Be careful, Mitt!

Some of that 47% is on your side.

Most of us know what Mitt was trying to say, but the mainstream media loves to spin any comment made by a conservative to portray us as out-of-touch and indifferent to poverty and suffering.

Are there any conservatives out there who don’t know what they say about us?  Any who don’t know how to answer the loaded questions they always ask conservatives?  Any at all?

(Besides you, Mr. Akin.)

Right now, my only concern is that Mitt Romney knows how to answer the inevitable question they’ll put to him tonight and it goes something like this: “Mr. Romney, did you intend to insult 47% of the American people?”  It’s the “Have you stopped beating your wife?” question.  The way it’s phrased leaves no good answer.

Romney must not allow the leftist moderators to get away with it during tonight’s all-important debate.  Swing state voters will be listening.  And some of the people who might vote for him are part of the 47% currently receiving some kind of government assistance.   Romney needs to make it clear that he understands the resentment of the American people who are forced to fund entitlement programs that are being exploited by ingrates.  But he also needs to make it clear that he understands that not all of the people on assistance intend to make it a way of life.

Both Republicans and Democrats do what seems to belong to the other side.  Republicans collect unemployment benefits.  Democrats copyright their intellectual property.  Republicans collect Social Security/Disability.  Democrats try to keep their tax bill to a minimum.

Several members of my tea party group are now or have in the past collected unemployment benefits.  Some are retired and collecting Social Security.  In this economy, some may even be collecting food stamps, though they’re probably too ashamed to say so.  Most of us have worked throughout our adult lives and had the money to fund these programs taken out of our paychecks.  So when it’s time for us to retire or we’re involuntarily unemployed, we collect.

The difference between us and the people Romney was talking about is that conservatives either paid into it all our working lives (as in the case of Social Security and Medicare) or it’s only available to those who have worked (Unemployment Insurance).  We do not seek to collect any benefit to which we are not morally entitled.

The people Romney was talking about will sign up for anything available whether or not they have “paid into it” by working.  They are not all poor people.  What Romney was talking about was people with an attitude of entitlement.  Due to my work, I know dozens of young men and women who have most or all of their living expenses paid by their affluent parents, but still sign up for General Relief and food stamps so they can have a little extra spending money.  They don’t have jobs, so by the rules of these programs, they qualify, but they never ask themselves if they are morally entitled to what they are receiving.

Conservatives also make judgments about the design of benefit programs, asking if they result in their stated goals.  Does the program reduce poverty or enable irresponsible behavior?  Conservatives and swing voters with common sense understand that if you subsidize something, you will get more of it.  If you tax something, you will get less of it.

Finally, conservatives question the constitutionality of entitlement programs.  Is there anything in the US Constitution about Congress being responsible for well-baby visits and Sandra Fluke’s contraception?  Reimbursing doctors for attending to the health care needs of citizens?  No?  Then it might be something a State can do.  Whether or not the State should do so is another matter.

Responsible Americans want to reduce dependency on the government by promoting policies that will encourage people to work.  Responsible Americans want to work, pay their own way, and therefore direct the course of their lives.

We’re counting on you, Mitt.

Written by Cynthia Toordeman

Ann-Marie Murrell

Ann-Marie Murrell is one of the creators of PolitiChicks and co-owns the site with Morgan Brittany. Ann-Marie is co-author of two bestselling books, “What Women (Really) Want” and "PolitiChicks: A Clarion Call to Political Activism". She has appeared on dozens of television shows including Fox & Friends, CNN, Hannity, the Dr. Phil Show, Huckabee, Lou Dobbs, C-SPAN, One America News, Stuart Varney & Company, Newsmax, MSNBC, and more. In addition to PolitiChicks, Ann-Marie has written for multiple other news sites. You can find Ann-Marie Murrell on Facebook and Twitter: @PolitichickAM E-mail: thepolitichicks@gmail.com

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