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)
http://nlpc.org/stories/2010/08/27/casey-pomeroy-bill-would-bail-out-pbgc-union-pensions
The PBGC is almost bankrupt... and guess who will bail them out? the US taxpayer! and why are they almost bankrupt? because of the actions of corporate raider like Mitt Romney that go in bankrupt companies line their pockets with the profit then stick PBGC with the bill ... that will eventually be bailed out by US taxpayers since... like Fannie and Freedie it's too big to fail.
PRICELESS. Free advertising, love it. You just know NEWT will have a field day with this, GOOOOOOOOONEWT.
ByeByeMitty.
Heh. Newt the genius doing just what it takes to expose Mitt’s soft, wobbly underbelly.
I’m tellin’ ya, Newt will get the job done.
Go NEWT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YOU: The PBGC is almost bankrupt.
Jeez Louise. You just said that GST Pension fund was bailed out by taxpayers, which is a total LIE. Now you move the goalpost?
“Corporate raider?” That’s OWS 101.
Pitiful.
Well, I guess they were into Strip mining!!!
Rush is going off on this now.
Lol, just wow.
So, where are all our usual defenders of Mitt’s so-called ‘capitalist’ credentials? Anyone still want to defend this guy as a paragon of free-enterprise?
I’m tellin’ ya, Newt will get the job done.""""
OH my, you are so right, I see it now. What a set up, love it. Newt is a genius. ROFL in glee.
3 CHEERS for NEWT.
As a P.S. to my other post: Kinda makes you wonder what Newt has to show us next, Drip,Drip,Drip.. lol, can't wait.
As a P.S. to my other post: Kinda makes you wonder what Newt has to show us next, Drip,Drip,Drip.. lol, can't wait.
"So Mitt can't criticize TARP, bailouts, or Obamacare because he is for all of that too. So what is the difference again?"
Yep.
I would add that it's even worse than there being no difference between them on the key positions, because once one starts down the road to pandering, the Dems will always win. Whatever a weak Republican offers will always pale in comparison to the "goodies" that the Dems will perpetually promise (with other people's money, of course).
You draw key distinctions, and you go on the offensive- or else, you lose.
the only thing that is pitiful is your support of a liberal like Romney and the actions of anyone who bankrupts companies, lines their pockets with the profits, and then sticks a taxpayer backed entity with the bill.
What is ‘vulture capitalism’ and how is it different from ‘capitalism’?
[What is ‘vulture capitalism’ and how is it different from ‘capitalism’?]
Venture capitalists grow businsses by investing their own money and usually some mentoring as well. They can be brutal, but their goal is to create a bigger business.
A vulture capitalist in contrast will buy into a company that has some book value, force out shareholders, fire people and then grab easy money, like by selling land assets or machinery. Now sometimes, you need a vulture because all there is left of a company is pretty much bones to pick over. But it sounds like Bain made huge profits by just stripping companies. It would be sort of like eating an antelope before it was fully dead.
Lol !! I figured when you’re idiotic arguments fell through you’d resort to the “you support Romney” meme. I support Perry, and he’s been an idiot on this topic as well.
BTW, you got the OWS talking points down straight !
OWS Keyword search:
“lines their pockets”
“Corporate raiders”
“sticks a taxpayer-backed entity with the bill” ie LIE
Nicely done ! You are the 99%!!
First it was the $10.000 bet...then I like to fire people...now this...what is he Biden???? Willard doesn’t think before he talks..he is so into himself that he just blabs away... what a dork...
You obviously support the auto bailouts, I don’t
You obviously support the bailout of freedie and frannie, I dont
I don’t support the privatization of profit and the socialization of loss, you obviously do.
Romney himself compared what he did at Bane Capital with the Obama auto bailouts today. Thus if you support what he did at bane you support what Obama did with the auto bailouts.
Lol...it’s been fun, but I really need to move on to someone with some smarts instead of talking points...
Never forget! You are the 99% !! lol !
Willard supported TARP while Gingrich and Santorum did not.
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