I'll leave it to others to detail all the factual errors in Mitt Romney's "47 percent" remarks. (David Brooks did a very good one in today's New York Times. http://tinyurl.com/...)
I just want to point out that, given Romney's description of the people who are "with [Obama]" the percentage is much higher than 47 percent.
Indeed, the portion of Americans "who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it" and "That that's an entitlement [a]nd the government should give it to them" is closer to 100 percent. In fact, probably everyone in the room where he was talking -- including Romney himself -- falls into that group.
So -- based on Mitt's reasoning -- they should all be voting for Obama
An entitlement is a benefit that people can get if they meet certain requirements set out in a law. When most people here about government "entitlements" they usually think about direct government payments, like Social Security. However, it is important to remember that, in the US (unlike European countries) a great many subsidies are handled under the tax code, so that instead of direct payments, recipients receive the benefits in the form of tax savings.
Moreover, a benefit is a benefit, whether it comes in the form of a check or a break on one's taxes. And both types of benefits cost the government money. Whether a store sells you a widget for $10 and gives you a rebate for $5, or sells you the widget at 50% off, the store gets only $5. The same principal applies to the government. Whether you are entitled to a direct payment or entitled to a tax break, the effect on the government's bottom line is the same.
So let's go through Mitt's list of things American's believe they are entitled to:
1) health care: the government subsidizes almost everyone's health care, not only through Medicare, Medicaid, and the VA, but by giving employers a tax deduction for what they pay for employees' insurance, and to individuals via the (regressive) Health Spending Account program.
2) Food: Besides food stamps and school lunches for low income families, the government pays for food for the military; it also subsidizes the cost of expensive meals for people like venture capitalists by letting them deduct these meals as business expenses.
3) Housing: The government pays directly for the housing of the military; it also subsidizes housing for poor people and the elderly, and subsidizes housing of the many elderly who depend on Medicaid to pay for nursing homes. Most of all, the government subsidizes the housing of homeowners by giving them an income tax deduction for the cost of mortgage interest and property taxes. This is a huge cost to the government and is a regressive program because higher income taxpayers benefit more from it.
4) "You-name-it": This, obviously, includes benefits to people who get most of their income from investments. These people are entitled to pay a lower percentage of their income in taxes; they can also choose investments that are tax free, move income abroad to avoid taxes, and carry losses over years to lower their tax bills. Of course, federal subsidies to energy companies fall under this category too.
The gist of what Romney said was that anyone who is entitled to a benefit from the Federal government and takes that benefit isn't taking responsibility for themselves. And, because they are getting benefits from the Federal government, they will vote for Obama. Surely that includes the Koch brothers, who get energy subsidies and tax deductions for charitable contributions.
Probably the Kochs won't figure that out by Election Day. Nonetheless things are looking good for the President.