Mitt Romney may be a multimillionaire, but on Wednesday he set his net worth aside and declared himself a member of “the great middle class.”
“We ought to provide help to the people who have been hurt most by the Obama economy. And that’s the middle class,” Romney said at a town hall meeting in Miami. “It’s not those at the very low end; it’s certainly not those at the very high end. It’s for the great middle class – the 80 to 90 percent of us [Pols emphasis] in this country.”
Although Romney referred to “the 80 to 90 percent of us,” his membership in that group is a matter of some doubt…
Because that would make the “middle class” inclusive of people worth between $190 and $250 million, like former CEO of Bain Capital Willard Mitt Romney! We probably shouldn’t even mention this gaffe, since it seems sure to look like “class warfare” flamebait–we realize that the name “Willard” could also have that effect–but there is a threshold of utter preposterousness that, once reached, is going to be ridiculed. It’s not our fault.
Like calling yourself “middle class” when you could burn in your fireplace more money than most Americans will ever see. Don’t like “class warfare?” Great–we’d suggest not goading it along…
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He can self identify any way he chooses.
Black, Native American, Christian, self-made, middle class, short woman. Fine by me.
unless, of course, I’m just telling you we are and at the same time i’m fucking you over.
And we’re on the receiving end of something. Not jobs.
then I’m living in abject poverty.
Like most Middle Class Americans he just wants the ability to level his perfectly good McMansion so he can build a larger one.
Not a philosophical one — he could just as easily have meant “80 to 90 percent of (people living in this country, which includes me, although I am not in the 80 to 90 percent)” as “80 to 90 percent of us (including me) in this country.”
But given the “unemployed” remarks and others previously, I am willing to believe he really is just that out of touch. Weird as that is.
Also, not in FDR’s wildest dreams has the middle class ever been that big.
That isn’t class-warfare bait, it just reminds us that rats are going to take over and eat us all.
Rats show empathy and metacognition in controlled laboratory environments.
Tea Party Republicans have yet to show either in any environment.
being in the upper class because we aren’t supposed to have an aristocracy so how about losing “middle class” in favor of “middle income” which actually means something here.
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/…
low income, middle income, affluent meaning a certain agreed upon degree above average income, wealthy for those above an agreed upon income level, and extremely wealthy for those in an agreed upon top fraction of a percent.
He’s the mathematician and all.
Doesn’t the middle quintile need to contain the median? Something smells fishy.
(a) Middle quintile of all households
vs
(b) Median of 4-person households
All households could vary in significant ways from 4-person households. All households would probably include retirees, single-parent families, etc that have statistically lower incomes.
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www…
Relevant data is on page 13-14 of the PDF report there. For 2010, the median household income was $49,445, while the median married-couple family income was $72,751. (I assume this is what FactCheck is referring to by “a family of four,” but I didn’t see how “family” was defined in the report.)
It’s a strange way to write it, since FactCheck is making it sound like a distinction between mean and median, when it’s really a distinction between “married people with kids” and “everybody.”
Romney is nowhere near any reasonable definition of middle by any standard.
It only matters what he can sell himself as.
Romney might not be a centrist to you. But if he can sell himself as a centrist to the rest of the country, he will have done his job.
I can’t remember a single election as long as I have been alive that has been about facts. Elections are all about perceptions.
You’re selling soap flakes. It doesn’t matter that all soap flakes are just soap flakes.
to meeting the 99 and 44/100ths-percent soap flake purity test.
And how old do you have to be to know what that refers to?
for carving. I remember so I don’t think you have to be too old. OTH, I’m only several years away from qualifying for SS if it remains
but of course now it’s not old at all!
then you/I/we are not old
although he isn’t my idea of centrist but that’s another subject. He isn’t near any economic middle anything.
talk is making me tired.
It was obviously a slip of the tongue. He wouldn’t allude for a second that he’s ‘middle-class.’ In fact, he has mentioned in speeches before that many of these policies won’t hurt him as much as the middle-class.
Who would you be referring to, exactly? This is being reported by ABC News. Ah, I suppose your “you guys” comment is just a slip of the tongue.
means everyone who pretends reality is different than 20th knows it to be. You are all lamestream deceivers.
Or is he more old school Mormon than he lets on.
holidays and all that. Need room for the several dozen relatives that like to bunk up while celebrating the baby Jesus.
and not one of their other little ‘middle class’ abodes…
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/w…
See Mitt can say that not only is he unemployed and middle class, but he’s losing his home too! (It is a ‘tear down’ because nothing says ‘fiscal conservative’ like demolishing a perfectly good structure to build a new one…)
http://www.boston.com/news/loc…
http://archive.newsmax.com/arc…
I need to get to know the Romneys.
http://www.bostonreb.com/2010/…
You know, The Woodlands, where the common folk live…
http://www.thewoodlandsatbelmo…
As soon as possible.
I’m not picky. Any Romney will do.
and special underwear. You ready for that ?
The second the ring is on the finger, though, all bets are off. (And no, I won’t be stupid enough to sign a pre-nup.)
Then the answer is yes.
“as part of their efforts to downsize and simplify.”
Clearly they need a little guidance in how to downsize and simplify. Millions of U.S. residents who used to be middle classers could show the Romneys what they’ve had to do to “simplify” in recent years . . . those same middle classers that the wealthy believe just need to be buying and consuming more to make the economy healthy again.
Truly out of touch.
a tool shed La Holla for under a million.
You’ve never been to Temple Square in December?
I don’t much go for the pagan holidays.
Just be ware of the overly friendly people, they have an agenda
You have some unanswered responses to this comment. Go take care of that before commenting on other threads, please.
a mere slip of the tongue . What do you suppose he was searching for? corporate uber-class?
And rich people are middle class.
So when Romney wants the corporate tax rate cut in half, it’s really a middle class tax cut! Just like Obama promised and delivered, except this time for the “middle class” rather than the middle class.
“when Texas executes one.” I have heard it said.