Mitt shows his true colors
By now I'm sure you've all read or heard Mitt's casual dismissal of the 47% of people who don't pay federal income tax. If you haven't, here you go:
As kathrynt noted elsenet, what we should be protesting is that 47% of our fellow citizens are this poor. Not that they are freeloaders, but that they need the help. Most of us who can afford to pay federal income taxes pay a greater percentage of our income in those taxes than Romney or any of his cronies do. I know I do. And hey, look at that, I'm a registered Democrat, I vote, and -- shock of shocks! -- it won't be for Romney. Asshole.
Oh, and 10-12 years ago, I was one of those people on the dole; there were a couple of years where I earned $9000-$12,000. Yes, I took unemployment insurance on and off for a year or three, and yes, I feel "entitled" to have done so, considering that I'd spent the previous decade paying into the system. Let me tell you how far that got me: In a month where I did not earn enough income to reduce my UI check, my unemployment insurance paid just enough to cover my share of the rent if I did not have taxes withheld. It did not cover the cost of food, utilities, or any of my other bills. Believe me, I did not think I could sit on my ass eating bonbons and watching soaps for the rest of my days while living the high life on government largesse.
In 2003 I was fortunate enough to find a good job, and I've spent 9.5 years with the same employer. I've managed to stay employed during the worst recession since the Great Depression, a fact which continues to amaze me, considering that I was one of the expendable people at the job I'd had back in 2001 (a job which lasted all of 7 months before I got laid off). Today I earn just a little bit less than the median American household income. Not individual, household. Nearly half of American households bring in less money than I personally make. That scares me...for them, and for us as a nation. Trowa and I together make enough money to lead a pretty good life, though we'd be hurting badly if either of us suddenly became unemployed. I would NOT want to have to support the three of us on my salary alone. It would be a little easier with his salary alone, but our incomes are not so hugely disparate that we could do without mine. Honestly, if I got laid off, I'd be frightened about what that would mean for our family.
So FUCK YOU, Mitt. If you'd been running for president in 1999-2000, you'd have been talking about me. Except if you'd won, I probably wouldn't be as well off today as I am now. As it is, you're talking about people I know, who are friends of mine, hell, who are relatives of mine, who would love to be making enough money to pay a greater percentage of their incomes in tax than you've ever paid, you smug, self-satisfied freeloader. (And yes, I'd like to advance the narrative that people like Romney, who are doing their damnedest to avoid paying taxes to this nation, are essentially stealing from the rest of us.)
Maybe this is the big difference between me and people who vote Republican. When Mitt, his cronies, and their supporters talk about women, queers, poor people, and people of color, mostly they think of those people as Other. Them. "You people." When I hear them talk about women, queers, poor people, and people of color, I see me, or people who could have been me if a few of my life circumstances had gone in a different direction.
What I am having trouble understanding is the people who hear him talk shit that gets more and more outrageous, admit that it's damning, yet continue to insist that they believe him to be a decent, kind person who just says stupid things (see David Brooks's column from yesterday, "Thurston Howell Romney," for an example). How many stupid racist, classist, sexist, inflammatory things does he have to say before they conclude that he really is like that? He's the political equivalent of the creeper who hangs out in social groups and consistently acts inappropriately toward the women, yet no one wants to admit that he's a creep and a possible rapist, and anyone who points it out is ridiculed or shunned for making waves. Maybe now more people will realize that yes, Mitt is that political creeper.
Click to viewAs kathrynt noted elsenet, what we should be protesting is that 47% of our fellow citizens are this poor. Not that they are freeloaders, but that they need the help. Most of us who can afford to pay federal income taxes pay a greater percentage of our income in those taxes than Romney or any of his cronies do. I know I do. And hey, look at that, I'm a registered Democrat, I vote, and -- shock of shocks! -- it won't be for Romney. Asshole.
Oh, and 10-12 years ago, I was one of those people on the dole; there were a couple of years where I earned $9000-$12,000. Yes, I took unemployment insurance on and off for a year or three, and yes, I feel "entitled" to have done so, considering that I'd spent the previous decade paying into the system. Let me tell you how far that got me: In a month where I did not earn enough income to reduce my UI check, my unemployment insurance paid just enough to cover my share of the rent if I did not have taxes withheld. It did not cover the cost of food, utilities, or any of my other bills. Believe me, I did not think I could sit on my ass eating bonbons and watching soaps for the rest of my days while living the high life on government largesse.
In 2003 I was fortunate enough to find a good job, and I've spent 9.5 years with the same employer. I've managed to stay employed during the worst recession since the Great Depression, a fact which continues to amaze me, considering that I was one of the expendable people at the job I'd had back in 2001 (a job which lasted all of 7 months before I got laid off). Today I earn just a little bit less than the median American household income. Not individual, household. Nearly half of American households bring in less money than I personally make. That scares me...for them, and for us as a nation. Trowa and I together make enough money to lead a pretty good life, though we'd be hurting badly if either of us suddenly became unemployed. I would NOT want to have to support the three of us on my salary alone. It would be a little easier with his salary alone, but our incomes are not so hugely disparate that we could do without mine. Honestly, if I got laid off, I'd be frightened about what that would mean for our family.
So FUCK YOU, Mitt. If you'd been running for president in 1999-2000, you'd have been talking about me. Except if you'd won, I probably wouldn't be as well off today as I am now. As it is, you're talking about people I know, who are friends of mine, hell, who are relatives of mine, who would love to be making enough money to pay a greater percentage of their incomes in tax than you've ever paid, you smug, self-satisfied freeloader. (And yes, I'd like to advance the narrative that people like Romney, who are doing their damnedest to avoid paying taxes to this nation, are essentially stealing from the rest of us.)
Maybe this is the big difference between me and people who vote Republican. When Mitt, his cronies, and their supporters talk about women, queers, poor people, and people of color, mostly they think of those people as Other. Them. "You people." When I hear them talk about women, queers, poor people, and people of color, I see me, or people who could have been me if a few of my life circumstances had gone in a different direction.
What I am having trouble understanding is the people who hear him talk shit that gets more and more outrageous, admit that it's damning, yet continue to insist that they believe him to be a decent, kind person who just says stupid things (see David Brooks's column from yesterday, "Thurston Howell Romney," for an example). How many stupid racist, classist, sexist, inflammatory things does he have to say before they conclude that he really is like that? He's the political equivalent of the creeper who hangs out in social groups and consistently acts inappropriately toward the women, yet no one wants to admit that he's a creep and a possible rapist, and anyone who points it out is ridiculed or shunned for making waves. Maybe now more people will realize that yes, Mitt is that political creeper.