Washington – Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Wednesday that he’s “not concerned about the very poor” because they have an “ample safety net” and he’s focused instead on relieving the suffering of middle-class people hit hard by the bad economy.
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In comments likely to become fodder for his critics, Romney emphasized, “You can focus on the very poor, that’s not my focus.”
He brought up the subject of the poor in a CNN interview marking his big win in Florida’s GOP primary Tuesday night, a major step toward becoming the party’s challenger to President Barack Obama in the fall. A multi-millionaire former venture capitalist, Romney has been criticized by Democrats and his Republican rivals alike for earlier remarks seen as insensitive, such as saying “I like being able to fire people” and declaring that he knew what it was like to worry about being “pink-slipped” out of a job.
“I’m not concerned about the very poor.” he said Wednesday. “We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich. They’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of America, the 90-95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”
Asked whether his comment about the poor might come across as odd to some, Romney reiterated.
“We will hear from the Democrat party the plight of the poor and there’s no question, it’s not good being poor, and we have a safety net to help those that are very poor,” Romney said, adding that he’s more worried about the unemployed, people living on Social Security and those struggling to send their kids to college.
“We have a very ample safety net and we can talk about whether it needs to be strengthened or whether there are holes in it. But we have food stamps, we have Medicaid, we have housing vouchers, we have programs to help the poor,” Romney said. “But the middle-income Americans, they’re the folks that are really struggling right now.”
This is called twisting a statement around
What he said makes perfect sense just a line was taken out of context
He is 100% right. The middle class are suffering. He did not say this as an insult or insensitivity to poor people, rather a clear focus of where the attention is needed. Please don’t take his words out of context. I also think the title is misleading in that it implies he doesn’t care about the poor. Although I don’t agree with all his policies, he is the only electable candidate and therefore I will support him. He is the one with the know-how and experience to create jobs and get the economy back on track.
In terms of strategy, this statement is nothing for him to worry about it. Those likely to be offended by it (misguidedly, if you ask me) are going to vote Democrat anyway, so it’s not like he’s throwing away votes.
The “really poor” are already getting too much attention and a disproportionate share of the government handouts and welfare. At least most of the middle class are working and seeking to contribute to their own betterment. The chronically poor are frequently the second or third generation on welfare, don’t pay any taxes, don’t make any effort to get the job skills and education needed to improve themselves, or have made lifestyle decisions like some chareidi families simply not to work and rely on handouts from others. We should not be concerned about that segement of society. Their needs are already taken care of
How wrong he is!! How wrong you are!! We have been struggling for nearly 3 years to make ends meet. If you do not qualify for any public assistance, then you use all of your own money!! Every bit of your own assets!! You watch what you buy, where you can go by foot, what you should not buy, you struggle to put Yom Tov and Shabbos on the table!! Then you have to pay health insurance, meds, and all the other bills that come in!! Mitt Romney is not in favor of the middle class or the poor people. One lady could not get food stamps because she had $50.00 too much?? Go figure!! The country is out only for the rich!! Forget the other people. We do not exist!! Romney only wants our VOTE!!
The problem is that campaigns are made or ruined by quotes like this.
Yeah yeah, wait it out guys, this is bloomberg economics on the federal level.
We need gingrich!!
He is 100% right. It is the harworking middle class that needs relief. It is the middle class that pays exorbiant amounts of money for Healthcare while the poor get it for free. He has my vote!
#10 that is EXACTLY what I want to do. I work in a community that lives on section 8, medicaid, food stamps and welfare. Noone in the family works, or works “off the books” Their insurance benefits are far superior to mine, and I’m the one paying towards medicaid for them, it comes right off my taxes. I have to work countless hours a week to pay for rent, food, etc, no one is helping me out… but they feel free, and much worse, ENTITLED to this gov’t assistance. Why?
Learning Torah full time is a beautiful thing, but inthis community, it’s not the reality, most ppl collecting these benefits do not fall in to that category.
However, the rest of your post is true…
Regardless, Romney is correct, there are benefits in place for the very poor, its everyone in middle (most of us) who need to be paid more attention to.
To #9 we are working. Two jobs !! We don’t see each other any more except on shabbos!! They just about make ends meet. The jobs we had were good but guess who sent them to India!! Now if you try to get the same job, you earn half what we were earning, !! We have not collected a penny from the govt! So don’t open your mouth!! We paid with our blood and we get back nothing even with all the schooling we have and all the degrees!! Put yourself in my place and then complain!!
Does this mean that Romney is backing away from his, and the Republican Party’s, plans to gut the social safety net that “supports” the very poor? Do you realize how little the very poor actually get in benefits? It is certainly nowhere near enough to pay for food, housing, clothing for kids, transportation to look for work (or to work), daycare for kids. Do you realize that many poor people spend HOURS on buses traveling to jobs that pay them enough to remain in poverty? Yes, there are some who abuse the system, but there are millions of hungry people in this country and the lack of compassion some have for them is disgusting.
I watched the whole speech. It wasn’t “taken out of context”. He said it. The “context” was that he believed the social safety net would take care of anyone who was poor, so he didn’t really care about the poor. The man is completely out of touch and barely bothers to conceal his disdain for anyone who isn’t richer than an Arab Oil sheikh.
To #17 You are way off. I am not in a fancy neighborhood nor do I own my own home and I am in a tiny apt. just to meet our needs. We do just that. Meet our needs. When you are in our shoes then you can speak!! Till then, you should not be speaking!! I would not wish my matzav on my worst enemy!! Try to read between the lines!!
To #20 You are so far off it is not funny!! I could dream that amount!!