Why I’m not Voting for Romney

Many of you may have seen this video of Mitt Romney talking to other rich guys at a fundraiser event. If not, watch that first.

To highlight a few things, here’s the remarks in quotes, though you really need to watch to fully understand the contempt with which he says it:

“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.”

He adds: “My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

I’ve never really cared for Mitt Romney as a candidate, but that was originally based on my view of him as a political opportunist. I thought he was just saying things the GOP wanted to hear, just like he said things Democrats wanted to hear when running for governor of a more liberal state. So just another politician. I never planned to vote for him but if he won, well, ‘meh’. I didn’t think he was batshit crazy like Bachmann or Gingrich.

But the more I’ve heard from him, such as the comments above, the more its shifted me completely to actively detesting the man. These statements make clear he does not care what life is like for other people. That he has no compassion for anyone. In a word, he’s just mean.

47% of people don’t federal income tax, sure that’s true (we’ll put aside the distortion of this number ignoring the fact that most of those people still pay other taxes). But he’s upset by this for the wrong reasons. Romney’s thinks they’re moochers, lazy people who don’t have any personal responsibility. That their lot in life is entirely their own fault. Not only is this not true, its entirely irrelevant.

Instead of being upset by this twisted view of people, why isn’t he upset about the fact that 47% of Americans can’t afford to pay income tax? They don’t not pay income tax just because they decided not too. They don’t make enough money to live on if they had to pay income tax. Many of them still don’t make enough to live on, even without having to pay income tax.

That’s the real tragedy here. Our country has become so stratified that almost a majority of people can’t afford to pay income taxes. It’s not a good state to be in, almost no one will argue with that.

What’s really funny is that Romney and the GOP are all about the importance of business and how they are the “job creators”. If that’s true, then this issue is entirely their fault. You know how to get that 47% to pay more income tax? PAY THEM MORE FUCKING MONEY!   Pay people a high enough salary so that they make enough to pay income tax. Problem solved.

Oh, you say you need a tax cut in order to afford to pay them more and hire more people? Okay, since 1980, the top tax rate has decreased 34% (69% to 35%) and the top 20% of income earners income now makes 95% more than they did 30yrs ago (and the top 1% makes an astounding 281% more).  Well Republicans, you’ve already gotten your tax decreases, you have a lot more money, why is it that the percentage change in income for the bottom 60% of Americans has only risen between 16 and 25%? Before you got your tax cuts income for those in bottom 60% was growing a lot faster than that. So, tell me, how did those tax decreases help the economy and the country as a whole?

Paying people more wouldn’t be in people like Mitt Romney’s personal interest. Paying workers more means less for them, in the short term. But that’s all they care about. Themselves and what they can get for themselves right now.

There’s a reason Mitt sees people who don’t pay income tax as lazy, because if they were just more selfish and greedy, they’d obviously make more money. Because that’s the key to a good society, more assholes. He thinks successful people are like him and those that aren’t, its because they’re lazy. They don’t seem to comprehend that not being an asshole doesn’t mean you’re lazy.

A family of four working three jobs between two parents and still not making enough to stay ahead of the rent, car payments, student loan debt, and ballooning healthcare premiums, oh yeah and start saving for retirement, works a hell of a lot harder than practically anyone making 10x their salary.  Definitely someone like Romney who makes 540x what they make for doing, well, nothing.

But Romney doesn’t see that. They don’t pay taxes, therefore they’re lazy. Facts be damned. What I think its really about; jealousy.  People like Romney don’t think they should have to pay any taxes because it’s theirs, who cares about the rest of society. The government is just giving poor people what they themselves strive for, paying no taxes. And they’re doing it without fancy lawyers, accountants, offshore accounts and legal loopholes. See how lazy they are?