Stipulated: Mitt Romney’s assertion that half of Americans consider themselves entitled to government benefits was “not elegantly stated” — as he himself now puts it.
But his larger point — that unchecked growth in government entitlements stands to destroy America — is spot on.
It sets him starkly apart from his opponent: President Obama believes precisely the opposite.
And the incumbent’s deeds speak far more eloquently than his words; witness the gargantuan growth in the national debt.
True enough, Romney’s remarks at a private fund-raiser this spring contained misstatements and conflated some groups of social-service benefits with those that promote dependency.
Democrats — and, especially, the media — hopped right in, charging that Romney’s words demonstrate that he doesn’t care about half of all Americans. Baloney.
As is the media pack’s contention — for maybe the fifth time in as many weeks — that Romney “lost the election today.”
He stumbled, that’s for sure.
But he has time — and three debates — to regain his balance.
The numbers are on his side.
Entitlements are way up under President Obama: Fully 70 percent of the federal budget now goes to individual assistance programs, and almost half of Americans don’t pay federal income taxes.
That results in huge cash outlays with no matching revenue.
And it means that far too many Americans have no interest in controlling spending, because they also have no vested interest in controlling taxes or borrowing.
As Romney put it (much more eloquently) back in March: “The idea of borrowing a trillion dollars more than we take in is not just bad economics, it’s immoral.”
Just this month, the Agriculture Department reported that food stamps are now being used by a record 46.7 million Americans, or 1 in 7 — with the program’s cash outlay doubling since Obama took office.
A Heritage Foundation report earlier this year disclosed that fully 1 in 5 Americans relies on Washington for food assistance, income, student aid, housing, health care, college tuition or retirement aid.
That’s higher than at any other time in the nation’s history. Indeed, Census Bureau data show that 49 percent of Americans live in a household that gets some government benefits.
Which is why, according to a new Gallup Poll, 54 percent of Americans — including 62 percent of independents — believe government is doing too many things that ought to be left to the private sector.
Romney got it right earlier this week:
“Do you believe in a government-centered society that provides more and more benefits? Or do you believe instead in a free-enterprise society where people are able to pursue their dreams?”
He can still shape that sentiment into a coherent, winning message.
But he’d best get cracking.