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Subscribe to RSSThe Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd talks about the new ad which is trying to make Mitt Romney's strength in this economic election a weakness.
Bain returns as a campaign issue with new Obama TV ad… A tale of two commencement speeches: Obama gives address at Barnard College at 1:10 pm ET, while Romney spoke on Saturday at Liberty University… Team Romney targets deficit and spending… The boo birds: Paul supporters boo Romney surrogates Josh Romney and Tim Pawlenty… McConnell under pressure from Tea Party candidates?... And NC Dem chairman won’t resign.
From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Brooke Brower
*** Bain returns:It was just four months ago when the pro-Gingrich Super PAC began airing its TV ads hitting Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital. And here’s something that you might have forgotten: The ads worked -- Romney found himself on the defensive and ended up losing in South Carolina. In fact, the ads worked so well that the GOP backlash was: “Don’t run them, they’re hurting Romney.” Today, Bain makes its first appearance in the early general election, with a two-minute Obama campaign TV ad to air in Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Virginia. The advertisement profiles Bain’s purchase of a Kansas City steel plant that it later shut down after making a large profit. And it features testimonials from folks much like the Gingrich Super PAC ads did, with graphic imagery. "It was like a vampire. They came in and sucked the life out of us," said one who used to work at that steel plant. "Bain Capital walked away with a lot of money that they made of this plant. We view Mitt Romney as a job destroyer," said another. An additional quote about Romney: "If he's going to run the country the way he ran his business, I wouldn't want him there.” The Obama camp holds a 10:45 am ET conference call on this new ad campaign.
*** Defining Romney and returning to the economy: We have three additional thoughts on the anti-Bain ad. One, it’s another reminder -- coming after last week’s bullying story -- that the Romney campaign isn’t defining its candidate first; others are doing that. Is a private-equity firm like Bain Capital a job creator, as Romney has portrayed it? Or is its chief mission to make money and maximize a return on investment, as others argue? The most prominent Bain ad that’s aired for the last few months is the one about Romney helping rescue a kidnapped daughter of a colleague. It’s a good story about Romney’s character, but there hasn’t been a new positive profile of Bain painted in some time. Two, the Obama ad does bring the discussion back to the economy, after weeks of conversation about anything but. Gay marriage. Bullying. Osama bin Laden. Afghanistan. And three, this VERY NEGATIVE Obama ad comes after last week’s positive ones. There’s a belief by some strategists that once Memorial Day hits, it’ll be harder and harder to secure the attention of voters as they focus on their summer plans. Here’s the Romney camp’s response to the ad, per NBC’s Peter Alexander: “The Obama campaign is going to do everything they can to distract voters from the fact that their policies are not working. President Obama can't come close to matching the many years of experience that Mitt Romney has as a private businessman so he has chosen to attack it.”
*** A tale of two commencement speeches: November’s presidential election will be a clear contrast between Obama and Romney (on the economy, deficit reduction, social issues, and foreign policy). And another clear contrast: their dueling commencement speeches. At 1:10 pm ET, the president delivers the commencement address at Barnard College, the all-female college in New York City. Afterward, he tapes an appearance on “The View,” which will air tomorrow. These back-to-back events all scream, “GENDER GAP.” On the other hand, Romney on Saturday gave the commencement address at Liberty University, the religious school in Virginia that Jerry Falwell founded. And that speech boiled down to: “I’M PLANTING MY EVANGELICAL FLAG AND I’M ONE OF YOU.” It’s hard not to these two commencement addresses as evidence that the campaigns are viewing November’s contest as a turnout election, not a battle for undecided.
*** More on Romney’s Liberty address: In his Liberty University speech, as NBC’s Andrew Rafferty reported, Romney defended traditional marriage -- a clear rebuttal to Obama’s support for gay marriage earlier in the week. "Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman," he said. He talked about religious freedom and made numerous references to faith and religion. “From the beginning, this nation trusted in God, not man. Religious liberty is the first freedom in our Constitution.” And he briefly mentioned his own Mormon faith, although never said the word “Mormon” in his speech. “People of different faiths, like yours and mine, sometimes wonder where we can meet in common purpose, when there are so many differences in creed and theology,” he said. “Surely the answer is that we can meet in service, in shared moral convictions about our nation stemming from a common worldview.” It’s very possible this will be as close as he gets to giving a Mormon speech this cycle (even though Liberty University offers a graduate theology course describing Mormonism as a cult).
*** Team Romney targets the deficit and spending: While Team Obama begins this week hitting Romney on Bain, the Romney camp is punching back by targeting deficits and debt. “For the last three-and-a-half years, President Obama’s liberal policies of wasteful spending and skyrocketing debt haven’t lived up to his own promises to control our nation’s mounting deficits,” Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul says in a statement. “As president, Mitt Romney will finally change Washington and stop passing our financial burdens on to the next generation.” The RNC is doubling down on this line of attack with a web video, too.
*** The boo birds: Here’s something to keep an eye on: As Politico notes this morning, Paul supporters booed Josh Romney in Arizona during the state’s convention and Tim Pawlenty in Oklahoma at that state’s GOP convention. And remember, the folks doing the booing are the ones who may be casting the votes for Romney in Tampa -- even if their heart is with another candidate. It appears that Paul forces once again have been able to get their folks elected as Romney delegates, at least in Arizona.
*** On the trail: As mentioned above, Obama today delivers the commencement address at Barnard College in New York… Romney is off the trail… For the remainder of the week: The president on Wednesday delivers a speech in DC calling on Congress to act on the economy, and on Friday he travels to Camp David to attend the G-8 summit… Romney stumps in Des Moines, IA on Tuesday and in Tampa, FL on Wednesday… And Vice President Biden campaigns in Ohio on Wednesday and Thursday.
*** Veepstakes watch: Tim Pawlenty, in Minneapolis, today delivers a speech on Restoring America’s Future at 1:00 pm ET… On FOX yesterday, South Dakota Sen. John Thune didn’t rule out being Romney’s VP, NBC’s Alex Moe notes. "You never rule out opportunities or options when you're involved in public life, and you say you want to make a difference." But he added, "I have a job to do in the United States Senate."
*** Under pressure: Over the weekend, the New York Times reminded us that Mitch McConnell – come next year – could have the same problem that John Boehner has now: taming his Tea Party members. “In Arizona, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas, Republican Senate candidates are vying for the mantle of Tea Party outsider. A number of them say that they would seek to press an agenda that is generally to the right of the minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, and that they would demand a deeper policy role for the Senate’s growing circle of staunch conservatives. Some say they have not decided whether they would support Mr. McConnell, who could find himself contending with the type of fractious rank and file that has vexed the House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio.” Here’s a question to ponder: If Senate Republicans don’t win a majority in November, will McConnell hold on to his job? Speaking of Boehner, Politico says that he’s under pressure from GOP conservatives to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress.
*** NC Dem chairman says he won’t resign: The Democrats’ problems in North Carolina aren’t getting any better. The AP: “The embattled chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party says he's staying on the job after party activists meeting in Greensboro rejected his resignation. Chairman David Parker returned late Saturday to the state Executive Committee meeting, where he said he won't leave. Earlier, he had submitted his resignation, but committee members voted 269-203 to reject it. Gov. Beverly Perdue, Lt. Gov. Walter Dalton and others had wanted Parker to step down because they said he was a distraction in the wake of sexual harassment allegations at party headquarters. Parker's allies didn't want him to leave.”
Countdown to WI recall: 22 days
Countdown to GOP convention: 105 days
Countdown to Dem convention: 112 days
Countdown to Election Day: 176 days
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First Romney was in PRIVATE Business, not President of the United States, and he was in to make money. Obama is the President and what has he done for NON UNION JOBS.
2nd How much TAXPAYER Money did Romney use compaired to How Much TAXPAYER MONEY Obama used and lost?
3rd. I see all the Liberal Media Vent Romney on what he done 50 years ago. Why haven't they Vented Obama and his record? You can always look into Romney's record, since he didn't spend $$$ MILLIONS to his his record like Obama Did. What does Obama have to Hide.
4th The NY Post came out over this weekend, about Obama Bribing Rev Wright. Where is this story on the Liberal Media? Wonder if any Attorney General in Illinois will see if Campaign funds were used, like they did for Edwards?
care to back any of that up, or is the evidence in the closet with your birther memorabilia?
Compare how many jobs Governor Romney created during his 4 years to the number of jobs President Obama has created since the economy bottomed out.
Adjusted per capita (Massachusetts compared to the entire US), President Obama puts Governor Romney and his job record to shame.
Republicans repeatedly ignore the fact that Romney's state was 47th in jobs under Governor Romney's leadership. If you are in the bottom 10% of something you are in the wrong profession.
Americans do not want to promote someone who was in the bottom 10% of Governors creating jobs for his citizens.
Debbie, what was Mass unemployment rate at the time? 4 point something? If your State had low unemployment numbers why would one need to create more jobs or expect to be a leading State in job creation. Most already had jobs in Mass wouldn't you think with that low UE number? Nice to create a job, but having no one able to take it ! Name me a State that has zero unemployment. There will always be unemployed in any State. No reason to spend time creating jobs if you don't have people able to take them because they are already working????? Being ranked 47th doesn't mean jack when you look at the capacity of Mass to provide more workers for those jobs if they were even created.
Actually, Bain received $44 million in tax credits from state and county governments, and STILL lost jobs.
Is Romney going to pay that back?
EVER?
Tax credits? This is allowing a company to keep more of their own money.
@ Debbie...Liberals always got the Mass employment Numbers. Romney had an overwhelmingly Democrat State Legislature. No wonder they had poor employment numbers.
"Tax credits" means that companies get to keep more of OUR money!
Great glimpse into the liberal mind, Harbinger.
Wow, chuck....The NY Post???? BWA-HA-HA-HA!!! Did he bribe Wright before of after he gave birth to the alien baby from his big toe??? The sad thing is that you quoted the NY Post proudly!!! That's even lower than writing "I just now heard it on FOX News...."
I'm begining to think that Rupert Murdoch is a democrat taking great pleasure in making teabaggers look incredibly stupid.
Romney made a major blunder on the marriage issue and look for Obama to expose him on it.
Look for President Obama to push for states to have the right to not provide same sex marriages.
Romney will be forced to explain why he doesn't think states have the right to decide for themselves who can and cannot be married by ministers and justices of the peace. Something that will not go over very well in most states.
I have never seen a politician who takes the bait as quickly as Romney does.
It's Obama who made a blunder on the gay marriage issue; it will cost him votes although it is really not an important issue. Gay marriage is Obama's feeble attempt to divert attention from his abysmal record; only the very foolish or the very stupid will buy into it.
I am glad Owebama did his little flip-flop on gay marriage. It will cost him votes, big time. He did it for two reasons: To get money from all the Hollywood weirdos for his campaign, Nick Clooney included, and to get the gay vote. Anything he does from now on is politically motivated. Send him back to Chicago in November, or, better yet, Hawaii.
RIght Debbie.....Obama is the one fighting for States rights as he sues Arizona, Texas, and North Carolina.
Get a clue.
On top of that, Obama tried to stop the state of Texas from executing an illegal immigrant who raped, tortured and murdered a 16 year old girl.
Obama promised every one a shovel ready job and he failed to do that now all he wants is gays to marry. No way in this world would i vote for someone like him.
Romney's economic record
AS MITT ROMNEY pursues his bid for the presidency, his record as Massachusetts governor will come under scrutiny, including how the state's economy performed during his administration. Our analysis reveals a weak comparative economic performance of the state over the Romney years, one of the worst in the country.
On all key labor market measures, the state not only lagged behind the country as a whole, but often ranked at or near the bottom of the state distribution. Formal payroll employment in the state in 2006 was still 16,000 or 0.5 percent below its average level in 2002, the year immediately prior to the start of the Romney administration. Massachusetts ranked third lowest on this key job generation measure and would have ranked second lowest if Hurricane Katrina had not devastated the Louisiana economy. Manufacturing payroll employment throughout the nation declined by nearly 1.1 million or 7 percent between 2002 and 2006, but in Massachusetts it declined by more than 14 percent, the third worst record in the country.
While the number of employed people over age 16 in the United States rose by nearly 8 million, or close to 6 percent, between 2002 and 2006, the number of employed residents in the Commonwealth is estimated to have modestly declined by 8,500. Massachusetts was the only state to have failed to post any gain in its pool of employed residents. The aggregate number of people 16 and older either working or looking for work in Massachusetts fell over the Romney years.
We were one of only two states to have experienced no growth in its resident labor force. Again, without the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina on the dispersal of the Louisiana population, Massachusetts would have ranked last on this measure. The decline in the state's labor force, which was influenced in large part by high levels of out-migration of working-age adults, helped hold down the official unemployment rate of the state. Between July 2002 and July 2006, the US Census Bureau estimated that 222,000 more residents left Massachusetts for other states than came here to live. This high level of net domestic out-migration was equivalent to 3.5 percent of the state's population, the third highest rate of population loss in the country. Excluding the
population displacement effects of Hurricane Katrina on Louisiana, Massachusetts would have ranked second highest on this measure. We were a national leader in exporting our population.
From 2002 to 2006, the level of real output of goods and services did increase each year, rising by 9 percent over this four-year period. This modest rate of growth, however, fell well below the 13 percent rate of real output growth for the nation, and the state ranked 14th lowest on this measure. Labor productivity growth underlies all of the increase in the state's output, but little of this productivity improvement accrued to the typical worker or family in the Commonwealth in the form of higher wages or earnings. Between 2002 and 2006, the median real (inflation adjusted) weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers in Massachusetts is estimated to have fallen by $10 or nearly 2 percent. The real income of the average (median) family in Massachusetts in 2005 was 1 percent below its value at the time of the 2000 Census while median household income was 3 percent below its 2000 value. Median household income fell even more sharply in the nation. Family incomes in both the United States and Massachusetts have become more unevenly distributed since 2000.
There is one additional area in which Massachusetts was a national leader over the past five years, the rise in housing prices. Between 2000 and 2005, the median self-reported home price in Massachusetts increased by nearly 95 percent versus an increase of only 40 percent for the United States. The median home price ranked fourth highest among the 50 states, and the median value of homes relative to household income was the third highest in the country. The high affordability cost ratio encouraged the high levels of outmigration from the state of young families with children.
Real world experience has shown that a governor is limited in his power to influence the course of economic development in a state. A full-time governor who is deeply committed to the economic well-being of a state's workers can, however, make some difference. The state unfortunately did not receive such leadership over most of the past four years. Jokes about Massachusetts may receive some half-hearted laughter on the national campaign trail, but few working men and women in Massachusetts should see anything funny about the state's lackluster economic performance during the Romney years.
Andrew Sum is director and Joseph McLaughlin is research associate at the Center for Market Studies at Northeastern University.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
At least Romney has a record, and he was successful in many areas in his career. He makes Owebama look like a little preschooler in comparison. Owebama had no record, other than voting "present" on most major bills. His past has been effectively hidden, including the grades he got in college, papers he wrote while in college, and the communists he associated with throughout his life. Owebama IS a communist. He weaseled his way into the U.S. Senate, then weaseled his way into the Presidency. Its amazing how far he got based on his personality and ability to make a good teleprompter speech. Vote him out.
Therman,
According your article 222,000 people left the state yet the employment only lost 8,5000 which seems to be pretty good.
Jerry...I bet he didn't even read the article. Or at least hoped others wouldn't
Therman,
Unemployment when Gov. Romney took office was 5.6% and when he left it was 4.7%. Don't you wish we could have those numbers now?
O'bummer has done nothing for this country. As ole Tenn Ernie Ford used to sing . SIXTEEN TONS AND WHAT DO YOU GET, ANOTHER DAY OLDER AND DEEPER IN DEBT.
Guess that means you GOT A MIND THATS WEAK AND A BACK THATS STRONG. Not sure about your back, but you already demonstrated your mind. Obtuse to the extreme.
Nit Wit Romney had illegal immigrants working IN HIS HOUSE. Probably did not know the jobs were gone
What we are seeing here is Owebama trying to do to Romney what he did to Sara Palin in 2008 and I hope it backfires on him. Romney won't be the wimp that McCain was and he will fight fire with fire. This should be interesting.
Please vote Owebama out in November. He has not accomplished ANYTHING positive in his 3+ years in office.
Bin Ladens dead and the auto industry is alive... nuff said-
Roger, I would suggest you get your talking points from a more reliable source than Joey Biden.
Yes, bin Laden is dead. Does Obama deserve credit for that? No. It was the CIA and intelligence systems and Seal Team Six that got the job done. Check out Juan Rodriguez's book Hard Measures. He's a 31 year member of the CIA and was in charge of the enhanced interrogations used on KSM. He says that without all the procedures and policies that Obama is AGAINST, we never would have located and killed bin Laden.
And yes, the auto industry is alive . . . even though they still owe 35 billion dollars. Does that count? Not in my book. Go to any bankrupt person or company and give them 35 billion dollars. Is it really something to brag about that they can continue to stay afloat for a bit longer thanks to the President's generosity with our tax dollars? Again, I say no.
Nice try, but Obama simply has no platform of past success to run on.
The auto industry would have survived without Obama's interference; labor unions would have had to deal with the fact that auto workers are overpaid. As far as Bin Laden, that was the biggest no brainer in history; any President would have authorized killing the scumbag, but most wouldn't have taken sixteen hours to make the decision like Obama did.
considering you don't know jack about what autoworkers do or get paid other than what pill-popping Rush tells you....
Republicans cannot stand these two facts.
Auto industry SAVED!
BinLaden GONE!
It's fun to watch them try to spin it!
Binger, you must be living under a rock. GM and Chrysler still owe us, the taxpayers, tens of billions of dollars. GMAC, formally the finance company for GM, is now Ally bank. Ally bank is 70% owned by the federal government. It's a good thing Bush did all the things he did so Obama could just say "go" once Bin Laden's location was known. Nice try. Obama is still the worst President in history.
Ally was covered under TARP, not the auto bailouts. GMAC has not been the finance arm of GM for years before the financial crisis. "In 2006, General Motors Corporation sold a 51% interest in GMAC to Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity company"
I'm sorry, I can't hear your FOX spin over the crowds of people cheering that bin Laden is dead!
Thank you, President Obama!
CubsFan2012 is a fool that works for Romney...GET OUT
Yes, thanks to the Seals and Admiral McRaven for their fine work!
When it comes to Bain, Republicans claim that sometimes businesses succeed, sometimes they fail. It's just a risk of doing business.
BUT when it comes to Solyndra - the idea that "It's just a risk of doing business" somehow doesn't apply.
It's always fun to point out the blatant hypocrisy of Republicans!
Bain wasn't playing with tax payer's money. Stilling having fun?
Harbinger, our tax dollars went to loaning Solyndra over $500 million because leftists are obsessed with green energy. Your comparision is a joke. That's the kind of crap we end up with when we elect a president who couldn't even manage a Burger King.
Actually, Bain WAS using taxpayer money!
IS Bain going to pay that $37 million BACK to the taxpayers?
Still Waiting....
Nope that won't cut it. Property tax subsidies don't equate with Federal tax dollars. Try again.
Harbinger,
States give the money because they want the business to be there to employ people which generates tax revenue, so if the company did well then the state did well also.
I'm glad that all of you Republicans are suddenly embracing the role that government plays in creating jobs!
It's about time!
Hardbanger, do you really think that the State and County would have made the pledge in the first place if Bain had not stepped in and made the attempt to make the company profitable? All you have to do is look at how F up CA is and all the companies that are leaving or expanding out of state like Apple Computer to see how the Dems under Jerry have led and soon the rest of the U S to follow CA's lead under weak and union influenced leaders (oxymoron) like Owebama!
bearbryant - What about the money that the Federal Pension Insurance had to pay out after Bain raided the pensions of workers at the steel mill and let the business go bankrupt?
Sooo... you are admitting that government needs to step in to create jobs when the private sector can't do it alone.
Welcome to Keynesian economics!
Again, it's about time!
Harbringer,
Government has to create an atmosphere where people want to invest in the state or country, this is different from Keynesian which has the government putting in the money and picking winners and losers. Here the state gives a lower tax rate so private investment makes it own decisions.
I have a friend who just opened a factory in Virginia because the tax incentives were better than in other states.
jerry l
Are you for or against government picking winners from losers? If VA gives a private company tax incentives, it is attempting to pick a winner. Is this what you advocate?
1965 Mitt the Barber assaults fellow student for wearing his bleached blond hair long.
1981 Mitt the Smartass is hauled into the Natic, MA police station charged with disorderly conduct.
1990's Mitt the Knife CEO of Bain Capital acquired controlling interest in five companies, sucked out all the cash making over half a billion dollars, and stood by as the carcasses were thrown into bankruptcy.
2002 Mitt the Cop was accused of interfering with Deputy Sheriff Kodi Taggert when he started directing traffic at the Winter Olympics over her objections.
2010 Mitt the Victim was involved in an altercation with a fellow passenger on an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles.
These experiences raise the question as to whether Mitt's young adult act of bullying was an isolated incident or part of a pattern of flaunting conventional authority.
Site your sources.
Obama sat in a church for 20 years listening to a racist who hates the USA. In 2007 the choir director, Donald Young, was murdered after a rumored homosexual affair with Obama. Nobody wants to talk about this, but they will try their best to scrape up irrevelvant stories about Romney. Lets revisit Obama's voting record from Illinois. That would be great fun.
LoyoalTexan, Your point is ? all of these and give me a break going back to Mitt's high School days??? All of these are minuscule in comparison to the damage Obama has down in 3.5 years and added another $5 or 6 Trillion to the deficit, depending on the actual additional costs of Owebamacare ?
And you live in Texas which is a Republican led state, that has the best job Growth in the US even rated as the state with the best job growth for small cities in the US where the MSA is under 150K in West Texas Lubbock, Abilene and others.... for large cities Austin TX is rates in tops! Compared to CA rated the worst state to do business in by The Economist, Forbes, WSJ and others..... and all the companies leaving under Dem control for 35 years! you are a hypocrite, criticizing Romney when policies of your state TX reek the benefits!
BrentOC
HS history is relevant if it is part of a subsequent pattern of disdain for authority.
Roosters don't get credit for the sunrise and the GOP don't get credit for the Texas economy. Check out ND, SD, WY, IA, NE and OK unemployment rates. High oil prices spur oil patch jobs. The GOP wants to blame the administration for high gas prices but take credit for high oil prices.
It should be obvious the present governor is not an intellectual power.
The other common denominator was that these states didn't participate in the housing debacle.
Austin has pleasant, affordable housing, careful environmental controls, substantial in-migration and a predominantly liberal government.
Hypocrite (criticizing others for your own practices) no, Romney has done nothing for TX.
BTW, when you post deficit numbers, save me the trouble and distinguish the components between the revenue shortfall in 2009 (about $2 billion) compared to 2007 and the increased safety net spending.
bearbryant
Sources:
HS bullying (Prank) numerous recent news posts.
According to what Romney told the Boston Globe in 1994, he had taken his family off to Wayland, Mass.’s Lake Cochituate, about an hour outside Boston, for a summer excursion. As Romney prepared to put his family boat into the water, a park officer told Romney not to launch because his license appeared to have been painted over. The officer told Romney if he put his boat into the water he would face a $50 fine. …
“I figured I was at the state park with my kids. My five kids were in the car wondering why we weren’t going out in the boat, so I said I’d launch and pay the fine,” Romney said in 1994.
After Romney put the family boat into the water, the officer reappeared visibly angry and arrested Romney for disorderly conduct. Romney was handcuffed on the scene, taken to the local police station, and booked.
Bain Capital Years:
Romney's private equity firm, Bain Capital, bought companies and often increased short-term earnings so those businesses could then borrow enormous amounts of money. That borrowed money was used to pay Bain dividends. Then those businesses needed to maintain that high level of earnings to pay their debts.
Romney in 2007 told the New York Times he had nothing to do with taking dividends from two companies that later went bankrupt, and that one should not take a distribution from a business that put the company at risk.
Yet Geoffrey Rehnert, who helped start Bain Capital and is now co-CEO of the private equity firm The Audax Group, told me for my Penguin book, "The Buyout of America: How Private Equity Is Destroying Jobs and Killing the American Economy," that Romney owned a controlling stake in Bain Capital between approximately 1992 and 2001. The firm under his watch took such risks, time and time again.
Bain and Goldman Sachs, for example, put $85 million down in a $415 million 1994 leveraged buyout of Baxter International's medical testing division (renamed Dade Behring), which sold machines and reagents to labs.
Former Dade CEO Scott Garrett, who managed the business for the first few years after the takeover, said Romney "was far more in tune with what was going on throughout his firm, and even the portfolio companies, than you might expect."
Bain reduced Dade's research and development spending to 6 to 7 percent of sales, while its peers allocated between 10 and 15 percent. Dade in June 1999 used the savings as part of the basis to borrow $421 million. Dade then turned around and used $365 million from the loan to buy shares from its owners, giving them a 4.3 times return on their investment.
A Dade executive, who requested anonymity, said he confronted new CEO Steven Barnes after a boardroom meeting within a week of the distribution.
"You really think it's a good idea to borrow, you know, one times sales?" he asked.
"Oh. Yeah. Yeah. You know, that's fine," Barnes responded. "You know companies do that all the time."
The executive then told Barnes, "Well, that'd be like me going out and borrowing the amount of money I make in a year and then trying to pay it off and pay for my house and feed myself and everything else. That doesn't make sense." The executive said he let it drop after that.
In August 2002, Dade filed for bankruptcy.
This was not an isolated case.
* Bain in 1988 put $5 million down to buy Stage Stores, and in the mid-'90s took it public, collecting $100 million from stock offerings. Stage filed for bankruptcy in 2000.
* Bain in 1992 bought American Pad & Paper (AMPAD), investing $5 million, and collected $100 million from dividends. The business filed for bankruptcy in 2000.
* Bain in 1993 invested $60 million when buying GS Industries, and received $65 million from dividends. GS filed for bankruptcy in 2001.
* Bain in 1997 invested $46 million when buying Details, and made $93 million from stock offerings. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2003.
Romney's Bain invested 22 percent of the money it raised from 1987-95 in these five businesses, making a $578 million profit.
While I have not investigated all of Romney's Bain investments and there may be cases where he made money and improved businesses, there's little question he made a fortune from businesses he helped destroy. New York Post 2/20/11
www://nypost.com/p/news/business/ad_mitt_mistakes_jRmd2LHaPIbObbNn1Zkgaj#ixxzz1utyonz3n
2010 Airline Altercation
There are several versions. One is (Vancover) Globe & Mail, February 15, 2010. This is the sanitized version since the alleged attacker was sitting in front of Mitt and omits his admission that he put his hand on the offenders shoulder to make his point.
Double post
In the long run, we need companies to run efficiently and actually make a profit otherwise the worse strategy is to watch companies fail like GM and Chrysler and then screw the bond investors and save the very people who are greatly responsible for their demise, the Unions and their high wages and benefits compared to non-union or foreign country workers who do the same job. We need companies like Bain that find the waste and make them work, whether is it a buy-out, restructure, new management whatever. The alternative is to follow the lead the Democrat party and Obama and their pie in the sky strategy and we get stellar deficit spending and a false sense of reality, and failure anyways, but now we are 16 Trillion in the hole and very litte way out unless yous start taxing people to death which makes the economy worse !
Romney has a record in the private sector of creating jobs, and turning broken companies around. He has a very good buisness sense.
Obama could not create a job if he was handed a pipe line that wouldn't cost the tax payers a dime...oh wait that happened and he still failed.
NOT ONE NET JOB CREATED UNDER OBAMA.
wrong sir. I have a job, and I was unemployed under Bushs' watch.
He's never had a real job, so how the hell could he have ideas on making new ones? Lecturing at Harvard and voting "present" in the Senate does not make a leader. His work experience pales in comparison to plenty of 16 year olds in my county.
Devdoc, I just gave you a star. :-)
Detroit Storm, what exactly is your job? Perhaps the propaganda czar for President Obama?
Okay Detroit....you have a job but how many thousands of others lost theirs while you got one? Do you get it yet?
THOUSANDS OF jobs under Obama. Those lost ARE DIRECTLY FROM ROMNEY. You right nuts amaze me. LOL
Cubsfan do you work for Romney? Your so-called facts are just stupid
Jobs created since World War II
President Jobs created
Barack Obama 4.0 million
George W. Bush 3.0 million
Bill Clinton 23.1 million
George H.W. Bush 2.5 million
Ronald Reagan 16.0 million
Jimmy Carter 10.5 million
Gerald Ford 1.8 million
Richard Nixon 9.4 million
Lyndon Johnson 11.9 million
John F. Kennedy 3.6 million
Dwight Eisenhower 3.5 million
Harry Truman 8.4 million
Total
Democrats 61.5 million
Republicans 36.2 million
If President Obama created 4 million jobs why are their less people working now then when he took over and why is unemployment higher and why is the labor participation rate at a 30 year low.
Yep, Jerry, if there was the SAME job participation as in the Bush years, the unemployement rate now would be between 13.5% to 14%, only because millions left the workforce during Obamaville that unemployment rate is at "8.1%". MSNBC lambasted Bush when it peaked at 7.6% unemployment rate yet praise Obama for "falling" to 8.1% unemployment. Yet another example of the bias of the Media Elite.
Lets use Therms stats....not that I believe them...
Regan who inherited a huge depression with inflation rising like crazy ..created 16 million jobs(according to Therman) Obama who inherited a huge depression were inflation rates stayed down, created just 4 million? (according to Therman)
So right there Therman says Obama is a failure.
Yet again, Dev, the Tigers Fan, is correct.
Oh Therman you are just jealous the Romney actually "sucked" the companies dry before the Unions could do the same! in fact the very companies that Bain purchased were about to go BK or is that the chosen path of the Dem party you know Solyndra, The Chevy Volt under GM (Govt Motors)
Too bad Romney was gone for 2 years when the steel plant closed.... The guy is charge is on of BHO bundlers. DOh....
Virtually all of the companies that Romney bankrupted did not have unions.
WHEN WILLARD CAME TO TOWN
Off a gritty bend in the Miami River, a few miles from a warehouse where he recently touted his job-creation plans, there’s a complex of buildings that bear witness to a time when Mitt Romney’s private equity firm laid off hundreds of workers, shuttered a profitable factory and made out with hundreds of millions of dollars.
It started in 1995, when Romney’s Bain Capital targeted the company that became Dade Behring, which made blood-testing machines and performed animal research at its Miami campus.
Bain borrowed heavily to buy the company and closed a factory in Puerto Rico to improve the bottom line. About 400 lost jobs there. Then in 1997, Bain shuttered Dade Behring’s Miami operations, costing another 850 jobs and a $30 million payroll in the community.
Before growing debt consumed the company, Bain executed its exit strategy and made $242 million.
“What bothers me most is that Romney’s campaign says he was a creator of jobs,” said Cindy Hewitt, a Miami resident who was a human resources manager at Dade Behring. “I didn’t see that in any way, shape or form. He didn’t create jobs. He slashed and burned jobs.”
Romney’s time at Bain is the backbone of his run for president, the business experience he says is severely lacking in President Barack Obama. He portrays himself as a turnaround specialist, taking poor-performing companies and making them efficient and profitable. He claims to have created 100,000 jobs.
But the Miami experience illustrates the other side of Romney’s line of work, a messier reality that has exposed Romney to attacks from rivals seeking the Republican nomination.
Even comedian Stephen Colbert has gotten in the act, running a South Carolina ad that shows a cartoon Romney feeding Dade Behring into a wood-chipper that spits out money.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/18/v-print/2596300/in-miami-story-of-profits-and.html#storylink=cpy
Therman,
Here's some real facts for you:
Obama has increased the National Debt by 4.426 trillion dollars in 3 years. That's an average of 1.475 trillion added to the debt each year.
G W Bush increased the National Debt by 5.037 trillion dollars in 8 years. That's an average of 630 billion added to the debt each year.
This means that Obama has increased the National Debt at a rate nearly 2 and a half times the rate at which Bush increased it.
Case closed.
Yet again, Cubsfan2012, is correct!!! Despite the fact I am a RaysFan2012 :) Just an added note to your 100% correct comment. Obama increased the National Debt more than the 1st 41 Presidents COMBINED!
Therman has just learned to copy and paste, can you tell?
Kurt, Cubs......I say GO TIGERS....
Dev is correct about Thermen but respectly disagree on your team choice of baseball team:), otherwise, you likely are 100% correct in these comment board as CubsFan2012 is. :)
Ha! I tend to pick a team out of each league, and the Tigers are my AL team. I do owe a little something to the Rays, though, since that's where we got Pena and Garza when we needed a 1st baseman and a decent starter. :)
Bush cost us a TRILLION!!!!! Romney is just another Bush. Look at the facts not just a right nutty rewrite
dal
Bush cost us a TRILLION!!!!
INCORRECT! he raised the Debt about 4.5 Trillion in 8 years. Obama has raised the Debt almost 5 Trillion in 3+ years and on pace to raise it another Trillion by the end of this year.
SO NOW WHO HAS COST US MONEY???
Cubfan
Again, I need to request that when you cite deficit numbers that you break out the revenue drop (from the 2007 base year) to the 2009 actual from the safety net spending.
We are not talking case closed, what we got here is mind closed.
I'm going to go a whole different direction when it comes to job creation and why it's not Obama's fault or i should say less of his fault then it is on the American People and the Government working together to create a growing economy!!! It's in the business section of today's jounralsentinel in Milwaukee Wisconsin and it's something the Preisdent reconginized when he first started running with this quote!!! " What I want to say to you America is that we need a more educated society that's why I want to give you the chance to go back to a college or a trade school to receive one year of free education." That was over four years ago!!!! Now the article today through Manpower's CEO says"The reason employers are telling us that they cannot fill roles are due to these three issues, lack of experience among candidates,technical skills defciencies or poor employability skills!!! Now ladies and gentlemen of the right how does this compute with Paul Ryan's Budget plan to cut funding to help people recieve the job re-training skills they need for a more educated group of employee that employers need right now!!!
All this stuff about Bain Capital and Mr. ROmney's record as it's CEO yeah that's going to be part of the debate but I suggest that we get down to the crux of what the problem is and see who has the best policies to help get America back on track now then worry about what Mr. Romney was about then.
agreed
wth? Really let us just forget about Romney costing us millions. Repug theology
The reason the economy is not doing good is because of the Chinese and their want for automobiles that use gasoline.
This months issue of Popular Mechanics.
There should however be no reason why the gas prices are the way they are. $5.00 plus a gallon?
If China wants automobiles that use gasoline then fine but that shouldn't involve jacking the prices up in America to provide their economy with cheap automobiles that is going to run on gas that is cheaper than what Americans pay for.
If America was smart it would invest in natural gas automobiles as should China that way both countries can continue to be both economically smart as well as environmentally smart.
But then again the religious nutters behind the move don't believe in global warming or the harmfull effects that carbon emissions have on the environment. Their belief is going to be the end of the world where the world will exist in a desolate landscape for thousands of years while the environment repairs itself.
Blame it on the end of the worlders who believe and want the world to end for the reason the gas prices are so high.
regular is 3.38 here in sunny fla
Romney is a corporate raider...he was paid to outsource thousands of American jobs to foreighn countries...like he could care less if America works or not...OH BUT THE BILLIONAIRES AND TRILLIONARES SHOULD KEEP THE TAX CUTS PUT IN PLACE BY THE REAGON ADMINISTRATION!!!
Gas Prices are coming down and are going to comd down further, I just read an article about how gas on npr that gas prices are expected to wait o it DROP!!!!!! FOR THE SUMMER DRIVING SEASON NO LESS!!! So we might be getting a real tax break from gas prices over the next six months that could put Mr. Romney in a straight jacket if tries to claim oil production and not building the keystone pipeline are what's messing up the economy.
The best place for economical growth is in the country side of America where there is alot of land available for development.
Take for instance Carrollton Ohio, Before I graduated it was a small town from the 50's, not much going for it.
After leaving and heading off to the Marines I returned to find that light commercial industry had moved in and was building the community up.
Now that a process has been found to convert natural gas into combustible fuel to power vehicles several new businesses can be added to further increase the communities value:
1.Natural Gas Automotive Manufacturing - facilities to build and sell automobiles based off of the use of Natural Gas. This plant could go right behind Hotel.
2.Natural Gas Filling Stations. - used to supply natural gas to vehicles.
3.Natural Gas Home Stations - Smaller versions of the Natural Gas Filling Stations but are home based systems. Basically the system would revolve around how home propane tanks work to fuel a home but instead of fueling a home they would be used to fill a vehicle. Jobs of transport and tank maintenance would be created.
4.Small Lowes outlet to necessitate the slow build-up of homes in the community due to the increased advantages
5. A New movie theatre with four movie screens and a theatrical stage for high school based events and local events.
How to build your community to be a new community - The New World Order Style.
"OMS Pod Pre-Start Confirmed."
I will use the community that I grew up in and live in as the base model.
If you live in a country community and there are not alot of advantages then pay attention, take notes and build it up in the following manner.
Now that a process has been found to convert natural gas into combustible fuel to power vehicles several new businesses can be added to further increase the communities value:
1.Natural Gas Automotive Manufacturing - facilities to build and sell automobiles based off of the use of Natural Gas. This plant could go right behind the Hotel. This facility will create manufacturing jobs of all sorts ranging from basic worker skills upto advanced degrees. This facility will also create an increase in Natural Gas oppurtunities as well.
2.Natural Gas Filling Stations. - used to supply natural gas to vehicles. Service jobs will be created. Transport and maintenance jobs along with vehicle creation would also create new jobs.
3.Natural Gas Home Stations - Smaller versions of the Natural Gas Filling Stations but are home based systems. Basically the system would revolve around how home propane tanks work to fuel a home but instead of fueling a home they would be used to fill a vehicle. Jobs of fuel transport, tank maintenance and tank construction would be created.
4.Small Lowes outlet to necessitate the slow build-up of homes in the community due to the increased advantages. Construction jobs and service jobs would be created.
5. A New movie theatre with four movie screens and a theatrical stage for high school based events and local events. Jobs would be created through the entertainment industry as would a reneawed spirit of the artisan would come back to Carroll County where the theatrical center that is open to the air as well as a medium enclosed stage would house local bands for live events.
6. A Natural Gas Processing plant where the local natural gas sheds would feed directly to a central processing location where the plant would provide jobs along many routes including construction and maintenance as well as the transport and distribution of Natural Gas to Natural Gas Filling Stations and facilities meant to transport natural gas to homes with home filling stations.
"Time for ignition."
Willard cost the government 44 MILLION IN THE bailout of Bainer pensions. Romney is DISGUSTING