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Romney rates the presidential hopefuls and leaves door open for himself
Crain's Chicago Business' Greg Hinz on Politics Blog ^ | November 25, 2014 | Greg Hinz

Posted on 11/25/2014 10:25:00 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

Past and perhaps future presidential hopeful Mitt Romney came to Chicago last night and, in blunt and sometimes surprisingly candid comments, acted like someone who probably won't run again but is leaving the door open in the apparent hope that his party might call.

In a speech and question-and-answer session with the Chicago/Midwest chapter of the Turnaround Management Association, the man who lost to Chicago's Barack Obama in 2012 says he's "not planning" to seek the 2016 nomination—language that politicians frequently use to suggest they haven't decided but are keeping their options open.

The former Massachusetts governor declined to elaborate, under questioning by Crain's Publisher David Snyder, who moderated the event. But he did have some sharp thoughts about other potential contenders.

For example: 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin. "She's not running," Romney said with a poker face, drawing a big laugh.

Or Democrat Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state. She's the "prohibitive favorite" for the Democratic nomination and will be in position to hoard her cash for the general election, Mr. Romney said. But she'll also have to accept some responsibility for Obama's foreign policy failures.

Romney was neutral to flattering on former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan and Govs. Scot Walker of Wisconsin and John Kasich of Ohio.

OBAMA'S IMMIGRATION ORDER

But Romney took a shot at conservative Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, describing him as a tea party favorite who "made a mistake" in pushing for the 2013 shutdown of the federal government amid a budget standoff. Romney went out of his way to praise New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, whom Romney aides blasted during the 2012 election after he made nice with Obama after Hurricane Sandy. Romney described Christie as a "strong, forceful, get-the-job-done" type who might run a successful presidency much like Democrat Lyndon Baines Johnson did in the 1960s.

Overall, perhaps because he was speaking to an audience of attorneys and other professionals who work with troubled corporations, Romney was quite negative about America's current standing. He said "almost no progress" has been made in recent decades on big issues like rising debt, global warming, cutting the poverty rate and challenges from countries such as China.

But he raised eyebrows when he said that, while immigration reform should be handled by Congress rather than through an executive order, Obama's recent move to suspend the deportation of five million undocumented immigrants "may well work out for him" politically. Romney, of course, got whacked during the 2012 campaign when he suggested 11 million immigrants here illegally would "self-deport" if the country ignored their plight.

I thought Romney's best moment of the event came after the founder of Bain Capital explained some of the virtues of the private-equity business. He would have done himself some good to have done just that two years ago. It would have been good for Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner, too, whose record as an investor came under intense attack without much defense from him about what his life's work was about.


TOPICS: Campaign News; Issues; Parties
KEYWORDS: amnesty; bush; chrischristie; hillary; immigration; palin; romney; tedcruz
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

I read the whole article above.

As usual, MR insists he’s not running.

I don’t why some continue to insist that he is running.

Politics has changed over the decades.

No one gets drafted anymore in smoke filled rooms.

If you want it, you got to fight for it. Get in early and get organized early.


21 posted on 11/25/2014 11:16:34 AM PST by Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
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To: Diogenesis

I think MR is right about SP.

I don’t think she is running at all.

There is certainly no indication of it.

Now that AK has an independent governor, perhaps she could run for that job again a complete a whole term in office.

That, I think, would make her a serious presidential candidate in the future.


22 posted on 11/25/2014 11:21:45 AM PST by Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines

I know MIT is not liked at Free Republic. But he has a track record of putting businesses back on their feet. If you want to reduce government he can’t help himself. That’s what he does. As a fighter he is terrible ,Romney Cruz?


23 posted on 11/25/2014 11:50:17 AM PST by magua
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To: magua; Trapped Behind Enemy Lines; 2ndDivisionVet; All
But he has a track record of putting businesses back on their feet. If you want to reduce government he can’t help himself. That’s what he does.

So totally wrong that it's pathetic. Romney is a STATIST who GROWS GOVERNNMENT and he has a LONG and DOCUMENTED history of doing so; as for his supposed business acumen, he was born wealthy and as RE Bane, etc., is a predatory capitalist, feeding off the ruin of other companies. NOWHERE, ZERO, zilch, zip, nada, null -- does he reduce government or even claim that it is his goal -- NO, he aims to "streamline" government to make it more efficient at REPRESSING and ROBBING free Americans, from government-run health care to on-demand abortion that costs less than getting a tooth filled, to SEVERELY restricting food and energy production in order to "save the planet."

Do your due diligence, magua, and investigate Romney's track record on your own. IF you had done so, you would know that your claim that Romney "can't help himself" when it comes to reducing government is totally false.

DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE -- or else stay away from the polls on election day because at of this time, YOU are a low-information voter.

24 posted on 11/25/2014 12:10:12 PM PST by Finny (Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. -- Psalm 119:105)
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To: Finny

You may not like MR’s policies as governor of MA or as a presidential candidate, which is fine and certainly your right. I certainly have some issues with Romneycare.

However, your assault on Bain Capital is simply outrageous and along the same lines of attack a Marxist or Occupy Wall Street thug would use.

If you bother to THOROUGHLY analyze MR’s track record at Bain, you would see that it was highly successful. The overwhelming number of companies he invested in turned out to be success stories, about 80% according to an article I read in the WSJ a few years ago.

Sure, not all of MR’s investment ideas worked, a few failed, mostly long after Bain was no longer working closely with the company. But that is the nature of a true capitalist system. There is no such thing as “too big to fail”. It is all about taking chances and risks.


25 posted on 11/25/2014 12:18:26 PM PST by Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines; EternalVigilance; Norm Lenhart; BlackElk
However, your assault on Bain Capital is simply outrageous and along the same lines of attack a Marxist or Occupy Wall Street thug would use.

You keep buying into that happy deluded "all capitalists are great Americans" mythology. I'll give you an example. A ticket scalper, who buys tickets at one price and then re-sells them at two or three times the price he paid for them, is a capitalist, investing his money. But he produces ZILCH and contributes ZILCH. What he does is legal and should remain legal -- but he produces ZERO and contributes ZERO. Badmouthing and having contempt for certain kinds of capitalism is TOTALLY DIFFERENT than objecting to all forms of capitalism. THAT is where you, Rush Limbaugh, and a whole lotta other "all or nothing" knee-jerkers make a huge mistake.

At Bain, Romney, et al, didn't produce a single thing, were the OPPOSITE of entrepreneurs. ALL THEY DID was to be predators on failing companies and "turn them around" on paper to their own profit. I DID MY DUE DILIGENCE, Trapped -- a fitting name for you because you are trapped in a maze of dead-ends in your political thinking.

26 posted on 11/25/2014 12:25:02 PM PST by Finny (Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. -- Psalm 119:105)
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
...your assault on Bain Capital is simply outrageous and along the same lines of attack a Marxist or Occupy Wall Street thug would use.

In other words, all capitalism, even BAD and IMMORAL capitalism, is good and any attack on BAD and IMMORAL capitalism is equal, in YOUR lack of judgment, to "the same lines of attack a Marxist or Occupy Wall Street thug would use."

Your kind of thinking leaves you WIDE OPEN to being manipulated. Please, WAKE THE HELL UP and stop knee-jerking and defending things merely because you have refused to THINK IT THROUGH and admit that what you're defending is CRAP, even if it is capitalism. Like I said, a ticket scalper is a capitalist -- he's also a parasite, a leech, and a jerk. My saying so apparently makes me an "occupy wall street thug."

Please please please WAKE UP before you cast your next vote.

27 posted on 11/25/2014 12:29:48 PM PST by Finny (Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. -- Psalm 119:105)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

He can run with Fauxcahontas.


28 posted on 11/25/2014 12:33:02 PM PST by fieldmarshaldj (Resist We Much)
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To: Finny

My dear sir,

I can only refer you to the WSJ article I read. A few quotes:

“The Journal analysis shows that in total, Bain produced about $2.5 billion in gains for its investors in the 77 deals, on about $1.1 billion invested. Overall, Bain recorded roughly 50% to 80% annual gains in this period, which experts said was among the best track records for buyout firms in that era.”

“Some of the companies that ran into trouble did so AFTER (emphasis added) Bain was no longer involved and new owners had taken charge.”

Bain invested in many successful companies under MR’s tenure most notably companies such as Staples, Dominoes, and Sports Authority among many others. Sure some smaller deals failed. But that it is capitalism. Some investments work others do not. MR made all of his own money. When his parents passed away, he donated his inheritance.

There is nothing wrong with investing in start ups, or turning failing companies around. And that’s precisely what Bain Capital did. There is a need to take investors capital and put it to work in the private sector. Banks don’t always lend to business. This business is not much different than the venture capital companies which operate in Silicon Valley. To portray MR as some sort of “vulture capitalist” like Gordon Gekko is the same type of infantile caricature I would expect to see from a clueless leftist with a Guy Fawkes mask.


29 posted on 11/25/2014 12:47:35 PM PST by Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

The only reason I remain a Republican is so I can vote against people like Romney in the primaries.


30 posted on 11/25/2014 12:51:18 PM PST by Moonman62 (The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.)
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines; Finny
Bain invested in many successful companies under MR’s tenure

Yeah, like Stericycle, which is in the business of helping abortionist mass murderers dispose of the tiny borken bodies of their innocent victims.

Romney personally made more than $75 million on that deal alone. I've seen the SEC docs which prove it.

What do you think of THAT kind of "capitalism"?

31 posted on 11/25/2014 12:54:16 PM PST by EternalVigilance (Leges sine moribus vanae. 'Laws without morals are useless.' -- Motto of the Univ. of Pennsylvania)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet
Romney is a re-run....like Dole and McCain would be.

Losers....

Romney went into the GOPe tank after the first debate.

And was never electable in my opinion.....

32 posted on 11/25/2014 1:02:41 PM PST by Osage Orange (I have strong feelings about gun control. If there's a gun around, I want to be controlling it.)
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To: Osage Orange

Can we all acknowledge that when it comes to Sarah Palin’s intentions, Mitt doesn’t know S#%t?

And I agree with you 100% that he was in the tank. Which is why the Dems wanted him so badly since he INVENTED Obama-Care and would roll over for Obama’s second term.


33 posted on 11/25/2014 1:08:26 PM PST by palin45potus
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To: EternalVigilance

I just looked up Stericycle Inc. on Yahoo Finance. It is a huge publicly traded company on NASDAQ symbol: SRCL. It closed at about $128.58 today. If you read what it says in Yahoo Finance or in the company website there is no mention of providing services for abortions. It is a big medical waste company and is involved with hazardous waste disposal. Look it up for yourself on Yahoo Finance. It is quite conceivable that some of the company’s products wound up in the hands of abortion providers, but that is certainly not a major part of their business. Just because you have invested in this company that does not make you complicit in the abortion industry. This charge is a canard in every respect.


34 posted on 11/25/2014 1:11:37 PM PST by Trapped Behind Enemy Lines
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines

Bull droppings.


35 posted on 11/25/2014 1:26:22 PM PST by EternalVigilance (Leges sine moribus vanae. 'Laws without morals are useless.' -- Motto of the Univ. of Pennsylvania)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

What a stategy.... let the demo hang gruber around republicans in the next election


36 posted on 11/25/2014 1:31:28 PM PST by BRL
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines

- Despite claiming to have quit Bain in early 1999, Romney evidently controlled Stericycle via Bain for years thereafter: In July, The Boston Globe reported evidence that Romney maintained control of Bain and its investments for years after the date he claimed to have relinquished it. The Globe cited a June, 2012 federal filing by Romney’s campaign which said, “Since February 11, 1999, Mr. Romney has not had any active role with any Bain Capital entity and has not been involved in the operations of any Bain Capital entity in any way.’’ That, however, contradicted the findings of a July 2, 2012 Mother Jones investigation: “Citing SEC documents, the magazine said Romney had control of Bain Capital’s shares in Stericycle, a medical waste company, in November 1999. Talking Points Memo reported this week on additional SEC filings listing Romney’s position with Bain in July 2000 and February 2001.”

- Bain joined a $75 million investment in Stericycle: The Mother Jones story (entitled “Romney Invested in Medical-Waste Firm That Disposed of Aborted Fetuses, Government Documents Show”),cited prior reporting by Huffington Post during the early 2012 presidential primaries to show that Romney “had been part of an investment group that invested $75 million in Stericycle, a medical-waste disposal firm that has been attacked by anti-abortion groups for disposing aborted fetuses collected from family planning clinics....But Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney founded, tamped down the controversy. The company said Romney left the firm in February 1999 to run the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and likely had nothing to do with the deal. The matter never became a campaign issue. But documents filed by Bain and Stericycle with the Securities and Exchange Commission — and obtained by Mother Jones — list Romney as an active participant in the investment. And this deal helped Stericycle, a company with a poor safety record, grow, while yielding tens of millions of dollars in profits for Romney and his partners. The documents — one of which was signed by Romney — also contradict the official account of Romney’s exit from Bain.”

- Stericycle was handling fetal remains years before Bain and Romney took control: Two days after the Mother Jones story, the pro-life website LifeNews.com oddly defended Romney by arguing that because a 2011-12 pro-life “Campaign to Stop Stericycle” documented no Stericycle waste disposal contracts with abortion clinics prior to 2003, Romney therefore could not have profited from Stericycle’s abortion-related activities. The Mother Jones story itself, however, cited public OSHA violations by Stericycle from 1991 — well before the Bain investment — which included improperly keeping “body parts, fetuses, and dead experimental animals in unmarked storage containers, placing workers at risk.”

- Romney personally signed for “voting and dispositive” control over Stericycle, the abortion disposal firm: According to the Mother Jones investigation:

Here’s what happened with Stericycle. In November 1999, Bain Capital and Madison Dearborn Partners, a Chicago-based private equity firm, filed with the SEC a Schedule 13D, which lists owners of publicly traded companies, noting that they had jointly purchased $75 million worth of shares in Stericycle, a fast-growing player in the medical-waste industry. (That April, Stericycle had announced plans to buy the medical-waste businesses of Browning Ferris Industries and Allied Waste Industries.) The SEC filing lists assorted Bain-related entities that were part of the deal, including Bain Capital (BCI), Bain Capital Partners VI (BCP VI), Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors (a Bermuda-based Bain affiliate), and Brookside Capital Investors (a Bain offshoot). And it notes that Romney was the “sole shareholder, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of BCI, BCP VI Inc., Brookside Inc. and Sankaty Ltd.”

The document also states that Romney “may be deemed to share voting and dispositive power with respect to” 2,116,588 shares of common stock in Stericycle “in his capacity as sole shareholder” of the Bain entities that invested in the company. That was about 11 percent of the outstanding shares of common stock. (The whole $75 million investment won Bain, Romney, and their partners 22.64 percent of the firm’s stock — the largest bloc among the firm’s owners.) The original copy of the filing was signed by Romney. Another SEC document filed November 30, 1999, by Stericycle also names Romney as an individual who holds “voting and dispositive power” with respect to the stock owned by Bain. If Romney had fully retired from the private equity firm he founded, why would he be the only Bain executive named as the person in control of this large amount of Stericycle stock?

- Stericycle is just one more immoral Bain/Romney investment: “Rusty Leonard, president of Stewardship Partners, says Romney ... — who is aggressively courting “religious right” voters — owns stock in at least a dozen companies with active ties to abortion... and pornography.” (http://www.danburrell.com/?p=442)

http://www.renewamerica.com/article/120822


37 posted on 11/25/2014 1:32:30 PM PST by EternalVigilance (Leges sine moribus vanae. 'Laws without morals are useless.' -- Motto of the Univ. of Pennsylvania)
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines

38 posted on 11/25/2014 1:34:24 PM PST by EternalVigilance (Leges sine moribus vanae. 'Laws without morals are useless.' -- Motto of the Univ. of Pennsylvania)
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To: 2ndDivisionVet

Go away, Mitt.


39 posted on 11/25/2014 1:37:42 PM PST by onyx (Please Support Free Republic - Donate Monthly! If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, Let Me know!)
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To: Trapped Behind Enemy Lines

40 posted on 11/25/2014 1:38:55 PM PST by EternalVigilance (Leges sine moribus vanae. 'Laws without morals are useless.' -- Motto of the Univ. of Pennsylvania)
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