"Oh, he DID NOT say that!"
Posted on 01/11/2012 7:40:30 AM PST by Qbert
On the heels of his decisive victory in the New Hampshire primary, Mitt Romney took the attacks on his private sector record used by GOP rivals and turned them against President Obama.
Romney’s critics have accused him of destroying jobs in order to increase profits for his investment firm, Bain Capital, but speaking Wednesday on CBS, Romney said that what he did was no different from the Obama administration’s auto industry bailouts.
“In the general election I’ll be pointing out that the president took the reins at General Motors and Chrysler – closed factories, closed dealerships laid off thousands and thousands of workers – he did it to try to save the business,” Romney said Wednesday on CBS.
President Obama has publicly touted his plan to “retool and restructure” the auto companies as “an investment in American workers.” Romney was strongly opposed to the auto bailouts, but on Wednesday likened the president’s strategy to his own. “We also had the occasion to do things that are tough to try and save a business,” he said.
Bain Capital, Romney’s former firm, specializes in providing financial and management advice, often taking over distressed companies, which in some cases results in closed businesses or massive layoffs.
Romney contends that the companies Bain turned around more than make up for the layoffs, and that he helped create more than 100,000 jobs during his time there, a figure his critics contest.
Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry spent the days leading up to the primary assailing Romney for his time as an executive at Bain Capital, calling him a “vulture” capitalist and framing the firm as an unethical institution that “undermined capitalism.”
“We expected President Obama to put free enterprise on trial and to continue his rhetoric of envy and class warfare,” Romney said on MSNBC. “We’re a little surprised to see it coming from Speaker Gingrich and others, but you know, if campaigns aren’t going well people try new tacks, I don’t think it worked last night in New Hampshire, I don’t think it will work in South Carolina.”
Gingrich has himself been criticized, most prominently by influential conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh, for waging attacks on Romney that his critics say are liberal, anti-capitalist arguments that will be adopted by the Obama campaign.
On Tuesday, the New Hampshire primary runner-up Ron Paul surprisingly came to Romney’s defense, saying Perry and Gingrich sounded “like Democrats” with their attacks.
“It is strange, those that are calling themselves true conservatives ended up attacking venture capitalism and capitalism in general,” Romney continued. “It suggests a bit of a desperate time for some campaigns.”
(Video at link)
"Romney likens work at Bain Capital to Obama’s auto industry bailout"
This is just wrong on so many levels.
“In the general election I’ll be pointing out that the president took the reins at General Motors and Chrysler – closed factories, closed dealerships laid off thousands and thousands of workers – he did it to try to save the business,” Romney said Wednesday on CBS.
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what an idiot..
I had just been steeling myself to stomach his nomination. Now I have to start all over again.
Fine by me if Mitt wants to take that approach. The GM bailout was a debacle. GS Industries went bankrupt and one reason was poor management.
All he's showing is both are failures at the executive level.
I can think five ways off the top of my head that even a moronic clown like Obama would destroy Romney with this dopey analogy.
The great Conservative Capitalist willard has spoken.
LOL. Thanks Mitt for cutting out the legs from all of the people who have been supporting you against Newt's Superpac attacks.
Closing question, does this mean that Romney thinks his tenure at Bain involved crony capitalism of the sort Obama practiced with GM?
The attacks on Romney in regards to Bain are being portrayed by the Romney lovers as a left wing attack on capitalism.
BS
Romney used Bain to raid workers pension funds then stuck the government (US taxpayers) with the bill. If criticism of that is anti-capitalist then I guess I am not a capitalist.
Go Newt!
A better approach would be to say what he did at Bain is what he will do to the DOE and others. Cut, and eliminate useless underperforming agencies, which will inevitably lead to many in government losing their jobs. Sometimes it just has to be done...
yea just like he says...he is pretty much like nobama...what a loser in the making!
I won’t vote for Romney, but if he gets elected, I hope he is as good at firing employees as he was at Bain. He may just balance the budget.
"So in his own words Romney is just like Obama. I had figured that out already, I hope the rest of the conservatives out there who claim that Romney is acceptable start to get their wake up call from this.
Yep. I swear, this is candidate McCain's "Obama's sure a fine fellow, and he'll make a good president" all over again...
We need a Conservative fighter up there- not a cheap, defensive panderer like Rombot.
Oh my !!
How does he think this helps him????
They aren't attacking capitalism in general. And they aren't attacking venture capitalism, except to say that it's not the capitalism experience of building and employing, that you want in a Presidential candidate. They aren't saying what he did was wrong, just that the experience is not the normal breed of capitalism.
No wonder McCain endorsed Mitt... 2012 will make the 2008 capitulation campaign look like a slugfest by comparison.
Mr. niteowl77
Please someone help me understand that this isn't Romney supporting Obama????? ..He did say he'd be pointing out Obamas record of saving business????
If this weakling goes further in this Primary we are cooked frogs in a pot!!!! and Obama will turn the heat up even higher.
God have Mercy on all.
"Romney likens work at Bain Capital to Obama’s auto industry bailout"Thank you, Willard. Now everyone who wants to defend Romney by conflating the anti-capitalist activities of Bain Capital with "capitalism" or the "free market" may pour themselves a tall cool glass of STFU.
And now Obumbler can play that clip with the one of Romney saying that we should just let GM go bankrupt.
I agree with letting them go bankrupt, but he can't play both sides of the same issue.
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