Don’t care about dependents

After the video leak of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s remarks at a private fundraiser, it seems it will be only a matter of time before Kanye West says, “Mitt Romney doesn’t care about poor people,” as he said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”

Last night, a video of Romney giving a speech at a private fundraiser revealed him saying, “These are people who pay no income tax. My job is not to worry about those people.”

It is probably a safe bet to think Romney’s detractors are already taking this quote out of context to derail Romney’s campaign.

As with any quote, the key to understanding it is the quote’s context.

What Romney was trying to say is simple.

Romney was talking about the 47 percent of Americans who, for whatever reason, did not pay income tax last year.

Romney was explaining his belief, which is most likely accurate, that these people will vote for President Barack Obama no matter what. 

He said people who are dependent on the government whether for food, housing, health care or any other reason, will vote for Obama, period.

Why wouldn’t they?

This is why Romney said it isn’t his job to worry about those people.

The fact is, Romney is right.

It would be a total waste of his time to try to convince someone who is dependent on an Obama-initiated or supported program to vote for the Romney-Ryan ticket.

At the same time, the video and quote shows Romney addressing a key problem in America today.

Too many Americans envision our federal government as a crutch on which to survive.
Too many Americans believe the government should give them the necessities for which thousands of other Americans work.

In a perfect world, one in which our country isn’t $16 trillion in debt and has trillions more in future debt obligations, perhaps these handouts would be possible.
Right now, our country cannot afford such programs.

These programs will make it impossible for our country to ever climb out of seemingly bottomless pit of deficit spending.

If you look at Romney’s plans for our economy and debt reduction, it quickly becomes clear he cares deeply about every American.

Whether people want to admit it or not, our country is on a fast track to self destruction thanks to its spending habits.

Romney realizes that people who are recipients of entitlement programs are less likely to be concerned about this problem.

Alexander Tytler, an 18th century historian, is often attributed with the quote, “A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.

“From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship,” Tytler said.

Romney is doing the right and responsible thing, focusing on the people who are more likely to realize the future of the United States is at stake.

He is focused on those who by default are paying the bill for those who don’t care or are less fortunate.

­— wfgryna@indiana.edu