Hi, Amy. You said it. If you consider Romney is eager to head to Iran, North Korea and wherever, Ron Paul at least doesn't support any more wars and would cut the military budget considerably. That's about the only thing Paul and I agree on.

Amy that link is very illuminating, to whomever posted it, thank you. I will save it for sure. I just got a sickening feel in my stomach as I read it.

I was a victim of similar circumstances during the 80's and again in the 90's. I know what it is like and I know the many financial lives that were, at best stunted and in a lot of cases badly hurt, The dreams denied or broken, by these vultures who hid in their fancy corner offices, high up on the upper floors, where only private elevators took them as elites to make their bloodletting plans.

Well put, Gingerbread.

I've been looking back, trying to find the poster who provided the link, but I haven't found him or her yet. It certainly opened my eyes.

http://www.seattleweekly.com/2012-04-18/news/mitt-romney-american-parasite/4/

To quote Gingrich "Let's be clear." It isn't necessary to have a "core" to succeed in business. In fact, it helps not to have a core, or empathy, etc. to succeed in business. Also, the whole micro versus macro economic confusion of comparing household budgets to government deficit spending, etc. is not a good background for being POTUS either.

What has Romney done in his life to gain expertise in public policy?

February marks the 10th anniversary of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, an event that has become central to Mitt Romney's campaign for the White House -- a legacy marked by millions of dollars in lobbying and taxpayer spending that has been whitewashed from the story.

In recent weeks, as criticism has mounted over Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital, media scrutiny has focused in part on how the company profited on private equity deals that were tied to massive federal bailouts, a record that contrasts with Romney's rhetoric on federal bailouts.

A January 6 Reuters article noted the conflict between Romney's campaign, which "has championed free markets and vowed to shrink the role of government" with Romney's own history at Bain and its "brush with a U.S. bailout" after the U.S. Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. was forced to "pony up $44 million to bail out" an underfunded pension plan at a company connected to Romney's tenure at Bain.

Don't look it up on Wiki -- While factual, this is obviously edited by Romney staff (only a Mormon could write some of it), or should we say "whitewashed."

I just read the link Jody -- Excellent, thanks!

By Romney's logic, any large investor—say, the Texas teachers' pension fund—also creates hundreds of thousands of jobs. The boast is so foolish that his campaign has since backed away from it.

Even Kaplan admits that private equity firms rarely create jobs. Workers are seen as costs, and costs are the enemy. According to Kosman, Romney was in truth among the most heinous job-killers of them all.

American Pad & Paper Company (Ampad), Marion, Indiana, was bought by Bain and spun off as an independent company in 1992. Bain borrowed $400 million against Ampad, and a company that was viable when it was acquired was suddenly buried in debt.

Under Romney, Bain forced Ampad to lay off hundreds of its employees. In protest, Ampad workers went out on strike. By 2001, Ampad was so far in debt (thanks to Bain), had lost so much money, business and jobs that it was forced to close its dors. Stockholders were wiped out, and creditors were paid 50 cents on the dollar.

Bain made an overall profit of $100 million on the deal. Romney's Bain took a highly profitable company, borrowed millions on its good name, bankrupted the company, cost workers their jobs, closed a factory, stuck the government with the lost pension money and then walked away with $100 million.

Bain bought Sealy in 1997. "Bain used Sealy and its largest domestic competitor, Simmons, which it also acquired, as cash cows for Bain partners and investors. The $791 million deal cost Bain $140 million up front plus $651 million borrowed against Sealy (which was ultimately forced into bankruptcy).

Under pressure from Bain, Sealy cut costs and increased production to provide greater returns for investors. Research and development was left to competitors as Swiss mattress company Tempur-Pedic began offering a better product and cutting into Sealy's domestic market share.

Bain's response to its loss of market share recalls the joke about the produce-stand operator who was buying watermelons for $3 and selling them for $3, then realized he could solve his problem by buying a bigger truck. After acquiring Sealy, then Simmons, in 2001 Bain tried to vertically integrate its mattress operation. it bought the retail outlet Mattress Discounters for $212 million--a deal that quickly went sour when the company filed for bankruptcy in 2002.

By 2004, Sealy's debt burden made the entire venture unsustainable and Bain sold the company to another corporate raider, KKR.

Along the way, Bain had busted unions and reduced Sealy's workforce in places like Tennessee, shipping some jobs overseas. Job losses are hard to quantify because Sealy often used subcontractors. The company today employs fewer workers and subcontracted workers than it did in 1997." Hardly the success story Romney touts.

Great Job Jody, Very Very Interesting. Thanks !!!

Obama/Biden 2012

It would be interesting to compare The Shock Doctrine: Rise of Disaster Capitalism by Naomi Klein about privatization of profit and socialization of debt (Bain being an excellent example) to Tom Coburn's book The Debt Bomb: A Bold Plan to Stop Washington from Bankrupting America.

Right off the bat, I'm skeptical of any use of the word "bold," but there may be a little hope...

Some Senate Republicans have grown weary of Norquist's strict interpretation of the pledge, and a mini-revolt occurred in mid-June.

Thirty-four of the Senate's 47 Republicans voted to end a tax break for ethanol production, which has come under political fire in recent years. Norquist strongly opposed the move, and denounced its leader, conservative Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla.

Coburn, who says some revenue increases must join deep spending cuts to reduce the deficit, claimed a turning point.

"You've got 34 Republicans that say they're willing to end this, regardless of what Grover says," he told reporters. "That's 34 Republicans that say this is more important than a signed pledge" to Norquist's group.

And here's an excerpt by my favorite wonk, Ezra Klein:

Sen. Tom Coburn took Norquist's pledge. And then he broke Norquist's pledge. Now, Coburn is a conservative's conservative, and his argument is that the debt is too significant a threat to spend time mucking about with pledges.

Someone like Coburn, who has a strong personal connection with his constituents, might be able to survive breaking the pledge. But weaker incumbents probably don't want to risk it. And unknown candidates who run in primaries can't resist it. And so the pledge endures.

[And] ...could lead to "non-representative outcomes," where "interest groups can use pledges to lock-in policies that the majority would not freely choose."

The question this study leaves open is what happens if the entire Republican Party — or at least quite a lot of it — breaks the pledge all at once, as part of some kind of grand bargain.

My follow-up question is, if voters don't like politicians who "lie" and/or can't be trusted because of reversal on a position, then why would they support Romney? I believe Republicans can and must stop these pledges to outside groups.

Hey, Jody -

I don't know what kind of week it was anywhere else in this great land, but here in the Philadelphia metropolitan area, things were looking pretty darn good, economically speaking. Just within the space of about 48 hours this past week, we got three pieces of really good news in terms of jobs and the economy:

First, Delta Airlines announced that they were buying the Conoco Phillips oil refinery in Trainer that had been closed several months ago. They'll be updating the facility to produce jet fuel as well as gasoline and officials say the purchase will result in 380 permanent jobs with Delta, another 100 permanent contracting jobs, and untold numbers of jobs saved in the mom & pop businesses in the neighborhood that have depended on the refinery workers for their survival.

Then Energy Transfer Partners announced it was buying Sunoco, who was also trying to get out of the refinery business. No word yet on whether the refinery will stay open, but Energy Transfer is supposedly committed to keeping Sunoco's 4900 gas station/convenience stores on the east coast open, their retail headquarters and logistics businesses will stay in Pennsylvania, and there is still a good possibility that yet another buyer could purchase just the refinery part in Marcus Hook.

Finally, a company called Bloom Energy broke ground this week in Newark, DE on the site of the old Chrysler plant that closed there a few years ago for a "manufacturing hub where fuel cells are used to convert fuel into electricity through an electro-chemical process that does not require combustion". They expect to bring another 900 new jobs to the area when they open next year. Green energy jobs, from the sounds of it.

And no, I'm not actually saying that President Obama directly created a single one of these new jobs. In interviews I've seen, politicians from both parties are tripping all over each other trying to take the credit. But whoever gets the credit, that's still a pretty good number of jobs either being created or saved in this region - in just the last week.

And then - as I mentioned earlier today - there was the fact that not only are gas prices in the area nowhere near the $5.00 a gallon everyone had been predicting, they just went DOWN by 22 cents a gallon just since my last fill-up not quite two weeks ago - from $3.99 then to $3.77 this morning. Could probably have done even better, but there's no Wawa with gas pumps near me - well, at least until the new one about a mile away opens in another few weeks. Hey, more new jobs! Though I'm not assigning credit or blame there, either.

I'm just happy that things keep looking better. Isn't everybody?

Jody, as its Friday I thought this might be a good time to post the following in its entirety especially in light of this week's endorsements:

4 Reasons GOP Presidential Hopefuls Said Mitt Romney Would Be a Disaster

The party's also-rans called Mitt a cold-hearted opportunist, a vulture capitalist and a flip-flopper -- and then they endorsed him.

May 1, 2012 |

AlterNet / By Steven Rosenfeld

Bottom of Form

How quickly they want America to forget. For months, the GOP presidential field has attacked Mitt Romney for everything. He’s bland, boring, out-of-touch, a political and business insider. He's awkward and insensitive. Moreover, he’s insufficiently conservative – hardly a true believer. And even worse than strapping the family dog to the car's roof, he is too close to Obama on key issues, making him unelectable.

But now, as Romney wraps up the GOP nomination, the party’s also-rans are running to Romney’s side and endorsing the man, as if their criticisms and barbs were never uttered at all. Last week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who called Romney a “vulture capitalist” during the primary fight, now says Mitt is the man to lead an economic recovery. And this week, the Republicans' most acerbic Romney critic, Newt Gingrich, will appear with Mitt to confer his blessings.

So before the Mitt love fest coalesces, we thought we would compile some of the soon-to-be-hushed-up criticisms that punctuated the news in recent months. Readers will no doubt remember others. Meanwhile, let’s recall what the other GOP contenders said about Romney—possibly framing his faults better than any Democrat will.

1. Too much like Obama on healthcare.

The Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature achievement, is the law the GOP loves to hate. Last summer, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty attacked Romney’s healthcare reforms as Massachusetts governor as being nearly identical to Obama's efforts--hardly giving any real Republican confidence that Romney would unwind them as promised, if elected.

“Look, Obamacare was patterned after Mitt’s plan in Massachusetts,” Pawlenty said. “And for Mitt or anyone else to say there aren’t substantial similarities or they are not essentially the same plan—it just isn't credible. So that's why I called it Obamneycare, and I think that's a fair label. I’m happy to call it that again tonight.”

Pawlenty endorsed Romney on September 12, 2011, praising his qualifications. “Alone among the contenders, he possesses the unique qualifications to confront and master our severe economic predicament,” he said. “His abiding faith in our country’s exceptional historical position as a beacon of freedom will make him the most important leader in a world that depends upon a strong America to stay at peace.”

2. ‘Vulture capitalist’ and job-killer at Bain.

The Obamacare attacks were low-hanging fruit. As the first nominating contests neared, Romney's rivals turned to his record as a heartless capitalist. Gingrich attacked Romney for being a predatory businessman days before New Hampshire primary, on Sunday, January 8. “I don’t think a Milton Friedman or a Hayek would say to you, rich guys have to go and rip off companies and leave a wreckage behind,” Gingrich told the press after a town hall meeting. “I think that’s plundering. I don’t think that's capitalism.”

“I don’t want to pre-judge Romney,” he continued. “But you can’t have capitalism on the way up and socialism on the way down. You can’t have somebody who says, ‘I’m so smart. I want a huge upside, and by the way I’m so smart you’re going to get ripped off while I get a huge upside.’ If these things all turn out to be relatively valid, at some point in the near future, he’s going to have to do a press conference just to explain Bain [Capital, Romney’s firm]… which is inevitably going to lead to questions about [tax] records that he doesn’t want to release.”

Gingrich was building on a theme that he had been striking for days. Two days before, at another New Hampshire event he questioned Romney’s job-creating credentials by asking what happened to the jobs and assets at the firms that were bought and restructured by Bain.

“It’s a legitimate question about exactly what happened: Where did the money go? Who got the money? What happened to the people involved?” Gingrich said. “He’s the one who went around and said he has 20 years experience. Fine. Now let’s talk about the 20 years experience.”

Days later, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, in Anderson, South Carolina, went even further than Gingrich by visiting towns where Bain had closed factories and attacked Romney’s record as a leveraged buy-out artist. “If you are the victim of Bain Capital's downsizing, it is the ultimate insult for Mitt Romney to come to South Carolina and tell you he feels your pain,” he told a crowd at a restaurant. "He caused it."

“I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips—whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out,” Perry continued. At another South Carolina campaign stop he said, “There’s nothing wrong with being successful and making money—that’s the American dream. But there is something inherently wrong when getting rich off failures and sticking it to someone else is how you do your business. I happen to think that that is indefensible.”

“There’s a real difference between venture capitalism and vulture capitalism,” Perry told Fox News from South Carolina, creating the soundbite that has stuck. “Venture capitalism we like. Vulture capitalism, no. And the fact of the matter is that he’s going to have to face up to this at some time or another, and South Carolina is as good a place to draw that line in the sand as any.”

Last week, Perry endorsed Romney, issuing a statement on Wednesday, that in part lauded Romney’s economic credentials.

“Mitt's vision and record of private-sector success will put America back on the path of job creation, economic opportunity and limited government,” he said, adding, “Mitt Romney has earned the Republican presidential nomination through hard work, a strong organization and disciplined message of restoring America after nearly four years of failed job-killing policies from President Obama.”

For the record, Perry first endorsed Gingrich before shifting to Romney. He expressed his appreciation in a tweet, saying it was “Great to have Gov. Perry’s support.”

3. Insensitive and out of touch with the middle-class.

That tweeted reply highlights a persistent criticism about Romney—that nobody really knows what he’s thinking, and when unfiltered tidbits slip out, it gets a bit strange.

Earlier when the GOP field was much larger, candidates such as former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman were vying to be the party’s chosen moderate. He attacked Romney for being out of touch with everyday Americans, seizing on Romney's utterance that he liked to “fire people” -- referring to companies that did not perform as well as expected. Speaking in New Hampshire, Huntsman noted that the frontrunner seemed distant and insensitive to people experiencing difficulties in a hard economy.

“It seems that Governor Romney believes in putting politics first. Governor Romney enjoys firing people. I enjoy creating jobs,” Huntsman said. “It may be that he’s slightly out of touch with the economic reality playing out in America right now, and that’s a dangerous place to be.”

Gingrich also echoed the theme of Romney being the chosen candidate of Wall Street and Washington insiders before Florida's primary. In late January, he told CBS, “I think when you have a left-wing billionaire [George Soros] tell Europeans that he thinks Romney’s just fine because he’s just as much a part of the establishment as Obama and that he can live with Romney, and then you look at Goldman Sachs which was the number-one funder of Obama, now they’re the number-one funder of Romney -- I think it’s pretty easy to make the case [that] Romney is the guy who will manage the decay, he’s not the guy who is going to change Washington.”

Huntsman endorsed Romney in South Carolina, barely a week after losing in New Hampshire, saying, “I believe it is now time for our party to unite around the candidate best equipped to defeat Barack Obama… I believe that candidate is Mitt Romney.”

4. A serial flip-flopper, if not a liar.

Several GOP candidates said Romney did not exactly have a firm grip on facts and was prone to making wildly inaccurate assertions. On CBS before Florida’s primary, Gingrich attacked Romney for his inconsistencies, saying, “Lincoln once said if a man won't agree that two plus two equals four then you'll never win the argument because facts don't matter. Romney's the first candidate I've seen who fits the Lincoln description.”

He continued, “Look, when somebody says to you, ‘I’ve always voted for the Republican when the opportunity existed’ and Larry Sabato [a University of Virginia political analyst] tweets within minutes that what Mitt said wasn’t true--that in fact he could have voted for George H.W. Bush or Pat Buchanan on the day that he voted in the Democratic primary for Paul Tsongas.”

Rep. Michelle Bachmann made the same point weeks before the Iowa caucuses when trying to lay claim to being the GOP’s truest conservative. Bachmann said, “He is the governor that put in place the precursor to Obamacare—-socialized medicine for Massachusetts. He also has been an advocate for abortion. Now he’s saying that he’s pro-life and he’s also been an advocate for same-sex marriage. He signed 189 same-sex marriage licenses as governor. But that just begins to scratch the surface of his policies.”

Bachmann this week said she would endorse Romney, but the time was not yet ripe

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has not yet said if he would endorse Romney. But in February in Ohio, he lambasted Romney for criticizing him for seeking congressional pork while he was a senator--when Romney did exactly the same thing for the 2002 Olympics.

“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 Olympic games, in an earmark,” Santorum thundered. “Does the word hypocrisy come to mind?”

Funny Santorum would use that word. But then again he hasn't endorsed Mitt Romney. Yet.

Steven Rosenfeld covers democracy issues for AlterNet and is the author of "Count My Vote: A Citizen's Guide to Voting" (AlterNet Books, 2008).

JoAnne, that's great news for your neck of the woods. Yes, I'm happy everything is looking up. It will get even better, too.

Gingerbread Mamma, terrific post! It's amazing how Mitt Romney touts his success at turning around the Olympics but he had to have the Government bail him out to do it.

JoAnne in PA - and GE is building 4 manufacturing campuses in the US by 2014 - bringing back production for 70% of their products!

Seeking Sanity -

My late father (who'd have turned 85 tomorrow) worked at the GE switchgear plant in SW Philly for many years before going into full-time union work, and it always hurt him to see the vacant lot where that plant once stood when he'd go by it on the train. I'm sure somewhere he's smiling at that news!

"JoAnne in PA - and GE is building 4 manufacturing campuses in the US by 2014 - bringing back production for 70% of their products!"

GE doesn't pay taxes!!! Oh wait, they're in the tank for Obama, my bad, GE you don't need to pay-sorry.

Oh, that's great Gingerbread!

I keep a photo of Barack Obama on my desk at work :) Not only does it lift my spirits to look at it during the day, it lets everyone know, I support the re election of President Obama.

Great story, GBM! Kind of makes you wonder, though.....if the economy was really as awful as some people would have us believe, would that guy even still own his boat, let alone be able to fill up his boat and his car at the same time? If that's how we measure "hard times" these days, then I hope they get even "harder"! :)

Amy that is just sad unless you work for the government. Most people have their family pictures.....What are you going to do when he is no longer President?

ksw62118 - that's another 4 years away. She'll put a photo of Hillary on her desk then - for 8 years!

The point is the idolization of the President. Sad he is more important than her family. Almost like a 13 year old with a school girl crush.

News flash to ksw-----people can have more than 1 picture at work. I have a family one, a lovely one of my cat, a wedding picture and I'm going to follow Amy's example and get one of the President--with his beautiful family. In 2016 I hope to add one of Hillary Clinton, too.

@ Steeler you still don't get it. Amy said she would walk over hot coals for Obama. That is bordering obsession and stalker territory. He is after all just a man. He may be a good intelligent man but he is not God and no most people do not have a picture of the President on their desk at work. After all this is not a communist country where everyone idolizes their beloved leader. LOL.....

ksw62118 -- Hahaha, as always the rightwingers have such short memories. I had many clients with photos of Reagan and Dubya both, along with the usual nationalistic stuff like the Flag (with "God Bless America" on it, of course), eagles, you name it. But you are right, we should beware the slippery slope of fascism and avoid Swastikas lapel flag pins and other symbols in lieu of real patriotism.

@ True Flags and patriotic symbols don't bother me, Amy's idol worship is an entirely different thing. Not sure who your "clients" were and calling yourself a True Patriot I am not sure why flags would bother you. I have never seen a president's picture on someone's desk in all the years I have been in the business world. For the record I am an Independent and a picture of a Republican president on an office desk would bother me as well.

Hey Paul, you 4got to Thank All the American Taxpayers that Paid Your Salary way back when you was Military! Did they also Pay for your Education thru Veterans benefits you recieved?

Maybe you have'nt Payed back enough with your lil Donations as YOU call'em!

You Betcha!

Occupy SoggyBottom!

Paul--I know it is convenient for the folks on the right to assume that everyone on the left who opposes them is receiving some sort of government hand out. Here is shocking news---you're wrong. There are liberals who work hard at good paying jobs, have great careers and pay taxes, too. Maybe the difference is that I think of my taxes supporting people who have not had the blessings I have and it is my chance to give back.