September 18, 2012

Scott Brown Latest GOPer to Turn on Mitt’s “47 Percent” Line

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.)Pete Marovich/ZumaPress.com

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One of the first Democrats to knock Mitt Romney for his charge that 47 percent of Americans are “dependent” on the federal government was Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, who told the Washington Post‘s Greg Sargent, “Romney just wrote off half the people in Massachusetts and half the people in America as deadbeats.” Now Warren’s Republican opponent, Sen. Scott Brown, has followed suit. Here’s the statement he sent to The Hill on Tuesday:

“That’s not the way I view the world. As someone who grew up in tough circumstances, I know that being on public assistance is not a spot that anyone wants to be in. Too many people today who want to work are being forced into public assistance for lack of jobs.”

Brown’s not the only Republican to back away from the remarks of the party’s presidential nominee. Former wrestling executive Linda McMahon, who is running for Senate in Connecticut, said in a statement Tuesday that “I disagree with Gov. Romney’s insinuation that 47 percent of Americans believe they are victims who must depend on the government for their care.”

What makes Brown comments particularly noteworthy, though, is that he and Romney are both being advised by the same guy—GOP strategist Eric Fehrnstrom. (This isn’t the first time Fehrstrom’s candidates have been put in an awkward situation.)

One candidate who’s not running from Romney’s statements: Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin. So that ought to help.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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