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Douglas C. Pizac / AP
Mitt Romney is shown in October 2001, when he was president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. On Saturday evening, Romney spoke at a celebration honoring the 10-year anniversary of the games.
Mitt Romney oversaw a wide-ranging lobbying campaign to snare tens of millions of dollars in federal earmarks for the Salt Lake City Olympic Games at a time critics were charging the games had become a prime example of out-of-control “pork barrel” spending, according to Senate lobbying records.
Romney’s role in overseeing the 2002 Olympics, long seen as a major political asset, is providing new fodder for political adversaries. The Democratic National Committee released an attack video Friday assailing him for running “the most expensive games in U.S. history.”
GOP rival Rick Santorum also accused Romney Saturday of "hypocrisy" for raising the issue of earmarks given his record at the Olympics. The Romney campaign responded that Santorum was "shooting himself in the foot" over the issue.
In recent weeks, Romney has portrayed himself as an uncompromising fiscal conservative and criticized Santorum for being a “strong defender” of federal earmarks. “Look, I’m in favor of a ban on earmarks,” Romney said during a recent interview on Sean Hannity’s television show. “I think spending in Washington is out of control.”
But Senate lobbying records show that the Salt Lake City Olympics Committee under Romney spent $3.5 million employing five lobbying firms in addition to its own in-house lobbying shop. Among their goals: winning federal earmarks that included $60 million for "perimeter" security; $15.8 million for "international sporting competitions"; $3 million for an extension of a Salt Lake City light rail project; as well as millions more for communications equipment, sewer projects and other programs aimed at supporting the Olympics.
The overall federal cost of the 2002 Olympics has been estimated at about $1.5 billion, although Romney defenders say much of this was put in place before he took over the Olympics Committee in 1999. But Romney later touted his efforts in his book about the Winter Olympics, “Turnaround,” writing that he directed his chief Washington lobbyist “to bring in more federal funding than had ever been appropriated for any Olympics, summer or winter.”
And he made his success in doing so a selling point when he ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002. “I was successful in organizing the Olympics, got record funds from the federal government," he said then.
Santorum seized on Romney’s aggressive pursuit of the federal earmarks at a campaign appearance Saturday in Columbus, Ohio.
"He heroically bailed out the Salt Lake City Olympic Games by heroically going to Congress and asking them for tens of millions of dollars to bail out the Salt Lake Games -- in an earmark, in an earmark for the Salt Lake Olympic Games," he said. “Does the word hypocrisy come to mind?”
Andrea Saul, a spokeswoman for the Romney campaign, responded: “Sometimes when you shoot from the hip, you end up shooting yourself in the foot. There is a pretty wide gulf between seeking money for post 9/11 security at the Olympics and seeking earmarks for polar bear exhibits at the Pittsburgh Zoo. Mitt Romney wants to ban earmarks. Senator Santorum wants more ‘Bridges to Nowhere’” — referring to a proposed bridge in Alaska that was canceled after it became a symbol of pork barrel spending.
Saul also said that “the majority of federal funds for the Salt Lake Games was for security purposes," and noted they took place "just months after months after 9/11," when "security was heightened.” She added: “Taxpayer support of the games was only 18 percent, enabled by Mitt Romney's ability to secure new corporate sponsorships to bring the taxpayer tab down."
Romney’s stewardship of the 2002 Winter Olympics is getting fresh scrutiny this weekend amid conflicting claims about his record. Romney flew back to Salt Lake City Friday for a campaign fundraiser -- co-hosted by his former chief Olympics deputy and attracting many leaders of the city’s business community. He also was participating Saturday evening in a gala civic celebration commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Games.
His campaign — and financial supporters — see Romney’s Olympics stewardship as a prime example of his leadership and management skills under fire. And they are hoping to make more of it: A media firm hired by Restore Our Future, the pro-Romney super PAC, also is in Salt Lake City this weekend to film footage about Romney and the Olympics for use in upcoming television ads.
Then the head of Bain Capital, Romney was recruited in 1999 to become president of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, or SLOC, which ran the games, after it was engulfed in a bribery scandal that resulted in the loss of sponsors and a huge projected deficit.
“Mitt described it as stepping into an empty elevator shaft,” said Fraser Bullock, a former Bain Capital colleague who served as Romney’s No. 2 at the Salt Lake Olympics committee. “We were in deep trouble financially, operationally, morale-wise. It was about as difficult as you can imagine.” (Bullock co-hosted the Romney campaign fundraiser in Salt Lake City and has contributed $100,000 to the Romney Super PAC.)
Romney, Bullock says, engineered an “extraordinary turnaround” of the Olympics -- restoring confidence, tapping his business connections to bring in new corporate sponsors and slashing costs. In one of his more memorable moves, he put an end to the committee’s habit of catering lavish boardroom lunches, replacing them with Dominos’s pizzas.
“He bought a pizza for $5, cut it into eight slices, charged $1 dollar a slice,” said Bullock. “So we could make $8 for a pizza that cost $5 and have a profit of $3. That sent a great message throughout the entire organization that we would watch every penny.”
In the end, Romney is credited by supporters like Bullock with turning a projected $479 million deficit into a $100 million profit. But detractors charge he also used the games for self-promotion, even sanctioning official Olympic pins bearing his image with such captions as "We Love You, Mitt."
In turning around the 2002 games, Romney got a big helping hand from U.S. taxpayers. The federal government poured $1.5 billion into the Salt Lake games – more than twice the amount spent on any previous U.S. Olympics.
Republican Sen. John McCain called it a “fleecing” of the U.S. Treasury.
Santorum accuses Romney of hypocrisy on earmarks
“The Olympic Games supposedly hosted and funded by Salt Lake City, which began in corruption and bribery, has now turned into is an incredible pork-barrel project for Salt Lake City and its environs.” McCain said in a Sept. 19, 2000, speech on the Senate floor.
Although Romney spokeswoman Saul asserted that a majority of federal funding for the Olympics was for security, McCain, in leveling his charges, relied on a General Accounting Office report that documented a litany of direct and indirect federal earmarks for the Salt Lake Olympics that had little if anything to do with security. Among them: $645 million for new highways and roads, including a repaved mountain road to the Snow Basin ski resort, owned by a wealthy local oilman. There was also hundreds of millions more for light rail, parking lots, bus rentals, sewer construction, housing for the news media and weather forecasting — in addition to $161 million for security (a figure that climbed even higher after 9/11.)
“I do not understand how we Republicans call ourselves conservatives and then treat the taxpayer dollars in this fashion,” McCain said in his 2000 speech. “This has to stop.”
Bullock, Romney’s chief deputy at the Olympics, disputed suggestions that there was any “federal bailout” of the Olympics and noted that most of the funding that critics objected to was planned “years before Mitt got there.” Former GOP Sen. Robert Bennett of Utah served on the Senate Appropriations Committee and is credited with inserting many of the Olympics earmarks.
But, as president of the Salt Lakes Organizing Committee, Romney fully embraced – and aggressively defended – the earmarks. In an Aug. 18, 2000, letter to the GAO, Romney called the Olympics “a massive undertaking” and added: “Recognizing that our government spends billions of dollars to maintain wartime capability, it is entirely appropriate to invest several hundred million dollars to promote peace.”
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The biggest whiners with a victim mentality of all are those Scrooges among us who say they would have it made if ONLY it wasn't for the IRS --- and illegal immigration was allowed to continue. Those dudes make GREAT Union busters and the business owner doesn't have to move the factory to Mexico, thereby keeping at lest SOME of the money local. so why the GOP complains about illegal immigration is beyond me when SO many business's bottom lines are helped out, just like with any OTHER outsourcing. I guess they must all be owned by Democrats, huh
David, you are beginning to sound a bit desperate.
Rick, I am surprised. Have not seen you on for a day or so. I was hoping you were banned and can't believe you have not been, YET. Working on it.
Everyone, Rich is not on here to debate, he is on here to inflame. He makes racist and inflammatory post for his personal enjoyment. He is not worth anyone's time. Ignore him!!!
When PDug19 says I'm on here to inflame he means it inflames him when I catch him in a mistake.
Hardy, this140 IQ just likes painting people into logic corners. You might say it is my hobby. Keeps the mind sharp. You Tea party guys got any more logic mistakes you need correcting well then fire away!
After your debt crisis fiasco- where you insisted on automatic budgets cuts if the super committee failed, knowing full well what they would be--- defense!, your logic credibility is pretty much shot. You came across as naive fools. Your Defense Traitor Paul is loving it though!
Hey Rick like video your comments are documented. This guy is on here to inflame. I cannot believe he has not been banned. On many forums all his post's have been collapsed by the community, don't waste your time with this poor excuse for humanity. Here is one small example of Rick's work. He has much worse to his racist credit.
Here is one of Rick's posts. Actually this is mild to some of his posts, it does actually get worse.
This is Rick-312779 actual POST.
Quote from Rick 312779 "Maybe if you liberals would get your heads out of that dark stinky place where you have it stuck you would realize it was a joke, have a good laugh and forget about it. Apparently you are so intent on cramming your beliefs down our throats you have lost all sense. Not only that but now you want us to pay for it.
I'll make a deal though. If we could get certain minorities to agree to be sterilized I would agree to help pay them a premium."
Cheney just called me from the nursing home to say the Chump Ryan has it all wrong. Deficits don't MATTER because we are gonna grow our way our way out of them thanks to trickle down economics enabled by the Bush tax cuts. YAY!
I trusted Bob Hope all my life and miss him sorely. Especially considering that he had a real grasp on American politics as noted in this film clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkmS6JrWSPU&feature=related
And here is their own words is how they do it........
TACTICS FOR EFFECTIVE CONSERVATIVE BLOGGING
Engage
Demand an elaborate, time-consuming comparison / analysis between your position and theirs.
Entangle
Insist that the Liberal put their posts “in their own words”. That will consume the most time and effort for the Liberal poster. They will be unable to spread numerous points on numerous blogs if you have them occupied. Allowing a Liberal to post a web link is too quick and efficient for them. Tie them up. We are going for delay of game here.
Demoralize
Dismiss their narrative as rubbish immediately. Do not even read it. Once the Liberal goes through the trouble to research, gather, collate, compose and write their narrative your job is to discredit it. Make it obvious you tossed their labor-intensive narrative aside like garbage. This will have the effect of demoralizing the Liberal poster. It will make them unwilling to expend the effort again, and for us, that is a net win.
Attack
Attack the source. Any Liberal website or information source must be marginalized, trivialized and discounted. Let the blogosphere know that “Truthout.org”, “thinkprogress.org”, “the nation” and “moveon.org” are Liberal rubbish propaganda. Discredit Liberal sources of information whenever possible.
Confuse
Challenge the Liberal position with questions, always questions. The questions need not be relevant. The goal is to knock the Liberal poster off their game, and seize control of the narrative. Once you have control you can direct the narrative to where you want it to go, which is always away from a successful Liberal presentation. Conversely, do not respond to their leading questions. Don’t rise to their bait.
Contain
Your job is to prevent the presentation and spread of Liberal viewpoints. Do anything you must do to
prevent a Liberal poster from presenting a well-reasoned argument, or starting a civil discussion. Don’t allow a Liberal to present their dogma unchallenged,….EVER.
Intimidate
Taunt the Liberals. If you find yourself in a debate with a Liberal where you are losing a fact-based argument then call them a name to derail their diatribe. Remember your goal is to prevent a meaningful exchange of views and ideas which may portray Liberalism in a positive light. Your goal as a conservative blogger is to stop the spread and advance of the Liberal agenda. Play upon any identifiable idiosyncrasies, character flaws, physical traits, names, to their disadvantage. Stay on the offensive with Liberal wimps. Don’t let up.
Insult their Movement
Assign as many character and moral flaws to Liberals as you can. You must portray Liberals as weak, vacillating, indecisive, amoral, baby killers, unpatriotic, effete snobs, elitists, Leftists, Commies, sense of entitlement, promiscuous, union lovers, tax raisers, Welfare Queens, Socialists, lazy, sex-obsessed, druggies, Jesus haters, moochers, troop haters,….etc. Always use these negative epithets when referring to, or describing Liberals / democrats.
Deceive
Identify yourself as a “moderate”, “centrist” or “independent”. It will also cause Liberals to lower their guard a bit, which gives you an effective opening. This may also have the effect of aligning conservative viewpoints with the real moderates we are attempting to reach. It may serve to influence some moderates over to the Republican side.
Patriotism
Always claim the high ground of pro-military, low taxes, strong defense, morality and religion. We own those virtues. Learn how to exploit them when debating. Call the Liberals weak on terrorism, it drives them crazy.
Smudge the Lines
Say that there is no difference between the two parties. Look for ways to show how similar the two parties are. Make them doubt their allegiance to the democrat party.
Infiltrate
Inquire as to the personal lives of Liberal posters. Get to know them. Where they live, work, how many kids. Call them by their first names. This will make them tone down their narrative. After all, you are not going to insult a trusted friend are you? If they are a powerful blogger with a sharp tongue you need to find a way to weaken their rhetoric, and nothing will do that as well as familiarity.
Demean
Always refer to the other side as “Liberals”, “Lefty Liberals”, “Libbies”. Never assign them the status of a bona-fide political party. Hang Liberalism around their neck like a burning tire. Make Liberalism appear as a function of moral turpitude or a character flaw. They are NEVER, NEVER to be referred to as “the Democratic Party”. At best it is “the democrat party”.
Opportunity
Be alert for ways to insert our catch phrases into your narrative. You will receive your daily list of talking points and topics that we want you to cover. Consistent, persistent repetition and inculcation will drive our talking points home and so will neuro-linguistic programming. Stick with it and our talking points will become truth. If they debunk your talking point, ignore it, and move on as if you didn’t hear it.
Excellent post GOPisextinct Thanks for taking the time and effort to inform.
And now......watch him pull a lion out of his azz! OoOoOps Rocky wrong Azz!
At 65, I'm kind of immune to most of that, just like Navy boot camp would never work for me now. I'd probably just sit down and tell the drill instructor to**** off when he tried to intimidate me
stupid again ..... you work for media matters ???
If I mention the Upper Class I will be accused of Class Warfare so I will put it THIS way instead: No member of Congress should be getting either SS or Medicare when they are eligible because they are all rich -, excuse me, well off enough-- not to NEED them and , hey, we ARE in a debt crisis right? NOW everybody is on board for a means test
I like it when all you republicans post. Means more votes for President Obama.
PDug19 has made around 15 posts accusing me of being inglamatory and stating he hopes I get banned. He has also made similar posts to others that disagree with him. A suspicious person might be tempted to accuse him of attempting to censor those who disagree with him.
#15.1 - Wed Feb 8, 201
LOL Rick,
These are your buddies, your friends, who come on these forums, like you, have nothing to offer but to INFLAME. You and your buddies will come on a forum and together take it over blocking real debate and discussing. I will continue to work at exposing you and your friends and people like you. You have nothing to offer to a debate, much less Humanity. I am not going to let your kind get away with making false and inflammatory posts any longer, I cannot stop them all, I will pick a few like you, and call you out.
Hey Rick, how many people do you think would agree with this post from you.
Quote from Rick 312779 "Maybe if you liberals would get your heads out of that dark stinky place where you have it stuck you would realize it was a joke, have a good laugh and forget about it. Apparently you are so intent on cramming your beliefs down our throats you have lost all sense. Not only that but now you want us to pay for it.
I'll make a deal though. If we could get certain minorities to agree to be sterilized I would agree to help pay them a premium."
Rick, keep making posts like this and I will keep re-posting them to expose what you are all about.
PUG19,
Let it go man. Why should you also act like a child. You can re-post anything I say and I've the common sense not to debate you. I simply laugh at your childish like ways. DUD
Drakkar2
Who you are you to get involved, Oh I Know, just another ignorant uniformed person on the issues and devoid of facts. You have no clue to my experience with Rick and his friends, you do not have any knowledge of Rick's post, so I suspect for you to make this post, everything you post is with NO knowledge of what your are saying, and is biased and like Rick. You should friend him.
Or, it his Rick's other account?
drakkar2
If you want to get involved it is ok with me. If you don't that is ok too. But I guess you know that if you want to go back to the original thread you can click on this number: #446.4
PDug19
http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2010/jul/25/sherrod-brown/sherrod-brown-touts-job-grown-during-clinton-presi/
#446.4 - Mon Feb 13, 2012
Hey Rick,
Whats your point? I admitted I made a mistake, which you are not capable of. The second statement is the truth, so what is your point? LOL
But it had nothing to do with what we were discussing:
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jul/13/ed-gillespie/gillespie-touts-bush-record-taxes-job-creation/
This is just stupid the olympics was for the nation you shouldnt even call that a earmark ...just stupid
Santorum is so full of BS....just does he say he will do if President? He has no experience except as a Senator....his claim to fame was a one issue stance ......pro-life, antiabortion....guy is a nut. He is smart, but one-off.
Jennifer,
Obama is the least experienced President in America History. A 0ne term State Senator and one and one half years as a Federal States Senator.
Why not simply allow the Three Stooges to be President, Vice President and Secretary of State. Their cabinet can be made up of Elmer Fudd, Little Bo Peep, Daffy Duck, Beep Beep the Road Runner, G.I. Joe, G.I. Jane, Barbie, Ken and the local carnival. As crazy as they are, I'm certain they'll do just as good a job. It seems to me, its only a matter of time before America becomes a third world country. Promises from the left and the right are simply empty promises that lead nowhere. We're firstly told its a mandate for us to purchase something. We're secondly told its a mandate to accept something whether its against our conscience or not. Where is it in the Constitution, government can force any man or woman to do as government mandates? It seems that we are on a very dangerous pathway. If one or two things can be mandated (and you can believe there will be a third and a fourth) and freedom suppressed, everything in our lives will slowly but surely one day be mandated. We can brush this idea aside but we do so at our own peril. One thing is certain, we have no guarantee of what the future will present us. That can't be debated. It makes little difference who is in the Oval Office if there are clashes in the Middle East which there surely will be. Iran has cut off oil to 2 European countries as I write this. Greece continues to burn as it struggles to protect itself from bankruptcy. Unrest in Syria continues and Tehran will drive up oil prices in return causing the cost of commodities to rise higher than they already are. Russia and China will work to weaken America even more weaker than it is. North Korea is in new hands and being controlled by the military more than ever before. U.S. retailers are packing up and headed to China. We're not being told how bad its really going to get. I could go on about what is to hit America but there isn't enough time. And millions would scoff. Gasoline will be $5.00 by memorial day, and driving isn't a luxury. It's a necessity. And yes, we'll blame Israel for possibly causing World War 3 if they hit Iran. But Israel looks at it like this, "It's a necessity for their survival". Iran after all has promised to wipe them from the face of the earth. I suspect America would do as Israel if it were Israel. It's a tough call because America and its people shall feel the impact.
Whether it be Social Security or Medicare, both need to be saved and viable. Both are separate taxes that everybody pays into. The Social Security system was supposed, I repeat, supposed to be put into a trust fund that would be paid to the people upon their reaching a certain age. Well unfortunately the elected politicians did not do that. They wrote IOU's and spent it on buying votes by greasing their constituents palms. Now some of them are saying, "Oh hell, it's not viable" Same holds true for Medicare. Same situation. Neither Medicare nor Social Security were to be in the General Fund where they would be spent on anything other than their stated intention.
Well now the National Debt is catching up with the lying jerks and you get Lard A$$ loud mouths like Chris Christy. Or little weasels like Barack Obama, stating they have to raise taxes (Obama), or too bad we're out of money (Christy).
I've got a better idea. Give me back the money I put into these programs and I'll invest it into Health Savings accounts and a IRA. At least if I lose it, it will be my fault.
$4 trillion of the National Debt is money owed to the Social Security Trust Fund. It was "borrowed" and spent over a period of at least 40 years. Those funds are vulnerable to being reorganized out of existence in order to "pay down" the deficit. Both parties are to blame for the raids on American's pension plans. Watch out!
Go to the "Politics" section of MSNBC and all you see is Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, Boehner, Cantor or Republican. Has anyone, anyone ever questioned why MSNBC only talks about Republicans on it's "politics" page? Obama makes news, good and bad but all we seem to see is the "good". Bush was bashed by this network on a daily basis, some warranted some not but do we "the people" deserve to see all the news? I am a conservative, no doubt, but I go to MSNBC every day for news, news on many other topics than politics but I always "look". I have my viewpoints, as a conservative, on politics but I am amazed that MSNBC tries so hard to portray only one point of view. I watch Fox, I watch CNN, ABC and the other news networks but I am starting to get concerned about ALL American media and the fact that they are only giving you "news" that they approve of instead of giving you everything and letting you decide what is news worthy and what is not. I think the "freedom of the press", meaning the press should be able to give you all the news and not worry about government intervention. is starting to look more like a pass to give you what "they want". What ever you think about our politicians, we deserve to know everything and we aren't getting it from the major networks. It's a sad day when entire media organizations decide it is better to "control" the people than to just give us the news.
http://www.cagle.com/author/dave-granlund/page/15/
Check out the fourth cartoon from the top!
REPUBLICAN VOTERS PREPARE TO SELECT A CANDIDATE
When Bain Capital drained companies' pension accounts under Romney, he also knew that the funds were government insured and the tax payers would be stuck bailing out the pension plan liability.
So he got earmarks for the olympics...big deal. The olympics were good for the U.S. and the fact that the U.S. government had to help underwrite it shows that we needed to do it for america. The Dems (who I voted for) need ot STFU. Obutma is a disgrace...I'm ashamed I voted for him..but the choice was him or the team of a geriatric senator who should be in a rest home and his whack job VP candidate who could see russia from her back porch. there was no way in hell I would let the bimbo anywhere near the nuke codes. she's better on her back than as a political leader.
Yeah, it was Obama who chose to be black and inherit the worst economy in 80 years. Then, there was all that bad weather last summer...
Affinity1
Yep, that was bad luck. Too bad he could not have served from 1992 to 2000. Who knows, maybe he could have even been white at that time.
And now your vote, if it's republican, will go to some nut job or out of touch 1%er. Great choice.
Folks, republicans are choosing which loser gets the nomination.
Obama 2012.
So the lefties in here are screeching that
"Mr. Romney is claiming that "he" saved the '92 Olympics, but failed to mention that he did it by using "our" tax money to do it. So, really "we" saved the '92 Olympics."
Yet your failure of a President has no qualms about falsely saying he "saved" the auto industry by spending our tax dollars to pay off crooked unions.
And the democrats haven't even begun to enter the fray. Republicans lose. But what would you expect from the losers?
Let's not forget about the homeless people that were deported to Nevada during the 2001 Winter Olympics. What does Romney have to say about that one?
It's really stupid to collapse someones post....about time that's gotten rid of dont ya think?
I make it a point to read them and I bet everyone else who comes in the blog reads them too....so you are wasting your energy clicking to collapse, reminds me of dumb and dumber...lol
It's also childish!
Ron Paul 2012
this is one big boomerang hitting him in the face. he created his own big headache when he allowed his super pac to mount vicious attacks on candidates who were ahead of him. and now it is all coming back to kill him. one cannot build character and show leadership by tearing down and destroying other people. big mistake!!!
Right, but Mitt says, "You have to got broad shoulders". That one line my him proved he was going to attack, attack, and attack. Mitt, "it's biting you in the ass". Your candidacy is over having spent untold millions. What a bummer....
And how much did Obama and his gang from Chicago spend to get the Olympics there?
Does anyone realize that Domino's didn't have 5$ pizza until 2011?
He wont bailout Detroit but he bailedout the Olympics. Hypocrite!
It snows somewhere and some fool like Limbaugh yells "there is no global warming". It gets down to 15* somewhere and another fool yells "there is no global warming". Whether man made or natural, the birds have more sense than warming deniers when they shortstop their migration as these endangered Whooping Cranes did.
http://operationmigration.org/Field_Journal.html
We spent 1.3 Billion dollars on the 2002 Olympics.
Interesting that Romney would support a government bailout for his Mormon cronies in Utah but reject one for the auto industry. What gives?