When speaking to a conservative women's group last week in Falmouth, Republican Maine Governor Paul LePage said the following: "About 47 percent of able-bodied people in the state of Maine don't work. About 47 percent. It's really bad."
That is really bad. Do you know what's even worse? Governor LePage's grasp of numbers. Courtesy of Maine's labor department, the Bangor Daily News reported that 65% of able-bodied Mainers are working. The 35% whom aren't working are comprised mainly of retirees, the disabled, homemakers, and students.
The saying goes that "numbers don't lie." However, that's not entirely true. While it may be true that 35% of Mainers aren't currently working, which Republican politicians in the state may use for talking points, that very number and numbers like it are often times used to mislead the public on the whole story. Yes, if a person were to hear that 35% of able-bodied Mainers weren't working, he or she would likely be in shock at first. However, if this person then heard the rest of the story - that the 35% were mostly comprised of retirees, the disabled, homemakers, and students, then they'd likely come away feeling less stunned by the number.
This is what the Republican Party has done time and time again, especially since the 2012 election season when GOP candidate Mitt Romney insinuated that 47% of this country are takers, while 53% are givers. Again, while it may be true that 47% of people don't pay federal income taxes, a large majority of them pay other taxes, such as property and sales.
I especially hear this rhetoric when it comes to food stamps. The GOP has painted food stamp recipients as lazy, unemployed individuals whom steal people's hard-earned tax dollars. They'll then point to a certain percentage of people on food stamps, but will fail to show that a majority of food stamp recipients are elders and children, and that a very large majority of the remaining recipients have jobs.
It seems to me that the GOP's giver-and-taker rhetoric is simply trying to detract the public's attention from the loopholes and breaks the wealthiest of Americans get, as the pay gap between they and the rest of the country continues to expand and middle- and lower-class Americans point their fingers at one another for being allegedly lazy, as opposed to realizing that those catching the biggest breaks of all are the wealthiest among us.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/10/22/2814211/maine-gov-lepage-47-mainers-work/
That is really bad. Do you know what's even worse? Governor LePage's grasp of numbers. Courtesy of Maine's labor department, the Bangor Daily News reported that 65% of able-bodied Mainers are working. The 35% whom aren't working are comprised mainly of retirees, the disabled, homemakers, and students.
The saying goes that "numbers don't lie." However, that's not entirely true. While it may be true that 35% of Mainers aren't currently working, which Republican politicians in the state may use for talking points, that very number and numbers like it are often times used to mislead the public on the whole story. Yes, if a person were to hear that 35% of able-bodied Mainers weren't working, he or she would likely be in shock at first. However, if this person then heard the rest of the story - that the 35% were mostly comprised of retirees, the disabled, homemakers, and students, then they'd likely come away feeling less stunned by the number.
This is what the Republican Party has done time and time again, especially since the 2012 election season when GOP candidate Mitt Romney insinuated that 47% of this country are takers, while 53% are givers. Again, while it may be true that 47% of people don't pay federal income taxes, a large majority of them pay other taxes, such as property and sales.
I especially hear this rhetoric when it comes to food stamps. The GOP has painted food stamp recipients as lazy, unemployed individuals whom steal people's hard-earned tax dollars. They'll then point to a certain percentage of people on food stamps, but will fail to show that a majority of food stamp recipients are elders and children, and that a very large majority of the remaining recipients have jobs.
It seems to me that the GOP's giver-and-taker rhetoric is simply trying to detract the public's attention from the loopholes and breaks the wealthiest of Americans get, as the pay gap between they and the rest of the country continues to expand and middle- and lower-class Americans point their fingers at one another for being allegedly lazy, as opposed to realizing that those catching the biggest breaks of all are the wealthiest among us.
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/10/22/2814211/maine-gov-lepage-47-mainers-work/
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