Mitt Romney doesn’t understand government or gifts

Last week Americans voted, and I’m glad to say that at least 51% of us still had some concept of the proper role of government. There has been much hemming and hawing from the right-wing side of the country (the sore losers) and a little too much gloat-filled crowing from the left wing side of the country (everyone else). Yes, I voted for Barack Obama and almost exclusively voted against whatever Republican was on the ticket – which in my state of Mississippi is unfortunately not every office. I even voted for some third parties I had no clue about because they will never get elected. Among the frightening wash of post-election analysis coming out of the political and media spheres about why the Republicans lost, there have been cogent ideas and some really batshit insane reactions that frankly make me think some of these pundits are engaged in a giant post-modern freak show. The one that really gets my goat, though, is this one from Mitt Romney’s robotic mouth. In a conference call to donors (read: his real constituency), he blamed his loss on “gifts” that President Obama had given or promised to minorities and young people.

Can I be one of the first to say a hearty “FUCK YOU, LOSER” to Mr. Romney and kindly invite him to fuck off to the obscurity of his pampered, rich white asshole lifestyle?

Far be it from me to put words in Mr. Romney’s mouth, but what he’s essentially saying is “those poor blacks, Hispanics and others don’t want to work for their things, they want to live off the government teat.” And that might be a viable complaint (it’s not) until you see what he lists as these boons of government largess that supposedly doomed his campaign. He lists:

That’s the exact things he specified, so let me tear them down one by one. College loan debt is a pretty big deal, and yes it’s a gift. For most college students coming out of school these days, there are NO JOBS. What jobs there are do not pay well. An average B/C student coming out of school likely has no scholarships and cannot afford tuition even with the help of some programs like Pell Grants, and that doesn’t even cover the costs of books and materials. Some of the more lucrative professions that require graduate work (doctors, lawyers) also require so much schooling that the student can come out over $100,000 in debt before they ever draw a paycheck from that degree. All that money for college loans is money that isn’t going into the economy and last I checked, we really need consumers to spend money for our economy to get better. While I agree this is a gift, it’s a damn good one. I was damned lucky not to have much of any debt coming out of school. If I had, I’m sure the crappy mall job I had when I graduated wouldn’t have helped much. It’s a gift, but it’s one that helps the economy.

As for the “free contraceptives” he and the religidiotic set decried as an affront to religious freedom, let’s set the record straight. Those contraceptives aren’t free – they are covered by the insurance plan the recipient pays for every month. The contraceptives aren’t free, they just don’t cost the recipient out-of-pocket. The religious institutions bitching that their right to live in the Middle Fucking Ages when it comes to reproductive rights aren’t paying a dime for the contraception. It isn’t a gift if you have to pay something in order to get it. People without insurance don’t get free contraceptives. There is no gift here, just the prevention of religious nutjobs from controlling things about your body they have no right to control.

Staying on parental healthcare plans until the age of 26 also isn’t a gift, because again, SOMEONE IS PAYING FOR IT. The premiums are paid by the parents. This is just an attempt to make sure as many people as possible have healthcare for as long as possible. Being healthy increases things like productivity, which helps businesses grow and thus the economy grow. Being against that is like being against capitalism.

And just for the record, here’s a list of the other things the people who voted for Obama see as fundamentals of government that perhaps Mitt Romney and his billionaire benefactors do not. The gift of clean drinking water free of industrial pollutants from some prick’s factory runoff. The gift of expecting that the roads that get you to work are clear of bandits, aut0-swallowing potholes and don’t cost you anything. Eating a hamburger without deadly bacteria hiding in the beef. A fair and equitable tax system that says someone who makes more money for one speaking engagement than I make in a whole year should pay a similar percentage of his income in taxes to me instead of being able to shelter all his money in a foreign bank. The right to get medical help when I get sick and to not go bankrupt doing so.

I know, crazy talk. How dare we peons who pay taxes and work 40+ hours a week ask for such things from the government we fund, whose responsibility it is to “ensure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

Those aren’t gifts, those are things every government should strive to provide for its citizens. And fuck you if you don’t think so, Mitt Romney. Your father lived off government assistance for a while, which allowed you to live and become the entitled rich asshole you are today.

November 15, 2012 at 8:38 pm | Politics | No comment

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