re: #154 blueraven

Oh boy, Romney is no diplomat

[Link: www.washingtonpost.com…]

thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com

Mr. Romney understated the difference between per capita incomes by a wide margin the difference, suggesting that Israelis earn about twice what Palestinians make.

In fact, according to an estimate by the Central Intelligence Agency, in 2009 Israel had a per capita GDP of roughly $29,800, while in 2008 — the last year the C.I.A. has numbers on their website for the Palestinians — the per capita G.D.P. of the West Bank and Gaza was $2,900.

buzzfeed.com

“And that exists also between other countries that are near or next to each other. Chile and Ecuador; Mexico and the United States. And I noted that part of my interest when I used to be in the world of business as I would travel to different countries was to understand why there was such enormous disparities between the economic success of various countries.”

Romney told donors at a $1 million fundraiser as he visited Jerusalem that having seen the accomplishments of the Jewish people, “I recognize power of culture.”

You “have hard time suggesting natural resources and land account for it all,” he said.