Message To Minorities

 
Big Bird launches nutrition and fitness campaign with Michelle Obama
Thursday, 21 February 2013 15:14
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Big Bird is back as a player in big time US politics.

Mitt Romney wanted to get rid of him, but after a reprieve following the Republican’s election defeat, the towering Sesame Street puppet has signed up to endorse First Lady Michelle Obama’s nutrition and fitness campaign.

The fluffy yellow character known to generations of US kids is seen jogging in the East Room of the White House and checking out a bowl of fruit and vegetables in the presidential kitchen in two new public service ads. (Read more…)

“Gee, I bet you could get just anything you want in this kitchen,” Big Bird said in one of the ads, before remarking “those look good” when the First Lady points out some crunchy vegetables.

The ads will be distributed to 320 public broadcasting stations as part of the First Lady’s “Let’s Move!” campaign which is designed to fight obesity and improve the diets and health of American kids.

The First Lady will kick off a national tour next week to mark the three year anniversary of the program.

“Eating healthy is easy and it’s fun and delicious too,” Michelle Obama says in one of the ads.

The use of Big Bird may be seen as one last jab at Romney by the Obamas after the famous Muppet emerged as a punch line during last year’s presidential election.

Romney said in a debate in Denver that he liked Big Bird but pledged to cut a government subsidy for public television where he appears, as part of efforts to trim the deficit.

President Barack Obama’s team seized on the remark to ridicule Romney after the president badly wobbled in the debate.

“Mitt Romney knows it’s not Wall Street you have to worry about, it’s Sesame Street,” one Obama ad said, jokingly describing Big Bird as an “evil genius” towering over financial felons like Ken Lay and Bernie Madoff.

“Mitt Romney. Taking on our enemies, no matter where they nest,” the announcer of the television ad said.

Watch the video, uploaded to YouTube on Feb. 20.