Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney did cause a media stir after comments on CNN about "not concerned about the very poor" for they have a "safety net". After Tuesday's big win in Florida, Romney's comments are red flags for the candidate's understanding of the condition of the US economy and unemployment. President Obama's decision to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline was a red flag that common sense and politics do not make nice bedfellows, and Romney's comments play along the same line. The high unemployment numbers are creating a new underclass, and this underclass is part of the new very poor. As Felix Salmon stated in an opinion piece in Reuters, "The problem is that persistent unemployment at or around 10% is unacceptable in the especially with the social safety net being much weaker here than it is in Europe." The biggest problem with Mitt Romney's comments is this recessionary period is much different from the recessions of  recent past. The middle class is … [Read more...]