Mitt Watch - Puncturing The Myth Of Bain

Aug 29th, 2012

Team Romney has consistently told a tale of rugged, independent capitalist dynamism when describing the GOP nominee's record at Bain. 

He is credited with nearly singlehandedly saving it from collapse. 

This a a huge part of their argument for a corporate presidency.

Is it true? 

Not by a long shot writes Tom Dickinson:

"The federal records, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that Romney's initial rescue attempt at Bain & Company was actually a disaster – leaving the firm so financially strapped that it had "no value as a going concern." Even worse, the federal bailout ultimately engineered by Romney screwed the FDIC – the bank insurance system backed by taxpayers – out of at least $10 million. And in an added insult, Romney rewarded top executives at Bain with hefty bonuses at the very moment that he was demanding his handout from the feds."

He didn't build this.

Mitt Watch - Everything But The Monocle

Jan 30th, 2012
by F. Grey Parker

It's still, and for the umpteenth time, not the fact that Mitt Romney is among the richest people in the world that bothers large swaths of the American electorate.

What concerns them is how he got the money, why he fails to see that his tax rate is unfair and whether or not he actually possesses any empathy for the people who, to paraphrase Capra's George Bailey, "do most of the working and living and dying" in this country.

Romney Watch - FBI Investigating Bain Capital?

Jan 13th, 2012

Well, yes. But, let's not all start wildly speculating.

historiographic anarchy posted last week:

"About two weeks ago, the FBI evoked FOIA exemption 7(a) and denied access to all Bain Capital records on the grounds that "there is a pending or prospective law enforcement proceeding relevant to these responsive records; and that release of the information contained in these responsive records could reasonably be expected to interfere with the enforcement proceedings."

I can find very little background on this story which has been floating around the margins for a while. That said, something is going on. It is unclear what documents were requested and for what time-frame.

It's important to again remind everyone that any number of recent Bain purchases might have triggered an automatic law enforcement review. The 2010 acquisition of $12 million in Edgar Online stock, for example, raised a number of red flags. We will keep an eye on this one.

The original document can be found HERE
Click on image for better view

Mitt Romney's Version Of Capitalism, part 3

Jan 13th, 2012

As attacks on Mitt Romney's years at Bain Capital have picked up steam, a veritable army of apologists has taken up the mantle of "defending capitalism." Except that's not precisely what they are doing.

Ross Kaminsky has a typically defensive piece over at The American Spectator. He begins with a caveat:

"Nobody is going to put Mitt Romney in a category with any of the great inventors of American history. Nevertheless, Romney's function in terms of "creative destruction" is not fundamentally different from that of any other participant in the capitalist system." EMPHASIS OURS

He then proceeds to bloviate that the advances brought to the world by Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs led to job losses, too. So there. Kaminsky's missive is a wonder of contradictions with the usual dose of "Austrian" economic voodoo.

Mitt Romney's Version Of Capitalism

Jan 13th, 2012
by F. Grey Parker

The GOP 's internal war over Mitt Romney's years at Bain Capital has gotten very interesting during the last few weeks. It is not merely because of the vendetta against the frontrunner being waged by, as David Corn put it, "Newt The Destroyer." The discussion has now gone much deeper than whether or not Romney ran the company properly. For the first time in recent memory, an intra-Republican Party debate has broken out over the moral responsibilities of the management and ownership class within the capitalist system.

The Newt Gingrich-allied SuperPAC, Winning The Future, is basically using the common sense language at the core of both the Occupy Movement and their Tea Party opposites to attack the Romney mythology of what constitutes good business.


The complete video is available HERE