Americans should be forewarned of Mitt Romney’s economic practices. Here’s a prelude to “Dark Shadows,” for all you horror movie fans.
They made as much as money as they could and they closed it down.”- former GST Steel worker on Romney’s biz model. romneyeconomics.com
Romney’s business strategy wasn’t about strengthening companies and creating jobs for long-term economic growth. It wasn’t about investors and workers playing by the same set of rules, and it certainly wasn’t about creating an economy built to last by rewarding hard work and responsibility and strengthening the security of middle-class families.
GST Steel: Bankruptcy and bailouts
Kansas City’s GST Steel was a successful company that had been making steel rods for 103 years when Mitt Romney and his partners took control in 1993. They cut corners and extracted profit from the business at every turn, placing it deeply in debt. When the company eventually declared bankruptcy, workers were denied their full pensions and health insurance, and the federal government was forced to step in and bail out the pension fund.
ROMNEY AND HIS PARTNERS WERE FOCUSED ON SHORT TERM PROFIT FROM STEEL DYNAMICS, NOT JOB CREATION
Bain Capital Invested In Steel Dynamics In 1994 And Sold Its Stake Five Years Later For An $85 Million Return.“Bain Capital began looking at investing in the steel start-up in late 1993. At the time, Steel Dynamics was weighing where to locate its first plant, based in part on which region offered the best tax incentives. In June 1994, Bain put $18.2 million into Steel Dynamics, making it the largest domestic equity holder. It sold its stake five years later for $104 million, a return of more than $85 million.” [Los Angeles Times, 1/12/12]
1997: Steel Dynamics And Its Subsidiary Employed 327 Workers.“SDI’s work force consisted of 325 employees as of February 28, 1997. In addition, IDI had two employees as of February 28, 1997.” [Steel Dynamics, Form 10-K405, 3/31/97]
1998: Steel Dynamics And Its Subsidiary Employed 466 Workers.“SDI’s work force consisted of 455 employees as of March 2, 1998. In addition, IDI had eleven employees as of March 2, 1998.” [Steel Dynamics, Form 10-K405, 3/27/98]
1999: Steel Dynamics And Its Subsidiary Employed 568 Workers.“SDI’s work force consisted of 506 employees as of February 28, 1999. In addition, IDI had 62 employees as of February 28, 1999.” [Steel Dynamics, Form 10-K405, 3/31/99]
EMPLOYMENT INCREASE CAME MUCH LATER THROUGH LARGE ACQUISITIONS, NOT ORGANIC JOB GROWTH
2006: Steel Dynamics Nearly Doubled Its Employee Count By Merging With Another Steelmaker Named Roanoke Electric Adding 1,622 Employees Through Its Merger. “Bid farewell to Roanoke Electric Steel Corp., a homegrown company founded by legendary Roanoke businessman John W. (Jack) Hancock Jr. Greet its new identity and less-than-melodious new name — Merchant Bar Products Division of Steel Dynamics Inc. At a special meeting Tuesday, a formal tally of Roanoke Electric Steel shareholders determined they had overwhelmingly approved the company’s merger with Steel Dynamics, based in Fort Wayne, Ind. The transaction, valued at about $281 million, will make Roanoke Electric Steel, founded in 1955, a wholly owned subsidiary of Steel Dynamics Inc., founded in 1993. … Keith Busse, president and chief executive officer of Steel Dynamics, and other executives who helped found the company flew in for Tuesday’s meeting. Last year, the Association for Iron & Steel Technology named Busse “Steelmaker of the Year.” Steel Dynamics is said to be the sixth largest steel producer in the U.S. The company had 1,795 employees at the end of 2005. Roanoke Electric Steel and its subsidiaries have about 1,622 employees.” [Roanoke Times, 4/12/06]
STEEL DYNAMICS HAS RECENTLY EXPERIENCED IMPROVEMENT DUE TO INCREASED DEMAND FROM THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
October 2007: Steel Dynamics Added 2,000 People To Its Payroll By Merging With OmniSource Corporation, One Of America’s Largest Scrap Recycling Companies. “We acquired OmniSource Corporation, one of North America’s largest scrap recycling companies on October 26, 2007. OmniSource employs more than 2,000 people in 42 facilities in the Midwest and eastern United States and Canada. OmniSource’s operations include both ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal processing, transportation, marketing, brokerage and scrap management and consulting services. In addition, OmniSource designs, installs and manages customized scrap management programs for industrial manufacturing companies at more than 100 locations throughout North America.” [Steel Dynamics, Form 10-K405, Filed 2/27/08]
STEEL DYNAMICS HAS RECENTLY EXPERIENCED IMPROVEMENT DUE TO INCREASED DEMAND FROM THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Steel Dynamics Claims That It Has Experienced Improvement In 2010 And 2011 Thanks In Part To Increased Demand From The Automotive Industry. “The improving domestic and global economic conditions we began to experience in 2010 continued to improve during 2011. We experienced increased order volumes and pricing in all of our operations. Specifically, we benefited from improvements in end user demand in the automotive, truck and trailer, energy, heavy equipment, agriculture, transportation, and other original equipment manufacturing industries, resulting in increases in steel mill utilization.” [Steel Dynamics, Form 10-K405, Filed 2/27/12]
June 2009: Steel Dynamics Was A Supplier To GM, Chrysler And Ford At The Time GM And Chrysler Entered Bankruptcy. “General Motors Corp. owes four U.S. integrated steelmakers nearly $35 million, but the impact of the 100-year-old automaker’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection runs much deeper in steel than that figure indicates. GM filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, joining Chrysler LLC as the second of Detroit’s Big Three automakers to file for federal protection from creditors. … ‘I don’t really know how the industry is going to react to this,’ Keith E. Busse, chairman and chief executive officer ofSteel Dynamics Inc., Fort Wayne, Ind., said. ‘None of us has dealt with Government Motors before.’ … Nucor andSteel Dynamics each supply steel to GM, Chrysler and Ford, as well as to the so-called ‘New Domestic’ automakers in the United States. Busse said he expects GM to emerge from the bankruptcy process in a stronger, more efficient state. However, the bankruptcy filing makes clear the need for companies such as his to make better inroads with the New Domestics, he said. ‘We atSteel Dynamics need to expand and do more business with those companies. We are doing that with some things with Nissan and Honda. We are not a majorsupplier to GM through the front door, so to speak, but they are an important customer for us. I think we’ll all have a better feel for what is happening in the next several weeks, but my sense is that the new company will emerge from bankruptcy as a strong entity.’” [Metal Bulletin Daily Alerts, 6/1/09 ]
STEEL DYNAMICS RECEIVED $77.8 MILLION IN INCENTIVES TO BUILD IN INDIANA AND BENEFITTED FROM A NEW TAX ON RESIDENTS
Steel Dynamics Considered Building Its Plant In Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana And Kentucky, Depending On How Much State Assistance Was Offered.“The exact total depends on how much state aid is offered, Stickler said, adding that Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky are currently in discussions with Steel Dynamics over the plant’s site.” [Private Placement Reporter, 9/27/93]
Steel Dynamics Went Shopping For The Best Economic Incentives Package. “Keith Busse: We did extensive comparisons with regard to economic packages between states. We felt that we had some early signals that perhaps the biggest economic package that could be accessed, we could have gained access to in the market might well have been Kentucky, but geographically, we didn’t think that was the right place for this facility as it would regard market forces, so we looked more extensively at Southern Michigan, Northwestern Ohio, and Northeastern Indiana.” [McNeil/Lehrer Newshour, 9/6/94]
Steel Dynamics CEO Keith Busse Said He Played Indiana And Ohio Off Each Other To Get The Most Financial Support. “Ms. Brackett: Do you feel like you played these two states off each other fairly successfully? Keith Busse: Ah, yes, I guess so. I think that they did compete for our business, and I think it’s up to others to assess how competitive that process was, but, yes, I believe we had — we gained more economic help as a result of negotiating with various state entities as opposed to just negotiating with a single entity.” [McNeil/Lehrer Newshour, 9/6/94]
Steel Dynamics’ Incentives Package Was The Largest In Indiana In Three Years. “Steel Dynamics Inc. will build its mill in Butler with the help of a state and local incentive package valued at $37 million. It is the state’s largest economic development project since the United Airlines maintenance facility in Indianapolis in 1991.” [Chicago Tribune, 2/15/94]
Steel Dynamics Received $77.8 Million In State And Local Incentives To Build In Indiana. “The DeKalb County Council and the commissioners Wednesday approved their portion of a $77.84 million incentives package for Steel Dynamics Inc.” [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 6/23/94]
The State Of Indiana Provided $16 Million In Funding For The Steel Dynamics Project. “The state’s portion of the incentive package is valued at $16.26 million It includes an $8.524 million general purpose grant, $ 1.5 million for energy efficient equipment, $400,000 in employee training and $480,000 in hiring assistance. The state will also provide $5.359 million for road work connecting the plant to U.S. 6.” [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 6/23/94]
The State Of Indiana Also Gave Steel Dynamics $6.1 Million In Income Tax Credits. “The state has also authorized $6.1 million in income tax credits through the Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) program.” [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 6/23/94]
The State Of Indiana Also Agreed To Spend $1.5 Million To Help Steel Dynamics Acquire Land From Unwilling Buyers. “The state has also agreed to help acquire land for the road from unwilling buyers. The steel mill will send $1.5 million on land or the road, the memorandum says.” [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 6/23/94]
The State Of Indiana Also Agreed To Spend $1.5 Million To Help Steel Dynamics Acquire Land From Unwilling Buyers. “The state has also agreed to help acquire land for the road from unwilling buyers. The steel mill will send $1.5 million on land or the road, the memorandum says.” [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 6/23/94]
Dekalb County Gave Steel Dynamics 10 Years In Property Tax Abatements And An $18.1 Million Bond Issue. “The county has agreed to offer 10 years of property tax abatements and an $ 18.1 million bond issue. In return, the steel mill will locate on 745 acres southwest of Butler.” [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, 6/23/94]
DeKalb County Levied A New Quarter-Percent Tax On Residents To Finance Infrastructure Benefitting Steel Dynamics.“A new quarter-percent tax on DeKalb County residents financed infrastructure improvements such as roads and railroad exchanges that benefited Steel Dynamics, Bercaw said. The county also created a new redevelopment commission and redevelopment authority to oversee the activity.” [Los Angeles Times, 1/13/12]
FINALLY, THIS VIDEO FROM ROMNEY- LIES, MUCH…
Are the lessons and values Mitt Romney drew from his time in business the lessons and values America wants in our President?
AND LAST , BUT NOT LEAST:
Bush’s Philosophy Of Fewer Rules And OversightHelped Lead To The Financial Crisis. “But Mr. Bush populated the financial system’s alphabet soup of oversight agencies with people who, like him, wanted fewer rules, not more. … As for Mr. Bush’s banking regulators, they once brandished a chain saw over a 9,000-page pile of regulations as they promised to ease burdens on the industry. When states tried to use consumer protection laws to crack down on predatory lending, the comptroller of the currency blocked the effort, asserting that states had no authority over national banks. The administration won that fight at the Supreme Court. But Roy Cooper, North Carolina’s attorney general, said, ‘They took 50 sheriffs off the beat at a time when lending was becoming the Wild West.’” [New York Times, 12/21/08]
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/business/worldbusiness/21iht-admin.4.18853088.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
ROMNEY WOULD REPEAL WALL STREET REFORM AND LET WALL STREET WRITE ITS OWN RULES
Romney: “I’d Like To Repeal Dodd Frank.” “Today, he went further and said he would repeal Dodd-Frank, if he were elected president. ‘The extent of regulation in the banking industry has become extraordinarily burdensome following Dodd-Frank,’ Romney told a roundtable of 18 businessmen at The Common Man Restaurant. ‘I’d like to repeal Dodd Frank, recognizing that some revisions make sense,’ Romney said.” [Boston Globe,8/24/11; Romney Town Hall, Claremont NH, 8/24/11]
http://www.boston.com/Boston/politicalintelligence/2011/08/romney-would-repeal-dodd-frank-law/FrxSh5Jqsdveyjy5tgKzxK/index.html
ROMNEY WOULD MAKE PERMANENT THE BUSH TAX CUTS FOR THE WEALTHIEST AND ADD TRILLIONS TO THE DEFICIT
Romney’s Tax Plan Includes An Extension Of The Bush Tax Cuts.“Governor Romney would permanently extend all the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts now scheduled to expire in 2013.” [Tax Policy Center, The Romney Plan (updated),3/1/12]
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxtopics/romney-plan.cfm
Economic Policy Institute: “Bush-Era Tax Cuts Conferred Disproportionate Benefits On Those At T
he Top Of The Earnings Distribution,” “The Top 1% Of Earners (i.e., Tax Filers Making Over $645,000) Received 38% Of The Breaks.”[Andrew Fieldhouse and Ethan Pollack, Economic Policy Institute, 6/1/11]
http://www.epi.org/publication/tenth_anniversary_of_the_bush-era_tax_cuts/
Economist Joe Barro: Romney’s Tax Plan Would Cost $5 Trillion Over A Decade.Joe Barro, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, wrote for Forbes,“Before base broadening, the plan could be expected to cut federal revenues by about $5 trillion over a 10-year period, compared to a policy of extending 2012 tax policy (except the payroll tax holiday) into the future. On a static basis Romney’s corporate tax cuts would cost about $1 trillion, a 20 percent across-the-board cut in personal income tax rates would run about $3 trillion, and then sundry other proposals (most notably, abolishing the AMT and giving capital gains tax relief to lower- and middle-income households) would cost about another $1 trillion.” [Forbes,2/22/12]
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbarro/2012/02/22/quick-thoughts-on-the-romney-tax-plan/
ROMNEY RETAINED FULL SOLE OWNERSHIP OF BAIN CAPITAL UNTIL 2001, WAS CEO WHEN GST STEEL PLANT WAS SHUT DOWN
Romney Remained CEO Of Bain Capital When The GST Steel Plant Was Closed In Kansas City. “Although he gave up running day-to-day operations at the venture capital firm in order to head the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, he remained CEO and held his financial interest in the company through August 2001. That includes the period when the Ampad factory in Buffalo was closed, and when the Kansas City-based GST Steel plant was shut down and workers laid off.” [Boston Globe, 10/31/02]
Washington Post:Although Romney Claimed To Have Severed Ties With Bain Capital In 1999, He Retained Full, Sole Ownership Until 2001. “In his autobiography, Romney wrote that he severed ties with Bain in 1999 when he took the Olympic job and told his partners he wasn’t coming back. But R. Bradford Malt, one of Bain’s lawyers, who now manages Romney’s personal finances, said Romney took a leave of absence, ‘partly because of the speed it all happened and partly because it was a limited gig.’ That meant Romney retained full, sole ownership of the firm for two more years as he worked on the Olympics.” [Washington Post,10/21/07]
Bain Lawyer, And Romney’s Financial Trustee, Bradford Malt Said Romney Reduced His Role At Bain Capital To A “Passive Investor” In 2001. “Malt, who was designated by the campaign to address Romney’s time at Bain, said Romney finally resigned and reduced his role at the company to that of a passive investor in 2001 when it became clear that he was going to run for Massachusetts governor after the Olympics. The campaign declined to comment further.” [Washington Post,10/21/07]
BAIN CAPITAL MADE AT LEAST $12 MILLION ON GS INDUSTRIES BEFORE IT DECLARED BANKRUPTCY AND SOUGHT ELIMINATION OF THE PENSION PLAN, HEALTH AND LIFE INSURANCE
Reuters: Bain Capital Made At Least $12 Million On GS Industries Before It Declared Bankruptcy In In 2001.“Overall, Bain made at least $12 million on the steel company it created by merging the Kansas City mill with another in South Carolina before the new entity declared bankruptcy in 2001. Bain also collected an additional $900,000 a year through 1999 for management consulting services, public filings show.” [Reuters, 1/6/12]
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE8050LL20120106?irpc=932
· After Bankruptcy, GS Industries Decided Not To Provide Severance And Supplemental Unemployment For 570 Hourly Workers And Ended All Company Paid Life Insurance Policies For Employees And Retirees. “In the contract reached in 1997, GST Steel agreed to provide a severance package, supplemental unemployment benefits and extended health and life insurance for workers and retirees in the event of a plant closing. Since entering bankruptcy court, however, GS Industries Inc., the parent company, has decided not to provide severance and supplemental unemployment funds for about 570 hourly workers. …As for life insurance, all company-paid policies for employees and retirees will cease on June 30, according to the settlement.” [Kansas City Star, 6/14/01]
· The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp, A Federal Corporation, Took Over GS Industries’ Pensions On August 5, 2002, When GS Industries Terminated The Plans. “The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. is a federal corporation that guarantees payment of basic pension benefits to workers in defined benefit plans. The agency is financed largely by insurance premiums paid by companies that sponsor pension plans. PBGC announced Aug. 5 that it would take over the two pension plans, covering all pension payments dating to June 30, when GSI terminated the plans. The agency will mail out letters around Oct. I notifying former GST workers of the change.” [The Business Journal, 8/16/02]
GS Industries Eliminated Health Insurance Coverage.“Wiseman said the Steelworkers union negotiated a $1 million fund with the creditors committee of GS Industries to reimburse 50 percent of GST retirees health insurance premiums under COBRA. But GS Industries terminated the COBRA coverage on Sept. 30. GS Industries now is in the midst of going out of business and has sold all its plants that continued operating in the United States, allowing the company to eliminate its health insurance. ‘Unfortunately, the company was within its rights to terminate the COBRA coverage,’ Wiseman said.” [Kansas City Star, 12/31/02]
750 JOBS WERE LOST AS GS INDUSTRIES CLOSED THE GST STEEL PLANT IN KANSAS CITY DURING BANKRUPTCY
Headline: Shutdown Is End Of An Era; 750 Workers To Lose Jobs In Plant Closing [Kansas City Star, 2/8/01]
GS Industries Closed Its GST Steel Mill During Bankruptcy.“GST Steel Co., whose local ties date to the 19th century, will close as part of a bankruptcy reorganization, throwing 750 area employees out of work. The shutdown of the former Armco plant in the Northeast area of Kansas City marks the area’s largest single job loss since the economy began to lose steam late last year. By contrast, the closing of Montgomery Ward cost the area about 560 jobs.” [Kansas City Star, 2/8/01]
2001: 750 Jobs Were Lost In The Shutdown Of The Kansas City Plant.“GST Steel Co., whose local ties date to the 19th century, will close as part of a bankruptcy reorganization, throwing 750 area employees out of work.” [Kansas City Star, 2/8/01]
1995: Bain Merged GS Technologies With Georgetown Mill In South Carolina, Creating GS Industries, And Issued Another $125 Million In Bonds, With Debt Totaling At $378 Million. “In 1995 Bain merged GS with another wire rod maker in Georgetown, South Carolina, to form one of the largest mini-mill steel producers in the U.S. The new company issued another $125 million in bonds to pay for the merger. Bain doubled down, reinvesting $16.5 million of its earlier dividend. The new company, dubbed GS Industries Inc., would have annual revenues of $1 billion and employ 3,800 people. Already, though, there were warning signs that the company was not on a sustainable course. Concerned about the level of debt, which totaled $378 million in 1995 on operating income less than a tenth of that amount, the merged company’s new CEO, Roger Regelbrugge, negotiated a clause in his contract that would allow him to retire at the end of 1997.” [Reuters,1/6/12]
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE8050LL20120106?irpc=932
BAIN ACQUIRED GS TECHNOLOGIES PUTTING UP $8 MILLION FOR MAJORITY CONTROL – LATER MERGED WITH ANOTHER STEEL MILL TO FORM GS INDUSTRIES
November 1993: Armco Announced The Completed Sale Of Worldwide Grinding Systems To Bain Capital And The Renaming Of The Company To GS Technologies.“Armco Inc. said Monday it has completed the previously announced $ 80 million sale of its Worldwide Grinding Systems division to Boston-based Bain Capital, a management-led investors group. Worldwide Grinding Systems, to be called GS Technologies, produces grinding balls, rods, castings and control systems for the mining industry. It is headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., and employs 1,700 people.” [Associated Press, 11/15/93]
Bain Capital Put Up $8 Million To Gain Majority Control, Renaming The Company GS Technologies Inc.“Bain put up about $8 million to gain majority control of the company, renamed GS Technologies Inc. GE Capital, former Armco executives and Leggett & Platt, a major customer for the mill’s wire rods, chipped in the rest of the equity.” [Reuters,1/6/12]
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE8050LL20120106?irpc=932
REALITY: IN 1994, ROMNEY ACKNOWLEDGED HE COULDN’T BACK UP HIS BAIN JOB CREATION CLAIMS
1994: Romney Acknowledged That There Was No Way To Determine Whether Jobs Had Been Lost Or Gained Economy-Wide Because Of His Ventures. “In a telephone interview late yesterday, Romney dismissed the characterization of Staples and his other investments as streamlining, saying that what he has done is ‘build and grow businesses,’ not shrink them. He asserted that there is no way to calculate whether jobs have been lost or gained economy-wide as a result of his ventures, and noted his 10,000-job figure simply measures what happened to employment at companies in which Bain invested. In a separate interview, Thomas Stemberg, Staples chairman and chief executive, acknowledged that there probably has been some job loss in the paper products business because of superstore companies, but said that the nation is still better off for their advent. Bain contributed 15 percent of the startup money for the Framingham-based company and, until the campaign, Romney sat on its board of directors.” [Boston Globe, 10/6/94]
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/as_bain_slashed_jobs_romney_stayed_to_side/?page=full
Boston Globe: “It’s Impossible To Say Precisely If More Jobs Were Created Than Cut By Bain Since The Firm Does Not Track Employment In Its Investments.” [Boston Globe,1/27/08]
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/as_bain_slashed_jobs_romney_stayed_to_side/?page=full
Former Bain Partners: Romney Had Chances To Fight To Save Jobs But Didn’t.“Throughout his 15-year career at Bain Capital, which bought, sold, and merged dozens of companies, Romney had other chances to fight to save jobs, but didn’t. His ultimate responsibility was to make money for Bain’s investors, former partners said.” [Boston Globe, 1/27/08]
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/as_bain_slashed_jobs_romney_stayed_to_side/?page=full
Romney’s Fortune “Was Made On The Backs Of Companies That Ultimately Collapsed, Putting Thousands Of Ordinary Americans Out On The Street.” “However, the former private equity firm chief’s fortune — which has funded his political ambitions from the Massachusetts statehouse to his unsuccessful run for the White House in 2008 — was made on the backs of companies that ultimately collapsed, putting thousands of ordinary Americans out on the street.” [New York Post, 2/19/11]
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/ad_mitt_mistakes_jRmd2LHaPIb0bbNn1ZkgaJ#ixzz1EhtAE4AN
“A Review Of Bain’s Activities… Paint A Picture Of An Operation That Wasn’t Focused On Expanding Employment,” But “Was To Generate Gains For Its Investors.”“Interviews with former employees and executives at Bain and companies it controlled, along with a review of Bain’s activities described in public documents and news accounts, paint a picture of an operation that wasn’t focused on expanding employment. Instead, Bain’s mission, like most private equity firms, was to generate gains for its investors.” [Bloomberg,7/20/11]
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-20/romney-as-job-creator-clashes-with-bain-record-of-job-cuts.html
Former Bain Employee: In Assessing Deals Romney Didn’t Consider Whether They Saved Or Created Jobs—”It Was Very Clinical.” “In assessing deals, Romney and partners didn’t consider whether they saved or created jobs, according to a former Bain employee who requested anonymity, citing confidentiality guidelines. When Bain partners discussed shutting down failing businesses in which they invested, Romney never suggested they had to do something to save workers’ jobs. ‘It was very clinical,’ the former employee said. ‘Like a doctor. When the patient is dead, you just move on to the next patient.’”[Boston Globe,1/27/08]
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/as_bain_slashed_jobs_romney_stayed_to_side/?page=full
Romney’s Colleagues “Recall Him As Vain”, “Focused Only On The Bottom Line”, And “Impatient And Unconcerned About Those Affected By His Decisions.” “Some of Romney’s colleagues recall him as vain, however, and focused only on the bottom line. They saw him as impatient and unconcerned about those affected by his decisions. ‘They’re whitewashing his career now,’ said Marc B. Wolpow, a former managing director at Bain Capital who opposes Romney’s White House bid. ‘We had a scheme where the rich got richer. I did it, and I feel good about it. But I’m not planning to run for office.’” [LA Times,12/16/07]
http://articles.latimes.com/2007/dec/16/nation/na-mittbain16
UNDER ROMNEY, BAIN CAPITAL WAS FOCUSED ON GENERATING WEALTH, NOT EXPANDING EMPLOYMENT
Bloomberg: Under Romney “Some Firms Had Indications Their Jobs Might Be In Jeopardy Soon After Bain Moved Into Management. In Other Cases, Pink Slips Arrived After Bain And Its Investors Had Collected Their Profits And Left Debts Behind.”“A Bloomberg review of several Bain deals during Romney’s tenure showed that workers in some firms had indications their jobs might be in jeopardy soon after Bain moved into management. In other cases, pink slips arrived after Bain and its investors had collected their profits and left debts behind.” [Bloomberg,7/20/11]
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-20/romney-as-job-creator-clashes-with-bain-record-of-job-cuts.html
Eugene Robinson: Romney is no economic savior
(Page 1 of 5)
Eugene Robinson
Monday, May 14, 2012
Republicans say they’re eager for the presidential campaign to turn away from “distractions” and focus instead on the economy. Someone should warn them that if they’re not careful, they might get their wish.
It is true that voters’ unhappiness with high unemployment and slow growth poses a challenge for President Obama as he seeks reelection. But for Mitt Romney and the GOP to take advantage of this potential opening, they’ll have to do more than chant the word “economy” like a mantra. They have to make the case that their policies will work better than Obama’s.
And what might Romney’s proposed economic policies be? Why, they’re basically the same as those of George W. Bush, only worse.
Just as Obama owns the recession and the slow recovery, Bush owns the financial crisis that sent the slumping economy over a cliff. But for all his sins — the gratuitous tax cuts, the off-budget wars, the defiance of basic arithmetic — Bush at least demonstrated a certain empathy for Americans who struggle to make ends meet. One of his budget-busting initiatives, for example, was expanding Medicare to cover prescription drugs without worrying about how this much-needed new benefit would be paid for.
http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/rss.jsp?rssid=609&item=http%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fopinions%2fromneys-economic-plan-is-short-on-specifics%2f2012%2f05%2f14%2fgIQA15tkPU_mobile.mobile&cid=-1
Check out this video of Senator Ted Kennedy at Liberty U.
THIS MOFO, RIGHT HERE. LYING PSYCOPATH