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Subscribe to RSSMark Murray and Domenico Montanaro look at how Obama backers' comments criticizing the president's team for its attacks on Romney's time at Bain Capital have undercut the president's narrative.
But we also look at why scrutinizing Mitt Romney record at Bain Capital is fair game. Whether the Obama campaign's attacks will work is another question. And the Obama campaign has to be sure its criticisms are factual.
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It would only be considered unfair by the republicans.
The GOP wants to try to bolster Romney with Bain when it can help him (in their opinion) and then say it isn't fair to hold him responsible if it could viewed in a negative sense.
Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy, Hypocrisy!
Dauuuuuuuuuuuuuum, is this another SmellTest Mark & Domenico, or did Yall actually see the Absolute Stupidy in Comparison to Delphi & the Auto bailout ?
Carnival Barkers(formerly known as the MSM) United Front!
Shiny Objects I guess!
You Betcha!
Occupy SoggyBottom!
I can't even imagine why this is a topic of conversation. Romney is trying to pick and choose what is fair to talk about concerning his past and what is unfair. In a job interview, you don't get to talk only about what went right, you also need to discuss what could have gone better. That's what an election camaign is. A long, drawn out, horribly expensive job interview, and you as the candidat don't get to choose the topics of discussion.
With all due respect, First Read, we shouldn't still be having this debate at all, let alone on two consecutive threads.
Bain is fair game. Otherwise, Romney has no business experience to talk about.
No more : It would only be considered unfair by the republicans.
Um...
Booker is a Democrat and Steve Rattner is a Democrat.
You folks do realize that you have been arguing with yourselves all morning?
Well, I did argue a bit with JoAnna, but I guess that doesn't count.
And besides, if we're arguing with ourselves it's because, if you take Bain out of the equation, there's simply nothing more to say about Romney.
Unless you want to talk about Massachusetts, or the earmarks that he begged off Congress so that he could "save" the Olympics.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/santorum-assails-romney-says-olympics-were-a-bill-taxpayers-were-stuck-with/
Well, do ya?
Go ahead, make my day.
The Romney camp prefers the focus to be on President Obama. Romney isn't running on his own record so much as he's running against Obama's record. He doesn't want to talk about his own experience as governor of Massachusetts. He doesn't want to talk about his own religion. He doesn't want to talk about his childhood or school years (high school or college). He doesn't want to talk about his own words and positions from previous campaigns. About the only thing from his past that Romney is willing to unabashedly own is his role in the Salt Lake City Olympics.
The Romney camp knows that Mitt's biggest problem is Mitt. Nobody likes him, even his supporters, and the more the spotlight is on Romney, the more support he's losing. They saw that in the primary, so in the general, they are dedicated to keeping that spotlight off of Romney and squarely on the president. The Obama campaign knows this as well, so they're going to do whatever they can to spotlight Romney, his history, the resemblance of his current positions to President George W. Bush's positions, and of course his own inconsistencies.
It's going to be a very negative, attack based campaign from both sides.
Maybe the media should scrutinize Obama's business ventures. Lemonade stand operator, paper route engineer, grocery produce department assistant to the assistant manager, drug dealing, are all fair game.
Excellent. Like child, like man.
Then we can get back to discussing Romney's homophobic, bullying high school years. I'll bet there's a lot more to be said about that.
And after that, we can talk about those earmarks that Romney begged from Congress to "save" the Olympics, just like the government assistance that was needed to start Staples, or the $44 million pension fund bailout that he and his Bain buddies shoved back on the rest of us taxpayers when they pocketed $50 million from GS Technologies.
If you only need one reason why guys like Mitt Romney should pay more in taxes, by the way, GS Technologies is it.
As soon as you will talk about the disastorous economic policies of Obama, AM.
Cool, I see you also want to talk about Obama's Crack smoking, Drug Dealing, Womainzing college days as well.
Cool.
Romney seems to want to talk about something other than Bain. Romney feels talking about Reverend Wright is character assassination. In turn, talking about Bain should be classified as character assassination as well.
The only problem is, that using the Reverend Wright's words to judge the president is character assassination. Wright's words are not Obama's words. What happened at Bain on the other hand, is Romney's problem. He wasn't there to create jobs, he was there to make money for investors. If he created jobs and made money he would do that. If he shut down a company and put thousands out of work he would do that too if he was making money. He would destroy pensions and put the burden on the tax payers to pay them if he was making money.
Romney is not the man we need in the White House. What Romney did at Bain should not and cannot fit the job description of our chief executive.
BTW First Read: Why has Chuck Todd resorted to calling our President, "Mister Obama". Has he forgotten protocol or is it a Freudian slip suggesting he is a Republican.
Why? Does that excite you?
Not me. I'm the liberal one. You?
Do you prefer "Soon to be ex-President Obama"?
I asked the very same question under First Thoughts this morning...
Chuck's biased is showing, again.
Odd, how he never misses the beat when he speaks of Willard as Governor Romney.
Isn't too obvious it's a weak attempt to diminish the office of the Presidency... is it?
WCA....As far as democrats arguing amongst themselves...That is what we do..Encourages dialogue. As opposed to Republicans who line up and kowtow to the T-Party. Sorta like the National Socialists dontcha know. Problem with we democrats is that for too long they have sat passively and allowed the Republicans to define us as:
Welfare Queens looking for handouts.
Enemies of the "freemarket".
Socialists
Europeans
Anti military
And so on.
None of which is true!
Democrats will define you in this election by allowing you to define yourselves and fighting every conservative lie with the facts.
Goebbles (Karl Rove) is out and will lose the propaganda war!
Ron...I've often wondered about the protocol there. I know that there are rules of etiquette for addressing the President directly. However, when referring to him in the 3rd person in the media, it is a bit more gray. From the Protocol School of Washington's Deputy Director Robert Hickey in response to a question concerning how to a journalist referring to the President as "Mr. Obama":
I did find an article about journalism that says common practice is usually to refer to "President Smith" in the first reference and then subsequent references can be to "Mr. Smith".
Poor Joanna wants to run their imaginary candidate, the good businessman and job creator, Mitt Romney. To point out neither is true is character assassination in Mitt's world.
And she is running Romney against the republicans imaginary candidate the socialist, Muslim, gonna take your guns President Obama. The only campaign the republicans have is character assassination and lies.
When you have a republican tea party with more hate than brains, it shows the desperate need for more education. Especially when you realize that the deficit was created and voted for by republicans with tax cuts and wars.
Then when you realize that the Ryan budget the same policies that created another recession in England, you have to wonder why would republicans in the house vote for another recession on purpose?
Even before the right wing policies created another recession in England, I could see the Ryan budget would be bad for our country.
And yet, Romney who claims to know about business and job creation in our country thinks the Ryan budget is marvelous and wants to push the same policies that created a recession in England here in America too.
VOTE FOR EDUCATION...VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT 2012
Sorry Grimey, I'm not buying it this time around.
It's not coincidence with the timing of this...
JAS - I rarely read your tripe because that is all you spew. But, you've sunk to a new low today. While you insist on propping up a ridiculous candidate like Mitt Romney with your lies, that' just you. But, calling the President a drug dealer is low even for a gutter tramp like you. Why don't you show that you at least finished elementary school and have a little dignity. Oh wait, maybe you didn't finish elementary school and this is the best anyone can expect from a trollop like you!
Hey Feisty...
Sorry...honestly haven't watched Chuck Todd outside of Jeopardy for quite a while. (Between college hoops, NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs, baseball, and college lacrosse, my viewing plate has been full). I was just letting you know what the Washington School of Protocol says about the subject.
I myself try to be pretty consistent in calling him President Obama on this board. Though I have slipped every now and again.
Have a good one! :-)
Donald Trump is very used to playing dirty in business, his personal life (ask Ivana) and in politics …
This morning his campaign’s top surrogate advised the Massachusetts governor to dredge up the old racially-trained narrative. “If I were Mitt and Mitt is a very honorable guy, he stopped the Reverend Wright ads and he was, you know, sort of opposed to them,” Donald Trump said during an appearance on Fox & Friends. ”I’d let him go at it,” he added, “If it’s going to be game on, let it be game on.
@ Frank (and others) --
I agree that it may be proper etiquette to refer to the President as "Mr." after the first reference, and I normally approve of that practice in general by journalists, like The New York Times. Rachel Maddow has adopted that same practice.
But it does bother me a little when The New York Times refers to everyone in that same genteel way, yielding sometimes absurd results, such as speaking of Mr. Obama and Mr. Bin Laden in the same article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/04/world/middleeast/04binladen.html
Perhaps President Obama should always be President Obama.
What bothers me is, Chuck & the rest never refer to George W. Bush as "Mr" - it's always President Bush even after being out of office for 4 years.
Yet, they can't refer to a sitting President... as... President!
You too!
Then why are Republicans so worried about defeating this one that they feel compelled to obstruct everything he does?
And how does a mere signature block do anything in the first place?
I'd say you know better than that but, to tell you the truth, I'm not so sure.
"Mr. Obama" could refer to the President or to Bo. Best to use "President Obama" to avoid confusion.
I believe "dude" is also acceptable now, right?
I couldn't agree more Feisty. Dubya was never, and to this day, referred to as anything but President!
If anyone dared speak out against him, you were instantly branded a traitor...
Unlike the GNOP, liberal memories aren't that short!
I was surprised to read a trancript las tweek about some time the President spent with Will Smith and and his son (Jaden?). Repeatedly, Will Smith refferred to the President as "Barrack" Apparently even when he was addressing the President.
Pretty sure Michelle is the only one who can call him that for now.
Oh and Sanity, that wasn't JAS! that was me and it was from his autobiography. Try reading it.
WCA - it was JAS (1.7) - not you. Or are you posting as both WCA AND JAS? See, unlike you I can actually read. President Obama NEVER said he dealt drugs you idiot!
But, it's all people like you and JAS have - lies!
Scrutinizing Romney's record at Bain Capital is fair, but only if it is done fairly. So far the Washington Post has found President Obama's claims as less than honest. Of the 77 companies that Bain invested in while Romney led the firm, 22% (17) either filed for bankruptcy reorganization (like Ford did instead of accepting bailout money) or closed their doors. However, 12 of those 17 did so AFTER control of the company passed to someone else, which means that only 5 of 77 (6%) filed for bankruptcy or closed while owned by Bain. One of those companies that liberals love pointing out is AMPAD, but they fail to mention that Bain bought AMPAD while they were in bankruptcy already. They also forget to mention the success stories like AMC Entertainment, Brookstone, Burger King, Burlington Coat Factory, Clear Channel Communications (the largest radio network in America), Domino’s Pizza, Dunkin’ Donuts, Guitar Center, Staples, Toys “R” Us, and Warner Music Group, etc. A far greater list than the five failures.
Well, I'll be darned you're right My . Post 1.9 is what I was referring to. Great minds, eh?
WCA - No one considers JAS as a "great mind" except maybe you and no joe!
Bill - just one of the many mistakes YOU'VE made. Romney turned down investing in Staples three times and had to be forced into it. Bain only made a $650,000 initial investment. Later they invested $2.5 million but quickly sold all stock when it went public. Staples was started by Leo Kahn and Thomas Stemberg. Their success was after they went public and had absolutely NOTHING to do with Romney!
Is Romney's record at Bain Capital fair game? Does a bear sh!t in the woods? How many times have we heard "commmunity organizer" in an attempt to be derisive toward the president?
The Jeremiah Wright nontroversy is about religious influence, not experience for POTUS, and many would be more than happy to talk about how Mormonism has shaped Romney's world views. This fallacious comparison will no doubt continue, whether mothers who work for pay outside the home compared to stay-home mothers -- It's friggin' fallacious lack of logic, lack of connecting the dots, lack of power of deduction that the rightwing is so notorious for.
Ron Indiana, et al -- Did you notice David Gregory kept referring to Paul Ryan as "Chairman?" It sounded very Mao to me, so I wan't sure whether it was complimentary. Corporate communism, right comrade Ryan? Ha.
But Republicans and right-leaning pundits definitely show disrespect in all kinds of ways such as not using proper titles when it is an opponent, and then using impressive titles--making sure to say Dr. if applicable--when it is someone they support. It's the kind of thing Frank Luntz would come up with.
hueydriver9id -- Yes I am. Are you?
Private equity companies do a lot of things to make a profit. The most egregious is gaming the system to get government money (tax payer money, your money) to finance the company while they strip out profits for themselves. Even efficiency management is questionable, as there are real efficiency management experts that are not a part of a private equity firm that companies bring in -- And yes, sometimes they recommend a structured bankruptcy. One common complaint about Bain was the horrible management they brought in.
Very rarely if ever do private equity firms engage in true "venture" capitalism, you know financing an idea to actually produce something. And yes, some of the companies manage to survive corporate raiding, but this is despite the raiding, so the private equity firm has no right to take credit. And this does not take into account the example of Staples, that caused many small stationary shops to go out of business, and that creates minimum-wage jobs that can't be off-shored.
One thing that I find particularly interesting is how Romney said to let Detroit go bankrupt, with the big difference being his support for private capital and not government loans. At the time there was no private capital because of the bank bail-outs, but guess what company would not help the auto industry? Bain Capital!
So the president has a much better track record than Bain/Romney, right?
Huh? Wasn't Ford the only one of the Big Three that didn't go through bankruptcy? And that distinction was primarily a result of lucky timing. They were already in the process of renegotiating labor deals and selling off assets when the crisis hit and had secured a massive private loan before credit dried up with the financial collapse.
As long as we're talking about the dark side of private equity, this story about the fall of Mervyn's from a few years back is still the best example I've seen. It's a worthwhile read.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/08_49/b4111040876189.htm
Bain was not involved in this buyout, but there is still a political connection to the current election. Ira Lubert, the chief villain in the Mervyn's case, is a member of the Romney campaign's finance committee.
As I said earlier, of course it's fair...
Willard enjoys playing both sides against the middle - much like how he loves to take credit for jobs he created during his tenure as a vulture capitalist while omitting the number of people he fired!
Only in Willard's world of wacky math does 2 + 2 = 8
If Willard doesn't want to discuss Bain, then perhaps, we should talk about his time as Governor of MA.
You all remember.. right?
When Willard left office his state was 47th in J-O-B creation!
Didn't think so...
Hey... I know...
Better yet, let's discuss Willard's crowning achievement as Governor of MA... WillardCare?
Or maybe, how he saved the Olympics with OUR tax dollars...
If Willard doesn't want to discuss Bain, then perhaps, we should talk about his time as Governor of MA.
It appears that Romney and the GOP want to focus only on the economy; at least at this time. But as you have pointed out Feisty, he is running for the position of POTUS, not a CEO. The two are vastly different and we should be focused on what he did or didn't do as governor of the state of MA. He keeps touting his jobs creation but as you pointed out, he failed in a dramatic way at that as a governor. Why would we want him to ruin all fifty states?
Sorry carrot top, Obama just doesn't match up:
Are you talking about when Willard was peddling around France trying to convert them to Mormonism while dodging the Viet Nam war...
Why yes.. by all means, let's discuss! lol
Steve H...AND NOT ONE of those companies manufactures a product. Just the kind of jobs the country needs! Right Steve. They are all service industries or retailers selling products made in CHINA....Mitt received a "special deferment." during the Viet-Nam War.
Please stop shooting yourself in the foot.
Yeah Steve H, while Romney was avoiding the military to serve as a missionary, Obama was training with Navy Seals so when the time came, he would be ready to single handedly remove Osama bin Laden! I know this because Obama has said it so many times, it must be true!
"much like how he loves to take credit for jobs he created during his tenure as a vulture capitalist while omitting the number of people he fired! Only in Willard's world of wacky math does 2 + 2 = 8'
Romney himself didnt 'fire" the workers" you clueless lib.
LOL...Good, so no wacky math, then. We should use NET JOBS, not the useless Obama flacks wacky math claim that Obama added 3 million jobs..ignoring that, still, afther 3 1/2 years of Obama policies , we still have 572,000 FEWER jobs (total) now than when Obama was inaugurated
So Romney created a lot of minimum wage jobs. The very jobs that don't make enough money to pay taxes. These working poor are the same ones that the republicans attack for being freeloaders and not paying their fair share of taxes.
Does anyone else find this funny, that these are the jobs that republicans create?
Maybe if Romney has created some living wage jobs other than the managers, he would not have gotten so rich, but America would be better off. Romney's greed is still alive and well as he would starve our poor and make our wounded veterans suffer for their service to our country so Romney can give himself and his rich friends more tax cuts.
VOTE FOR AMERICA...VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT 2012
No Limit...Go talk to Mass. Voters about Mr. Romney's "business experience." Oh and Bob cleaning up after a giant turd left by the previous administration takes lotsa work. Mr. Romney is not a manager. He doesn't deal with engineers like his father did, knows nothing about supply chains, logistics, MRP, CanBan..He is just another run of the mill MBA who got where he was because of his connections. Yup the country needs more MBA'S, Marketers, and Wall street traders, money changers, and while were at it let's not forget the lawyers who work on K Street. We certainly need more of them...That's the ticket
What would you like to know Feisty?
When one side of a campaign cries that it's unfair to criticize a candidate on a particular issue or background fact, it means they have no answer to the charge. Sounds like Romney...
One other point: as we've learned from the Rove playbook, it doesn't matter whether it's fair or not. The Obama campaign is trying to paint a picture of Romney as someone who, in crunch time, favors business over the worker. It's about portraying his personal tendencies and practical values (meaning how he's inclined to act. All of that is fair to characterize harshly...and it seems to be working.
Domenico is absolutely right. If Romney wants to point to his time with Bain as his qualifications as a "job creator" then he needs to explain why Bain also destroyed American jobs. The fact is that private equity firms focus on creating wealth, which is fine, but if Romney keeps misrepresenting his objective while with Bain, the Obama campaign should be pointing that out.
I guess Romney and his ilk can't stand the facts, and can't use his dismal performance as governor to explain why anyone should vote for him. Instead they create a false narrative that the President hates capitalism, and the sheep repeat it as gospel hoping that if they say it enough the electorate will believe it. Right out of the Rove/Cheney/Bush playbook.
Typical republican, just like the bush administration you are never allowed to blame the recession on bush and the republicans. While nothing was ever bush's fault, the republicans have decided that it is all President Obama's fault.
It is so not bush's fault that Romney has brought back 18 out of 24 bush advisers.
Now with Bain, again the republicans don't want anyone talking about the bad Romney did or the jobs they shipped overseas. But Romney did manage to pretzel himself into the belief that he could take credit for the auto bailout.
Any good the democrats did the republicans want to take credit and any bad the republicans did they want to blame President Obama.
Being that lies is all the republican have, you will be hearing lots of them over and over.
VOTE FOR WOMEN'S FREEDOM...VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT 2012
Whatver happened to those unemployed smelly losers known as "Occupy Wall Street"? You know, the ones who defecated in the street, destroyed private property, rioted, and sat around getting stoned?
What do you know! They are back in their parents basement, posting moonbat spam under the name "Americans First"
This is what character assassination really looks like right, Vaginal Probe Bob?
Sometimes I do wish I was still a teenager and the home I own does not have a basement and I pay taxes.
Try again, I am sure you still have more nasty things to say about me.
Once again republicans like bob prove they have more hate than brains.
It seems perfectly obvious that the campaigns use whatever they calculate will help them win the election. Ethics and morality do not really enter the equation other than as blowback. (Rev. Wright for example). The other obvious point (about Bain Capital for example) is that your record of failures is fair game. You talk about your successes and we will talk about your failures. Certainly you will not see Romney ads talking about the killing of Bin Ladin.
Yes, Bain is fair game. In the beginning President Obama was a nice guy, and in being so he got slammed by the radical right controlled Republicans. So, with this being the case, I want the President to do what ever it takes to win, even if he gets down and dirty.
Our future depends on him winning re-election, along with getting as many Democrats elected as possible.
Again, our future does depend on President Obama winning re-election, along with getting as many Democrats elected as possible.
yep, there is the last nail in the coffin!!
Off topic, but.....
From nojoe, nobo nj - #2.6- Fri May 11, 2012 1:13 PM EDT:
"Anybody remember that Chinese Dissident? What was his name? Got left behind in China with the sort of wispy promise that he could, you know, maybe apply for a visa. In his home village, where, you know, Hillary promised to "keep in touch".
From Mitt Romney - May 3, 2012:
"Now just in the last day or two we've heard some disturbing things from across world which suggest potentially if the reports are true some troubling developments there where an individual, Mr. Chen, has sought freedom in an embassy of the United States of America. Aren't we proud of the fact that people seeking freedom come to our embassy to find it?" Romney asked.
He also suggested that the U.S. might have sped up Chen's exit from their embassy to facilitate economic and diplomatic talks this week between the U.S. and China.
If these reports are true, this is a dark day for freedom," Romney said. "And it's a day of shame for the Obama administration".
I've been out of touch for a couple of days, so can anyone point me toward the retractions, clarifications, updates, and/or apologies issued by either of the above now that Chen Guangcheng and his family are safe in New York where he's about to begin studying at NYU? Seemed pretty happy to be here on the news clips last night. Nice sunny day in the park, kids playing all around, gratitude expressed to the U.S. government for its assistance......one story I read this morning said he was "beaming".
I'm sorry, Mitt, I can't quite hear you, could you speak a little louder? How about you, NoJoe?
Cat got your tongues???
Romney cites his experience as a venture capitalist as a reason to vote for him. What I don't get is the leap from "I made alot of money for Bain" to "I can make alot of money for America." How does what he did at Bain actually translate to being the executive of the government? That's the question, and I remain unconvinced it does translate.
It's clear how well President Obama's skills fit the role of President. I liked hearing about how he decided to go ahead with the raid to kill Osama bin Laden, first by listening to advice from all sources, then, being decisive as to the action taken, AND taking responsibility, in a way I never saw Bush take real responsibility for his decisions. I support re-electing President Obama because I have seen how he works, and I've seen him succeed.
This will only hurt obama. But then agian he has the media in his pocket and can not stand on anything he has done. Same thing over and over. This week we will distract with ?, then we will analyze ?, debate if ? is a factor. Let the voters decied. Stop acting like they are so dumb, that have to have this answered for them.
Do tell us how faux is in President Obama's pocket.
Here is the deal, you quit telling lies about President Obama and we will stop telling the truth about Mitt, 47th in job creation when he was governor. Not only did Mitt not know what he was doing, his state went from 37th to 47th in job creation while he was governor. No wonder Mitt doesn't want to talk about when he was governor.
If Mitt the experienced businessman could not create jobs and even lost jobs in his own state, how is he going to create jobs for all of America?
VOTE FOR AMERICA'S FREEDOM...VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT 2012
AmericaFirst,
Fox may not be included. I will give you that. But as a whole, he has the media in his back pocket.
Romney as a Governer had growth. He also had a very liberal legislative branch with large unions. At least Romney can tell you there is 50 states. But you would like to know that Obama had a gallon of regular gasoline the day he was inaugurated was $1.79 on average in the U.S. Today that price is $3.59, a 100.6% increase. The number of food stamp recipients has risen since Obama took office from 31,983,716 to 43,200,878, a 35.1% jump. Long term unemployment soared 146.2% during the same 32 month period from 2,600,000 to 6,400,000. Staggering “hope and change” isn’t it?
That is just he tip of the iceberg for this guy.
Job growth increased at a 1.3 percent rate during Romney's term, ranking Massachusetts 47th out of 50 states in that statistic during that time, in absolute terms.[18][35]
In relative terms, however, Massachusetts added 51,362 jobs during Romney's tenure, while its population grew by 26,500 residents during that same period.[36][37] Massachusetts therefore added two jobs for every resident gained.
The state's unemployment rate fell during the same period, from 5.6 to 4.7 percent
I know the country will gladly take a 4.7 unemployment rate, after the massive failure of Obama policies.
The best example of applied business management expertise that Romney has been able to use is Obama's bailout of the American automobile industry. Remember, Romney declared, "I take a lot of credit for that". Of course, at the time his Bain brain repeatedly said to let the industry go bankrupt, without the slightest reference to "structured". Romney imagines that he saved over a million jobs by projecting himself into Obama's accomplishment.
Under Romney, states in financial difficulty would be stripped of their assets, declared bankrupt, and sold to the Chinese.
"And the Obama campaign has to be sure its criticisms are factual."
1) Why start now?
2) You think MSNBC and First Read cares about facts? They just do the Axelrod shuffle every morning , dancing to the Obama campaign's daily tune...
This is total crap. Did anyone scrutinize Obama's community organizing skills?
Every day for over a year before the election.
Why would anyone want to choose Romney? He has no experience in international relationships, no experience in Federal government and he has no experience in making a decision. Do you want this guy to pull the switch at 4 in the morning? The repubs should go back to the 1950's--except IKE knew what to do with his war record. The modern day repubs think they are living with I Love Lucy. When was the last attack on the USA-during the great Bush admin. C'mon people get your brain in order-life is so much better with the President than with the repubs.--Remember where the Dow Jones was when awol Bush left-6400--now almost 13000. Will take time to restore all the damage the repubs did-but he is working at it.--We have nowhere to go but up with Obama. With Romney we will go to hell.
Bob in Virginia--you are a schmuck
Except that Romney has claimed credit for Staples and Sports Authority jobs...
OK Mitt, what kind of businesses are you claiming you created?
STAPLES AND SPORTS AUTHORITY WAGES CAN’T SUPPORT A FAMILY OF 3
Average pay at Staples and Sports Authority is $8.95/hour according to www.glassdoor.com
The federal poverty level for a family of three is $18,530.00
Average pay at Mitt’s start up companies is just $86 over the poverty level for a family of three.
STAPLES DOWNSIZING /CLOSING LOCATIONS
STAPLES INTENTIONALLY UNDERPAYS EMPLOYEES
STAPLES VIOLATES PATENT LAWS
http://tacticalip.com/2011/01/13/bad-tactics-staples-stapler/
Romney has numerous other areas to attack him without hanging Bain Capital around his neck, except for the fact that Bain Capital still forwards money to him and Bain Capital owns numerous entities that court, support and cavort with Romney. I Heart Radio is one example where toxic talking heads rant daily about Obama without affording contradiction to evenly spread the lies and innuendo. Romney's stance on taxation, the Detroit Auto industry, unions, women's health rights, immigration and on. Romney continues to make huge sums of money and pays less percentage wise using the skewed tax code that limits taxation on the highest of earners. 14.3% taxes on 21.7 billion is not equitable or proportional in any view when the average man earning less than $250,000.00 will pay up to 33% in taxes. This and all previous Congress' are to blame. But Romney would lower taxes on the super affluent passing the pain to those less fortunate. Romney would have allowed America's Auto industry to fall into bankruptcy throwing 3 to 4 million out of work and American's would be driving imports sending more money out of country. Maybe Romney remembers how his father was treated by the big three when he was a boy and daddy ran AMC motors. Romney senior ranted about gas-guzzling behemoths while Romney was relegated to driving AMC's Rambler Marlin, rather than a Corvette or Mustang. Bain Capital is a shell where he and his buddies became rich on the backs of others sweat and toil. Romney did NOT create wealth, he only Extracted Existing wealth, there is a HUGE difference.