By now, most people have heard how Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, speaking to wealthy supporters at a private fundraiser, effectively wrote off almost half the country — the 47 percent of Americans who do not pay income taxes.

Romney asserted, “My job is not to worry about those people. I’ll never convince them that they should take personal responsibility and care for their lives.”

This comment, which was surreptitiously videotaped and posted online last week, was part of a 30-minute speech filled with controversial statements suggesting that Americans have become childlike worshippers of big government.

Though it’s true the entitlement state in the U.S. has expanded over recent decades, Romney’s outlandish comments are intentionally deceptive.

In his speech, Romney characterized those income-tax-free Americans — the 47 percent — as people “who are dependent upon the government, who believe that they are the victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to take care for them, who believe that they are entitled to healthcare, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.”

It is an uncontested fact that approximately 47 percent of Americans do not pay federal income taxes, according to an analysis of IRS data by the bipartisan Tax Policy Center.

However, Romney’s comments imply that nearly half of all Americans evaded their federal tax burden, which is inherently false. Nearly two-thirds of the American households that did not pay income taxes in 2011 were on the hook for federal payroll taxes.

And not only is it false, but it’s downright insulting for Romney to portray the 47 percent as self-imposed victims who are irresponsible and dependent upon handouts.

Who are these so-called “freeloaders?”

The overwhelming majority are working families who pay payroll taxes as well as the elderly, military personnel, students and the working poor.

Romney’s ill-perceived comments demonstrate a few things. For one, it demonstrates how grossly out of touch the Republican presidential candidate is with the average American.

Take, for instance, the plight of a solider in the U.S. military.

They are dependent upon the government for money: a significant amount of current and former members of the military receive healthcare through government programs, such as the Department of Defense or Veterans Affairs. Some members of the military rely on the government to help equip them with housing, as well.

Of course, Romney doesn’t believe Iraq war veterans are freeloading on government services when they go to a V.A. Medical Center in order to receive treatment for PTSD.

But these are exactly the people Romney targeted when he said 47 percent of Americans are dependent on government. Romney’s comments highlight the fact that he fundamentally misunderstands who receives the disproportionate share of government spending in our country.  

Unfortunately, it seems as if Romney has fallen prey to the same common misconception that creeps into the minds of many Americans, especially in the South: the idea that domestic government spending, by and large, primarily encourages individuals to stay jobless and collect benefits while everyone else has to work for their money.

Or Romney is pandering to his ultra-conservative base in hopes for donations and support.

The truth is that a large portion of government spending goes toward the elderly and the disabled.

It’s the retiree who picks up his Social Security check in the mail or the senior who can afford his medical bills thanks to Medicare. It’s the food a single mother of two can purchase for her children because of government food stamps.

It’s the school lunch program that provides free meals to qualified students who come from low-income families. And it’s those unemployment benefits that give people without jobs enough money to supply the basics of life.

The government provides essential services that promote the collective good of our nation. And in one fell swoop, Romney undermined humanity’s most important institution, convinced nearly half of America’s voting electorate not to vote for him and demonstrated how out of touch he is with the average American.