Myopic Mitt

Mitt Romney’s recent statement — “These are people who pay no income tax. My job is not to worry about those people” — has attracted criticism from figures on the left.
They charge him with labeling half the country  as shiftless moochers.

Romney’s message should attract criticism from the right, as well, because it is wrong and self-defeating. 

Economic freedom — the freedom to prosper in whatever way seems best to you — is inseparable from personal freedom.

This is a core tenet of the Republican Party.

For a man who has had a successful business career, Romney is doing a poor job of selling that message.

Romney is factually correct. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax.

But not all of those people are dependent on government.

Tax breaks are only government subsidies if you believe you do not own your labor.
Some of that 47 percent have no tax liability but receive no government money.

Some are welfare-dependent urbanites who will vote Democrat without much thought.

Some are farm-subsidy dependent rural Americans who will vote Republican with a similar amount of consideration.

Many probably despise picking up welfare checks, though it would be economically irrational not to.

Many would probably love nothing more than to move into a higher tax bracket, though not for the pleasure of paying taxes.

The long-term political game for the GOP is as complex as our electorate.

My fellow IDS opinion columnist Will Gryna wrote last week that “too many Americans envision our federal government as a crutch on which to survive.”

He’s right.

But too many is not all. The answer isn’t just to cut these people off.  The answer is to change their minds about the right path to prosperity.

This is because a significant number of people will not vote for someone “no matter what.” According to a CNN exit poll, 25 percent of those earning fewer than $15,000 voted for John McCain in 2008.

If this election is as close as predicted, Romney can’t write off any segment of voters.
People can and do change their minds.

Making a convincing case that the free movement of capital, labor, goods and services is better at creating widespread prosperity than manufactured work and handouts is a good way to win votes. Condensing people into groups and make sweeping statements about them is not.

This election should be about selling a particular path to recovery and
prosperity.

Ron Paul said this of those who pay no income taxes: “We are halfway there.”

That’s the kind of message a candidate who believes in free enterprise should be spreading.­

    — danoconn@indiana.edu