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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsEXCLUSIVE: Moby Speaks Out About The Secret Tapings Of Mitt Romney, And His Comments About The 47%.
september 19.
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ok, i think i figured it out.
mitt romney is disdainful of anyone receiving government assistance because:
1- he comes from a rich and privileged background, so hes never needed or
received government assistance.
and
2- he comes from a rich and privileged background, so hes never known
anyone whos needed or received government assistance.
almost everyone i know has received some sort of government assistance,
whether its student loans or small business loans or medicare
or medicaid, and almost everyone i know now pays taxes and contributes to
society.
ill use myself as an example.
i was the only child of a single working mom. we struggled a lot
economically, and there were times when we lived off of food stamps and
social security and government assistance. and then when i went to university
of connecticut and suny purchase i received pell grants and student loans.
so, according to mitt romney, i was part of the 47%: who are dependent upon
government, who pay no income tax. My job is not to worry about
those people. Ill never convince them they should take personal
responsibility and care for their lives.
in the last 20 years i have either personally or professionally paid millions of
dollars in income taxes to the state, local, and federal government. i have
employed hundreds of people, who have in turn paid income taxes and in
many cases have gone on to start their own businesses.
so i think its safe to say that the government assistance my mother and i
received was money well spent. i was able to go to decent schools and get
a decent education, all thanks to government assistance. my mother and i
were able to eat, all thanks to government assistance. i was able
to see doctors, all thanks to government assistance. we were able to pay
our rent at times thanks to government assistance.
not to mention the roads, clean water, streetlights, police departments,
fire departments, clean air, libraries, public transit, electricity, etc
that all came from the government and enabled my mother and i to stay
alive and live good, educated, safe, and healthy lives.
mitt romney came from extreme wealth. he has never once needed financial
assistance from the government, as his family had millions and millions of
dollars.
but there are millions and millions and millions of americans like me who
didnt come from extreme wealth and who needed help with education and
food and health care and shelter, but who have gone on to start businesses
and pay taxes.
we are not an entitled class, we are not dependent upon the federal
government and we do not consider ourselves victims.
we are the hundreds of millions of americans who had the misfortune of not
being born to millionaire parents.
so i understand why mitt romney is disdainful of government assistance, as
his parents paid for everything and he never needed help being fed or
educated or looked after by doctors. i understand that in mitt romneys entire
life hes never known anyone whos needed student loans. hes never known
anyone who needed food stamps to keep their family fed. hes never known
anyone whos had to spend hours in a health clinic just to get basic medical
care. hes never known anyone who couldnt pay the rent.
i understand that mitt romney grew up with phenomenal wealth and privilege
but i dont understand why that leads him to contemptuously dismiss anyone
(like my mother and i) who have, at times, needed government help with
food and education and shelter and health care.
mitt romney is a product of wealth and privilege. that does not give him
the right to loathe and dismiss the rest of us who are not the product of
wealth and privilege.
oh, for some reason i was thinking of common people by pulp when i heard
romneys quotes.
-moby
But still youll never get it right,
cos when youre laid in bed at night,
watching roaches climb the wall,
if you call your Dad he could stop it all.
youll never live like common people,
youll never do what common people do,
youll never fail like common people,
youll never watch your life slide out of view.
-Common People by Pulp
BeyondGeography
(39,370 posts)R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)Moby 2016!
yardwork
(61,599 posts)Romney and others like him are the real parasites. They ensure that laws allow them to raid companies and suck them dry, then deposit their profits in off-share tax shelters. Romney has used every trick in the book to obtain and conceal his wealth, apparently never paying much of anything in taxes. He used the system to drive hundreds of companies out of business and impoverish tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of people, laying them off, outsourcing their jobs, just so that he could rack up "profits."
The entire system is gamed by Romney and his class. They are the real parasites.
bluethruandthru
(3,918 posts)AllyCat
(16,183 posts)But of course, he takes it. Hell, he demands it and stacks the machinery to make it happen for him and his wealthy buddies.
yardwork
(61,599 posts)progressoid
(49,988 posts)thelordofhell
(4,569 posts)progressoid
(49,988 posts)trailmonkee
(2,681 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Kick!
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)1- he comes from a rich and privileged background, so hes never needed or
received government assistance.
and
2- he comes from a rich and privileged background, so hes never known
anyone whos needed or received government assistance.
He's gotten and needed PLENTY of gov. assistance.... whether he's aware of it or not.
and he knows plenty of people who have gotten and needed government assistance too..... whether he knows it or not.
I think he's just fucking clueless.
HenryWallace
(332 posts)SaveAmerica
(5,342 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)And that's just the tip of the iceberg.
catbyte
(34,376 posts)of Michigan, damn it.
RevStPatrick
(2,208 posts)I read the first couple of paragraphs of this, and I get it and I agree with you.
But I simply could not finish it, Moby.
I hate it when smart people refuse to CAPITALIZE letters properly.
It really makes it very difficult to read.
When it's people who don't know better, I can look the other way.
But Moby, you are clearly an extremely intelligent person, and you should understand that capitalization and punctuation exist for a reason.
So while I would probably like what you wrote, I'm not going to finish it because it makes my brain hurt.
Your neighbor and pal,
RevStPatrick
ecstatic
(32,695 posts)RevStPatrick
(2,208 posts)That was very difficult to read.
There are reasons why certain design principles work.
He should know better...