In advance of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's campaign stops in Ohio this week, President Barack Obama's reelection campaign is taking to the airwaves, hitting Romney on remarks seen as disparaging of many Americans.
The Romney remarks, from a campaign fundraiser in Florida, were secretly taped and released by liberal magazine Mother Jones last week.
In the remarks, Romney is shown saying that 47 percent of Americans "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."
He added, "And so my job is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."
The Obama ad, entitled "No Taxes" is aimed at contrasting Romney's remarks with continued questions Democrats are raising about Romney's taxes.
"Mitt Romney attacked 47 percent of Americans who pay no income tax-- including veterans, elderly, the disabled," the narrator of the ad says. "Doesn't the President have to worry about everyone?"
The ad goes on to note that Romney, in tax filings released late last week, paid a much lower tax rate on his earnings than most Americans.
"Mitt Romney paid just 14.1% in taxes last year. … He keeps millions in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands," the narrator says. "He won't release his tax returns before 2010."
The ad adds, "Maybe instead of attacking others on taxes… Romney should come clean on his."
The Obama campaign press release announcing the ad did not specify how much money the campaign intends to put behind the spot, nor did the campaign provide any indication of how long they plan to keep the ad on the air.
by RTT Staff Writer
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