WH: Obama fights for every American, not just "47 percent"

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(CBS News) In response to Mitt Romney's remarks that his job is "not to worry" about the 47 percent of Americans that supposedly support President Obama, the White House responded that the president, by contrast, is concerned about all Americans.

Mr. Obama "is out there fighting for every American regardless of whether or not they support him politically," White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday. He said that the president's policies have sometimes earned him criticism from either the left or the right "precisely because" politics doesn't play into his decision making.

"He's guided by what he thinks is best for the country," Carney said. "On the stuff that matters to Americans' day-to-day lives, we're a lot more united than we sometimes perceive her in Washington."

Carney's remarks came in response to the release of a video from a private fundraising event earlier this year where Romney described Mr. Obama's supporters as people "dependent on the government" who "believe that they are victims."

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what," Romney is heard saying in the video. "All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who 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. That, that's an entitlement. And the government should give it to them. And they will vote for this president no matter what."

Romney goes on to say that "these are people who pay no income tax. 47 percent of Americans who pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect." He says his job "is not to worry about those people. I'll never convince them they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives."

Carney said Tuesday, "Setting aside what Gov. Romney thinks, I can tell you the president certainly doesn't think that men and women on Social Security are irresponsible or victims, that students aren't responsible or [are] victims."

Romney's remarks have drawn comparisons to the remarks Mr. Obama made at a 2008 San Francisco fundraiser, where he said of people from small towns, "It's not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion."

Carney rejected the comparison, saying, "Then-Senator Obama never said that he did not worry about or would not worry about 47 percent of the population."

Mr. Obama did go on to say at that 2008 fundraiser that one can find "Obama enthusiasts" in those small towns, among "people of every background... The important thing is that you show up and you're doing what you're doing."

The liberal magazine Mother Jones, which first obtained the video of Romney's remarks, is reportedly releasing the full video later Tuesday, which could provide more context for his comments.

Tuesday morning, Mother Jones released a second clip, which showed Romney saying "there's just no way" the Palestinians and Israelis can find peace in the current environment.

"[S]o what you do is, you say, you move things along the best way you can," he said. "You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem...and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it."

Carney said that Romney's remarks amount to "the opposite of leadership."

"It is simply the wrong approach to say we can do anything about this, so let's kick it down the field," he said. "Ihe president has been working on this since the day he took office. Ultimately peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, a negotiated peace ... is in the interests of the Israelis and the Palestinians and the United States of America."

[dnlwest5]

Another Obama lie!!!! This so called leader is forcing a Marxist way of life upon the country that will eventually result in revolution. We are facing such great challenges but he just chases the Hollywood celebrites and the Democratic Party is home for murders of unborn children, which is equivalent to the regimes of Hitler, Mao, Stalin etc known for their butchery of millions of innocent people.

[sjc_1]

"Ultimately peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, a negotiated peace ... is in the interests of the Israelis and the Palestinians and the United States of America."

Bush did not care, he told Israel to beat the heck out of the Palestinians so they would come to the peace table with the "right" attitude. This is one of the many reasons Bush never got the Peace Prize and President Obama DID!

[BFR50]

How about the new 16 million children living in poverty and homeless or the 24,700,000 Unemployed or Underemployed Americans: Job Losses Accelerate with 6 million unemployed over last year. Real Unemployment rate now at 15.8 Percent.

Did he fight for them?

[goat5691]

Can you imagine if we had had a Congress that was working to move the country forward instead of trying to make sure that the Pres. was a one term Pres? I believe they were voted in to work for the citizens ...isn't that why we vote? Say what you want about Obama but don't ignore the fact that he was tripped on every step to move forward. If you do it is because of reasons other than his performance. It is simply that there are those that are closed minded and only look for what massages their own position whether valid or not. We will take facts and truth and alter them to fit our own preconceived notions. Tsk! Tsk.

[walkthetalk]

Trade, Tax Returns for a real Birth Certifcate, Any takers.

[goat5691]

Obama has delivered his real birth certificate, however, short of Gods' verification, there will always be those.....
Why would you defend a candidate that refuses to present his tax returns having been tutored by his father that if you are running for high office that you should offer to the voters who and what you are. Only closed minded individuals would take this stance because if it were a Democratic candidate that held back on revealing his taxes this issue would rival birther, jobs, economy and everything else put together and you know it. So it has nothing to do with any of this except a closed minded philosophy.

[walkthetalk]

I'm sure that I have been on this planet longer than you, and this not even close to typical Democrat Administration. Bill Clinton was our last good President and we been a in death spiral every since.

[Joe_AZ]

Obama certainly does not represent my vision for America. Nor does he represent how best to cost effectively manage government.

[tea412]

Wow. What about anyone in small business making more than $250k? Or people who don't want the sequester to take effect? Or people who did not agree with Obamacare?

Seems to me the President has his own 47% he writes off.

We need a president who CAN seek to lead 100% of the country - I don't really care which one does it. But Obama has not done any better so far at uniting and leading the entire country. He could, it just hasn't happened yet. Romney could too. But one of them will have to stand up and lead and drop the ideology.

[sjc_1]

Statistically more people do better with a Democratic administration, that is a fact. Like Harry Truman once said "if you want to live like a Republican, vote for a Democrat".

[tea412]

I think that really depends on how you define "do better" - if you mean get more from the government, maybe so. Not sure that equates to doing better. I would hope that, given our current financial circumstances, we could agree that doing better should mean everyone collectively to dig out of debt and grow economic opportunity.

[sjc_1]

Measured as standard of living, unemployment, inflation and other macro economic indicators like GDP per person all favor the country under Democratic administrations.

[walkthetalk]

He will try to the Raise Dead and talk to Zombies, for a vote. If had been doing a his Job, this wouldn't even be close.