"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent 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 that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it -- that that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what. ... These are people who pay no income tax. ... [M]y job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."This may very well be the quote that sinks Romney in the election this November (hopefully), and Obama is now ahead by 5 points in the polls. But is what he said actually true? It is technically true that 46.4% of Americans pay no federal income taxes in 2011. But this does NOT mean that they pay no taxes at all, and it does NOT mean that they are freeloaders. Just think state and local income taxes, FICA, sales taxes, excise taxes, property taxes, and the numerous hidden taxes built into the price of virtually everything they buy. And it's not like most of them are particularly well-off financially; 4 out of 5 of these folks earn less than $30,000 per year. The rest of his obnoxiously insulting quote is mere opinion rather than fact. And he conveniently ignores the fact that 2/3 of large corporations paid zero or even negative income taxes, and quite a few millionaires and billionaires also paid zero income taxes. Also, a disproportionate share of the 47% of Americans that pay no federal income taxes live in red (Republican) states, not blue (Democratic) states. Romney is clearly entitled to his own opinions, but he is NOT entitled to his own facts.
Romney is clearly digging his own grave. Time for the voters to push him in there on Election Day.