The Beltway Snobbery of Hilary Rosen's Attack on Ann Romney

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The engineered hysteria over the alleged anti-stay-at-home-mom meaning of Rosen's remark indicates the terror the Right has of the middle class's noticing that the Right both started and is winning the economic war. Rosen's only error was to portray moms as not working, which was stupidly put but everybody knows perfectly well what she meant. Mrs. Romney may very well be vastly educated about the trials of being a lower middle class or working class mother, but how can anyone pretend she has first hand experience? Maybe she has second-hand experience. Does she have relatives or old grade school friends in the dire straits of unemployment, underemployment, a health related bankruptcy, a foreclosure. homelessness? Great, let's hear about it! Then of course, we get to ask why Mitt wants to cut so many of the programs that help the poor, whom his wife has such deep sympathy.

D of CA 5:22PM April 16, 2012

If lower tax rates ,on the top earners,worked all the wonders that some people claimed,the economy would be in great shape.
Then for a certian poster to praise president hoover as a great fiscal guru is
beyond absurd,it's laughable.

bruce b of NV 1:19PM April 16, 2012

Before condemning Ms. Rosen and defending poor Ms. Romney's honor, try looking at the main point of Ms. Rosen's argument:
Mr. Romney has said on more than one occasion that his wife has given him great feedback regarding the dire situation for women in our country today and specifically the economic pain they are feeling. She is his "touchstone" for this issue. Ms. Rosen makes the point that Ms. Romney is perhaps not the best choice for relaying the economic pain of American women to her Presidential hopeful husband when she has neither been a part of a past or present workforce nor suffered in any meaningful way the hardships brought on by the economic malaise of the past 4+ years.

Joel Berger of GA 1:14PM April 16, 2012

amyd of OH
We have a President handing out favors to Buffet and G. Soros. I can provide evidence but why. You don't.
Means little reason for folks to listen to either of us on these matters...

Bill Hedges of MO 1:08PM April 16, 2012

Conflict of interests- Clark is Koch sucker. His Chair position is at Pacific Research- a Koch funded group that tries perpetuate lies about climate change to benefit his big Kochs.

amyd of OH 12:53PM April 16, 2012

Yesterdays Wine of NY _ You have a Phd ???
You insult and BLOW YOUR WADE in one comment. Guy writing my article DOES HAVE Phd.
There were tax cuts for rich in the 60's as well as in 20's helping the 30's:
1. "The tax cuts of the 1920s"
"Tax rates were slashed dramatically during the 1920s, dropping from over 70 percent to less than 25 percent. What happened? Personal income tax revenues increased substantially during the 1920s, despite the reduction in rates. Revenues rose from $719 million in 1921 to $1164 million in 1928, an increase of more than 61 percent."
2. "The Kennedy tax cuts"
"President Hoover dramatically increased tax rates in the 1930s and President Roosevelt compounded the damage by pushing marginal tax rates to more than 90 percent. Recognizing that high tax rates were hindering the economy, President Kennedy proposed across-the-board tax rate reductions that reduced the top tax rate from more than 90 percent down to 70 percent. What happened? Tax revenues climbed from $94 billion in 1961 to $153 billion in 1968, an increase of 62 percent (33 percent after adjusting for inflation)."
http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2003/08/the-historical-lessons-of-lower-tax-rates

Bill Hedges of MO 6:13PM April 15, 2012

It's wonderful how many career-oriented individuals with illustrious titles look down on those who commit full-time to motherhood. Your hot-shot skills of using Excel, making Powerpoint presentations and attending meetings, while getting paid, is deserving of such great respect.

Ken Danagger of PA 4:05PM April 15, 2012

Romney is a liar
it's just been reported that the treasury secretary announced that the claim by Romney that the recession hit women hardest was complete fiction. Romney lied. I guess Newt Gongrich was right about him being a liar. He is nothing but an etch-sketch.

Whataliar of CO 3:54PM April 15, 2012

Great, a 9th grade economic analysis of a doctoral level set of problems. Explain the growth of the 1950s and 60s, explain even the growth of the late 1930s, all times when tax rates were MUCH higher for the rich.
The problem with radicals on the right is they think they're the only ones who have an education - or common sense. The party of No, the party of Know-Nothings.
And we're all so sorry for your wife being snubbed. No there's a great basis for proposing and critiquing policy.

Yesterdays Wine of NY 3:31PM April 15, 2012

Good for Ann that she did not have to work. All parents raising children with or without jobs is hard work. For outside working mothers they work and raise children. The working mother vs the stay at home mother has been proven many times to not have an impact on the children overall. In fact, children with mothers who work outside the home tend to show a tad better at adapting. Good for Ann that she did not have to work. Good for working mothers. Does that mean Ann is relatable to the average woman today? Most likely not. Stats show the majority of women work outside the home today.

Debbie of CA 1:41PM April 15, 2012