The senator weighs in:
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said today that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney needs to “backtrack” and reframe comments in which the former Massachusetts governor said he was worried about the middle class and “not concerned about the very poor.”
More:
“He needs to address it,” DeMint told Roll Call. “Because I know he does care about the poor. But I think he was trying to make a case that they’re taken care of. But, in fact, I would say I’m worried about the poor because many are trapped in dependency, they need a good job; they don’t need to be on social welfare programs. I think he needs to turn that around because — the middle class is key, and we have to focus on that. And, really, the problem with the middle class is not successful people, it’s politicians — but the key to making our country successful it to get everyone on that economic ladder.
Read the rest of DeMint’s Roll Call interview here.
This is such a joke.
"I'm concerned about the poor in this country. We have to make sure the safety net is strong and able to help those who can't help themselves," Romney said in South Carolina. "I'm not terribly worried about the very wealthiest in our society, they're doing just fine. I'm concerned about the vast middle class of our nation, the 90 percent of Americans, the 95 percent of Americans who are having tough times."
On the plane this morning, Romney also conceded that he did see holes in the safety net that would need fixing.
"Oh I'm sure there are. I'm sure there are places where people fall between the cracks. And finding those places is one of the things that is the responsibility of government. We do have a very ample safety net in America, with Medicaid, housing vouchers, food stamps, earned income tax credit. We have a number of ways of helping the poor," Romney said. "And yet my focus and the area that I think is the greatest challenge that the country faces right now is not, 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."
I enjoy the hysteria. Oh the agony...
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseHow is he going to backtrack on this?
Unlike most Republicans, Romney supports hikes in minimum wage
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Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseWhy doesn't he just say "we have already tried a president based on sound bites...we need to elect a president based on policy. I am not a perfect politician but I know what it takes to create jobs"
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseAnd Jim DeMint shows right there why people screaming "out of context!" are absolutely wrong about Romney's statement.
It is never ok to be unconcerned about the poor. Mittbots assert that "they have safety nets" is an acceptable reason to stop being concerned about the poor, and DeMint's second quote above ought to put that notion squarely in the grave. Conservative principles should make everyone better off- the rich, the poor and the middle class. To say that you aren't concerned about one group merely because they are currently stuck on handouts and charity is tantemount to saying "Let them eat cake."
Reply to this commentLinkReport AbuseIt was a supreme gaffe and it wasn't helped by Romney's condescending tone toward Soledad O'Brien, which just compounded the whole Mormon problem with woman and blacks. All in all a gaffe par excellence.
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