I am so much better off than I was four years ago, Jesus Christ.
Aside from LeBron having won an NBA title, everything in the world is much better for me than it was in September 2008.
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PoliGAF 2012 |OT3| If it's not a legitimate OT the mods have ways to shut it down
- Thread starter pigeon
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I am so much better off than I was four years ago, Jesus Christ.
Aside from LeBron having won an NBA title, everything in the world is much better for me than it was in September 2008.
The first thing that comes out of his lips will be a bald faced lie.
"Good to be here with Romney."
In fairness, this was probably only 20-30% Obama.
Plinko
Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I'm convinced all Obama would need to do is keep referencing this for the next two months and he'd still win.
This is one of the most ridiculous statements I've heard in ages. How out of touch is this guy?
uhh, hopefully not, I read that it refereed to Islam as a cancer, but there is tons best-selling anti-islamic literature published, so it must've been bad.
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
He said the upper limit of middle income is 200-250k, which doesn't sound implausible in a lot of big cities across the country. rich would go above that. He didn't define where Middle income starts, so maybe you can knock him when he eventually says his position on who poor people are.
balladofwindfishes
Member
You know, I think if Romeny wasn't Romney, the middle eastern riots could have been worked into his favor (putting Obama as being unable to keep peace, etc).
But he blew it. Such incompetence, he took the cheap shot when, if he had waited, he could have struck a much more measured and devastating blow.
But he blew it. Such incompetence, he took the cheap shot when, if he had waited, he could have struck a much more measured and devastating blow.
I think there's only a multiple part 14 minute 'trailer' on YouTube. I watched very little and it was so goddamned awful. I'm not sure how anyone could take it seriously.
Regardless of what Romney's intent of his comment was, it's still a distraction to what the purpose of his campaign should be about (proving that Obama is an inadequate leader). So, it's a gaffe any way you look at it. It feeds into the negative perception about his character for some or it takes the focus off Obama for many others.
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Sometimes I wonder if there are candidates that actually don't want to win the Presidency on a subconcious level. They want the adulation and respect that comes along with reaching such a penultimate point, but when they are actually faced with the daunting task of becoming the President, they self-sabotage their way out of actually getting it. I think it's a pretty common human characteristic, if you think about it.
-- // --
Sometimes I wonder if there are candidates that actually don't want to win the Presidency on a subconcious level. They want the adulation and respect that comes along with reaching such a penultimate point, but when they are actually faced with the daunting task of becoming the President, they self-sabotage their way out of actually getting it. I think it's a pretty common human characteristic, if you think about it.
Yeah, I understand. I saw some part of it a couple days ago, but I can't find the link to it.
EDIT: NVM, I found it.
Well Allen West still to be a piece of garbage.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/allen-west-muslims-see-weakness-in-obama
This is all Romney setting up an excuse to not engage with Obama's statements during the debates. It's pretty damned transparent.
Yup, more or less.
Wolfgunblood Garopa
Member
Everything on the line for the GOP, putting party before country in their effort to beat Obama, and they nominate a guy who isn't aware that he doesn't really want the job.
Yep, it's on par with The Room in its shitieness.
Not sure. He's not responsible for the starting conditions and by most accounts the issue isn't that he's made anything worse, just that he hasn't fixed things faster. But I think that's a bit of a false assessment, because the issues we're dealing with are deeply systemic so there is no true quick fix here. IMO, I'd deeply distrust our "recovery" if at this point everyone was happy again and thought the economy was fine.
So, to the extent that you're giving credit to Romney for being right here, it seems moot. Given the same conditions (same disastrous economic downturn, same record high level of partisan intransigence from Congress, etc.) would any other president in recent memory, or even a recent candidate for that matter, have handled things significantly better?
To the extent that Romney has given any indication of what he might have done in Obama's place, he's given me absolutely no confidence that things would have turned out better and in fact I rather dread what might have happened. That's what Romney should be worried about in terms of perceptions.
There were a few insightful posts on the preceding pages, but an honest scholar would admit we have a deficient account of the ME's distinctiveness. Nearly all comparativist or IR scholars who conduct a large-N study include a ME dummy because it skews the coefficients. It's probably a convergence of factors that contribute to its distinctiveness. And we're only beginning to unravel the puzzle.
You can't totally absolve Obama. Doubtlessly, Bush's policies were more injurious; unfortunately, his folly will harm America for a while. But despite Obama's reasonably successful foreign affairs agenda, he's partially contributed to America's lowly standing in the ME. His inattention to Israel/Palestine and, more importantly, the expansion of drone warfare are unpopular. He might have purchased some goodwill with his response to Libya. But some of his policies aren't exactly endearing us to the region.
Welcome back. This thread sorely needs balance. Kosmo's the only source of dissent, and his posts are a waste.
speculawyer
Member
Link? If he thinks $250K is middle income he is showing how out of touch he is with reality.
Edit: I googled the phrase and it is all over the place. He is going to get fucked for that this news cycle.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...b17e52-fe73-11e1-98c6-ec0a0a93f8eb_story.html
http://www.salon.com/2012/09/14/mitt_romney_defines_middle_income_as_200_250000/
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/09/14/romney-middle-income-between-200k-and-250k/
http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/...fines-middle-income-200000-250000-ar-2205681/
Romney put his silver foot in his mouth.
Yeah seems like he referred to "middle-income", but not in the same breath as "250k"; taken out of context? Not that I'm not hoping it isn't true, but no news sites seem to be reporting it.
Byakuya769
Member
I could see Romney responding to poligaf with, "Hey, 250k is a starting salary!"
http://www.salon.com/2012/09/14/mitt_romney_defines_middle_income_as_200_250000/
I love how you guys are continuing your circle jerk and leaving out that Romney said "$200-250K and less."
He garbled his answer is why, it seems like he says it in the beginning of his answer then realizes what he was saying and fixes it. Someone will ask him to clarify sand that's when it might become a story.
Again, Mitt Romney is the candidate the Republican party deserves -- but not the one it needs. The Tea Party wanted a candidate who would attack Obama relentlessly. The Christianists wanted a candidate who would fight against abortions, gays and contraception. And the GOP leadership wanted a candidate who could be moderate enough to run for President in a country that thinks Obama is an okay guy and basically supports gay marriage.
Romney is that candidate. Of course, it turns out that having a candidate who can hold multiple contradictory positions means your candidate is a cipher with no apparent moral center who lies all the time, but what are you gonna do.
Frank the Great
Banned
i agree, this is really taking the quote out of context.
BUT after seeing romney build his entire campaign on taking quotes out of context to make them look like gaffes ("you didn't build that") i won't shed any tears for the scumbag.
cartoon_soldier
Member
Yup, doom I say. lol Ras...I wish I could see Ras electorate makeup.
Aaron Strife
Banned
"If you can't afford to pay for your entire house in cash on the first day, you should probably move to the projects."
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
The link is right above my post, in the article that LoudNinja posted:
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politic...ebates-obama-will-say-things-that-arent-true/
He said it in an interview with George Stephanopolous from the looks of it.
jamesinclair
Banned
If you consider anything above100k as middle income you live in a bubble of epic proportions.
Id say the average person considers 75k as hitting it big
Id say the average person considers 75k as hitting it big
Seriously just stop typing. His quote - no matter what context you put it in - says that $200k-$250k are somehow middle income. They are not. A tiny fraction of people I know earn even close to this, and I am well-off. I am upper middle class. I earn nothing like these figures. He is not being taken out of context it is his own statement and it is absolutely baffling to me that you would even try to make the argument that those figures have anything to do with "middle" income. Those figures are people who are very well off. Those figures are even decent in Manhattan before someone pulls out that fucking chestnut.
In fact the "and less" part is even stupider since it manages to contain the idea that minimum wage is somehow middle income too. You bumbling sycophantic trope spurting cut and paste robot.
Mengy
wishes it were bannable to say mean things about Marvel
This is the exact quote from the interview video:
Romney said:
Either he words his response very poorly, or he doesn't think someone who earns $100,000 is high enough to be middle class...?
That paper that Romney is citing, but hasn't actually read is pretty interesting
This seems like utter nonsense to me. Brushing aside the fact that encouraging people to give even more of their insane wealth to their children and grandchildren instead of foundations is a bad thing, he really thinks it could be a revenue gainer?
This seems like utter nonsense to me. Brushing aside the fact that encouraging people to give even more of their insane wealth to their children and grandchildren instead of foundations is a bad thing, he really thinks it could be a revenue gainer?
Bam Bam Baklava
Member
Waiting to see today's Gallup release but one of these things is definitely not like the others.
speculawyer
Member
This. Romney just has no clue what middle income means and he showed it. I suspect this story will grow but the embassy attacks by a bunch of fucking morons is displacing the story.
FFS, embassy attackers, neither the embassies nor the US government has anything to do with those films . . . you just look like a bunch of violent idiots.
Wow. Half the country would give their left nut to make $250K/year and Romney thinks it is 'middle income'. He is out of touch.
FFS . . . Romney said $200 to $250K is middle income IN THE SAME INTERVIEW WHERE HE CLAIMED OBAMA SAYS THINGS THAT ARE NOT TRUE!
LOL. Oh Romney . . . U so funny.
Aaron Strife
Banned
It's a more republican electorate than 2010.
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
Where do you live? I made 78k last year and it feels no better than when I made 50 two years prior.
I would consider around 120k or so "hitting it big." I would have no worry for day-to-day bills and could have a comfortable vacation every year. I live in a suburb of Omaha, so not some huge expensive city.
Waiting to see today's Gallup release but one of these things is definitely not like the others.
The biased pollings haven't been scrubbed clean.
You guys will grasp at anything. He was answering in the vein of who he would not raise taxes on in defining "middle income people".
Rocket Scientist
Member
Wait... A Romney guy cites a guy in his defense, but the guy he cites basically says that Romney's plan is bullshit and the math doesn't work out?
Pretty much. The Romney guy is saying that doesn't mean he's going to raise taxes on the middle-class. It just means he can't accomplish all his goals... i.e. his tax plan is in fact not revenue neutral.
Joe Shlabotnik
Banned
Honestly? Maybe my cost-of-living assumptions are way off, but I would figure if you don't feel "comfortable" at 78K in Nebraska then you have pretty specific tastes. $80,000 a year lets you live decently in New York City (in a 1BR, anyway), though it's hardly "rich".
matthewwhatever
Member
Exactly. I'm reminded of last winter, when Romney said he liked to fire people. Even if there was some context for it that made it sort of defensible, Romney's own ad campaign had, at that point, already established that they didn't care about context. If you say something, you own it. It may not be fair, but, as Jonathan Chait said back then,
Aaron Strife
Banned
Worst case scenario is that he fucks over the middle class by raising taxes.
Best case scenario is that he's an ineffective leader.
Go team!
worldrunover
Member
Someone should ask him if he would pledge that none of these "loopholes" he is vowing to close would affect "middle income" folks. Let's see if he'll sign onto that.
Word, my friend--in a somewhat rural area of Virginia--claims to be really comfortable by your standards at 65k.
speculawyer
Member
People can easily pick up the ball and run with this one . . .
If $200K is "middle income" then why did Mitt Romney fire people who were "poor" (by his definition) and then offer them jobs back at even "less than poor" levels at Bain Capital?
Scrooge for president!
If $200K is "middle income" then why did Mitt Romney fire people who were "poor" (by his definition) and then offer them jobs back at even "less than poor" levels at Bain Capital?
Scrooge for president!
AlteredBeast
Fork 'em, Sparky!
I live in a small home with my wife and kid. We are FAR from liberal with our expenditures, but life takes a toll. I wasn't uncomfortable, but I was and am still contemplating the consequences of missing commission even for just a month. Just once would severely destroy me as I am wholly unable to save money. We eat at home 5 or 6 days a week, don't travel, have a mortgage and car payment.
I know in most parts of Wisconsin, where I live, $80,000 is way well off. My parents live comfortably on about $50,000. If I didn't have my student loans, especially, I'd be happy as hell to live on 80 grand. Even with my student loans it'd be astounding. Actually when I had a possibility of getting a $40,000 per year job my wife and I were talking and we couldn't even fathom getting that kind of money in.
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