In the wake of the embarrassing disaster that is the Romney 47% of the people are parasites secretly-taped video, Repubicans are trying to save face by dredging up a 14 year old clip of (then state senator) President Obama saying he believes in "redistribution" in the interest of everyone getting a fair shot.
Naturally, everyone getting a fair shot is anathema to boot-strapping self-made Republicans, so to make this pathetic attempt seem minimally plausible they chopped off the clip at 'redistribution'.
But, in an example of actual journalism being conducted by the MSM, (which seems to be becoming more popular now that it has become impossible to prop Mitt up any longer) NBC held off on airing the vintage 1998 clip of then State Senator Obama allegedly 'praising redistribution' until they could authenticate it.
They have unearthed the entire clip, which is cut short in the version Republicans are circulating, to include Obama's going to say that we need competition and the marketplace.
Updated 11:29 p.m. — Mitt Romney's campaign this week has pounced on a 14-year-old clip of Obama speaking about "redistribution" in October 1998 at a conference in Chicago, in which the future president seems to extol the virtues of redistributing wealth.
Yet NBC News has obtained the entirety of the relevant remarks, which includes additional comments by Obama that weren't included in the video circulated by Republicans. That omission features additional words of praise for "competition" and the "marketplace" by the then-state senator.
In the whole clip, Obama is heard saying the words 'marketplace' and 'competition'.
I think the trick is figuring out how do we structure government systems that pool resources and hence facilitate some redistribution because I actually believe in redistribution, at least at a certain level to make sure that everybody's got a shot. How do we pool resources at the same time as we decentralize delivery systems in ways that both foster competition, can work in the marketplace, and can foster innovation at the local level and can be tailored to particular communities.
Obama continues in a few words after that to describe the use of tax credits in setting public housing development policy in Chicago as an example before concluding.
The video circulated by Republicans, which has used as fodder for an attack on Obama, includes a longer reflection by Obama about talking about how government action can be effective. But the clip has been cut short after the word "shot;" Obama's words about competition, the marketplace and innovation are omitted from the clip.
Romney has nonetheless seized upon this clip as his campaign looks to regain its footing after the release of a surreptitiously-recorded video of the GOP presidential nominee speaking at a private fundraiser in May.
The Republican candidate has used it as campaign fodder as recently as Wednesday.
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