A day that was supposed to see Mitt Romney reboot his faltering presidential campaign ended in disarray last night, after he was caught telling a room full of wealthy donors “my job is not to worry” about attempting to appeal to poor people.
Hidden camera footage of the event, said to be a dinner attended by 30 of the Republican candidate's biggest fundraisers, saw him dismiss 47 per cent of Americans as freeloaders who "pay no income tax" and behave like "victims".
To view the video of Mitt Romney click HERE
Speaking in what appeared to be a hotel function room, Romney claimed that the overwhelming majority of voters who support Barack Obama's do so because they are "dependent" on government and "believe they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing".
"There are 47 per cent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what, all right?" he said. "There are 47 per cent who are with him, who are dependant 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."
"They will vote for this President no matter what," he continued. "These are people who pay no income tax... My job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
The remarks are remarkable since Mr Romney gives few interviews and is usually highly scripted. At one point, he joked that he'd have more chance of winning the election if his father had been born in Mexico. At another, he spoke of being born "with a silver spoon". In a third, he admitted that the campaign would use his wife Ann "sparingly, so people don't get tired of her".
After being shared on the left-leaning Mother Jones website, videos of the event rapidly went viral last night. Mr Romney's spokesman did not initially comment, but Obama's campaign pounced on them as further evidence of Mr Romney's elitism.
"It's shocking that a candidate for President of the United States would go behind closed doors and declare to a group of wealthy donors that half the American people view themselves as 'victims,' entitled to handouts, and are unwilling to take 'personal responsibility' for their lives," they said. "It's hard to serve as President for all Americans when you've disdainfully written off half the nation."
It was too early to say how the comments will effect voter sentiment. But the portion of Americans who do not pay income tax includes many elderly voters, most students, and the vast majority of the recently unemployed. They pay plenty of other taxes, and may now think twice about supporting a candidate who dubs them "freeloaders".
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DHS Purchases 200 Million More Rounds of Ammunition
Additional purchase includes bullets designated for snipers
Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Following controversy over its purchase of around 1.2 billion bullets in the last six months alone, the Department of Homeland Security has put out a new solicitation for over 200 million more rounds of ammunition, some of which are designated to be used by snipers.
A series of new solicitations posted on the FedBizOpps website show that the DHS is looking to purchase 200 million rounds of .223 rifle ammunition over the next four years, as well as 176,000 rounds of .308 caliber 168 grain hollow point boat tail (HPBT) rounds in addition to 25,000 rounds of blank .308 caliber bullets.
As James Smith over at the Prepper Podcast website highlights, “It is the type of ammunition and not necessarily the quantity that is troubling.”
Smith points out that the DHS’ acquisition of .308 rounds is of concern because they are set to be used by well-trained snipers.
“All of the sniper grade ammunition is being used by trained, or in-the-process-of-being-trained snipers,” writes Smith, noting that the math adds up to 135,384 potential kills for the snipers to make, using the 176,000 rounds of ammunition, basing the figures on the fact that United States Army and Marine Corps snipers in the Vietnam War expended 1.3 rounds of ammunition for each claimed and verified kill.
As this police training website documents, .308 caliber 168 grain bullets are the ammunition of choice for experienced law enforcement snipers.
The number of bullets purchased by the DHS now adds up to a staggering 1.4 billion over the last six months alone. Although all those bullets won’t be delivered at once, the DHS’ commitment to purchasing such an arsenal of ammo is both worrying and ironic given that Americans are being harassed and treated with suspicion for buying a couple of boxes of ammo at their local gun store.
Following a barrage of questions about why the federal agency has purchased so many bullets, the DHS has refused to respond and even gone to the lengths of censoring information relating to solicitations for ammunition.
The DHS’ decision back in March to purchase of 450 million rounds of .40-caliber hollow point bullets that are designed to expand upon entry and cause maximum organ damage prompted questions as to why the federal agency required such powerful bullets and in such large quantities merely for training purposes.
This was followed up by a more recent order for a further 750 million rounds of assorted ammunition, including bullets that can penetrate walls.
The mainstream media responded to the controversy by focusing on a purchase of 174,000 bullets by the Social Security Administration while completely ignoring the fact that the DHS had purchased well over a billion rounds.
Although the Associated Press and other media outlets dismissed concerns over the federal government purchasing large quantities of ammunition as paranoia, the fact that the DHS is preparing for civil unrest cannot be denied.
Having recently acquired riot gear, the DHS also purchased a number of bullet-proof checkpoint booths that include ‘stop and go’ lights.
Last year, Department of Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano directed ICE to prepare for a mass influx of immigrants into the United States, calling for the plan to deal with the “shelter” and “processing” of large numbers of people.
The U.S. Army has also been preparing for domestic disorder.
A recently leaked US Army Military Police training manual for “Civil Disturbance Operations” outlines how military assets are to be used domestically to quell riots, confiscate firearms and even kill Americans on U.S. soil during mass civil unrest.
On page 20 of the manual, rules regarding the use of “deadly force” in confronting “dissidents” are made disturbingly clear with the directive that a, “Warning shot will not be fired.”
The manual includes lists of weapons to be used against “rioters” or “demonstrators,” including “antiriot grenades.” It also advises troops to carry their guns in the “safe port arms” stance, a psychological tactic aimed at “making a show of force before rioters.” Non-lethal weapons and water cannons are also included.