Romney: Obama voters "pay no taxes," "believe they're victims," don't "care for their lives"

UPDATE: Romney campaign appears to stand by Romney's statement that half of America, and all Democrats, are welfare queens. In a statement just released by the Romney campaign, no clarification was given - they simply just reiterated their concerns that too many Americans are sucking at the federal teet.

"Mitt Romney wants to help all Americans struggling in the Obama economy. As the governor has made clear all year, he is concerned about the growing number of people who are dependent on the federal government, including the record number of people who are on food stamps, nearly one in six Americans in poverty, and the 23 million Americans who are struggling to find work. Mitt Romney's plan creates 12 million new jobs in four years, grows the economy and moves Americans off of government dependency and into jobs." – Gail Gitcho, Romney Campaign Communications Director

Actually, what Romney said was that half of Americans suck off the federal teet, and they like it because they're lazy, don't have jobs, and don't want jobs. And "my job is not to worry about those people."

Romney is basically standing by his incredibly offensive statement about half the country.

UPDATE: The Obama campaign has weighed in:

"It’s hard to serve as president for all Americans when you’ve disdainfully written off half the nation.”

And there's video of it (see below).

I've been noticing some folks on Twitter and Facebook not quite getting it. Romney wasn't talking about just "poor people." He was talking about every single Democrat in America. He specifically said he's talking about the 47% of Americans who would support the President no matter what - i.e., Democrats across the board. The only people he's excluding are independents and Republicans.

Romney was suggesting that all Democrats are poor, minority, don't have a job, and don't want one. It was racist, bigoted, and insulting to probably ten different groups of Americans in twenty different ways.  It's bad enough that he thinks minorities are lazy slobs, but to then suggest that the Democratic party is made up 100% of lazy slobs.  It's unbelievably contemptuous.

Great find from David Corn at Mother Jones, and there's video. This is from earlier this year, and was secretly recorded at a Romney big money fundraiser.

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.

Romney went on: "[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 pay my taxes, you jerk.  Have you paid yours?  What an incredibly obnoxious thing to say by a man who refuses to release his own tax returns when insiders are claiming that he hasn't paid taxes in ten years.

What a pompous, arrogant, elitist, jerk.

And there's video.



UPDATE: Reader Carl Kerstann weighs in in the comments:

I was supporting the Green Party but after coughing up a much higher tax rate than Romney pays this comment really ticked me off. This ass cannont be allowed to win, go Obama.