Romney has a "Bitterly Clinging" moment

Everybody must know by now that Mitt and Ann Romney spoke to wealthy donors in Palm Beach. You'd think after Barack Obama's experience in the last campaign (in 2008), candidates would never stray from their public script (maybe if there was only one other person in the room).

Romney promises the wealthy additional tax cuts (nothing we haven't heard before), and apparently says they will be paid for with some cuts in deductions and cutting some cabinet level departments. He suggests that education could be reduced until its only activity was to bust teacher's unions, and HUD might not be around too much longer.

But I found the suggestion of which deductions he would end most interesting. I mean, ending the mortgage deduction for second homes might have hurt some of the donors at the event. Which means I should give points to Romeny for at least doing that. However, Romney immediately loses points when someone for suggesting ending the deductionS (for itemizing purposes) of State and Local taxes. I mean, sure, Florida has no state income taxes (only real estate taxes, which Romney did not suggest ending) so no better places to announce that. But ending that deduction would hurt middle class itemizers, especially those who have more modest houses. The Republicans accuse Obama of initiating class warfare, and then Romney pulls this.

But Mitt's real "bitterly clinging" moment is when he and Ann talk about what a gift Hilary Rosen's charge that Ann Romney had never worked a day in her life is. Hmm, the Romney's care so much about women that they will exploit any comment made about Romney (Ann or Mitt) (comment not even made by Obama, but stuck to Obama by the Romney's).

Two things about this. First Romney made a comment a while back that a poor single mom should have to work to get welfare. So much for how much like real work for pay raising children is. Of course, considering how Bill Clinton ended long term welfare, the earned income credit is one of the few ways single (working) women can get any government assistance. Still, Romeny is falling easily into a contradiction. Not a good way to attract independents and undecideds.

Second, I have to say, glancing at the Romney biography on Wikipedia, the Romeny's had kids at an awfully early age. They started in undergrad, and had at least one more before Mitt finished grad school. A heck of an example for the moralizing Republicans clearly want to do. Much like Romney has taken to calling Obama a Harvard educated snob, funny considering Romney has twice as many Harvard graduate degrees as Obama.

As I said, a "bitterly clinging" moment.