Rendell slams Romney's Philly visit and "47%" comments
Former Gov. Ed Rendell held a news conference concurrent with the fund-raiser, saying the former Massachusetts governor's comments about the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income tax -- secretly recorded at a Florida fund-raiser earlier this year -- provide a "chance to look deep into "Gov. Romney's soul."
Rendell slams Romney's Philly visit and "47%" comments
Chris Brennan
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney just wrapped up a private fund-raiser at the Union League -- his campaign declined to allow the Daily News to attend -- and is headed now to Valley Forge Military Academy & College for a public rally.
Protesters from Philly for Change and other organizations rallied outside the Union League, where Romney contributors chipped in between $25,000 and $2,500 per person. The Romney campaign hopes to raise $3.5 million to $4 million in Philly.
Former Gov. Ed Rendell held a news conference concurrent with the fund-raiser, saying the former Massachusetts governor's comments about the 47 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income tax -- secretly recorded at a Florida fund-raiser earlier this year -- provide a "chance to look deep into "Gov. Romney's soul."
Rendell said many of the people in the 47 percent are retired, disabled veterans or work jobs that don't pay enough to require federal income tax payments.
"It's a view of Gov. Romney's perception of America," Rendell said. "And it's dead wrong."
Rendell, who now serves as a political analyst for MSNBC, said it was "premature" for Romney to write off his chances of winning Pennsylvania. Romney, who trails President Obama by an average of 8 points when seven recent polls are considered, is not running campaign ads in Pennsylvania.
"I think they should invest in Pennsylvania," Rendell said of Romney's campaign. "Right now, where they are in the polls in other battleground states they might as well come back in Pennsylvania and play. But we're ready if they do."
Rendell is about 2 weeks late with his "outrage".— LouDiamondPhillipsheadScrewdriver- Romney's disdain for seniors, veterans, families with $50,000 income is still engraved in his soul.
It is not late to expose the dark soul of Romney. Romney has a corrupt soul.— Seed - This comment has been deleted.— Frank Furter
- The real fact check is to say that, not 47%, but 97% of us have paid no income tax at one time or another. Remember your first job? I'll bet you got all of your federal taxes back too, just like the rest of us. The reason that we're in a much better position than Europe is that we didn't embrace the crazy right wing austerity measures that those countries did. Electing Romney would surely lead us right down the same path as Greece and Spain.
- Right, Rendell gets $250,000 per year from the big law firm for doing nothing, but claims it on his income tax and all is well. How many city (when he was mayor) and state (when he was governor) did this law firm get by paying him this money. Same law firm paid Fumo $1 million for doing nothing too!. You can look it up!— TheGuyfromPhilly
- Who cares. Romney was born with more than that stuffed into his diapers, and hides way more than that off shore to avoid paying his fair share of taxes.
- Prove that he does nothing, you have baseless claims. I'm sure McDonalds pays you to do nothing as well. — Kmonster
- Fast Eddie...shut up and go away, please. You bankrupted Pennsylvania, so spare the rest of the country, ok? Your man Obama doesn't need any more help destroying our country. Don't take this post as an endorsement of Romney, either folks.— FletcherT
- hey Eddie, any outrage over real issues like our POTUS lying to america about a terrorist attack in order to protect ? ? ?— 420Phillie
- So why not move to China already where they share Romney's beliefs. I'm sure he can hook you up with a job working six days a week earning ten cents an hour.
- huh? sounds like your a typical sheep of the media. do u even have the ability to think for yourself or just regurgitate what the media spews? but it's ok, people like you that talk about Mitt and China when defending our current president lying about a terrorist attack makes me happy I'm not a BO supporter — 420Phillie
- He never lied about a terrorist attack, but Fox News lied to you and you believed it. Just admit that you don't like BO because he's black. — Kmonster
Hahah there's a group called Philly for Change. How about they start at City Hall by removing the same crooks that have been "running" this city for the last 30 years— centard- I always enjoy it when one off the record, private comment by Romney won't die, but the media explains away anything the President says. And they say there's no liberal slant in the media.— The_Z_Man_97
- If President Obama said that he didn't have time to worry about half of Americans, including our seniors and solders, because they're too lazy to worry about themselves, it would be news.
Follow Chris on Twitter
David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
Follow Dave on Twitter.
Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
Follow Jan on Twitter
Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
Follow Sean on Twitter
