# Stupid Republican idea of the day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 26, 2009, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897 "2009-03-26T18:48:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 345
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6881 "2012-09-17T16:21:45Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > and yet you’re perfectly placid in the face of [this](http://graphics.latimes.com/2012-election-superpac-spending/). Yes. I don’t want to take away Mitt Romney’s freedom of speech or right to spend money expressing it either. Do you? ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6882 "2012-09-17T21:24:10Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > They are full of snark. Rebecca Schoenkoff (I prolly spelled that wrong) has been a favorite of mine since she was an editor at the Orange County Weekly. Is that Rebecca? OMG, I heart her! I’ve hearted her ever since her days as Commie Girl! (_Schoenkopf_, btw) ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6883 "2012-09-17T21:36:37Z")
> [@AlienVessels](#): > > Half the people are dumber than average. That’s a pretty large voting block and more easily swayed than the upper half. and, as we all know, you just can’t fix stupid 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6884 "2012-09-17T21:55:18Z")
[Romney in secretly-filmed meeting with big donors;](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XnB0NZzl5HA) [QUOTE=Mitt Romney] 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. [/QUOTE] Every time I think Mitt Romney can’t shove his foot deeper into his mouth, he just unhinges his jaw like the snake he is and jams it in a little further. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6885 "2012-09-17T21:59:19Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > They are full of snark. Rebecca Schoenkoff (I prolly spelled that wrong) has been a favorite of mine since she was an editor at the Orange County Weekly. It’s hard to believe that anyone that smart and funny came out of Orange County. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6886 "2012-09-17T22:14:45Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Every time I think Mitt Romney can’t shove his foot deeper into his mouth, he just unhinges his jaw like the snake he is and jams it in a little further. Heh, some stuff the rest of that quoted speech is even better: > [@Mitt Romney](#): > > These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax […] I’ll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives. To be fair, though, while I definitely think this is a stupid thing for Romney or any Republican to **believe** (what, you don’t think **anybody** in that entire one-half of the population you earnestly aspire to govern is pro-Obama for \*\*any[b/] other reason than being a selfish helpless loser? And you think that not making enough money to owe federal income tax automatically makes someone a selfish helpless loser?)—I don’t really see how Romney stuck his foot in his mouth by **saying** it in this context. He was at what he thought was a secret meeting with Republican donors, so he threw them the class-warfare red meat that they expect of him. But I think I did spot a new stupid in that speech: Romney’s conflating the nearly one-half of US **households** that currently pay no federal income tax with the nearly one-half of **likely voters** that are planning to vote for Obama. Since likely voters tend to skew non-poor, there are a lot of Americans out there who **do** pay federal income tax who are planning to vote for Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6887 "2012-09-17T22:29:53Z")
About 1/3rd of folks who pay no income tax are senior citizens who pay no income tax because they make no income anymore. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6888 "2012-09-17T22:39:48Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > About 1/3rd of folks who pay no income tax are senior citizens who pay no income tax because they make no income anymore. Deadbeats! ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6889 "2012-09-17T23:25:40Z")
I pay taxes! I am not a moocher! I am not a victim! I am not a selfish, helpless loser! :mad: This idiot makes me so MAD! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6890 "2012-09-17T23:29:44Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > About 1/3rd of folks who pay no income tax are senior citizens who pay no income tax because they make no income anymore. They don’t pay taxes on SS benefits?? ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6891 "2012-09-17T23:36:25Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > [“[Obama is] the first African American president using the N-word”](http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/09/11/why-did-obama-use-n-word-to-describe-his-grandfather/) > > (I didn’t actually read this hate-filled FoxNews piece; I just thought the construction “Obama is the first African American president to {do anything}” is strange, if not stupid.) eh hem. The construction used, “… the first African American president using the N-word, …”, would commonly be construed as “The man who is the first African American president has used the N-word.” So, I submit that this particular phrase is not strange or stupid. But shouldn’t president be capitalized in this context? > [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > This just in, President Obama said something nasty about his Grandfather in a book published seventeen years ago. Do you think so? I don’t. I think he said something very frank and unflattering about a callow young American. I wonder if he ever decided it was unseemly for a fortunate young man to pass judgment on his grandfather. Can anyone provide the rest of the story? ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6892 "2012-09-17T23:39:26Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I think he said something very frank and unflattering about a callow young American. Who is the callow young American? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6893 "2012-09-17T23:54:27Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > They don’t pay taxes on SS benefits?? Normally, no. People who have additional earnings, sometimes. If your half of your Social Security benefit plus your additional income is more than $25k, then half of your Social Security benefits are taxed. If the combined figure is $35k or more, than up to 80% (I think) of your benefits are taxable (there’s a sliding scale). ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6894 "2012-09-17T23:55:34Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I think he said something very frank and unflattering about a callow young American. I wonder if he ever decided it was unseemly for a fortunate young man to pass judgment on his grandfather. :rolleyes: He wasn’t “passing judgement” on his grandfather. He was describing how learning about his grandfather’s disparagement of black people made him feel angry, “causing ugly words to flash across [his] mind”. In other words, that phrase is not meant as a “judgement” that Obama deliberately formed, but merely as a reflection of his mental state of shock and dismay when he found out something about his grandfather that startled and distressed him. Pretending that this somehow qualifies as Obama’s considered verdict on his grandfather is about as dishonest a piece of partisan bullshit as I have ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6895 "2012-09-18T00:18:31Z")
> [@j666](#): > > But shouldn’t president be capitalized in this context? No, the job title alone is not capitalized. When it’s paired with the job holder it is capitalized, thus “the president” vs “President Obama.” I think that is true, though I may be making it up like most of the grammar and punctuation I use here. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6896 "2012-09-18T00:43:23Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > No, the job title alone is not capitalized. When it’s paired with the job holder it is capitalized, thus “the president” vs “President Obama.” That’s what the Chicago Manual of Style suggests. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6897 "2012-09-18T02:09:58Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Who is the callow young American? Himself. He was very young at the time of the events described, wasn’t he? His grandfather, apparently, had a very hard life. The brief sections quoted sounded like Barrack Obama did not, when he was writing, approve of his attitude toward his grandfather. However, I admit that I have not read the book. I admit political autobiographies don’t appeal to me. Is it a good book? > [@dropzone](#): > > No, the job title alone is not capitalized. When it’s paired with the job holder it is capitalized, thus “the president” vs “President Obama.” > > I think that is true, though I may be making it up like most of the grammar and punctuation I use here. ☹ Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6898 "2012-09-18T02:57:24Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > That’s what the Chicago Manual of Style suggests. As I recall from forty years ago, so did the _AP Stylebook._ It is a book so it should be italicized. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6899 "2012-09-18T05:21:59Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > It’s hard to believe that anyone that smart and funny came out of Orange County. That’s doubtless why she left. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897/6900 "2012-09-18T21:42:18Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > They don’t pay taxes on SS benefits?? If they make enough money outside of social security, they do pay taxes on up to 50% of their SS income. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=344) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupid-republican-idea-of-the-day/490897.md?page=346)