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| Entertaining transparency from a rich politician, full of hubris and bad information. |
Romney's comment about the 47% will haunt him for the remainder of his political career.
The Quote: "There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent 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 -- that that's an entitlement.
- And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what.
- These are people who pay no income tax. ...
My job is not to worry about those people. - I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
While it is true, there are those who do their best to bilk the system of undeserved benefit, the majority of those who do so successfully are wealthy.
The rich live well and work by choice, the poor live in varying degrees of difficulty and work harder and longer hours, often at more than one job if they're able to find employment. Converting work to cash is simple for the wealthy, not so much for the poor.
I've heard it expressed that the poor, the unemployed and welfare recipients should somehow get education, get skills, and work at something meaningful. One suggested to me that the poor should "get off their butt and go earn a living." In every case, such statements come from the wealthy, revealing an incomplete understanding of culture and economics.
No one chooses poverty. No one deliberately picks the path that causes them to go hungry or their children to suffer. It is something that is done to you.
The likely suspects are:
- Choice limited by circumstance
- Disenfranchisement by government policy
- Big business vs family businesses
- Those who extract wealth from the working class
- Cultural discrimination
The argument that the poor arrive at their circumstance through bad choices has a measure of validity, but when considered in the cultural context, it's a bit more complex. The poor often have fewer options from which to choose.
For one example, leaving school before finishing is rarely an option for a child in a stable, healthy home. In just one inner city classroom in our study, however, many of the students had a family member in jail, many had lost a family member to street violence, most were from single-parent households, many had mothers who survived by prostitution. The chance of doing well academically is quite low for a child in such a community and home environment. Their likelihood of finishing school is less than for their middle class counterparts. Typically, the child in poverty doesn't do well academically, perhaps doesn't finish, and doesn't get offered further opportunity. They will usually attempt employment, some will fall in with others in illegal activity or succumb to the sex trade for survival, most will be unsuccessful in attempting to establish a stable family life. Another generation of persistent poverty will ensue despite repeated efforts to rise above, to find a way forward. Only a few will escape.
The poor families whom I know personally are aggressively searching for better employment, for some opportunity. They work long hours at hard jobs, often shift work that the more fortunate can avoid. They struggle every day to make ends meet. They work much harder than I or any of my associates do. Much harder. And they strive daily toward a better world for their children.
Those who have read this far, do us all a favor. Don't think like Romney and his ilk. Get informed; make a difference.
*True or False?
According to 2011 data from the Tax Policy Center, more than half of the filing units not paying income taxes are those with incomes less than $16,812 per year. Nearly a third - 29.2 percent - of those paying no income taxes are tax filers earning between $16,812 and $33,542, and 12.8 percent are those with incomes between $33,542 and $59,486. In other words, the poor are least likely to pay federal income taxes, but many middle-class families are also exempt. Smaller but significant numbers of the higher-income earners are also exempt: The same data shows that in 2011, 78,000 tax filers with incomes between $211,000 and $533,000 paid no income taxes; 24,000 households with incomes of $533,000 to $2.2 million paid no income taxes, and 3,000 tax filers with incomes above $2.2 million paid no income taxes.
*True or False?
According to 2011 data from the Tax Policy Center, more than half of the filing units not paying income taxes are those with incomes less than $16,812 per year. Nearly a third - 29.2 percent - of those paying no income taxes are tax filers earning between $16,812 and $33,542, and 12.8 percent are those with incomes between $33,542 and $59,486. In other words, the poor are least likely to pay federal income taxes, but many middle-class families are also exempt. Smaller but significant numbers of the higher-income earners are also exempt: The same data shows that in 2011, 78,000 tax filers with incomes between $211,000 and $533,000 paid no income taxes; 24,000 households with incomes of $533,000 to $2.2 million paid no income taxes, and 3,000 tax filers with incomes above $2.2 million paid no income taxes.
Overall, according to the Tax Policy Center, "of the 38 million tax units made nontaxable by the addition of tax expenditures, 44 percent are moved off the tax rolls by elderly tax benefits and another 30 percent by credits for children and the working poor."
- are dependent upon government. Generally inaccurate; the 47% are (a) the elderly who paid for the small social security benefits they receive, and (b) the lower income working class. The majority receive no welfare or other government assistance benefits.
- who believe that they are victims, Perhaps true for some, but hardly common to all.
- who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, Unlikely; the common attitude is one of gratefulness that there's a safety net.
- who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it -- that that's an entitlement. False; entitlement thinking is most common in the upper classes and most pronounced in their children.
- And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. False; the 47% are broadly spread across both parties and available candidates.
- These are people who pay no income tax. Partly true but misleading; most pay little or no federal income tax due to low income and to age exemptions. The majority of them do pay social security and medicare taxes, along with state and local income taxes, sales and property taxes. Their tax burden is proportionally much greater than that borne by the wealthy.
- I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives." Poorly worded, but suggests a lack of awareness of personal responsibility among the poor as a class. False; even the destitute carry a clear sense of responsibility as their personal choices immediately affect their circumstances. The wealthy, however, share no such clarity. They're free to luxuriate, to waste, to misbehave with minimal personal consequence. They often recognize no personal responsibility for the harm they do to others by their financial and business practices and the policies that perpetuate poverty which they endorse or allow without objection.
From a an objective view, the comments are generally indicative of a hubristic perspective from a position of wealth and privilege with little understanding of the world where 80%+ of humanity lives.