President Obama has spent the entire week attacking Mitt Romney for remarks captured on hidden camera at a private fundraiser, that 47 percent of Americans are irresponsible freeloaders looking for a government handout.
“When you express the attitude that half the country considers themselves victims and wants to be dependent on government, my thinking is that you haven’t gotten around a lot,” Obama said on Thursday during a forum for Latino voters in Florida.
Now, the Obama campaign has released a web ad, featuring man-on-the-street interviews with ordinary liberal Democratic New York City voters, who also scolded Romney.
Here's what they said:
“It frightens me that someone could think that way, and is running for president. It offends me. It puts me in that group. We have paid into Social Security all our working life, and we therefore are getting what we have invested in. It’s not like we’re getting money from the government. We’ve invested in our Medicare and our health benefits, and we need to know that we can count of them when we get sick and are unable to take care of ourselves. That’s part of what the whole system is about.”
“These people that he’s talking about paid income tax many years, and they worked to get to where they are today to maybe be able to have a little free time, and a lot of them are still working part time with their Social Security, and still aren’t making enough to pay.”
"My father is a retired member of the National Guard, and he served his country. So is he living off the country? No, he’s getting a reward for what he paid in for Social Security, Medicare. It’s just offensive, I think.”
However, Romney’s comment that he doesn’t care about those 47 percent may not have actually turned off 47 percent of the American voters. According to a Rasmussen Reports poll, 64 percent of Americans favor a government with fewer services and lower taxes, while only 25 percent favor a government with more services. So only 25 percent consider themselves part of the 47 percent, if you follow my math.
