Replies to post #185308 on Tornado Alley (PROG)

[rooster]

What he said is right on the money. Romney knows Obama voters. Nothing wrong with being right.

[BOREALIS]

Today, Mitt Romney Lost the Election

Bloomberg
By Josh Barro Sep 17, 2012 5:02 PM CT

You can mark my prediction now:

A secret recording from a closed-door Mitt Romney fundraiser, released today by David Corn at Mother Jones, has killed Mitt Romney's campaign for president.
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundraiser

On the tape, Romney explains that his electoral strategy involves writing off nearly half the country as unmoveable Obama voters. As Romney explains, 47 percent of Americans "believe that they are victims." He laments: "I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

So what's the upshot? "My job is not to worry about those people," he says. He also notes, describing President Obama's base, "These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax."

This is an utter disaster for Romney.

Romney already has trouble relating to the public and convincing people he cares about them. Now, he's been caught on video saying that nearly half the country consists of hopeless losers.

Romney has been vigorously denying President Obama's claims that his tax plan would raise taxes on the middle class. Now, he's been caught on video suggesting that low- and middle-income Americans are undertaxed.

(That one is especially problematic given the speculation about what's on Mitt's unreleased pre-2010 tax returns.)

Corn tells us there are more embarrassing moments on segments of the video he hasn't released yet. Romney jokes that he'd be more likely to win the election if he were Hispanic. He makes some awkward comments about whether he was born with a "silver spoon" in his mouth.

But those are survivable. The really disastrous thing is the clip about "victims," and the combination of contempt and pity that Romney shows for anyone who isn't going to vote for him.

Romney is the most opaque presidential nominee since Nixon, and people have been reduced to guessing what his true feelings are. This video provides an answer: He feels that you're a loser. It's not an answer that wins elections.

(Josh Barro is lead writer for the Ticker. E-mail him and follow him on Twitter.)

Read more breaking commentary from Bloomberg View at the Ticker.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-17/today-mitt-romney-lost-the-election.html

[StephanieVanbryce]

Where Are the 47% of Americans Who Pay No Income Taxes?

Romney: 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.



go read the whole article IF interested ...
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/09/where-are-the-47-of-americans-who-pay-no-income-taxes/262499/

Romney is Just another wingnut who KNOWS his BASE is STUPID! ..

[StephanieVanbryce]

We find out from David Corn tonight on Rachel's show ... lol and lmao! .. that the guys whose house Mitt was using for his revealing fundraiser was no other than Marc Leder.. yes! the infamous Marc Leder! ...It was at Marc Leder's home! .....Keep in mind that Romney talked to the Values Voters summit this weekend ... and told them that He would Really Go AFTER PORNOGRAPHERS! ..This is hysterical! . .Here's Marc Leder ....AND maybe it was a waiter who TAPED MITT!!! .... LOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!! ..........screaming with laughter here!

Nude frolic in tycoon's pool

The New York Post
11:47 AM, August 7, 2011

It was as if the Playboy Mansion met the East End at a wild party at private-equity titan Marc Leder's Bridgehampton estate, where guests cavorted nude in the pool and performed sex acts, scantily dressed Russians danced on platforms and men twirled lit torches to a booming techno beat.

The divorced Sun Capital Partners honcho rented a sprawling beachfront mansion on Surf Side Road for $500,000 for the month of July. Leder's weekly Friday and Saturday night parties have become the talk of the Hamptons -- and he ended them in style last weekend with his wildest bash yet.

Russell Simmons and ex-wife Kimora Lee attended a more subdued party thrown by Leder -- who's an event chair for Simmons' Art For Life charity -- on July 29 together. But the revelry hit a frenzied point the next day before midnight when a male guest described as a "chubby white meathead" and a "tanned" female guest stripped and hopped into the pool naked.

"The guy hopped in first in his briefs and the girl standing on the perimeter of the pool took her top off," a witness said. "The next thing you know, her bra is off. Then she took her bottom off and was butt-naked and jumped in the pool."

Another attendee said, "They were in the pool swimming together. Then they started making out." Multiple witnesses say the naked pair continued their show outside the pool and performed sex acts on a chair in front of astonished guests.

A friend of once-conservative Leder said that after his ex-wife, Lisa -- who claimed he's worth $400 million -- admitted to cheating on him with her 23-year-old tennis coach after 22 years of marriage in 2009, "he went wild." "So many girls think they're dating him. There are least three [girlfriends] that I know of."

Leder jetted back to his home in Boca Raton, Fla., last Monday, but told guests he'll return to New York next month for more parties during Fashion Week.

http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/nude_frolic_in_tycoon_pool_S8t8KXKG1IeGFSDtN6Xm9M#ixzz26mj6F7xF

And This ...


Parties’ high bar

The New York Post
Posted: 1:48 AM, December 29, 2011

Private-equity party boy Marc Leder is billing his stay on St. Barts this week as “Event Week 2011/2012,” according to a rundown of Leder’s parties that’s floating around the island. The Sun Capital Partners honcho has hired party planner Amir Benesh to set up day-and-night bacchanals at his beachfront estate, including one tomorrow touted as the “Famous BBQ Pool Party.” Benesh runs Models-Promo.com, which, its Web site says, offers models, cocktail waitresses, DJs and even fire dancers for shindigs. Rap mogul Russell Simmons attended Leder’s welcome bash Monday with his girlfriend, Australian actress Melissa George. And Simmons’ ex-wife, Kimora Lee, and her husband, Djimon Hounsou, also attended the party. But, spies say, the party was “tame” for Leder, whose wild end-of-summer bash was the talk of the Hamptons this year. At the Bridgehampton home that Leder rented for a whopping $500,000 a month, guests cavorted nude in a pool and performed sex acts, while scantily clad Russian women danced on platforms. Dancers at the party also twirled flaming torches to booming beats. No wonder Leder’s “Cocktail & Dinner Party With Live Show” last night on St. Barts inspired such high expectations. Sources say Leder, said to be worth $400 million, has been on a partying jag since his wife of 22 years, Lisa, cheated on him with a 23-year-old tennis instructor in 2009. A rep for Leder didn’t get back to us.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/pagesix/parties_high_bar_hnNHG3a85TrmiVmoXP5ohP#ixzz26mlSjyz0

To pull this together I got it from here:

Second, I’m watching The Rachel Maddow Show, and she just said that the previously unsourced video in which Romney talks about scouting Chinese factories for places to make whatever bullshit he was making back in his Bain days came from the same source as today’s videos. Remember that video? I posted it, then took it down, then posted it, then took it down again.***

Just now, David Corn told Rachel Maddow that the source of the videos (there are rumors circulating that the source was a waiter at the fundraiser—just goes to show, you probably shouldn’t shit on an entire class of people when members of that class of people are serving your dumbass (pun intended)) apologizes for impersonating her on YouTube.

Corn also just said that the fundraiser took place on May 17, 2012 at the home of private equity muckity muck Marc Leder, who made headlines when he threw a sex party in 2011. (That ought to go over well with the values voter crowd.) Leder is a bit of a playboy and also >throws wild parties in St. Bart.

Gawl, I love today.

This Mittastrophe is epic.

***Karoli over at Crooks and Liars posted the video, and you can view it there.

[cross-posted-ish at ABLC]

http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/09/17/more-on-the-47-video/

All I did was post the embedded links ..I didn't know Mormons hung out with Swingers ????? ... ? .. I guess
it's all those Sister WIVES .. .!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL ... ! ..Who would have ever THUNK IT? .. ;)

[fuagf]

Edit: "But when you say, "Are you disappointed that his policies haven't worked?" they say yes."

Ok, Romney .. Ask them, 'Are you disappointed that GOP heavies decided on Obama's
inauguration day to oppose every single job creation policy of Obama's first term?'

Ask them, 'Which economy would you rather take over? The economy Bush left, or the economy today?'

Ask them, 'Are you disappointed in the fact Obama has had some 29 straight months of job creation, after
Bush left us with some 750000 jobs disappearing a month? Are you disappointed with those turnaround facts?'

There once was a doozer named, Mitt
Who talked like a loser
Who thought like a bull-dozer
Who shouldn't be elected president in a fit.

[sideeki]

Tweet of the Day:

Mitt Romney to Hispanic Chmbr of Comm: "Buenos noches moochers!"
— @RisingHegemon via web

[F6]

Romney’s theory of the “taker class,” and why it matters

Posted by Ezra Klein on September 17, 2012 at 7:49 pm

“My job is not to worry about those people,” Mitt Romney said [ http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundraiser (the post to which this is a reply; the YouTube above, as embedded, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnB0NZzl5HA )] of the 47 percent of Americans who are likely to vote for Barack Obama. “I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

There will be plenty said about the politics of Romney’s remarks. But I want to take a moment and talk about the larger argument behind them, because this vision of a society divided between “makers” and “takers” is core to the Republican nominee’s policy agenda.

In his comments, Romney says that “these are people who pay no income tax,” but they are people “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.”

In other words, Romney is arguing that about 47 percent of the country is a “taker class” that pays little or nothing into the federal government but wants to tax the productive classes for free health care, food, housing, etc.

Romney is not alone [ http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/283265/freeloader-myth-ramesh-ponnuru ] in this concern. “We’re dismayed at the injustice that nearly half of all Americans don’t even pay any income tax,” Texas Gov. Rick Perry said when he began his presidential campaign. “We’re coming close to a tipping point in America where we might have a net majority of takers versus makers in society,” Rep. Paul Ryan said at the Heritage Foundation. “People who pay nothing can easily forget the idea that there is no such thing as a free lunch,” warned Rep. Michelle Bachmann.



For what it’s worth, this division of “makers” and “takers” isn’t true. Among the Americans who paid no federal income taxes in 2011 [ http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/17/romney-my-job-is-not-to-worry-about-those-people/ ], 61 percent paid payroll taxes — which means they have jobs and, when you account for both sides of the payroll tax, they paid 15.3 percent of their income in taxes, which is higher than the 13.9 percent that Romney paid. Another 22 percent were elderly.

So 83 percent of those not paying federal income taxes are either working and paying payroll taxes or they’re elderly and Romney is promising to protect their benefits because they’ve earned them. The remainder, by and large, aren’t paying federal income or payroll taxes because they’re unemployed. But that’s a small fraction of the country.

Behind this argument, however, is a very clever policy two-step that’s less about who pays taxes now and more about who is going to pay to reduce the deficit in the coming years. Here’s how it works.



Part of the reason so many Americans don’t pay federal income taxes is that Republicans have passed a series of very large tax cuts that wiped out the income-tax liability for many Americans. That’s why, when you look at graphs of the percent of Americans who don’t pay income taxes, you see huge jumps after Ronald Reagan’s 1986 tax reform and George W. Bush’s 2001 and 2003 tax cuts. So whenever you hear that half of Americans don’t pay federal income taxes, remember: Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush helped build that. (You also see a jump after the financial crisis begins in 2008, but we can expect that to be mostly temporary.)

Some of those tax cuts for the poor were there to make the tax cuts for the rich more politically palatable. “Do you think we wanted to include a welfare payment to people who don’t pay taxes and call it a tax cut?” A top Bush administration official once asked me. “No. But that’s what we needed to do to get it done.”

But now that those tax cuts have passed and many fewer Americans are paying federal income taxes and the rich are paying a much higher percentage of federal income taxes, Republicans are arguing that these Americans they have helped free from income taxes have become a dependent and destabilizing “taker” class who want to hike taxes on the rich in order to purchase more social services for themselves. The antidote, as you can see in both Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney’s policy platforms, is to further cut taxes on “job creators” while cutting the social services that these takers depend on. That way, you roll the takers out of what Ryan calls “the hammock” of government and you unleash the makers to create jobs and opportunities.

So notice what happened here: Republicans have become outraged over the predictable effect of tax cuts they passed and are using that outrage as the justification for an agenda that further cuts taxes on the rich and pays for it by cutting social services for the non-rich.

That’s why Romney’s theory here is more than merely impolitic. It’s actually core to his economic agenda.

© 2012 The Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/09/17/romneys-theory-of-the-taker-class-and-why-it-matters/ [with comments]


===


Romney Calls 47% of Voters Dependent in Leaked Video

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR AND MICHAEL BARBARO
September 17, 2012, 6:51 pm
12:26 a.m., Sept. 18 | Updated

WASHINGTON — During a private reception with wealthy donors this year, Mitt Romney described almost half of Americans as “people who pay no income tax” and are “dependent upon government.” Those voters, he said, would probably support President Obama because they believe they are “victims” who are “entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it.”

In a brief and hastily called news conference Monday just after 10 p.m., Mr. Romney acknowledged having made the blunt political and cultural assessment, saying it was “not elegantly stated,” but he stood by the substance of the remarks, insisting that he had made similar observations in public without generating controversy.

The video of Mr. Romney, the Republican presidential candidate, was made in May, offering a rare glimpse of his personal views. Mr. Romney told reporters that he had been “speaking off the cuff in response to a question” at the fund-raiser, and said he wanted “to help all Americans — all Americans — have a bright, prosperous future.”

Democrats quickly condemned the remarks as insensitive, and Mr. Obama’s campaign accused Mr. Romney of having “disdainfully written off half the nation.”

The video surfaced as the campaign enters its final 50 days and as Mr. Romney sought to restart his campaign with new ads and new messaging, in response to calls in his campaign and from outside for him to be more specific about how his policies would fix the nation’s economy and help the middle class.

Now, the video has raised the possibility that Mr. Romney’s campaign will be sidetracked, with attention focused again on his proposed tax cuts for the wealthy, the release of his personal tax returns and his ability to connect with middle-class voters. With its unvarnished language, the video seems to undermine what aides have argued is an enduring attribute that would appeal to independent voters: a sense that Mr. Romney is, at base, an empathetic and caring man.

Snippets of the video of Mr. Romney [ http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/secret-video-romney-private-fundraiser (the post to which this is a reply)] were posted online Monday afternoon by Mother Jones, a liberal magazine, which said it had obtained the recording and had confirmed its authenticity. The magazine said it was concealing the identity of the person who had recorded the video and the location and time of the recording.

The author of the Mother Jones article, David Corn, said on MSNBC that the video was shot on May 17 at the Boca Raton, Fla., home of Marc Leder, a financier, who held a $50,000-a-person fund-raiser for Mr. Romney that night.

In one clip [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnB0NZzl5HA (above, as embedded)], Mr. Romney describes how his campaign would not try to appeal to “47 percent of the people” who will vote for Mr. Obama “no matter what.” They are, he says, “dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them.”

He says those people “pay no income tax,” and “so our message of low taxes doesn’t connect.” Mr. Romney adds: “My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

The comments were much more stark than Mr. Romney’s usual remarks, though he typically talks in public about supporters of Mr. Obama’s wanting big government to take care of their problems. He often accuses Mr. Obama and his supporters of wanting to bring a European-style socialism to the United States. In the video clips, Mr. Romney says his campaign is concentrating on the “5 to 10 percent in the center” whom he described as “thoughtful” voters.

Mr. Romney addressed the video [ http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/18/us/politics/transcript-romney-responds-to-release-of-secret-video.html ], somewhat awkwardly, at a fund-raiser Monday night in Costa Mesa, Calif., summoning reporters with a few moments’ notice to walk through the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, which was filled with guests sipping drinks at tables elegantly draped in blue cloths.

Mr. Romney said his comments addressed “a question about direction for the country: Do you believe in a government-centered society that provides more and more benefits? Or do you believe instead in a free-enterprise society where people are able to pursue their dreams?”

Asked whether he delivers different, starker messages to wealthy donors than he does to ordinary voters at campaign rallies, Mr. Romney said he was offering the same message, though he has never used the language in the video at a public event.

But Mr. Romney acknowledged that he wanted to offer donors a candid sense of his strategy, given the role they play in his campaign. “That’s something which fund-raising people who are parting with their monies are very interested in — knowing can you win or not and that’s what this was addressing,” he said.

Mr. Romney, who has been under fire for releasing only two years of his tax returns, was quickly attacked by the Obama campaign. Jim Messina, Mr. Obama’s campaign manager, said in a statement Monday evening that it was “shocking” that Mr. Romney would “go behind closed doors” to describe nearly half of the country in such terms.

Late Monday night, Mr. Messina sent out a fund-raising appeal to Mr. Obama’s supporters, saying that someone “who demonstrates such disgust and disdain for half of our fellow Americans” does not deserve to be president.

Mr. Romney is not the first presidential candidate to be caught speaking candidly at a fund-raiser. Four years ago during the Democratic primary campaign, The Huffington Post published Mr. Obama’s remarks at a San Francisco fund-raiser, saying small-town Pennsylvania voters, bitter over their economic circumstances, “cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them” as a way to explain their frustrations.

The Romney video was unearthed apparently with help from James Carter, a grandson of former President Jimmy Carter. Mr. Carter, who lists “oppo researcher” on his Twitter bio [ https://twitter.com/JECarter4 ], told New York Magazine [ http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/09/james-carter-iv-helped-spread-secret-romney-video.html ] that he had helped find the videos and get them to Mr. Corn. He is credited with “research assistance” on the Mother Jones Web site. Mr. Romney has repeatedly compared Mr. Obama to President Carter, suggesting both were failures.

In an audio clip posted online from the same fund-raiser, apparently by the person who gave the videos to Mother Jones, Mr. Romney is heard joking that he would have an easier time winning the election if his father had been born to Mexican parents.

“My dad, as you probably know, was the governor of Michigan and was the head of a car company,” Mr. Romney says in the audio clip. “But he was born in Mexico, and, uh, had he been born of, uh, Mexican parents, I’d have a better shot at winning this.”

But the most striking part of the video is Mr. Romney’s characterization of nearly half of the country. His assessment of the “47 percent” echoes a line of conservative thinking that is championed by his running mate, Representative Paul D. Ryan of Wisconsin. Mr. Ryan has long argued that nearly half of the people in America are either “dependent” or “reliant” on the federal government.

Mr. Romney’s figure of 47 percent comes from the Tax Policy Center [ http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/numbers/displayatab.cfm?DocID=3054 ], which found that 46.4 percent of households paid no federal income tax in 2011.

But most households did pay payroll taxes. Of the 18.1 percent of households that paid neither income taxes nor payroll taxes, the center found [ http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxtopics/federal-taxes-households.cfm ] that more than half were elderly and more than a third were not elderly but had income under $20,000. Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the center, wrote in a blog post [ http://taxvox.taxpolicycenter.org/2011/07/27/why-do-people-pay-no-federal-income-tax-2/ ] last summer that about half of those were off the rolls because they had low incomes.

Michael D. Shear reported from Washington and Michael Barbaro from Costa Mesa, Calif. Michael Cooper contributed reporting from New York.

© 2012 The New York Times Company

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/romney-faults-those-dependent-on-government/ [with comments]


===


and do see the other replies to the post to which this is a reply

[StephanieVanbryce]

WATCH: Full Secret Video of Private Romney Fundraiser

Mitt Romney wanted the full tape. Here it is.

By David Corn
| Tue Sep. 18, 2012 11:30 AM PDT
Thousands of embedded links.

On Monday and Tuesday Mother Jones published exclusive video that captured Mitt Romney speaking to donors at a May 17 fundraiser, which was held at the home of private equity mogul Mark Leder. Responding to a question about the "Palestinian problem," Romney said peace in the Middle East is not possible and a Palestinian state is not feasible, telling donors that Palestinians have "no interest whatsoever in establishing peace and that the pathway to peace is almost unthinkable to accomplish." At another point, the GOP presidential nominee told attendees of this $50,000-a-plate dinner that 47 percent of Americans—those who back President Obama—are "victims" who are "dependent upon government" and "pay no income tax." He noted: "my job is is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives." These comments set off a media firestorm and generated headlines around the world. [ http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2012/09/secret-romney-videos-media-roundup ]

Romney is not the only one who has called for the release of the full 49-minute video. And we're more than happy to oblige. The complete video demonstrates that Romney was not snippetized and that he was captured raw and uncut. Here it is, in two parts: Full Mitt Romney Fundraiser Video Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mUEHpc6JKw8

Full Mitt Romney Fundraiser Video Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBj0joyCeag


http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/watch-full-secret-video-private-romney-fundraiser

[StephanieVanbryce]

Exclusive: Marc Leder, Romney fundraiser, speaks out

By Dan Primack September 18, 2012: 12:32 PM ET
..his first bite..;)



Marc Leder says "all Americans should have the opportunity to succeed."

FORTUNE -- Mitt Romney has spent the past day playing defense, after a video was released of the GOP presidential candidate disparaging 47% of Americans during a private fundraising dinner.

Now Romney's host that evening, private equity executive Marc Leder, is speaking out.

In a statement first given to Fortune, Leder says: "I hosted a fundraiser for an old friend in May. I believe all Americans should have the opportunity to succeed, to improve their lives, and to build even better lives for their children. I have supported people from both political parties who share this view and make it a priority, even though their ideas on how to achieve it may differ."

Leder, who co-founded private equity firm Sun Capital Partners back in 1999, declined to comment specifically on Romney's suggestion that the 47% of Americans who don't pay federal income tax don't take "personal responsibility and care for their lives." A spokesman said it wasn't Leder's place to get into the details, as he is a private businessman who isn't running for office.

Leder hosted the $50,000 per head dinner at his Boca Raton home back in May for between 40 and 50 people. It followed an earlier Romney event for a few hundred people at a nearby country club, and was the third time that Leder had hosted a Romney dinner in his home (the first one being in 2004).

He has not yet watched the entire video excerpts posted yesterday by Mother Jones, having spent most of this morning in a senior partners meeting for Sun Capital.

According to Federal Election Commission records, Leder has personally donated more than $230,000 to Romney's current presidential bid (mostly via PAC contributions).


http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/09/18/exclusive-marc-leder-romney-fundraiser-speaks-out/

Well, He's an obvious Obama Voter..as That quote by him is EXACTLY what Obama says ..... ;-)