Castor Attacks Romney's '47%' Comments

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor blasted GOP presidential nominee, Gov. Mitt Romney Tuesday saying he only cares about half of the country.

The Florida Democrat, whose district includes St. Petersburg, was reacting to a video released showing Romney at a private fundariaser saying that 47 percent of the population paid no income taxes and would never vote for him.

"(It's) hard to serve as President of all Americans when you fail the character test and you write off and insult half the country that you want to lead," Castor said during a conference call. 

Earlier this week, Mother Jones, the liberal magazine, released a video taken secretly at a private fundraiser in Boca Raton in May.

"There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe that 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. And I mean, the president starts off with 48, 49, 48—he starts off with a huge number. These are people who pay no income tax. Forty-seven percent of Americans pay no income tax." (See full transcript.)

Castor and fellow Democrats charged Romney with being out of touch with the voters of this country. She added that most of the "47 percent" Romney was talking about are hard working Americans. 

"An overwhelming majority of Romney's 47 percent are one; working families, two; are older retired neighbors, three; students, four; people with disabilities," Castor said. "These working Americans include, military, police officers, firefighters and teachers." 

Romney on Tuesday stood by the overall message of his speech but admitted that it was, "not elegantly stated."

Acccording to the Wall Street Journal, Romney's message did not change, just his tone.

"But Mr. Romney stood by his comment that nearly half of Americans would be unlikely to support his campaign because they either don’t pay federal income taxes or they receive government benefits.

'I recognize that among those that pay no tax…I’m not likely to be highly successful with the message of lowering taxes,' Mr. Romney said Monday evening. 'That’s not as attractive to those who don’t pay income taxes as it is to those who do. And likewise those who are reliant on government are not as attracted to my message of slimming down the size of government.'"

What do you think of the video? We want to hear from you. Were Gov. Romney's comments out of line? Or, was he speaking about a larger problem in the U.S.?