Vermont’s Republican candidate for governor has come out sharply against the statements Mitt Romney made regarding people who rely on government support.
Randy Brock says many of the 47 percent of Americans that his party’s presidential nominee referred to in remarks earlier this year actually do pay taxes.
Romney said in private remarks at a fundraiser that the 47 percent who don’t pay the income tax are dependent on the government for services.
But Brock says Romney has it wrong.
"The thing that we forget is that they certainly do pay a lot of other taxes," Brock says. "To people at the low end of the scale, the payroll tax, the FICA tax typically is a much higher tax than the income tax."
Romney’s comments at a May fundraiser were videotaped and that tape was released to the news media this week.
It’s caused a firestorm among politicians about whether Romney was accurately and fairly portraying the situation.
Brock says he wants to distance himself from Romney’s view.
"What I’m saying is I know where I stand on it and I don’t agree with it. I can’t be more unequivocal than that," he says.
Brock says in Vermont, people pay a lot of other taxes, as well, including gasoline and many others.