The Bubble Boy Does it Again
Posted: September 14, 2012 Filed under: 2012 elections | Tags: Romney out of touch 97 Comments
Every time Romney tries to prove he’s “one of us” he just digs himself into a deeper hole. It’s pretty obvious the man discovers middle class Americans in the same way a near-sighted Anthropologist studies primative tribes from the safety of a duck blind.
In an interview with ABC, Mitt Romney offered his definition of the middle class. “Middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less,” he said.
Who knows what “middle class” really means. It’s more of a feeling than a statistical definition. But as a matter of arithmetic, it doesn’t make much sense to think of people earning $200,000 as being in the middle of anything, except the top decile of earners. Using data from the Tax Policy Center 2012 projected distribution, here’s a look at the share of American tax units that make less than $200,000. The big blue slice is Romney’s definition of middle class.
This is a reminder of the “college days” struggles of Mitt and Ann. We all were supposed to recognize our own experience in this.
Mitt Romney is going around saying that he made all his money himself, aside from a loan from his dad to buy his first house.
Journalists who buy that have short memories. I was living in Massachusetts when Romney first ran for the Senate, and remembered this interview with Ann Romney in the Boston Globe (by Jack Thomas, October 20, 1994; the abstract is here; the full text costs $4.95). Of her student days with Mitt at BYU, Ann said:
“They were not easy years. You have to understand, I was raised in a lovely neighborhood, as was Mitt, and at BYU, we moved into a $62-a-month basement apartment with a cement floor and lived there two years as students with no income.
“It was tiny. And I didn’t have money to carpet the floor. But you can get remnants, samples, so I glued them together, all different colors. It looked awful, but it was carpeting.
“We were happy, studying hard. Neither one of us had a job, because Mitt had enough of an investment from stock that we could sell off a little at a time.
“The stock came from Mitt’s father. When he took over American Motors, the stock was worth nothing. But he invested Mitt’s birthday money year to year — it wasn’t much, a few thousand, but he put it into American Motors because he believed in himself. Five years later, stock that had been $6 a share was $96 and Mitt cashed it so we could live and pay for education.
“Mitt and I walked to class together, shared housekeeping, had a lot of pasta and tuna fish and learned hard lessons.
…
“We had our first child in that tiny apartment. We couldn’t afford a desk, so we used a door propped on sawhorses in our bedroom. It was a big door, so we could study on it together. And we bought a portable crib, took the legs off and put it on the desk while we studied. I had a baby sitter during class time, but otherwise, I’d hold my son on my lap while I studied.
“The funny thing is that I never expected help. My father had become wealthy through hard work, as did Mitt’s father, but I never expected our parents to take care of us. They’d visit, laugh and say, `We can’t believe you guys are living like this.’ They’d take us out to dinner, have a good time, then leave.
“We stayed till Mitt graduated in 1971, and when he was accepted at Harvard Law, we came east. He was also accepted at Harvard Business School as part of a joint program that admits 25 a year, so he was getting degrees from Harvard Law and Business schools at the same time.
“Remember, we’d been paying $62 a month rent, but here, rents were $400, and for a dump. This is when we took the now-famous loan that Mitt talks about from his father and bought a $42,000 home in Belmont, and you know? The mortgage payment was less than rent. Mitt saw that the Boston market was behind Chicago, LA and New York. We stayed there seven years and sold it for $90,000, so we not only stayed for free, we made money. As I said, Mitt’s very bright.
“Another son came along 18 months later, although we waited four years to have the third, because Mitt was still in school and we had no income except the stock we were chipping away at. We were living on the edge, not entertaining. No, I did not work. Mitt thought it was important for me to stay home with the children, and I was delighted.
“Right after Mitt graduated in 1975, we had our third boy and it was about the time Mitt’s first paycheck came along. So, we were married a long time before we had any income, about five years as struggling students. …
“Now, every once in a while, we say if things get rough, we can go back to a $62-a-month apartment and be happy. All we need is each other and a little corner and we’ll be fine.”
Ann was widely mocked for this at the time. I don’t dissent from the mockery. Her idea of her and Mitt facing “not easy years,” having “no income,” “living on the edge” as “struggling students,” was that the couple had had to face college with only sale of stock to sustain them. By Ann’s own account, the stock amounted to “a few thousand” dollars when bought, but it had gone up by a factor of sixteen. So let’s conservatively say that they got through five years as students—neither one of them working—only by “chipping away at” assets of $60,000 in 1969 dollars (about $377,000 today).
Both my husband and I worked full time and went to school full time during all of our degrees. My husband had a scholarship for tuition based on a perfect SAT score. We paid for my tuition by hawking our NU football tickets to our barber. I can tell you with certainty that neither of us had investments other than an Air Force Credit Union savings account held by my husband. Neither of our dads bought us a house either.
I still remember the shocked look on Perry’s face when he was offered a $10,000 bet at one of the primary debates. Here’s a very effective Obama ad.
Here’s a bit more on the Romney Stephanapolous interview.
Romney’s comments came an interview broadcast Friday on ABC’s ‘‘Good Morning America.’’
‘‘No one can say my plan is going to raise taxes on middle-income people, because principle number one is (to) keep the burden down on middle-income taxpayers,’’ Romney told host George Stephanopoulos.
‘‘Is $100,000 middle income?’’ Stephanopoulos asked.
‘‘No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less,’’ Romney responded.
His campaign later clarified that Romney was referencing household income, not individual income.
The Census Bureau reported this week that the median household income — the midpoint for the nation — is just over $50,000.
Obama wants to extend Bush-era tax cuts for those making less than $250,000, while Romney wants to extend the tax cuts for everyone.
Romney has not explained how he would keep his plan from growing the nation’s deficit.
This is another one of those examples where I think a University should be able to recall a student’s diploma and degree on the basis that they obviously learned nothing.
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Having access to $60K during the 70’s would have happened only to the child/children of the upper crust. She has no clue how the majority of young adults were living during that time. Poor Rainbow Brite is breaking my damn heart.
There’s a new hashtag on Twitter that’s pretty fun to read:
“I have met many pleasing humans in the last sun cycle. They amuse me greatly” #AlienMitt
A “few thousand” back then! The mind boggles at the largesse. Oh that everyone had such a dad to hand out birthday money.
One thing she is not mentioning is that money went farther back then. In 1968 we bought a house for 13 thou, a nice place. the monthly mortgage payment was $101. a month’s groceries could be less than a week’s cost today. And you will notice Mitt did not have a part time job, so they must have been pretty comfortable. And, of course, their parents would not have let them go hungry.
Go watch MSNBC right now. They are showing the arrival of the 4 fallen from Lybia.
Extemely moving.
Hillary’s speech is wonderful!!!
StateDept @StateDept
#SecClinton: You cannot respond to offensive speech with violence. http://go.usa.gov/rs2F
StateDept @StateDept
#SecClinton: Refraining from violence is not a sign of weakness in one’s faith; it is absolutely the opposite. http://go.usa.gov/rs2F
Ceremony taking place in aircraft hangar at Joint Base Andrews.
Okay, i’m teary eyed …
The whole thing is very emotional.
I heard Hillary’s speech on NPR while I was driving home. She sounded on the verge of tears.
I fear for this world when there are so many people who are willing to kill for religion–and we have plenty of those here too. It’s dispiriting.
State Department sets up 24-hour monitoring team for embassy crisis
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/09/14/state_department_sets_up_24_hour_monitoring_team_for_embassy_crisis
The speeches were really dignified. You could feel that these are terrible times for all.
The last ride is nearly impossible to watch.
The whole thing at Andrews was very well done, emotional but appropriate. I’m proud of them all.
I’m assuming the state department wrote those speeches. They were really moving.
I kept thinking of the contrast between the dignity of that ceremony and the disgraceful display Mitt Romney has put on over the past few days.
Mitt just told this weird story about how he went to the airport to claim the remains of a soldier from Mass while he was Governor. His point seemed to be that he can do things like this too. It was really strange and his affect was so detached to the point of chipperness.
Mitt just can’t seem to get the emotions right. I suspect it’s because he really doesn’t care a whit.
My guess is still ‘sociopath’
I agree!
I would also bet on sociopath. The picture of him smiling during his press conference while our embassies were being attacked are among the most disturbing thing I’ve ever seen from him.
So true, he started out by yelling that he loves America, then launched into all of these details about driving to the airport, heading out on to the tarmac, and then just as we were wondering if there was a point to this emotionless recitation, he wrapped it up by saying (again without emotion) that people at the airport paid tribute to the soldier and yay, we all love America! He needs a giant red arrow to come down and point to “Sad story in there, switch to emotion number 2, non-smirky version.”
I agree. Mitt doesn’t have emotions like the rest of us. That’s why he seems like an alien pretending to be human. He can only imitate normal affect.
During this somber ceremony, the Mitt Dude and his tin ear were in Ohio repeating his same lies about Obama asking for it …
Where did you see that, Seriously? is it on the internet yet?
But here is a lying, lier.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/scott-brown-pro-choice_n_1884419.html
It was on Fox, people are watching and I can’t change the channel at work unless they leave. lol
You poor thing, forced to watch Fox.
That’s like the perfect definition of a hostile work environment.
Dak, That was what i was thinking, too! Seriously, you need worker’s comp. for that.
and combat pay
Wonder if you could sue over watching Fox?
“It was on Fox, people are watching and I can’t change the channel at work unless they leave. lol”
Which Southern State do you live in Seriously? Really, if you live in the South they have on Fox News in the Doctors office, in the 7-11, at the dentist, at the vets office, in the restaurants and bars, except the gay bars, of course. Fox News-speak is the redneck bible.
Scott Brown just added to the lie that he is Pro-Choice, Now Warren has a really great ad.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/scott-brown-tax-cuts_n_1884687.html
Seriously lives right here in good ol’ Mass. We have plenty of Fox know-nothings here too.
“Seriously lives right here in good ol’ Mass. We have plenty of Fox know-nothings here too.”
Sad, isn’t it?
My father has taken to watching FOX. He spouts the lies like a robot. I cant get through to him any more. But, he’s 90 so I give him a break. Others, not so much.
I was hoping that the fox-news-all-day-everyday-virus hadn’t spread that far
Thankfully our TV is almost never on Fox, but it only takes one person, they leave and everybody wants to switch but doesn’t know who put it on and doesn’t know they left, and it’s madness. Once it gets on there it’s hard to get it off. Up here it’s always, always, always on everywhere on the military bases and it used to be on in every government building but I assume that’s changed since Bush left office.
Sociopath with a Napoleon complex.
TPM: From a Foreign Service Officer …
Sounds like I would expect considering Mitt’s attempted political profiteering off the death of one of their own.
yup … He did a Bain on our Diplomatic Corps.
Another reason to hope for an Obama win. What these people don’t recognize is the most offensive part of the current GOP is them!
Bryan Fischer: Today’s GOP Will Be ‘Dead’ If Romney Loses
The Republican Party, as most of us KNEW it, died a long time ago. I’d say circa Raygun. Eisenhower, Rockefeller, Dole, Dirksen, Hatfield, John Warner, William Cohen just to name a few who would be labeled RINOs now & drummed out of town. Teabaggers, fundies & neo-cons have taken over and run everyone off that have even thought the word compromise.
Someone on TV last night said something I hadn’t heard before (apparently I miss a lot) – Republicans don’t fall in love, they fall in line.
If only it would die! The world could only be better off.
The picture alone is worth the click. H/T Sisie. It really is David Brooks in the early years.
http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-hollow-pedantry-of-david-brooks.html
Finally, a fund raiser I’d kind of like to attend 😉
‘The Most Interesting Man In The World,’ Dos Equis’ Jonathan Goldsmith, Hosts Obama Fundraiser
I sooooooooo hate those commercials. Ick.No offense, ralph – it’s probably just me.
nah, it’s not you … I don’t think women are the target audience
Women are definitely NOT the target audience. They are aiming for beer swilling men like me 🙂
I swill beer but still not in the target audience. Tweetie loved it.
Wow, the most interesting man advocates for a humane prison system and neglected and abused children. I bet he would not have been hired if anyone knew that, esp about the prison system.
Did anyone see Martin Bashir today? At the end when he just speaks, it was just great. He read the speech of a commander to troops going into Iraq. I don’t know how to find just the ending. If someone does, you guys need to see it.
I saw it … I loved that he called QUitterella “the three year old in Alaska’.
I wish i could see it again!
Hillary puts the “Arab Spring Nations” on notice
http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/14/world/meast/embassy-attacks-main/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Now they’ve went too far and attacked a business. Mitt should be up in arms.
Their is something so satisfying that Virginia Fox has her pie-hole in this mess.
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/09/how-a-bunch-of-republicans-accidentally-voted-to-end-welfare-to-work-requirements.php?ref=fpa
Juan Cole’s analysis of events.
Obama Plays Hardball and Egypt’s Morsi Folds
Paul Ryan addresses the Values Voter Conference today. Ugh! http://www.politicususa.com/paul-ryan-fans-flames-middle-east-unrest-voters-summit.html and here: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/14/in-values-voter-speech-ryan-defies-campaign-messaging-on-abortion.html Slamming Obama, Biden & HRC on abortion & foreign policy.
This post at Balloon Juice mocking Romney’s ABC interview is hilarious.
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/09/14/silver-foot-meet-lying-mouth/
I have to say I’m not up to date on cool men’s shoes but what the fuck does Mitt the twit have on his feet?
They look like some kind of slip-on loafers to me.
Those are missionary shoes he’s wearing.
Fannie, you’re killing me!!
I think Sister Mary Rita had a pair of loafers like that.
Sarah did it up right with that post! Those shoes of Mitt’s look like generic loafers, which would fit with the generic candidate image.
Maybe it’s jut me, but they a little casual for a suit. what’s with the “stripes” on the side?
Snuffleupagus’s shoes are gross.
Did you see Dennis G’s bumper sticker suggestion for Rmoney?
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2012/09/14/a-campaign-to-celebrate/
Anyone else hear Rombot’s latest? He was asked his biggest concern about the debates. He said that President Obama has a tendency not to tell the truth. Another pot/kettle moment. Damn to have been the person asking that question. After laughing so hard that I would’ve wet my pants, I would say, “why Mr. Romney, that’s like the pot calling the kettle black.” And then I would be fired.
Oops, should have gone to the link first.
A Wisconsin judge has struck down the law that limited collective bargaining rights for public workers.
Where did you see that?
Just put the link in. I got a breaking news e-mail.
Never mind i found it, sorry.
Dane County Circuit Judge Juan Colas ruled that the law violates both the state and U.S. Constitution and is null and void. The ruling comes after a lawsuit brought by the Madison teachers union and a union for Milwaukee city employees.
Walker spokesman Cullen Werwie said he was confident the decision will be overturned on appeal.
Wooo-hooo! Unions, yes!
I would like to know what the hell Benjamin Netanyahu is doing on Meet the press?
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/benjamin-netanyahu-to-appear-on-meet-press-sunday
Oh, good grief!
I sure Dancin’ Dave will ask him if he’s injecting himself in a Presidential Election.
Disco Dave is dusting off the knee pads
Josh Marshall asks who Bibi is more intent on ousting, Ahmadinejad or Obama?
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/09/bibi_triples_down_on_romney.php?ref=fpblg
He wants his BFF Mitt to be POTUS. Obama won’t give Bibi want he wants, fire power. You know the only saying, a POTUS in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Well staying on TPM, I have never heard of this asshole, but i don’t run in a crazy right-wing crowd.
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/09/social-conservatives-cheer-islamic-ex-terrorist-huckster-at-values-voter-summit.php?ref=fpb
This was my favorite comment.
Thomas • 11 minutes ago
it’s like never-was-funny Dennis Miller having to become a “conservative” so he could find an audience dumb enough to think he was funny. Con artists are always drawn to the simpletons.
I’ve never heard of him.
Another asshole shuckster that spoke at the voter’s value summit. He say’s he is a reformed terrorist.
There is a sucker born every minute except in the evangelical crowd … they are all suckers
So, when American presidents bow to Queen Elizabeth, does that mean each of them were/are under the authority of the Queen? And since when is Saudi’s king, the king of Islam?
“Saleem has been a regular in evangelical circles for the last several years telling his story about how he was a violent terrorist who renounced his wicked ways for Christ.”
Brghahahahahahahhaha! There’s no business, like show business, there’s no business I know!!!! He says he found “jesus”. Nothing like jesus to pull you out of the jihadist movement an onto the stage of the Value Voters Summit. Well, jesus and a bunch of money. I wonder what this guys speaking fee is, $10k, $20k? Maybe Mitt transferred some of Daddy’s stock to him. Goddam I thought I was gullible, but anyone who buys that story has moved way past gullible into idiot terrority.
Here is a comment i stand with.
“respect for traditional values”
In other words, continued support for racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, and ethnic, cultural and religious-based bigotry, exploitation of workers, scapegoating of the poor and needy, enrichment and advancement of the warmongers and war profiteers…and so on and so on? Yeah, uh…no thanks.
A photo to see, Neil Armstrong, burial at sea.
http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/photo-neil-armstrongs-burial-at-sea-service
Just few thousand or( $ 3000.00 for the sake of argument) in 1968 equals $19,860.25 in today’s money. Pretty nice for Willard’s yearly “birthday money”. Thanks Dad
I don’t remember who said it about Romney but it is true. Mitt Romney is the guy who was born on third base. He stood up and believed he hit a triple.
That was Gov. Ann Richards of Texas she also said George (1stBush) was born with a silver foot in his mouth. God i miss her.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/09/anti-muslim-director-porn.php?ref=fpnewsfeed
Who the hell is this this guy? Funny comment.
This must’ve been who Clint Eastwood was talking about when he said that there were plenty of conservatives in Hollywood…. ;>