Romney to 47%: "Drop Dead!"
Comments Made at Fundraiser Show Utter Disdain for Half of America

(Washington, DC) — Comments made earlier this year at a private fundraiser by presidential candidate Mitt Romney (R-MA), secretly caught on tape and made public yesterday and today, have left his campaign staggering and reeling. Given the governor's past history of unwise and poorly-timed comments, many wondered why so many people were surprised and couldn't see this day coming.

On January 8, at a political rally in Rochester, NH, Romney, the son of a wealthy former car company chief, the former governor whose net worth hovers in the $250 million range, claimed, "I know what it's like to worry whether you're gonna get fired. There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip."

He then threw in "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me" just for good measure.

About two weeks later, on January 23, standing in front of a foreclosed home in Fort Myers, FL, he reached out to his supporters by saying, "Now, the banks aren't bad people."

On August 11, at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines, IA, the future leader of the free world told a future constituent that "corporations are people, my friend."

But what might be the most damning in relation to the latest controversy are his comments dating back to a CNN interview on February 1. The man who once threw his dog, Seamus, on top of his station wagon and drove 12 hours shared his concern for the American middle class and his lack of feeling for the nation's poor when he said, "By the way, I'm in this race because I care about Americans. I'm not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there. If it needs a 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 to 95% of Americans who right now are struggling. I'll continue to take that message across the nation."

The comments from the private fundraiser seem to contradict Romney's earlier assertions of support for the middle class.

"There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what," he said. "All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that 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."

"These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax," he continued, "… my job is … not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

While Romney's 47% may not pay Federal income taxes, they do pay other Federal taxes such as Social Security and Medicare payroll deductions and gas levies. They also pay a variety of state and local sales and property taxes. His callous, somewhat deranged comments left political pundits scratching their heads trying to understand how someone who once said they were concerned about the "90 to 95% of Americans who right now are struggling" could shift to maligning those "who believe that they are victims, who believe that government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing …"

Even more ludicrous was Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho's response to the release of the video: "Mitt Romney wants to help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy … he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the Federal government …"

Late Tuesday, unsubstantiated reports painted a campaign in utter turmoil, according to several eyewitness accounts, all speaking on condition of anonymity. Republican strategists were reportedly hunkered down, trying to salvage the disintegrating campaign.

"They've called in some faux pas experts," said an anonymous Romney source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "We're talking Trent 'Dixiecrat' Lott (R-MS) and Larry 'Wide Stance' Craig (R-ID) here. We're talking Bernard 'Nannygate' Kerik and Mark 'The Texter' Foley (R-FL) and Tom 'The Exterminator' DeLay (R-TX). Nothing but the best!"