And the Democrats are pitching.
Support FR, support Conservative ideals.
Posted on 01/09/2012 10:01:52 PM PST by Saundra Duffy
In a press release this afternoon, Club for Growth criticized Newt Gingrich for his attacks on Mitt Romney’s career at Bain Capital, calling them unbecoming a “Reagan Conservative.” Club for Growth’s statement:
Yesterday, Gingrich said “Those of us who believe in free markets and those of us who believe that in fact the whole goal of investment is entrepreneurship and job creation…we find it pretty hard to justify rich people figuring out clever legal ways to loot a company, leaving behind 1,700 families without a job.” Gingrich’s attack was echoed that same day that by the Democratic National Committee, which also attacked Romney for his job creation record at Bain Capital.
“Newt Gingrich’s attacks on Mitt Romney’s record at Bain Capital are disgusting,” said Club for Growth President Chris Chocola. “There are a number of issues for Mitt Romney’s Republican opponents to attack him for, but attacking him for making investments in companies to create a profit for his investors is just wrong. Because of the efforts of Bain Capital, major companies like Staples, Domino’s Pizza, and the Sports Authority now employ thousands of people and have created billions in wealth in the private economy. Attacking Governor Romney for participating in free-market capitalism is just beyond the pale for any purported ‘Reagan Conservative.’ Newt Gingrich should stop his attacks on free markets and apologize to Governor Romney for them.”
5. Romney appointed pro-abortion judges
Governor Romney appointed 36 judges but a check of their political affiliation confirms that only 9 of them are Republicans. Two are radical gay activists and 14 are registered Democrats. The remainder are unenrolled. Since Massachusetts Democrats are among the most pro-abortion Democrats in America, we have to assume that the majority of Romney’s judicial appointments are NOT pro-life.
Take for example, Steve Abany, a hard left Democrat and a prominent gay activist involved with the effort to legalized homosexual marriage in Massachusetts. Romney appointed him to the bench in May of 2005, which was, again, well after his pro-life “conversion.” Any bets that he’s pro-life?
Nor can we find any evidence that the Governor tried to recruit judges who respect life. Romney’s defenders claim he had no choice because a entity called the Governor’s Council controls the process and is composed of Democrats, but we’ve found that this council serves mostly as a rubber stamp and is set up purely to ensure judicial nominees are qualified, not to oppose them on ideological grounds. Indeed, there is no evidence that the Governor’s Council has ever blocked any judicial nominees on ideological grounds.
Many of these judicial appointments were made in the last three years, SINCE Romney’s alleged conversion.
The Romney campaign also claims that his judicial selections as governor had nothing to do with abortion and was more about the nominee’s stance on local issues such as crime. However, the Los Angeles Times has revealed that notes taken at a 2002 NARAL endorsement meeting attended by Romney, reveal that he assured its leaders his judicial picks would be more likely to protect abortion rights than those of a Democrat governor!
These notes demonstrate that he did indeed use the abortion issue to inform his judicial selections, but not in the way we would have wanted. Once again, the Romney campaign is not being truthful.
With the next president appointing 1-2 justices to the U.S. Supreme Court and a slew of Federal judges, Romney’s judicial selections should alarm those who care about family values and the sanctity of life. The fact that only five years ago he assured NARAL’s leaders that he would appoint pro-abortion judges should cause every pro-lifer in the country to doubt his sincerity on this issue.
It is also notable that Romney is still listed as a prominent member of the Republican Main Street Partnership which publicly praised Senator John Chafee for his vote against the confirmation of Judge Sam Alito to the Supreme Court. This may be the biggest pro-life achievement of the Bush Administration, but Romney’s group was not happy about it. There is no evidence that Romney opposed this action.
It really doesn’t matter how often Romney announces he will appoint “strict constructionists” to the bench; if he can’t be truthful about the criteria he used to select judges while Governor and didn’t even bother to fill all the judicial vacancies in his own state, how can he be trusted to appoint solid judges while president?
6. Romney’ opinion on the Terry Schiavo case: Let the courts force euthanasia.
On March 10th, Romney was questioned on television about the Terri Schiavo case in which heroic efforts were made by the State and by Congress to save her life. Without his professional handlers by his side to tell him what to say, here what the press reported him as saying:
He’s campaigning hard for support from Republican socialconservatives, but presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Saturday he disagreed with the government’s intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. ‘I think it’s probably best to leave these kinds of matters in the hands of the courts.’
However, this view is consistent with his abortion stance. Forget about the life involved, let the people decide or let the courts decide. Once again, Romney doesn’t seem to understand the moral implications involved here.
What happens if I do not meet the mandate?
If you don’t have health insurance by Dec. 31, 2007, you will lose your personal income tax exemption for 2007. That exemption gives you a Massachusetts tax savings of approximately $219.
In 2008, the cost of the penalty goes up. The fine will equal half of the cost of the lowest-priced Health Connector-certified plan for each month that you don’t have coverage
Waivers will be available for those who cannot afford a plan that meets the rules. Check back for updates.
How is the mandate enforced?
The Massachusetts Department of Revenue will enforce the individual mandate through the tax process.
Steve Raznick Wrote:
Entertaining indeed to read the usual drivel, to be expected of that most trenchant genus, the WSJ-reader.
“Leveraged Buyouts.” This industry changed their name in a weak attempt to distance themselves from what everyone knows about the industry, they often destroy things, the leveraged business, peoples lives, et cetera. Not one LBO genius has ever created a business from scratch, LBO guys use other peoples work, leverage it, financial engineer their way to “Profits.” If the company fails, ehhh so what, I am a Master of the LBO!
Leveraged Buyout, one trick pony, net job creator? Not one truly impartial study indicates that the industry as a whole has created jobs in America, not one. If this business technique was so beneficial, the ability to create jobs would not be so difficult to identify! Special dividend anyone?
3 Recommendations
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Lorenzo Dubois Replied:
Exactly.
All it is is glorified paper shuffling operation. Nothing is created in the process, giant scam perpetuated in today’s society.
I remember back in the 80’s at least people understood what it was. It was looked down upon. Today society either dropped too many iq points or just don’t care.
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You’re welcome.
You wrote: “...Then we get to category three where Bain acquired a company. Stripped out tens of millions in management fees while raiding the pension plans. These pension plans were then bailed out by the Feds. So the taxpayer actually paid for Bain’s profits. These companies went bust.”
Yep! See this from legalinsurrection.com (hot links are embeded at the link below):
Bain drip drip drip
Posted by William A. Jacobson Friday, January 6, 2012 at 4:34pm
http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/01/bain-drip-drip-drip/
It’s so frustrating, the failure of conservative media and Republican campaigns to vet Mitt Romney’s Bain days.
Instead of hiring cartoonists to turn Newt into Marvin the Martian, National Review should have been digging deep into the public filings, court filings, and the financial history of the companies Bain acquired and sold. You better believe there isn’t a court document or SEC filing which the Obama campaign hasn’t digitized and analyzed.
Maybe there is nothing damaging, but my gut tells me otherwise. That Romney inexplicably refuses to release his tax returns should have leading conservative pundits screaming warnings at the tops of their lungs; instead we get psycho-babble comparing Newt to Ahab seeking the Great White Mitt.
In Bain drip drip I noted a NY Times article about Romney’s post-Bain deal participation.
Now Reuters has a damaging story about how one of the companies bought by Bain left the feds to deal with underfunded pensions, Special report: Romney’s steel skeleton in the Bain closet:
The young men in business suits, gingerly picking their way among the millwrights, machinists and pipefitters at Kansas City’s Worldwide Grinding Systems steel mill….
Apparently they liked what they saw. Soon after, in October 1993, Bain Capital, co-founded by Mitt Romney, became majority shareholder in a steel mill that had been operating since 1888.
It was a gamble. The old mill, renamed GS Technologies, needed expensive updating, and demand for its products was susceptible to cycles in the mining industry and commodities markets.
Less than a decade later, the mill was padlocked and some 750 people lost their jobs. Workers were denied the severance pay and health insurance they’d been promised, and their pension benefits were cut by as much as $400 a month.
What’s more, a federal government insurance agency had to pony up $44 million to bail out the company’s underfunded pension plan. Nevertheless, Bain profited on the deal, receiving $12 million on its $8 million initial investment and at least $4.5 million in consulting fees.
Not illegal, part of that “creative destruction” thing. I get it. And I’m sure there is plenty of blame to go around. My concern is we’re only hearing about it in drips. You can be sure Team Obama is holding the good stuff back.
[....huge snip.....]
Anyone acting “outraged” is in effect protecting Romney.
Go vote for one of those wimps that like to keep their gloves on, because the Democrats aren’t going to care about some dandies at CFG and their press releases when then dig into Romney for the same thing.
Even Jefferson intervened in the Med where American interests were at stake. But his opposition to a blue-water navy led us into a war with Britain. If we had had a few ships of the line, the British would have given us more respect.
Saundra, I have to say that I admire your dedication and belief in Romney. Such loyalty deserves respect.
We’ve been on the receiving end of companies like Bain. I don’t recommend it to anyone.
That’s all I have to say on the subject.
The commentary in Newt’s anti-Romney ad, “King of Bain: When Mitt Romney Came to Town,” that has everyone in a swivet is the following:
“Capitalism made America great. Free markets. Innovation. Hard work. The building blocks of the American dream. But in the wrong hands, some of those dreams can turn into nightmares.”
It has comments by affected workers: “We had to load up the U-Haul because we done lost our home,” one woman says.
“Wall Street’s corporate raiders made billions of dollars. Their greed was matched only by their willingness to do anything to make millions in profits … nothing spared. Nothing mattered but profits. This film is about one such raider and his firm.”
“A story of greed, playing the system for a quick buck. A group of corporate raiders, led by Mitt Romney. More ruthless than Wall Street. For tens of thousands of Americans, the suffering began when Mitt Romney came to town.”
“spectacular returns for stripping American businesses of assets, selling everything to the highest bidder, and often killing jobs for big financial rewards.”
Rick Tyler, a former long-time aide to Mr. Gingrich who helped set up the super PAC Winning Our Future, comments about the criticism that the video is anti-capitalist:
“I’m a capitalist, I’m a conservative,” he said. “I’ve spent a lot of time defending free enterprise from a biblical perspective.”
“But Bain Capital,” he said, “did not fit the model of responsible corporate citizenship.” “If this is free enterprise, then conservatives should have nothing to do with it,” he said. “It is predatory paper-shuffling. Mitt Romney was engaged in the engineered destruction of free enterprise.”
The OWS prelims will be a powder keg to blow up Romney’s candidacy if he becomes the nominee. The Bain activities and Romney’s association with it will be the poster boy for corporate greed. They will hang everything Bain represents around the Republican neck and it will sink everything we have worked for since Zer0 took office. We will be like the little woman who said, “We had to load up the U-Haul because we done lost our home.”
A knowledge of history is our eyes to the future. That is something Newt is keenly aware of. His attack on Willard has drawn blood. And I hope it begins the end of him.
By the way, has anyone figured out who initiated the bimbo eruptions against Herman Cain?
I hope there are voters in New Hampshire and South Carolina who are reading up. Posts like yours are what makes it good to have the Free Republic.
They are definitely the “Club for Romney” at this point in the game.
I’m voting for the Democrats/Axelrod dirty tricks people as who tripped up Cain.
“did not fit the model of responsible corporate citizenship.”
So you post more leftist clap-trap from the Newt camp. Businesses have a moral, ethical, and legal duty to make their owners as much money as possible. Any bs you read about “stakeholders” or “responsible corporate citizenship” is more leftist bilge trying to undermine the US economy. It more of the same kind of thinking that leads to sitting on that couch with Pelosi.
At one time it was commonly understood by the public that the duty of a business was to make its owners money. Again the instincts from the Newt camp are all DC and the buzz words of the left are everywhere as the Newt camp runs off the rails.
Gingrich has committed political self suicide. He’s done. Stick a fork in him.
You may describe it as leftist clap-trap, but once this “business as usual” episode is played out in the barrage of campaign ads, there will be a perception built that Romney will find difficult to correct. It is a warning to the Romney team of what is coming.
Axelrod is my bet too.
He is a degenerate LIAR, CON MAN, COWARD, THIEF, and SNAKE OIL SALESMAN.
There is a difference between capitalism and free enterprise of the AMERICAN MAIN STREET and greedy WALL STREET CROOKS who didn't miss a bonus check after being bailed out by the taxpayers.
Throwing thousands of people out of work by buying up viable businesses and then selling off the parts to make millions of dollars more for yourself and your friends is not CAPITALISM.
Get an effin dictionary and look the word up.
WILLARD is not going to buy his way to the nomination, I can guarantee you that.
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