Steven Senne/AP Photo
Mitt Romney speaking at Fenway Park baseball stadium in Boston on Monday.
A Wall Street Journal reporter standing on a public sidewalk outside a Mitt Romney fundraiser last night overheard Mitt's not-meant-for-public-consumption speech. Among the details:
He also... warned that unions would funnel dues to Mr. Obama's reelection campaign. "The unions will put in hundreds of millions of dollars," Mr. Romney said. "There's nothing like it on our side," he said...
Yes, unions will donate "hundreds of millions of dollars" — assuming they don't do what they've done in the past or Jeffrey Katzenberg joins a bricklayers union. According to OpenSecrets.org, union PACs contributed this much to Democrats in the last three presidential election year campaign cycles:
- $66,954,390 in 2007-2008
- $52,356,714 in 2003-2004
- $54,188,941 in 1999-2000
Considering union membership is at historic lows, don't expect union PACs to contribute the over $200 million Mitt suggests. Regarding something else Mitt said:
"There's nothing like it on our side," he said...
Sure, Republicans have literally "nothing like" union PACs. Yes, they have business PACs, but they're different in that they have more money. It's like comparing apples to an orange whose 8-year-old son owns a bag of golf clubs.
In the last three presidential election year campaign cycles, business PAC contributions outpaced union PAC contributions by a ratio of about 4:1. Here is where that money went:
- 49% Dem, 51% Rep in 2007-2008
- 34% Dem, 66% Rep in 2003-2004
- 35% Dem, 64% Rep in 1999-2000
So it's safe to say business PACs contribute far more than union PACs, and business PACs tend to contribute Republican. I guess what I'm saying is: if you're sitting under a large white tent at a $50,000-per-person fundraising dinner in the backyard of lakefront estate in Palm Beach and Mitt Romney tells you "there's nothing like [unions] on our side," you might want to take in your surroundings.
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Mitt's more important disclosure this weekend came at a private fundraiser wherein he said that if elected he would move to eliminate HUD, the Govt agency that provides rent subsidies for the poor, elderly and disabled, in so doing potentially tossing tens of thousands of vulnerable people out into the street.
Yep, those proposals would be real job creators... Why, it would get all those lazy disabled sorts off their duffs and going to work at all the jobs at.... Well he hasn't thought that far ahead yet, of course... Bad news for Mitt: Wal-Mart has eliminated its "greeter" positions... Gonna have to re-think my retirement options after that one, I guess... Or just keep on driving the way one old guy (nicknamed "Rocket") does at one of the cab companies here... Fortunately, most of his passengers are too drunk to be terrified...
It's hard to decide whether this is a Romney "Let them eat cake" moment or simply another "I like shoe leather" statement...
Somebody cue up Stepehn Colbert...
C'mon people
We do not need, we do not want Romney as POTUS - The commander in chief ran away to France to skip his Vietnam call up.
Vote for a true Patriot, a real gentleman, a conservative and evangelical Christian (No not Santorum!!')
Support Ron Paul
C'mon MSM, Lawrence and co - lets see some real reporting for once.
Romney can still lose - lets make it happen!
I think it's cute the way you memorialize the bandleader of the Titanic with this one and honor the anniversary of its sinking...
Seriously, the only Titanic I see is Romney's campaign - mind you - he won't go down with the ship.
Hey Loony, I mean Larry, if you are going to try to divert people attention from the unions to Wall Street you should tell the whole true, instead of some of the truth. Wall Street gave President Obama huge sums of campaign donations for 2008. Its funny because this year that donation group has backed off a bit.
I wonder why.
Hey chemicaldependency, they gave him money in 2008 because they thought it would buy themselves a seat at the table, after they saw that the McCain campaign was headed for disaster when he selected that nitwit Palin as a running mate. Now that they think they have a new candidate (Rawmoney) to back their fascist agenda I'm sure he will get all the money. Until it becomes clear he will lose too.