ForexTV NewsDesk   |  September 18 2012 12:27 EDT

ForexTV.com (New York) by Timothy Kelly

Also Read: 
-Romney "Victim" Statement Not Elegant But Accurate [OPINION]

-Romney Palestinian Peace Comment [Video + Transcript]

The following is a transcript of the statements made by Mitt Romney regarding his "victims" comment captured on video:

“There are 47% of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it…These are people who pay no income tax, 47% of Americans pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn’t connect. So he’ll (President Obama) be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. I mean, that’s what they sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince the five to ten percent in the center that are independents, that are thoughtful, that look at voting one or the other depending upon in some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not.”  


According to the government's own figures (US Census Bureau) approximately 49% of US households receives a government sponsored entitlement.  This is defined as household that receive: disability, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps or housing assistance. 

The top 1% of wage earners in the US accounted for roughly 36.73 percent of all federal income taxes collected for the tax year 2009 according to the National Taxpayers Union.  Meanwhile, the bottom 50% of wage earners contributed 2.25% to all federal taxes collected.  Mr.  Romney correctly points out that 47% of all Americans pay ZERO federal taxes.  Meanwhile, this latter group collects nearly $1 trillion per year through social welfare programs according to the CATO Institute.  The Federal Government tax receipts for that year totaled approximately $2.2 trillion.

Naturally, those voters have no incentive to back a Romney cut on Federal taxes because they make no contributions anyway.  Furthermore, according to Mr. Romney, they are so entrenched in voting along party lines that he feels it is not an efficient use of time to speak to them on this subject.  The Obama campaign has attacked the Romney plan saying it "favors only the rich"...and he is correct, since the "rich" are the only group required to pay these taxes.  However, Romney's plan does not compel that 47% to start paying federal taxes, so Mr. Obama gets a pass with his partisans on a potentially catastrophic fiscal time-bomb issue.

However, as the Obama administration accelerates spending (already $5.23 trillion) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections of a 2013 deficit of over $1 trillion becomes a reality, the President will likely have to increase tax burdens for the lower 50% of wage earners.

"...it will be the fourth consecutive year the deficit has totaled over a trillion (down marginally from the $1.2 trillion projected by the CBO in March). That will make the deficit at 7.3% of GDP three-quarters as large as deficit in 2009. Meanwhile, federal debt held by the public will reach 73% of GDP by the end of the fiscal year—the highest rate highest since 1950." said the CBO report.

This does not take into account the trillions of dollars on the Federal Reserve's balance sheets.  

Also read:
Romney "Victim" Statement Not Elegant But Accurate [OPINION]

Romney Palestinian Peace Comment [Video + Transcript]

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