IB Madison Blogs / Left Business Brain / October 2012 / The 7 most weirdly out-of-touch Romney/Ryan quotes

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Oct 15, 201207:30 AMLeft Business Brain

with Tom Breuer

The 7 most weirdly out-of-touch Romney/Ryan quotes

Other than that famous 47% comment, of course. Indeed, in the vice presidential debate on Thursday, Joe Biden did what President Obama was either too genteel or too sleepy to do: He took Mitt Romney to task over that infamous unguarded moment in which the GOP nom basically called half the country parasites. For his part, Paul Ryan countered that Romney cares about 100% of the country. And he’s probably right. Hey, if I had a tapeworm, I’d be concerned about it too.

Unfortunately, what Romney and Ryan say now about the famed 47% is irrelevant. Romney’s mean-spirited jibe revealed the candidate’s true feelings. It should disqualify him from consideration, but he fights on, promising a brighter future and a fair shake for all of hobo-kind.

But this isn’t the first time Romney’s stumbled into one of these startling, release-the-hounds moments. That wacky plutocrat inside him is like an ADHD kid who’s had too much Boo Berry and Cognac and just can’t wait to burst out and tell everyone how awesome he is and how stupid the rest of the country is for not perfecting the art of the leveraged buyout.

So, as the election cycle winds down, it’s long past time to highlight seven of the most out-of-touch Romney and Ryan quotes, with the most recent – and arguably most appalling – first:

1. “We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you have your heart attack.’ No, you go to the hospital, you get treated, you get care, and it’s paid for, either by charity, the government or by the hospital. We don’t have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don’t have insurance.”  – Mitt Romney, in a recent interview with The Columbus Dispatch

Oh, so it doesn’t actually matter if millions of Americans have no health insurance? Never mind then. Crisis averted.

Putting aside for the moment the fact that there’s a huge cost associated with treating the uninsured in emergency rooms, is Romney really telling us that the status quo is just fine? Hey, don’t worry if you’ve lost your health insurance. The government is here to help – so long as your cancer has advanced to the point where you can reasonably demonstrate that you’re comatose.

2. “I like those fancy raincoats you bought. Really sprung for the big bucks.” – Romney, during a February Florida appearance

Of course, it goes without saying that if you’re trying to make common cause with NASCAR fans in their ongoing struggle against the dark forces of homo, you probably shouldn’t talk like Truman Capote at the tail end of a four-day Tanqueray bender.

While Mitt’s quote about having “some great friends that are NASCAR team owners” is more famous, the above laugh line, delivered to a group of NASCAR fans wearing cheap plastic ponchos, is perhaps more telling. And, dare I say, even funnier.

3. “I get speakers fees from time to time, but not very much.” – Romney, when asked in January what his effective tax rate was

So, in Romneyland, how much is “not very much”? Answer: $374,327. That’s how much Mitt earned in speakers fees from February 2010 to February 2011. For getting up at a podium a few times a year and making fun of people’s clothes. Just to put it in perspective, that’s enough to buy 748,654 needy NASCAR fans rain ponchos from Dollar Tree, ensuring that they don’t get soaked while Mitt Romney condescends to them and lets them know that if they get pneumonia, they can just wait a couple months until they’re near death and then hitch a free ride to the emergency room.

4. “I should tell my story. I’m also unemployed.” – Romney, whose net worth is estimated at $250 million, to a group of out-of-work Floridians. (He made his money through leveraged buyouts, not in stand-up comedy.)

5. “Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs, actually.” – Romney, during a February Michigan appearance

It’s an oldie but a goodie, and thus bears repeating. So Romney’s wife has two Cadillacs. What does that prove? Just that Mitt’s a really rich guy. But he didn’t say this to a couple of country-club swells over 4 o’clock cocktails. He said it during an appearance in Detroit while trying to court autoworkers. And as a Mormon, he was presumably stone cold sober. If he can say something so asinine in a casual moment on the campaign trail, what’s he going to say in a crisis when the pressure is really on?

6. “I’m very proud of my pro-life record, and I’ve always adopted the idea that, the position that the method of conception doesn’t change the definition of life.” – Paul Ryan, during an August interview with a Virginia TV station

Method of conception? He’s talking about rape and/or incest, kids. Don’t be fooled. In Paul Ryan’s utopia, a 13-year-old girl who is raped by her uncle and tragically becomes pregnant as a result would be forced to carry that child to term or be labeled a depraved murderer forevermore. Hate to be so crass and indelicate, but that’s what the dude thinks.

7. “I grew up reading Ayn Rand, and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and what my value systems are and what my beliefs are. It’s inspired me so much that it’s required reading in my office for all my interns and my staff.” – Ryan, in a 2005 speech

And now, here’s an Ayn Rand quote, from one of her books:

“Make no mistake about it – and tell it to your Republican friends: capitalism and altruism cannot coexist in the same man or in the same society.”

So, Paul, tell us again about your unshakable Christian values and plans to save Medicare?

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