Fact-Checking Ann & Mitt Romney's Early Hardknock Years

[Ilsa]

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/08/fact-checking-ann-and-mitt-romneys-hardknock-early-years/56321/

This is a comparison of what Queen Ann said in an interview in 1994 and what she has said recently. Yes, it contains the fact that Mitt never had to work his way through college, since all he had to do was sell stock a little at a time to pay their expenses.

I hope this gets mentioned in a speech tonight or tomorrow.

[napkinz]

1. Hard times ...

[HiPointDem]

5. ann's idea of 'struggling students' is a lot different from most people's. they paid for their

college years with the equivalent of a trust fund, & neither of them worked.

plus mitt's connections meant guaranteed job after graduation.

hard times, boy, hard times.

[upi402]

2. Romney's a Flip flopper and a liar

They will accuse Obama of that next, since it's what he's guilty of.
Runs in the conservative family, it seems.

[napkinz]

3. it's so sad

[Care Acutely]

4. What I found most insulting

Was her comment to the effect of "You have to understand - I came from a lovely neighborhood, and so did Mitt."

I grew up in a four room house. My parents paid $47 dollars a month on Dad's GI bill mortgage. I thought our neighborhood was LOVELY.

We kept our yard neat and clean. When the city forced us to install a sidewalk, Dad taught his 9 year-old girl how to dig it out, mark it off, pack the sand, and then mix, spread and finish cement. And when it snowed, we kept that neat and clean too. When I wanted to grow some flowers in front of the house, Mom took me to the public park, and we picked a few of the "dead-head" flower heads gone to seed and we planted those. I mowed the lawn. We didn't have air conditioning, but Dad made us a swamp cooler out of an old radiator. We had one 14" black and white TV.

We didn't have any rich-daddy gift of stock to sell off, but you know what? We did NOT, as apparently Mitt and Ann did, feel sorry for ourselves. We did not feel like we were "less than." While we always worked for more, we did not feel like our home, our neighborhood and our neighbors were below us.

Thanks to Presidents Clinton and Obama, at mid-life I found I was able to go back to school and move my family forward.

Forward. Yes, I like that word. Let's keep moving that way.

You go ahead and eat that cake Ann. I'm voting for Obama, and I'm PROUD of it, because he understands that poor people are lovely too. He understands that rising tides lift all boats and when you shore up the foundation, the whole house sits a little taller and most certainly stronger.

[HiPointDem]

6. what was the implication -- that because she came from a lovely neighborhood, living in an

apartment (or whatever) during college was some kind of terrible comedown?

[Care Acutely]

9. She and the Mittman were forced to attend college while living in a *gasp*

basement apartment. They didn't have to actually work mind you, but apparently it was just like digging ditches on a chain gang as far as Anne was concerned. They couldn't entertain, and sometimes ate tuna . .. . that came from a CAN.

[HiPointDem]

10. lol. how dreadful for them.

[jsmirman]

8. Great post

I find her repulsive.

I find him disturbing.

[Ilsa]

11. I wish I could Rec your reply. It was awesome.

I had siblings, a SAHMom, and we were poor. But I got some scholarship help for college and worked 20-30 hours a week, and got a good degree.

Ann Romney is a pathetic person who believes that materialism is the measure of a good life. And the rest of us are "less-than" people. Shame on her.

[Care Acutely]

12. I think I'll make it an OP sometime soon.

A little busy for that tonight though. Still in graduate school, and working against a deadline right now!

[LynneSin]

7. I know millions of students who would love to go to college and not have to work 1-3 jobs

Many kids these days have to take on 1-3 extra jobs while attending school fulltime just to make the ends meet.

Wouldn't we all love a trust fund that could have helped us thru 4 years of college.