Romney clarifies remarks about poor, says focus is on middle class

**min0 lee** · 02-02-2012, 02:07 PM

Romney clarifies remarks about poor, says focus is on middle class - latimes.com

Reporting from Eagan, Minn.—
Clarifying a statement that quickly went viral on the Internet on Wednesday morning, Mitt Romney said he was concerned about poor Americans but was focused on the problems of the middle class in his quest for the White House.

On CNN on Wednesday morning after his 14-point win in Florida Tuesday night , Romney said he was “not concerned about the very poor” because they have “a safety net there” and “if it needs repair, I’ll fix it.” (Watch video below.)

“You've got to take the whole sentence, all right?” he said when reporters asked him what he meant during a chartered flight between Tampa and Minneapolis. “I've said throughout the campaign -- my focus, my concern, my energy is going to be devoted to helping middle-income people, all right?”

“We have a safety net for the poor in, and if there are holes in it, I will work to repair that,” he said. “If there are people that are falling through the cracks, I want to fix that. Wealthy people are doing fine. But my focus in the campaign is on middle-income people. Of course I'm concerned about all Americans -- poor, wealthy, middle class -- but the focus of my effort will be on middle-income families who I think have been most hurt by the Obama economy.”

He added that the U.S. government provides “a very ample safety” for low-income Americans through Medicaid, federal housing vouchers, food stamps and the earned income tax credit. “We have a number of ways of helping the poor. . . . The area that I think is the greatest challenge that the country faces right now is not to focus our effort on how we help the poor, as much as to focus our effort on how to help the middle class in America, and get more people in the middle class, and get people out of being poor and becoming middle income.”

Romney’s comments on CNN shifted attention from his victory over former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in Tuesday’s Florida primary. “What a night, huh?” Romney said to reporters on his campaign plane Wednesday morning. “If they all go like that, I’ll feel pretty good.”

“I'd hoped we were able to get back the momentum after a loss in South Carolina,” he said. “But it was a lot more than just getting momentum. It was a huge night and I really appreciate the people of Florida for the support they gave me.”

maeve.reston@latimes.com

**min0 lee** · 02-02-2012, 02:21 PM

but the focus of my effort will be on middle-income families who I think have been most hurt by the Obama economy.”

About that....

**min0 lee** · 02-02-2012, 02:44 PM

Hello mr. Romney...if you want more votes don't put down the poor and then practically tell them to vote Democratic because they only care about the poor.
Don't they train these politicians these things?

**Little Guy** · 02-02-2012, 02:59 PM

He is a Jackoff

**min0 lee** · 02-02-2012, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by Little Guy

He is a Jackoff

I think he may be our next president.

**Dark Geared God** · 02-02-2012, 03:32 PM

^6I hate the poor and the way the smell

**Madmann** · 02-02-2012, 03:57 PM

Originally Posted by min0 lee

Hello mr. Romney...if you want more votes don't put down the poor and then practically tell them to vote Democratic because they only care about the poor.
Don't they train these politicians these things?

You put way too much faith and stock in politicians.

**carmineb** · 02-02-2012, 04:14 PM

Romney did a great job in Massachusetts as governor, fulfilled every single promise by half way thru his term! left the state in a surplus of almost 1 billion.

i dont think Romney said he didnt care about the poor, rather, there are already checks and balances in place now that assist them.. rather the middle class has gotten hurt more and more and things are not in place (like the poor) that would give them some help....

**min0 lee** · 02-03-2012, 06:08 AM

Originally Posted by carmineb

Romney did a great job in Massachusetts as governor, fulfilled every single promise by half way thru his term! left the state in a surplus of almost 1 billion.

i dont think Romney said he didnt care about the poor, rather, there are already checks and balances in place now that assist them.. rather the middle class has gotten hurt more and more and things are not in place (like the poor) that would give them some help....

I understood what he meant but there are better ways to say it.

I'm all for him if he can prevent the middle class from becoming poor.

**Dale Mabry** · 02-03-2012, 06:18 AM

Yeah, IMO this statement is much ado about nothing, a complete overreaction. Not that he won't drive our economy in to the ground, he will because he is obviously for widening the income inequality gap, but I don't really disagree with this statement.

**LAM** · 02-03-2012, 03:37 PM

Mass lost a lot of manufacturing/textile jobs in Lowell & Lawrence after 2000 as a result of "free trade" agreements. so the question is what kinds of jobs replaced them. a low paying minimum wage jobs is not a replacement for a much high paying job in manufacturing/textiles, etc. I'm not sure if this is what happens but these are the types of things that need to be looked at when making comparisons.

as the saying goes the "devil is in the details"..

one can almost guarantee that Mitt has never worked a hard day in his life, being the son of an ex-governor and all...

**IronAddict** · 02-03-2012, 05:51 PM

Yeah, this, and let people have their homes forclosed on. And nothing should be done about predatory lenders, just let it take it's course.

So was that a misquote, too!

**hypo_glycemic** · 02-03-2012, 06:16 PM

**collins** · 02-05-2012, 05:34 PM

all the poor people that i know are poor because they wont work, america can no longer pay the bills for lazy shit bags that wont get off there ass and do something for there selves . nothing wrong if your down and need a helping hand . goverment social programs are just for that. but some shit bags make it a way of life and leave it up to everyone else to pay there bills. next time someone brags about getting money from the goverment just remind them that the goverment gets its money from you!!!!!

**LAM** · 02-05-2012, 07:07 PM

Originally Posted by collins

all the poor people that i know are poor because they wont work, america can no longer pay the bills for lazy shit bags that wont get off there ass and do something for there selves .

everybody knows lazy people that are broke. but less than 3% of the total US population receives cash transfers and those have a lifetime maximum payout of $400/month for 60 months. those programs are paid for with tax dollars. you will not find a single economic paper showing that social safety net programs caused the US deficit. you will also not find any testimony from anybody in the US gov going on the record and stating such.

the 14T deficit was caused by:

supply-side tax cuts
2 foreign wars in the middle east
financial crisis
growing US trade deficit w/ China since the 80's
* some portion of the debt is also carryover from the Vietnam war

* the gov spends twice the amount as it does on welfare on corporate welfare to billion dollar firms and agriculture subsidy.

**collins** · 02-06-2012, 05:24 PM

we have a trade def with china because we cant build anything hear, were regulated to death and cant compete on this playing field. we have way to many tree huggers that would rather have you live in poverty than disturb a carabo. and i agree about corperate bail outs. shit bags come in rich, poor and middle class. the only way were goin to save this country is vote out every politition who hase been in goverment more than 8 years. and start term limits.

**maniclion** · 02-06-2012, 06:42 PM

Some of those people I'd gladly pay to keep out of the work place, one because they usually have the social skills of an autistic psycho, two they usually don't pull their weight and three they are the type who fake getting injured on the job and then suck up workers comp and make people who really need it not want to utilize it because they don't want to be "one of those people".

**LAM** · 02-06-2012, 08:11 PM

Originally Posted by collins

we have a trade def with china because we cant build anything hear, were regulated to death and cant compete on this playing field.

has nothing to do with regulations and everything to do with making maximum profits off US citizens while trying to pay as little in taxes. other country's in the OECD have comparable regulations and have not seen manufacturing outsourced to other country's.

if regulations were holding back US large firms then why does the US have 70% of the global 500's? why doe the US have the majority of the most profitable company's in world history?

all the reports out of the small business association (SBA) say owners are simply reporting a lack of customers. this would be indicative of a lack of disposable income for those that frequent small businesses since there has been no major decrease in the US population.

your argument holds no water...

Thread: Romney clarifies remarks about poor, says focus is on middle class

Thread Tools

Display

Romney clarifies remarks about poor, says focus is on middle class

Similar Threads

Top 1% getting richer while poor, middle class lag

Upper Middle Class

How the middle class became the underclass

The Running Middle Class

Democrat win may shift focus to middle class

Posting Permissions