These videos were sent to David Corn at Mother Jones.
No shock to me in the least about these videos.
No shock at all.
Response from the Obama Campaign:
CHICAGO – “It’s shocking that a candidate for President of the United States would go behind closed doors and declare to a group of wealthy donors that half the American people view themselves as ‘victims,’ entitled to handouts, and are unwilling to take ‘personal responsibility’ for their lives. It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation.” – Jim Messina, Obama for America Campaign Manager
Dear Mitt
Soledad O’Brien Battles Bay Buchanan Over A Number Of Romney’s Controversial Statements
http://rolandmartinreports.com/blog/2012/09/soledad-obrien-battles-bay-buchanan-over-a-number-of-romneys-controversial-statements-video/
There you go! Earlier today, Soledad was reporting on Amanda Knox, WTF? Media should be all over Mitt like a cheap suit.
Mr. President, did Mitt mess up in that video?
LOVE IT! Thanks, SG2. LMBAO
http://twitter.com/NoShock/status/247891925313679360/photo/1
Ari Melber ✔@AriMelber
Romney: If Hispanic voters become “as committed” to Dems as African Americans, “we’re in trouble as a party and, I think, as a nation.”
BREAKING: Romney Stands By Controversial Comments, Claims He Says The Same Thing In Public
By Judd Legum on Sep 17, 2012 at 10:12 pm
At a hastily arranged press conference on Monday night, Romney stood by controversial comments he made at a private fundraiser in May, saying that his remarks were “not elegantly stated” and spoken “off the cuff.” “This is something I talk about a good deal in rallies and speeches and so forth,” Romney claimed, adding “The president’s approach is attractive to people who are not paying taxes.” The former Massachusetts governor took just three questions, walking away when asked if his claims that almost half of Americans see themselves as “victims” represent his “core convictions” and what he believes. From reporter Holly Bailey, who was on the scene:
Romney said that the comments were indicative of his campaign’s effort to “focus on the people in the middle” and, “I hope the person who has the video will put out the full material.” Mother Jones’ David Corn — who first reported on the video — has said that he will release more video from the May fundraiser on Tuesday.
Romney made the original comments at the “Boca Raton home of private-equity executive Marc Leder on May 17.” Leder, is the co-CEO of the private equity firm Sun Capital, which has a reputation for bankrupting companies in the pursuit of profit. “Since 2008, some 25 of its companies — roughly one of every five it owns — have filed for bankruptcy.” Not only that, but the company was accused by the federal Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) just a few months ago of intentionally pushing a company into bankruptcy in order to avoid paying workers’ pensions.
Corn explained on MSNBC Monday evening, “The fact that Mitt Romney has not challenged a word here shows you that this is what he said, this is what he said behind closed doors with a bunch of other millionaires he felt quite comfortable with.”
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2012/09/17/863661/breaking-romney-stands-by-controversial-commments-this-is-the-same-message-i-give-in-public/
“The president’s approach is attractive to people who are not paying taxes.”
WUH?! This sounds like you and your cohorts, Mittens. Release your TAX RETURNS, Mitt Romney, so Americans can SEE WHAT TAXES YOU’VE PAID!
IM RICH BIATCH
Bye Mitt!
LMBAO See this is what I missed & love about you, SG2!
LOL!
http://youtu.be/gxD20C7J-E8
David Corn is cracking me up…he loathes Romney…it’s so obvious.
Seldom in the history of American politics has a candidate so deserved to be regarded with disgust and contempt as this vile creature of great wealth who literally holds the voting public in disdain! He is in NO WAY fit to lead a great nation such as this, and owes it to America to quietly fade away on his silly dancing horse….taking with him his stuffed shirt wife and sons! Good riddance to this worthless footnote in history!
ThinkProgress @thinkprogress
Romney to address his comments at private fundraiser soon. Earlier, GOP chair said his remarks were “not off message” http://thkpr.gs/PLW3Lw
Another PRIVATE gathering, EH? Stick a fork in this turkey; he is SO DONE.
Chuck Todd @chucktodd
Looks like Romney may respond tonight
Screw you Chuckie T. He can’t tell Americans anything we don’t already know about Romney.
Charles Pierce: …..the footage offers an extraordinary look at what the candidate is like when he’s around people he perceives to be worthy of what he believes is the truth….
To this moment, I guarantee you, Romney is probably astonished at what all the fuss is about. This is simply the way the world is …. He is what his golden life has made him to be….
…. We are coming rapidly toward a devastating confluence of two colliding panics. The Romney campaign is panicking about itself, and the Republicans are panicking about the Romney campaign. He cannot come back from this, honestly. This is who he is. This is what he believes the world to be. Half the electorate already thinks he’s a fake, which means he’s not a very good one. There’s really only one campaign left to him now.
Unfortunately for American politics, that means only one thing. It’s going to get extraordinarily dirty extraordinarily fast. There is going to be pale birtherism and barely covert racism ….. There is going to be poor-baiting, and gay-baiting, and ladyparts-baiting, and probably baiting of things I haven’t thought of yet……
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/romney-tape-47-percent-12803073
It is already clear that the Romney camp is DESPERATE. The baiting will FAIL just as it did in 2008. Ask McCain & Palin how that worked. Hell, ask Hillary. That 47% he dissed includes some of that rabid base, you know the ones who are disabled, unemployed, and are receiving WELFARE too.
The Toast @TheToast2012
Obama and ’em are doing the Gangnam Style dance in the White House tonight. #romneyshambles #wearethe47percent
LOL Where dat pic of PBO with his head thrown back, crackin up, hmm?
Yes, I’d like that…plus the one of POTUS, Axelrod, and the troops cracking up. both would do a posted good..LOL
Romney has set off a firestorm with his disdain for working class Americans, like the 47%, like me and you. Fuck this punk for trashing our hard-earned $$$ and benefits that we have paid into since we got a SS card and a job. We work, we pay taxes, we get a fucking tax refund, you bastard. These are not entitlements. I loathe this MOFO to the NTH DEGREE.
BTW, WHERE ARE YOUR TAX RETURNS, MITT ROMNEY?
BRAND NEW Obama Superpac ad on latest Romney statements: Romney’s Thoughts on the Middle Class:
LOL great minds think alike. Just posted a thread on this too!
Krugman: The Real Romney… it’s very, very ugly
The Real Romney
Oh, my. Mother Jones has what it says is a video of Mitt Romney talking to donors; it sure looks and sounds real. And it reveals a candidate who despises half the country:
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.
Actually, if you look at the facts, you learn that the great bulk of those who pay no income tax pay other taxes; also, many of the people in the no-income-tax category are (a) elderly (b) students or (c) having a bad year, having lost a job — that is, they’re people who have paid income taxes in the past and/or will pay income taxes in the future. The idea that half of Americans are just grifters is grotesque.
If this is real, it’s very, very ugly
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/17/the-real-romney/
Corn’s making the rounds tonight. He’s on Rachel right now.
Corn is having the time of his life!!
BWA HA HA HA And he chose to release those vids today, the day before his new book is released for public consumption.
he’s just having fun
David Corn & Karen Finney will be on The Last Word tonight. Krystal Ball & Steve Kornacki too
how dare you negroes expect the govt to assist you with food, healthcare and housing!!!
THAT’S MY GIRL, DANNIE! You People aren’t getting a damn thing, that includes my TAX RETURNS!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0PE_kC-3EY&list=FLDLW9ku5wbbM23LX-thdX6A&index=2&feature=plpp_video And they still havent paid us for building that white house.
*Hollering* And you know Miss Ann is just about overcome with the VAPORS, because that “BLAH” POTUS & FLOTUS is all up in that hizzy dem slaves built, before her lily white ass got in there.
You lazy nigras. I’m not worried about you. I only care about Americans.
How Jimmy Carter’s Grandson Helped Leak the Secret Romney Fund-raiser Video
By Joe Coscarelli
The damning video of Mitt Romney telling a room of wealthy donors how he really feels about the free-loading 47 percent of Americans “who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it,” among other candid things, has been floating around online in bits and pieces for three months, but didn’t hit the big time until it was published by David Corn at Mother Jones today.
Credited as a “research assistant” on the story is James Carter IV, the grandson of former President Jimmy Carter, who has been toiling online as an opposition researcher and is “currently looking for work,” according to his Twitter bio.
“I’ve been searching for clips on Republicans for a long time, almost every day,” said Carter this evening. “I just do it for fun.” But by connecting Corn with the mysterious uploader of the clip, Carter has uncovered his biggest story yet, one that could potentially affect the outcome of the election. (And get him a job.)
Carter told Daily Intel that he first noticed a portion of the video in which Romney discusses using Chinese labor while working at Bain Capital. That clip, uploaded by a YouTube user named “Rachel Maddow” in late May, has since been deleted, but eventually made it to Buzzfeed and Daily Kos.
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/09/james-carter-iv-helped-spread-secret-romney-video.html
Bahman Kalbasi@BahmanKalbasi
The secret video I want to see is the one recording #Obama camp’s war room as they react to #Romney videos. #47percent
LOL Give the camp til midnight. That video will be out before 6 am tomorrow.
Kelly Sedinger@Jaquandor
Hey Mitt? If not for ‘govt. handouts’, my son’s medical issues would have bankrupted us and cost me my job. Go f*** yourself. Love, Me.
MITT ROMNEY TO AMERICANS: “FUCK THE 47%, FUCK THE 47%, FUCK THE 47%!
THIS MEANS, VETERANS, STUDENTS, WOMEN, MEN, CHILDREN, SENIORS, MIDDLE CLASS, BLACKS, WHITES, HISPANICS, ASIANS, HMONG, SOMALIANS, ALL IMIGRANTS.
YOU GO DAVID; “FOLKS KEEP SENDING ME STUFF” CORN!
Kasie Hunt @kasie
Category of Americans who don’t pay federal income taxes: U.S. troops serving in combat zones.
AND YOU’LL NEVER CONVINCE AMERICANS THAT YOU PAID TAXES, SINCE YOU STASH YOUR $$$ IN OFFSHORE TAX HAVENS, MITTENS!
Ed Schultz is on it. I hope Rachel and Lawrence keep it going. Wonder what is CNN covering of this?
There is nothing so UNAMERICAN, GREEDY, AND HYPOCRITICAL AS ROMNEY & THOSE ELUSIVE TAX RETURNS. Stick a FORK in this muthafucka, HE.IS.DONE.
Posted at 05:08 PM ET, 09/17/2012
Romney: I’ll never convince Obama voters to take responsibility for their lives
By Greg Sargent
The Huffington Post and Mother Jones both post audio of what may be a blockbuster moment: Mitt Romney telling a private fundraiser that 47 percent of the American people — the voters who can be counted on to vote for Obama — are “dependent on government,” “believe that they are victims,” and think government “has a responsibility to care for them.”
“I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives,” Romney says. Mother Jones’ video is here.
The Romney press office repeatedly refused to comment on the video. Here’s a transcript:
……………………………………
Romney seems to be thinking he’s making an electoral argument here — these voters are simply not gettable for him, so he needs to focus on the center. But his explanation veers into a truly extreme version of a theory that’s widespread on the right: Democrats are trying to encourage dependency on government for the explicit purpose of enlarging the pool of voters who can be relied upon to vote Democratic for the rest of their lives, in order to preserve the government handouts they enjoy.
In Romney’s telling, all of these 47 percent of voters are complicit in this arrangement. As a result, there is no hope of ever persuading them to take personal responsibility for their lives. He seems to be conflating the government-dependency conspiracy theory with another right wing meme — the complaint that 47 percent of Americans pay no income taxes. Put those together and you arrive at Romney’s formulation.
In a sense, this is an extreme version of a narrative Romney has adopted on multiple fronts. He has charged that Obama is taking away hard won Medicare benefits from seniors to redistribute them to other people; he claims Obama is gutting welfare reform to send welfare checks to those who don’t work; and has even suggested Obama is doing the latter to appeal to his “base.” The attacks on Obama’s “you didn’t build that” speech are of a piece with this, pushing the notion that Obama demeans your hard work and individual initiative because he thinks only government-sponsored success constitues real achievement and wants to expand government into every aspect of our lives, forever increasing government dependency and perpetually eroding good old fashioned American self reliance.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line
Posted at 07:00 PM ET, 09/17/2012
Mitt Romney trashes the 47 percent
By Jonathan Capehart
Back in February, Mitt Romney stuck his ample silver foot in his mouth when he told CNN’s Soledad O’Brien, “I’m not concerned about the very poor.” He went on to say, “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 the America, the 90, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling, and I’ll continue to take that message across the nation.”
Late Monday, Mother Jones released several video clips of a fundraiser where Romney (R-1 percent) tells weatlhy donors exactly what he thinks of those supporting President Obama. In one clip, he contradicts that botched expression of concern for the middle class. In fact, what the Republican presidential nominee said is reprehensible and unbecoming a man who claims to want to be president of all Americans.
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.
And, I mean, the president starts off with 48, 49 [percent], he starts with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect. So he’ll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean, that’s what they sell every four years.
And so 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. What I have to do is convince the five to 10 percent in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon, in some cases, emotion, whether they like the guy or not . . .
Mother Jones said it did not reveal the date of the fundraiser or its location in order to protect its source. But nothing should protect Romney from the avalanche of criticism already coming his way.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/mitt-romney-trashes-the-47-percent/2012/09/17/f3ef2b6e-0116-11e2-9367-4e1bafb958db_blog.html
Today, Mitt Romney Lost the Election
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.
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.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-17/today-mitt-romney-lost-the-election.html
Parasites R Us
by digby
We knew that Paul Ryan believed this country was made up of “the takers vs the makers” but we hadn’t heard Mitt Romney explicitly make that case until now. David Corn has obtained the full video (pieces have been floating around on Youtube for a while) of Romney talking to a bunch of his fellow one percenters. This pretty much lays it all out:
You realize that he’s talking about around a hundred and fifty million people, don’t you? He’s literally saying that nearly half the country is a bunch of parasites.
This is not a slip of the tongue. As Greg Sargent explains, it’s just another iteration of his dogwhistling welfare queen campaign:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/parasites-r-us-mitt-lets-his-randroid.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
Mitt Romney, Unzipped
Jamelle Bouie
September 17, 2012
At a private fundraiser, the Republican presidential nominee tells us what he really thinks about Obama supporters.
Mother Jones has obtained a video of Mitt Romney at a private fundraiser where he offers a candid view of the election, voters, and the people who support Barack Obama. In the case of the latter, the former Massachusetts governor sounds more like a Tea Party activist than a mainstream politician:
Here’s a partial transcript:
To be fair, there’s no way to know if this is what Romney “really” thinks. Remarks to donors and fundraisers are just as crafted and audience-targeted as any speech to the public. This isn’t an excuse, but it’s context worth considering.
That said, Romney is right to say that there are 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay income tax, but he’s wrong to imply that they pay nothing—in addition to paying a variety of state taxes, those 47 percent also pay federal payroll taxes on their earnings. It’s not that they don’t work—they just don’t earn enough to owe additional income to the federal government. To begrudge them for this—to attack them as people who don’t take “personal responsibility” for their lives—is to show a real callousness and disdain for many of the people he seeks to represent.
I should say that I’m one of those people who believes government has a responsibility to provide health care, food and housing. Like Romney says, I see these as entitlements—the basics that people need to flourish and work toward their potential. And as the wealthiest nation to ever exist, I believe we have an obligation to provide them, so that we can create the space for individual achievement. Romney favors a world where taxes are low and businesses are freed from social obligation. I prefer one where the sick can have care, the poor can have food, and the homeless have shelter. It’s why—at a minimum—I support Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and assistance programs for food and housing.
Liberals are sure to unload on Romney for this statement. But in correcting the facts and providing a more accurate picture of the public, we should also use this as an opportunity to defend our vision of the good. Romney is attacking the values and goals of American liberalism, and we shouldn’t let it stand.
http://prospect.org/article/mitt-romney-unzipped
Dayne @KARLewis
Shorter Romney: fuck you and your broke ass 47%ers; go sell some stocks or borrow from your parents, stupid poor ppl.
NOPE; NOT SHOCKING AT ALL ABOUT WHAT THIS ROBOTIC, COWARD, WHITE ENTITLED, MOFO IS SAYING ABOUT AMERICANS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS.
Damn! So a man running for the President of the United States has told 47% of the nation…f*k you. OMFG!
yes, that’s what he said.
that’s who he is.
hope folks wake the fuck up.
Mitt Romney: All 47% of you food stamp, medicaid, section 8 housing entitlement victim mofos….I’m not worried about your lazy asses. You’re poor and disgusting. Fuck you!
You got it, SG2 & Rikyrah. YOU PEOPLE, THOSE PEOPLE= Anyone not white or rich enough to stash their cash in the Cayman Island and evade releasing his tax returns.