Ever since he was caught on camera saying he has all but written off 47 percent of the voting population who he thinks are dependent on the government and have already thrown their lot with Barack Obama, Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign has been in complete shambles and disrepair.
A recent Gallup Poll shows that 36 percent of voters say Mr. Romney's comments make them less likely to vote for him, while 20 percent say the remarks make them more likely to vote for him, and 43 percent say the comments won't make a difference.
No one, especially a presidential contender, ever likes to be considered just a number, but it seems ``47 percent’’ will stick to the Republican nominee like a hard stale stick of chewing gum right up until election day.
Since we can’t seem to escape ``47 percent’’ being mentioned on television, in our daily newspaper, on the Internet or in other daily conversations, I thought I would call to mind other ``47 percent’’ figures that might be relevant in the dialogue of this bruising 2012 presidential campaign.
• About 47 percent of Congress, or 250 current members of Congress, are millionaires, according to a study by the Center for Responsive Politics of lawmakers' personal financial disclosure forms covering calendar year 2010.
• Nearly 47 percent of the food-stamp recipients in the United States are children, and about 8 percent are the elderly, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
• According to a March, 2012 New York Times/CBS News poll, 36 percent of Americans approve of the Affordable Care Act, while 47 percent are opposed.
• According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 47 percent more Hispanic citizens voted in 2008 than in 2004.
• A recent Gallup Poll says that 47 percent of Americans now have guns, more than any time since 1993.
• The U.S. currently accounts for 47 percent of global credit and debit card fraud, according to a recent issue of The Nilson Report.
• According to a March, 2012 survey by the Online Publishers Association (OPA), 47 percent of Americans is expected read newspapers and magazines on tablet devices by the middle of next year.
• The share of online shoppers will likely reach 47 percent by 2015, according to a report by The Boston Consulting Group.
• News Corp. profit soared 47 percent in the first three months of the year.
• Apple generates about 47 percent of the mobile computing industry, according to data compiled by the investment firm Morgan Keegan.
• TV ad spending will account for 47 percent of media budgets, according to a joint survey by ANA (Association of National Advertisers) and Forrester Research, Inc.
• 47 percent of Chicago voters backed the city's recent teachers' strike, according to McKeon & Associates, a Joliet-based opinion polling company.
• In the decade since the file-sharing site Napster emerged in 1999, music sales in the U.S. have dropped 47 percent, from $14.6 billion to $7.7 billion, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
• 47 percent of Netflix users in 2012 streamed movies online, according to a recent Nielsen survey.
• 47 percent of Americans say Facebook has the greatest impact on purchasing behavior (compared with just 24 percent in 2011), according to Edison Research, a market research firm.
• About 47 percent of women have no children.
• In 2011, women accounted for 47 percent of all employed persons 16 years of age and older, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• 33 million people in the United States lived alone in 2011-53 percent of unmarried U.S. residents 18 and older were women; 47 percent were men, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
• About 47 percent of obese and overweight men said they believed their weight was a problem, while 53 percent didn’t, according to a recent study at the University of Florida.
• A survey by Pew Research Center revealed that 47 percent of men eat in a fast food restaurant at least weekly, compared to 35 percent of women.
• About 47 percent of American adults have at least one risk factor for heart disease, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• As of May, 2012, U.S. travel to overseas claimed 47 percent of all U.S. outbound international travel.
• At 47 percent, blacks constitute a disproportionate percentage of the homeless population, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Nearly 47 percent of police officers worked a non-day shift, compared to just 9 percent of other U.S. workers, according to researchers from the University of Buffalo.
• Only 47 percent of African-American males and 44 percent of Hispanic males graduate from high school, according to House Resolution 721 from the 112th Congress (June 29, 2012).
• The largest percentage of children (47 percent) in foster care was in nonrelatives’ foster family homes, according to the Children’s Bureau Express.
• According to Congressman Gerry Connolly (representing the 11th District of Virginia),`about 47 percent of the federal workforce are expected to retire in the next decade.
• During a 1-year period, 47 percent of youth ages 14 to 17 experienced a physical assault, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
• Miami tops the list with 47 percent of the labor force being foreign born and where 45 percent of business owners are foreign born, according to the Fiscal Policy Institute, an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, research and education organization based in New York.
• Heart disease and cancer constituted 47 percent of all deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Exports of manufactured goods to our trade agreement partners totaled $595.8 billion in 2011, representing nearly 47 percent of total U.S. manufactured goods exports, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
• Natural gas furnishes as much as 47 percent of U.S. industrial energy requirements because it meets the industrial energy buyer's criteria of availability, energy cost, and form value so well, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
• The return rate for urgent care within 30 days of discharge was 29 percent for women and 47 percent for men, according to a study from Boston Medical Center.
-Bill Lucey
[email protected]
September 21, 2012
a very interesting perspective, [email protected]
Posted by: betty | 09/25/2012 at 11:49 AM