Posted on 01/10/2012 11:30:42 AM PST by americanophile
Or at least a very loose approximation of those activities.
Some people build businesses up, and some people exploit the work of others and tear it down.
I don’t think the solution to that abuse of capitalist freedom is government regulation. Probably the best solution is moral judgment and, at base, religious belief. As many people have pointed out, you cannot have a truly free society without the self-discipline brought by religious belief.
In other words, conservatism includes a foundation in traditional morality as well as freedom. The problem with Romney is not that he is a capitalist, but that he is a capitalist who lacks moral principles. He has enriched himself by tearing down the businesses that other people built, and putting people out of work in the process.
That doesn’t mean that all mergers and takeovers are bad. But they become bad when you have a scumbag liar like Romney who does it.
Romney used to boast that he saved the Salt Lake City Olympics because he was such a genius of a businessman. Yeah, sure. He saved it by procuring a huge barrel of pork from the government, at taxpayer expense. The man is a congenital liar who cannot be trusted at anything.
I think Larry the Liquidator (Danny DeVito) explained it really well in the movie "Other People's Money."
Well worth the 12 minutes to watch this. I wish Newt Gingrich had seen it before he went down this path.
Yes. He most certainly is.
And even Republican-leaning economists like Glenn Hubbard LOVE big government central-planning. Maybe some Repubs DO hate capitalism.
From Zero Hedge:
I don’t see any of the candidates undercutting capitalism. The only one projecting such claims, are those like the author of this article you posted.
-—Since when do conservatives hate capitalism?——
Since capitalists put me in debt to the Communist Chinese.
“plundered it of $180 million...If it’s true, what is the problem...”
I should have said this first, but one problem is it isn’t true. I don’t know where this word “plundered” comes from, and can’t believe a Republican would say it of free market operations. Or I can, considering some Republicans, but not Newt.
Except that Newt has a history of twisting himself into believing such things as FDR was the greatest 20th century president, Cap ‘n’ Trade is the free market solution to global warming...err, I mean climate change, and welfare reform is rightwing social engineering. So maybe he’s not twisting himself at all, and his core is Big Government populism with a touch of old fashionism here and there.
So...are you saying Romney is a conservative?
Are you also saying those that disagree with Romney aren't conservatives?
Describe to me....this Romney hatred. Are you confusing opposition to his positions, ( past and present ) as hatred? Or something else?
They'll do anything to push Romney on us the same as they did with McCain.
Pretty good post..........
“The problem is that government has gotten itself way too involved in capitalism.”
Okay, but what does that have to do with the case at hand?
“They are not anticapitalism. They are simply giving slimy Romney some payback for his attack ads in Iowa.”
Okay, but why do so with anticapitalist arguments? Why the need to sound like Obama in order to attack Romney?
Amen. The Wall Street Journal had plenty of articles criticizing the actions and ethics of corporate raiders during the 1990s. If corporate raiders become the face of capitalism, then capitalism loses. That's a very pragmatic view. While I have no doubt that some of the companies benefited, apparently there were others where questionable actions were taken. The time to expose these is now before he becomes the nominee.
There is a difference in starting a business, rightsizing a company, and raiding a company of all assets including pensions, and having the taxpayer pick up the tab. If that never happened, and if Romney can come up with a defense he can sell, let's hear it.
If he can't sell it to Pubhies, he sure as heck can't sell it in the general to moderates and independents.
How d'ya figure? Newt's about the only one whose been taking shots at 0bama.
We can never trust him. Never.
Whoever it is that you're supporting, is the ONLY candidate we can trust. Ever. ALL of the others are worthless RINOs who want to destroy freedom and capitalism.
If you go to a pawn shop and pawn your $500 wedding band for $100, you have to pay back 16%-50% interest for one month or you lose your $500 ring for $100. That's legal, but no one lost a job. If you take over a business to sell the land and equipment, what happens to the workers? ( and the name of the business) This is why they call it "raiding".
As a real world example, Let's look at Sears Holdings. Lampert saw a floundering business and moved in. What he saw was a 100 year old company that owned prime land in every city in America. He didn't give a flip about the business. The land boom was about to bust however. He waited patiently for the land to go back up where it was, but alas, then came the crash. His stock went from around $200 to under $50. He is stuck with a bunch of land and stores that have been losing money since Amazon hit the internet.Now who believes he will hesitate for one minute to dump the real estate and fire all the employees to bail out of this mess? Think about a world without "Sears". The same happened to K mart, Monkey Wards, ect. It is a fact of life, it is inevitable, but it's coming. No one is trying to reorganize the stores to save the company. It's legal, no doubt, but Lampert was in it for the money, not Sears. This happens with airlines all the time. They sell off the planes, the schedules, the equipment, everything, but then they fire the employees. The question always comes to, what would happen if you cut the salaries and tried to save money and give up a few routes that don't make money? We won't ever know if GM could have been saved because the gubmint bailed them out. They will keep the unions and eventually die again because the system hasn't changed. Some things can be saved, some can't. Bain Capital saw the opportunity to make money and took it. I don't think saving jobs was ever very high on their agenda. It's perfectly legal, but don't pretend you wanted to save the jobs. As a worker, you have to realize the bargain you made was to work for "the man" until he gets rid of you. You have no "right" to his job.
What we have to do is figure out if you want Romney as president or would you rather have someone else. For me, I would rather have Newt just because he is more knowledgeable about America than Romney. Rockefeller didn't do anything illegal( that has been proven), but I want someone with a different background. RINO's just look for the next tax cut, but I want someone that has a sense of justice.
Let’s all hand over trillions to support the capitalists.
“There is a difference betwee a free market capitalitic approach to business and what Bain Capital did.”
No, there isn’t. You can criticize it if you want, but then you’d be making a moral or aesthetic, not an economic or legal, argument. In which case you couldn’t use words like “plundered,” unless you are an Occupy Wall Streeter or Newt, and don’t care about accuracy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.