Up North Progressive

Now that 2016 presidential candidates are for sure definitely making noise that they’re seriously considering the potential for a possible run for the White House maybe, the juicy quotes are already appearing. Of course, one of the best of the quote droppers from 2012 was Willard “Mitt” Romney.

His new angle to get people talking about him in 2016 is to expose the plight of the poor in the United States. Yes, he’s serious. No, this is not something from The Onion. It came from his own mouth:

Under President Obama, the rich have gotten richer, income inequality is getting worse.

This is quite a turn around from what he said only a few short years ago:

“You know, I think it’s about envy. I think it’s about class warfare,” the leading Republican presidential candidate said Wednesday on The Today Show.

When asked if there are any fair questions about wealth distribution, Romney replied, “It’s fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and discussions about tax policy and the like.”

Romney has accused President Obama of promoting the “bitter politics of envy.” The president is ramping up his talks about the nation’s growing income divide and the shrinking of the middle class. He is focusing on the tax benefits afforded to millionaires and executives.

Romney, who is one of those millionaires, is taking a different path. He says he’s distancing himself from what he calls “a very envy-oriented, attack-oriented approach.”

Instead, he is talking about making America a merit-based society, rather than an entitlement society.

“I believe in a merit nation, an opportunity nation where people by virtue of their education, their hard work and risk taking and their dreams — may be a little luck — could achieve great things,” he said Thursday at a campaign rally in Florida.

And that’s what he said about the poor on the record. Never forget what he said when he was in one of those “quiet rooms.”

It’s odd to see Mitt Romney of all people use a populist angle to stir interest in his campaign. Four years ago it was Newt Gingrich who pulled out the stops on Romney with a 30 minute video about his time as vulture capitalist CEO of Bain Capital. Romney produced lots of poverty all by himself buying, bankrupting, and liquidating many successful American companies at taxpayer expense. Or perhaps he has so much experience creating poverty, he believes he knows how to fix it. He has no idea what being poor actually is. He was born into wealth, power and privilege and always lived a life of comfort. Four years ago he told poor people all they had to do was work hard, stop taking handouts and they too would enjoy the American Dream, just like him. Now … he wants to help poor people.

In the words of another politician from the 2012 election, “Please proceed, Governor.”