So what exactly does Ann Romney know about economic realities of women?

[BooksCatsEtc]

I've been trying to run down the exact quote, but all I've managed to find are bits and pieces of it so excuse me if I guess wrong here but it seems to me that the issue Hilary Rosen brought up (if ineptly) was not that Ann Romney had no work to do as a mother, or that not working outside the home was ignoble somehow.  It was that Mitt Romney's frequent claims to consult his wife about the economic realities of American women was probably wasted on someone who knew far less about those realities than their maid -- the person Romney should have been talking to about economic realities.

I can't believe that the phrase "never worked a day in her life" could be misunderstood, other than deliberately, as meaning anything other than "worked outside the home, made a paycheck, was personally responsible for covering rent, and bills and the price of food".  I'm sure there's a lot of work involved in raising children and making a home no matter how much help you have or how mind-blowingly wealthy your husband is, the point was it's very different when you have to raise kids, make a home and work one or two (or more) outside jobs to pay for it all.  That is what Mrs. Romney knows zip about with her life-long career as a stay-at-home mother who's so rich she doesn't even have to think about money much less worry about it, and that was the actual point of Hilary Rosen's remark.

[Tank]

This disconnection between politicians and reality is not limited to the Romney household.  The current UK PM David Cameron was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and really has no social connection to 95%+ of the population. I believe his wife is even 'posher' then him.

[The Magic Pudding]

Calvin Trillin

A POEM OF
REPUBLICAN POPULISM

Our policies address the cares
Of heiresses and millionaires.
Our point of view reverberates
With folks who live behind high gates
And folks whose country clubs may lack
A single Jew, a single black
We're backed by all the CEOs.
We waive the regs that bring them woes.
To comfort them is our intent.
Yes, though we always represent
The folks who sit in corporate boxes,
The gratifying paradox is—
And this we love; it's just the neatest—
The other party's called elitist.

[Velma]

The closest Ann Romney has ever come to knowing anything about the economic realities of most women is if she ever listened in on the conversations of her housekeepers and nannies when they thought she wasn't around.