Romney: "I'm Not Concerned With the Very Poor" [View all]

[dajoki]

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/769247/romney%3A_%22i%27m_not_concerned_with_the_very_poor%22_%28while_fellow_.001ers_pony_up_for_his_super_pac%29/

Romney: "I'm Not Concerned With the Very Poor" (While Fellow .001%ers Pony Up for His Super PAC)


Oh, dear. Robot Romney's wires have malfunctioned again, just when he should have been soaking up his win in Florida last night.

Check out this unfortunate soundbite from a CNN interview this morning, in which the .006%er said he wasn't concerned about the very poor:

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/politics/2012/02/01/point-romney-poor-safety-net.cnn


The Washington Post reports on the exchange:


“I’m not concerned about the very poor. We have a safety net there,” Romney told CNN. “If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine. I’m concerned about the very heart of the America, the 90 percent, 95 percent of Americans who right now are struggling.”

Host Soledad O’Brien pointed out that the very poor are probably struggling too.

“The challenge right now — we will hear from the Democrat party the plight of the poor,” Romney responded, after repeating that he would fix any holes in the safety net. “And there’s no question it’s not good being poor and we have a safety net to help those that are very poor . . . My focus is on middle income Americans ... we have a very ample safety net and we can talk about whether it needs to be strengthened or whether there are holes in it. but we have food stamps, we have Medicaid, we have housing vouchers, we have programs to help the poor.”



As one of the richest Americans with a now-revealed low tax rate and numerous offshore accounts, Romney can't come off this callous about the safety net--particularly when so many Americans are one misfortune away from joining that group.