This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Last year, Gov. Mitt Romney earned $14 million, the year that he once joked that he was "unemployed." He made $14 million without even having a job! He made it from investments that he didn't even manage. (They're in a trust.)
Contrast that to a single mother who works at Target. Not only does she not earn enough to pay federal income tax, she is allowed to take the Earned Income Tax Credit that refunds her extra money. (That's "redistribution," which Romney's against, even though the Earned Income Tax Credit has been a favorite of Republicans for years because it helps the "working poor.") Additionally, her children get government health insurance.
Yet this hard-working woman is one of the 47 percent of Americans who Romney told fat rich donors — who also live off investments — doesn't take personal responsibility for her life and can't be persuaded to do so.
Romney has it backwards. He is the one who doesn't have to take personal responsibility for earning money anymore.
I'm not against people being rich, but I hate it when they talk like others aren't working hard, and certainly not hard like them.
Rob Douglas
Salt Lake City