Mitt Romney Was Just Talking About Julia
I believe the remarks made by Mitt Romney at a May fundraiser are so controversial because they’re true.
Jim Geraghty has a round-up of anecdotes which make it clear that government dependency is a big, big factor in American lives, and Bryan Preston points out that Romney was just talking about Julia, star of an Obama ad which was launched just weeks before Romney made his comments:
The clips are said to be from a May 17 fundraiser.
Two weeks prior to that, the American public met “Julia,” the Obama campaign’s mascot for depending on government from cradle to grave. Julia is shown from age three to age 65, always dependent on Barack Obama, who appears to have been in office for her entire life. Though she has a child, she never has a husband. Who needs one of those when Barack is looking out for her?
The theme of the entire slide set is that you can depend on the benevolent reign of Barack Obama.
Where did Mitt Romney get his notions about vast swaths of the American public being so dependent on government they’ll vote for whoever will keeps the benefits flowing regardless of what that means for the nation’s fiscal and economic health? Maybe from the way many Americans actually behave, and the way Democrats themselves campaign.
Democrats find the idea of self-sufficient Americans to be anathema. Remember, record levels of food stamps enrollment are, to Democrats, something to be proud of. Which is why any talk of America reaching the tipping point – where there are more people riding on the government’s wagon than pulling it – is treated as something akin to hate speech.
It’s an ugly truth. If only Romney had the courage to talk this way publicly, instead of only while sequestered with groups of his financial backers. And I wish he’d talk about more than just those who benefit from social programs. Yes, people on the government dole are more likely to vote to keep that dole in place. But corporations will also vote to keep their subsidies in place. Defense contractors will vote to keep the military budgets larger. And on and on.
Romney’s mistake, to the extent that he made one, was in only talking about one facet of the problem.
Tags: Barack Obama, government dependency, julia, mitt romney
