I’m pretty sure the 47% figure means those collecting government checks.
That means the most republican age group, the over 65s.
The military, retired military, and many others.
PING - I know you found this elsewhere...
Not necessarily. The statement is carefully worded. It's not referring to "people who are getting government checks", but to people "who will vote for the president" and/or "who are dependent on government" (which doesn't necessarily mean getting an entitlement check -- but includes government employees, etc.)
"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what," Romney is shown saying. "All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government...
Further, by context, Romney is clearly excluding anybody who is without a sense of government dependency -- which would include most social security and military retirement recipients.
He is instead referring to a dependent mentality...
“There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what.”
“[M]y job is is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”
I could be missing something, but I’m not seeing this as a disaster or anything. The media will try to rip him no matter what he says, but...
IF you’re an unmovable Obama voter, and you’re insulted by Romney’s remark, it doesn’t matter. Because you were never going to vote for him anyway (much of my family are these people, sadly). Could it up Obama’s base turnout? Meh. - don’t think so.
But if you’re a “gettable” independent who either has a job or desperately wants one, you’re just going to assume Romney isn’t talking about you. The 47% is someone else.
Not sure why an undecided would use this statement to orient them in such a fashion to be more likely to vote for Obama. If you have a scintilla of self-reliance and think the government is too intrusive (a majority still think so), why vote for Obama and deliberately align yourself with those other guys who are voting to keep the DC gravy train rolling? If you work for a living (or WANT to) you vote for Romney to show that you’re still one of those people that wants less government, not more. Why, out of spite, would you vote for Obama and align yourself with the people Romney’s talking about?
It’s almost like it’s a reverse psychology thing. “Prove you’re not a leech and vote Republican.”
Again, the average undecided voter will NEVER think Romney is talking about them when they think of the 47% in their heads. It’s always some other guy.
It means those who are not paying federal income taxes. Many of those are paying Social Security taxes, however.
That means the most republican age group, the over 65s.
They may be getting Social Security, but a lot of them make enough money to owe income taxes. And they also are pissed that Zero raided Medicare to help pay for his Obamacare mess.
The military, retired military, and many others.
Their pensions hardly count as welfare. Also, a lot of them make enough to be paying income taxes.