Robert B. Reich's Blog, page 123

THE REAL MITT REVEALEDThis video is significant in two ways....

THE REAL MITT REVEALED

This video is significant in two ways.

First are the distortions. Romney says 47 percent of Americans don’t pay income taxes. That’s literally true, except it’s misleading because it includes every retiree who hasn’t enough income to pay income taxes (most retirees), every poor and lower-income person who doesn’t have enough income to pay, and a few multi-millionaires (perhaps like Romney himself — we don’t know because he won’t release his tax returns), who don’t pay because of tax loopholes and tax-avoidance schemes. Moreover, just about all working Americans, regardless of income, pay federal payroll taxes. Everyone pays state and local sales taxes. And so on.


Romney also distorts reality by purposely mixing “entitlements” with “a sense of entitlement,” and lumps in all recipients of Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment benefits into his 47 percent. Even though these programs are considered “entitlement” spending, their recipients are not undeserving; they don’t consider themselves entitled to handouts. They’ve paid into these insurance plans through their payroll taxes.

But the the most important revelation here isn’t Romney’s witting distortions. It’s his indignant condemnation of almost half the American electorate. A president is supposed to represent all of America, not just the 51 percent who elect him, and have a modicum of sympathy for the less fortunate among us.

Yet here is the real Mitt Romney — a fabulously wealthy financier, presumably speaking to other wealthy people (note the waiters scurrying about), with a passion we haven’t before seen in him — saying it isn’t his “job” to worry about Americans who he describes as “irresponsible,” who fail to take care of themselves, and whose neediness is presumably their own fault.

Some of us thought Romney was without core or principle, an empty suit that would say anything to be elected. But here, evidently, is the real Mitt — a man whose core principle is clearly on display, and articulated with deep conviction: social Darwinism — survival of the richest, the hell with those who need a helping hand.


In a subsequent news conference he attempted to make it sound as if he was talking here about political strategy, not social conviction. Watch and see for yourself.

Why Romney and Ryan are Going Down

Unemployment is still above 8 percent, job gains aren’t even keeping up with population...

Two Cheers for the Fed, but Thumbs Down for Moody's and the Deficit Hawks

With deficit hawks circling overhead, the responsibility for creating jobs has fallen by default to...

Two Cheers for the Fed: At Least It's Not Obsessing About the Budget Deficit

With deficit hawks circling overhead, the responsibility for creating jobs has fallen by default to...

The Wrong Way to Save Money on Health Care

Employer outlays for workers’ health insurance slowed from a 9 percent jump last year to less than...

Moody's in a Mood

The rating agencies are at it again. Moody’s Investors Services says it’s likely to downgrade U.S....

Here’s a slideshow of the illustrations I did for the new...

Here’s a slideshow of the illustrations I did for the new (and expanded) paperback edition of BEYOND OUTRAGE — just out.  First time I’ve illustrated my own book (or any other for that matter). Hope you enjoy them.

The Biggest Economic Challenge of Obama's Second Term

The question at the core of America’s upcoming election isn’t merely whose story most voting...

The Jobs Report and the Election

President Obama’s speech to the Democratic National Convention was long on uplifting rhetoric...

The Real Importance of Bill Clinton's Wonderfully Long Speech

Bill Clinton’s speech tonight at the Democratic National Convention was very long but it was...