Holy Crap, Obama tape talking about Redistribution! WTF was he thinking.....

[Logical]

He said......

"I actually believe in some redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody's got a shot."

Well, he was thinking every American citizen in this country deserves a shot. No matter how bad of a situation they are in, or how poor they were raised, or how bad their health is. And the people with a bigger share of LUCK than the people down on their luck, can help them out. Because the LUCKY ones might be there some day also!

The GOP really thinks this tape sounds bad?? Hell, it will get him more voters than it will cost him.

I am proud of Obama making that statement. Any real progressive believes the same damn thing!

[Lex]

1. Mitt is for redistribution too---from the poor & middle class to the RICH.

But yeah, President Obama didn't say anything earth shattering there.

[Starry Messenger]

20. Ding!

[southernyankeebelle]

2. First it was 14 yrs ago. He was right.

[NotThisTime]

9. Right then and he's right now... no flipping back and forth

[southernyankeebelle]

43. that is right.

[IggleDoer]

49. 14 years ago ... When Myth was Pro-Choice and supported gay marriage.

At least President Obama sticks to his convictions.

[southernyankeebelle]

68. your right.

[uppityperson]

3. I agree with you and him. I don't see how this is bad.

[Jamaal510]

47. One RWer on Yahoo Answers said that it's bad because

it would make the rich people and the business owners want to leave the country, and they are the ones who pay more money in taxes.

[defacto7]

53. and we know that's false, don't we?

They aren't the ones paying more taxes.

but you know that.

[uppityperson]

54. You mean like Boeing?

http://seattletimes.com/html/dannywestneat/2019193629_danny19.html

[Cha]

61. Brwahahahahaha

[HughBeaumont]

70. Every industrialized nation taxes their wealthy higher than we do. It's all bluster and BS.

Logically, where are they going to go? They're on Easy Street here and they know it.

[Tx4obama]

4. The tape is from 1998 and he was talking about LOCAL and STATE government ...

redistribution of funds within existing programs in order to get more bang for the buck.

[vaberella]

7. and about Reform of government institutions to run better. n/t

[brush]

57. Thanks also

There you go, funds within existing, already funded programs. Fox of course will not mention that. Or the whole of the speech before and after the sentence about redistribution.

[drlit]

60. And now NBC reveals that the Rmoney campaign (or Fox?) selectively edited the tape.

The young Obama went on to talk about free markets and competition and .... well we should post it!

[Tx4obama]

62. Here's a DU thread link below

Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014238050

[skeewee08]

5. Shame on President O

"make sure that everybody got a shot" how dare him for wanting to help EVERYBODY

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. Only in this country

are we supposed to believe that such a belief is "scandalous"! Sometimes, I feel like I'm living in a parallel universe or something........

[sufrommich]

6. Mitt Romney redistributes his taxes owed the U.S. to

the Caymen Islands and Switzerland.

[spanone]

8. romney plans to help no one.

[Permanut]

10. Redistribution has become one of the dog whistle words..

as in "redistribution of wealth".

Every government since the beginning of time has redistributed wealth, and it can be very good or very bad, but not inherently either. The Koch brothers would like us to believe that redistribution is evil if done by Democrats; same with Obamacare, Medicare, Social Security, yada yada.

[Honeycombe8]

12. The word "redistribution" is the key. It means, to loonies, socialism. Actually, the Repubs are not

doing a very good job of painting Obama as a socialist. He actually said this during the 2008 campaign. I remember because I winced when I heard it on TV, and my Dad (a far right wingnut) spat it back at me later.

[Cali_Democrat]

13. The very fact that this tape from 14 years ago was just ressurected....

shows just how desperate they are.

[Logical]

17. So true!! n-t

[TrollBuster9090]

14. Yep, I love how they thought releasing THAT tape could counter spin the Romney tape.

What a bunch of moRANS!


The Romney statement of: "47% of these people pay no income taxes"
Will prompt the response: "DO YOU!?"

Vs. the Obama tape

The Obama Statement: "I do believe in redistribution, at a certain level, to give everybody a fair shot"
will prompt the response: "Hell ya! Sign me up for THAT!"

[Spazito]

15. They have totally lost their minds to think this is advantageous to them...

It does the opposite, imo. It opens up the issue of income disparity and the widening gap between the middle class and the 1%. This issue only reinforces the already widely accepted view that Romney is out of touch with all but the 1%.

I suspect the Obama campaign is totally prepared to 'go there' and are not unhappy at all to do so.

[ecstatic]

16. Romney claims it's a foreign concept

Um, Mitt, you do realize that we have a progressive tax system, don't you? Oh wait... he probably doesn't. His rate is lower than mine, much less people in the top tiers of income earners.

[Logical]

74. +1

[mick063]

18. He was thinking what I'm thinking

The concentration of wealth in this country is a crime.

The 1% are a huge threat to our way of life.

Tax the holy living shit out of them in retribution for not keeping Reagan's promise.

[George II]

19. Did you check to see when he said that? 14 years ago.

[SunSeeker]

21. Medicare, SS, Medicaid, Public Schools--ALL are "redistribution"

Any time you take taxes from one group to support another, it is redistribution. In other words, it's how we create a civilized society. Don't like redistribution, baggers? Give up your Social Security check and move to Somalia.

[limpyhobbler]

44. Everything the government does is redistribution.

what you said.

[brush]

59. Repug redistribution?

The repugs redistribution of wealth is "tax cuts for the rich" but they don't call it redistribution but it moves the money in the opposite direction than the direction (downward) people think of when they say redistribution of wealth.

[jtuck004]

22. You mean like when Mi$$s daddy redistributed his stock to him so he wouldn't have to work? n/t

[thc420]

23. They've been calling...

...President Obama a commie Marxist for 4 years, this is the best they got?

[Cali_Democrat]

24. I actually think this may have been the GOP's October surprise

Pathetic, I know. I bet they were saving it until late October. I bet they wanted it to drop like a bomb. It was probably Breitbart's idea.

But they had to release it early because of the Romney comments and nobody really cares about some stupid video from 14 years ago.

Epic fail.

[Logical]

31. LOL, good point. They must have been holding it. Epic fail is so true!

[progressoid]

64. Oh yeah, i forgot about that.

Didn't Breitbart supposedly have some huge bombshell to drop?

[obxhead]

25. Romney also wants to redistribute the wealth

He wants to give your taxes to rich people.

[secondwind]

26. I listened to it, it was the closing statement of his speech.. they took it all out of context, he

said we should use govt. resources to help those who need it .

[NYC Liberal]

27. It was old news in 2008. Plus, does Mitt REALLY want to talk about people's positions in the 90s?

Because, uh, we could talk about what he was saying about gun control, right to choose, being more liberal than Ted Kennedy, etc.

[jaysunb]

33. Bingo ! nt

[bluestate10]

28. Chris Matthews played a lot of the tape, including the redistribution part.

Once an intelligent person listens to the tape, they will like Obama more. Obama basically said that government does have a roll. Obama also said that the action of government should be more prominent at the state and local levels. I am a federalist, I have some issues with the state and local stuff, in particular when those levels are controlled by partisan, self-serving assholes.

[AlbertCat]

42. Obama basically said that government does have a roll.

I assume you mean "role" and not a bank roll.

[tarheelsunc]

52. Or...

a dinner roll for everyone in danger of starving

[jberryhill]

29. He was talking about school districts, btw

Apparently Republicans are convinced that the less well funded districts should serve the function of perpetuating lack of opportunity.

[Vattel]

30. God forbid that Obama should say something obviously true.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

32. This is for Wolf Blitzer so he can say it's the same.

[DallasNE]

34. This Statement Was Made In 1998

While Obama was a State Senator in Illinois. Quite mature for someone still in his 30's. And it shows how desperate Romney is that he is trying to find something, anything to hit Obama with, even 14 year old statements.

[Logical]

35. I think they wanted to hold on to it till later. But they needed something. n-t

[Loge23]

36. I got your "redistribution" right here!

What a fiasco the R&R campaign has been thus far!
They now want to head-to-head on redistribution?? Really??!
We have the King of the 1% with his lackey, Ryan, lecturing us on redistributing! Ludicrous!
Form Mother Jones, required facts:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2011/02/income-inequality-in-america-chart-graph

[rustydog]

37. Plus, the GOP had to reach to a 1998 video for this "bombshell" to deflect from

Willard's daily foot-in-mouth disease flare-ups.

[awoke_in_2003]

38. So, we know what Obama...

said 14 years ago, but still do not know what Mitt paid in taxes.

[ErikJ]

39. FOUNDING FATHERS ON SPREADING THE WEALTH

..........................
But is it really socialism to talk of “spreading the wealth”?

Actually, it has been part of the American economic system since its founding.

In a letter to James Madison in 1785, for instance, Thomas Jefferson suggested that taxes could be used to reduce “the enormous inequality” between rich and poor. He wrote that one way of “silently lessening the inequality of property is to exempt all from taxation below a certain point, and to tax the higher portions of property in geometrical progression as they rise.”

Madison later spoke in favor of using laws to “reduce extreme wealth towards a state of mediocrity (meaning the middle) and raise extreme indigence towards a state of comfort.”

During the early days of the republic, the government relied mostly on tariffs to collect revenue, under the theory that since the rich bought most of the imports, they would pay most of the taxes.

....................... http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/business/calbreath/20081026-9999-1b26dean.html

[leftylauren]

40. Ever notice how when a Republicans comments are put in context it only gets worse for them

but when a Dems comments are put in context they come out sounding better than the soundbite makes them sound?

[AlbertCat]

41. The GOP really thinks this tape sounds bad??

Sure they do... especially if you edit the part out about "a fair shot" and neglect to put it in its context.

[Logical]

67. +1

[ibegurpard]

45. I agree with his position 100 percent!

and this election boils down to whether you believe government should play a role in our lives and the economy or if it's every man for himself.

[Shitty Mitty]

46. make sure that everybody's got a shot

even the right used to believe the same, till they became what they are today

[Daayyummmboi]

48. First! It's a true sign of desperation...

if you have to waste time using your staff to do nothing but to search back 14 years of archive records
praying that you will find anything, ANYTHING, that would take the heat off your ass for a national flub.
Then! When you do find a clip to push, it essentially says the exact same thing as your opponent says today.
WEAK!!! As hard as Romney will try to push this crap story... it will vanish in 24 hours.

[bullwinkle428]

50. Hey, Freeper fuckwits...come over here. Closer...closer...closer...

GOVERNMENT EXISTS TO REDISTRIBUTE!!!

Otherwise, we're fucking Somalia!!!

[SunSeeker]

55. +1 LOL

Noooooo. Gubmint is the problem.

[doccraig67]

51. Transcript of Quote

"There has been a systematic — I don't think it's too strong to call it a 'propaganda campaign' against the possibility of government action and its efficacy," Obama says in the audiotape. "...as we try to resuscitate this notion that we're all in this thing together, leave nobody behind, we do have to be innovative in thinking what are the delivery systems that are effective and meet people where they live.

"And my suggestion, I guess, would be that the trick — and this is one of the few areas where I think there are technical issues that have to be dealt with as opposed to just political issues — I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution,” he said, "because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level, to make sure everybody's got a shot."

[lumberjack_jeff]

56. "Redistribution" is a bogus goddamn concept.

The US gdp is roughly $50,000 per person. The concept of "redistribution" only makes sense if one accepts the premise that you aren't entitled by virtue of citizenship and membership in the economy to any part of it and the $50,000 therefore belongs to someone other than you.

[Shiraz]

58. This is when he was a state senator in Illinois geez,

Talking about redistributing the wealth from better off parts of the state , to the more needier parts.

[doublethink]

63. Rec #98 n.t.

[progree]

65. Reagan and Milton Friedman were big champions of the EITC - Earned Income Tax Credit

which is in effect a negative income tax for the working poor (which is in effect redistribution). It was meant to incentivize work over welfare.

[tavalon]

66. That's the problem tape Bullshit Mountain is talking about?!

[lunatica]

69. that tape will win more people over than drive them away

Let them use it all they want.

[ehrnst]

71. That's the whole idea behind public schools.... (nt)

[Coyotl]

72. Since Reagan, the government has been redistributing wealth upwards.

HEY, everyone believes in redistribution. What they differ about is how redistribution is accomplished and who will benefit, who will pay.

[TBF]

73. In a capitalist society it is their only choice -

meaning that if the wealthy are stupid enough to keep stealing from the poor via living off their labor and paying them a pittance they'd better have damned good security. When people get to the point where they have nothing to lose things are going to change - and they will change through violent forces if nothing peaceful (such as distribution) is accomplished.

[War Horse]

75. So Obama's a center left Democrat...

Who'd a thunk?

The more I see of RMoney the more terrified I get. I'd actually give W a third term over that guy.

[Cleita]

76. Back in the sixties when I was in my twenties, I was healthy and didn't need

health care. I had a decent job to feed, clothe and shelter myself even though, making women's wages there wasn't any left over from payday to payday. However, I never resented my income and payroll taxes because I felt secure that there would be something there for me if I lost my job or fell ill and couldn't work anymore. We had better welfare and safety nets back then and even though I didn't use any of the benefits my taxes paid for, I was happy in the thought that they would be there fore me when I needed them. I never bought into the personal responsibility meme nor did any one I knew at the time whether they were Republican or Democrat. We were so secure about this that we turned our focus instead to ending the Vietnam war. We honestly never thought we would be losing those things that made our society civilized. btw We had poor people back then, but we didn't have institutionalized homelessness. Some people chose to be hobos or drop outs, but they knew they could drop back into the mainstream if they tired of it. It's not that way anymore.