election-2012

How Much Does a Minimum-Wage Family Need to Work to Be 'Personally Responsible'?

Cord Jefferson · 09/21/12 12:07PM

In Mitt Romney's almost comically offensive leaked speech, in which he says that the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay income taxes feel entitled to wild luxuries like "food" and "housing," the GOP presidential candidate also suggests that this 47 percent doesn't "take personal responsibility" for their lives. Some good things have been written about the qualitative validity of Romney's "personal responsibility" statement, but politics blog Squashed decided to look at its quantitative validity, also. Many people who don't pay income taxes have jobs, of course, but how much more would they need to work to be responsible in the eyes of Romney and his supporters? In short: A lot more.

Big Surprise: Polled Voters Respond Negatively to Romney's “47” Percent Remarks

Taylor Berman · 09/19/12 07:03PM

A new Gallup poll shows that 36% of registered voters are less likely to vote for living, breathing political embarrassment and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney after hearing his incredibly obtuse "47%" comments. Of course, twenty percent of voters all but admitted they were awful by saying they were now more likely to vote for Romney after his remarks, which actually seems low, all things considered.

'It Would Be Helpful to Be Latino' and Other Blowhard Things Romney Was Caught Saying on a Hidden Camera

Max Read · 09/17/12 05:01PM

A cache of hidden-camera videos of Mitt Romney, speaking at an off-the-record fundraiser sometime in the last few months, has emerged on YouTube and Mother Jones. Among other things, Romney claims that "47 percent of people will vote for [Obama] no matter what" because they "believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing," and that "it would be helpful to be Latino." The upshot: Mitt Romney in private is exactly the kind of entitled blowhard that you'd imagine based on his public persona.

Stuart Stevens Is the Reason Mitt Romney's Campaign Is Terrible, According to Sources in the Romney Campaign

Taylor Berman · 09/16/12 11:07PM

According to multiple Romney sources cited in a damning Politico report, Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney's chief campaign strategist, is to blame for Romney's gaffe-laden campaign. The sources in the article, which includes the sort of shit flinging you'd expect to read after a candidate loses, not before, fault Stevens for Romney's mediocre speech and Clint Eastwood's spectacular performance art piece at the RNC, amongst other campaign snafus.