Saturday, February 4, 2012

more on the rhetoric of class politics: "I'm not concerned with the very poor," says Romney.




Mitt Romney indicates in a February 1, 2012 interview with CNN, the Americans he would not be concerned with helping should he become president (see top clip). Newt Gingrich seizes the moment later that day and declares he is "fed-up" with  Romney, and other politicians, such as Obama, "dividing Americans against each other" (see middle clip). Two days later, Romney retracts his statements, claiming he "misspoke."  Note: In the Republican debate during the New Hampshire primary in early January, 2012, Rick Santorum denies the existence of social class in the U.S. altogether, actually declaring "There are no classes in America" (see bottom clip).

2 comments:

  1. I agree with Romney when he says that the middle income Americans are the ones who are really struggling. The poor do have safety nets, but what about middle income families who are struggling to find jobs, who are college graduates with mounds of college debt accumulating. He should have used his words differently because as president he should be concerned with all levels of social class.

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    1. Thank you for commenting on the post, Jon. Many middle-class families are indeed hurting from the recession. However, a question that has gone largely unchallenged in this discussion is the adequacy of the "safety net" for the poor (see http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/jan-june12/poverty_02-02.html).

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