I'm pretty furious right now and here's why: apparently Mitt Romney thinks that staying at home with the kids is only okay for rich moms, like his wife Ann… Ok, he didn't exactly say that, but here's what he did say to an audience in New Hampshire back in January in reference to people who are receiving welfare assistance:
"I said, for instance, that even if you have a child two years of age, you need to go to work. And people said, 'Well that's heartless,' and I said 'No, no, I'm willing to spend more giving daycare to allow those parents to go back to work. It'll cost the state more providing that daycare, but I want the individuals to have the dignity of work.'"
Is this guy for real?
So, here's the deal, if I were to deconstruct Romney's remarks, working gives people dignity, but not if the work involves staying at home so you can take care of your children. I'm not really sure where that leaves his wife Ann who said this on Twitter last week: "I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work." So, I guess it's safe to assume that it's okay for her to stay at home with her children because they're super rich and she doesn't need any other type of work to have dignity.
At the end of the day, that's really what's at the heart of both this January remark and the ridiculous HiIlary Rosen brouhaha last week: Mitt Romney has no clue what it's like to live like the majority of people in this country. He has no clue what it's like to be a woman who has to rely on welfare assistance to be able to survive while taking care of her children because she can't find a job that pays her decent wages and offers her the flexibility she needs to be a mom.
Then again, how could he? If this guy could actually become the next president of our country, we're in worse shape than I thought.
What do you think about Romney's remarks?
Image via BU Interactive News/flickr
