Obama team: Romney committed a felony or lied to voters

politico ^ | 7/12/12 | JENNIFER EPSTEIN

[ColdOne]

Mitt Romney either lied in federal filings that show he worked at Bain Capital through 2002 and could be guilty of a felony, or has lied to the American people in saying he left the company in 1999, the Obama campaign is arguing in light of news reports on the firm’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

[muawiyah]

Your own statement includes "investors". I think everybody understands that part ~ an investor places his money with someone else, a General Partner, to use to make a profit.

Next step is ~ the General Partner then engages in disreputable activities ~ although the "investor" might be held harmless there could be moral opprobrium.

Do you agree?

Owning the brothel does not make you a saint.

[muawiyah]

Your own statement includes "investors". I think everybody understands that part ~ an investor places his money with someone else, a General Partner, to use to make a profit.

Next step is ~ the General Partner then engages in disreputable activities ~ although the "investor" might be held harmless there could be moral opprobrium.

Do you agree?

Owning the brothel does not make you a saint.

[muawiyah]

Of course Obama is an immoral liar and a coward, and he consorts with mad bombers and commies.

That's really no excuse for getting down with the other hawgs in the wallow now is it?

[Fledermaus]

I love the smell of desperation in the morning.

[muawiyah]

That was what he was running, but where was his money? Did he have it off neat and tidy in a blind trust?

I don't think so ~ his money was being used in some business(s) doing something. What were they doing?

[Berlin_Freeper]

If Romney gets knocked out of the race today, that would be good.

[John 3_19-21]

Politico....facts? .....................Really?

[Sudetenland]

How do you spell "desperation?" O-B-A-M-A

This is so transparent that it screams "desperation." Their internal polls must be even worse than I thought.

[GodAndCountryFirst]

That is what I expect to happen.

[Verginius Rufus]

Daniel Henninger has a column in today's WSJ which treats the photo of Mitt and his wife on the jetski as a colossal blunder (up there with Kerry's windsurfing and Dukakis in the tank). I guess that means 4 more years of the Dear Leader.

[Andy from Chapel Hill]

I know that this is new to most folks and that there are (only) under 10,000 people in the private equity/venture capital industry that have to worry about this, but please bear with me here.

There is absolutely no analogy to a brothel. Period.

Not even owning the building.

The operating company is just a shell. It has no ties to either the General Partner or the Limited Partners. There is a master LP agreement that allows the operating company to draw a periodic fee and use it for the expenses of the fund. The checks are then written to the employees and the rent, electricity, etc. If there is any left over, it is spent in bonuses at the end of the year. The final account balance of the operating company is left at $1.

Every company needs to have a shareholder and a President. Usually, the CFO of the firm is listed as the Secretary and the GP’s lawyer is listed as the Assistant Secretary. Either the Secretary or the Assistant Secretary signs everything - rarely does the owner or President sign anything.

The fact that Romney is the 100% owner is the big tip-off that this is a pass-thru organization. It really is meaningless.

Now, the General Partner is an organization unto itself. It used to be a Limited Partnership of its own (getting confused?) but now is usually a LLC. The deal makers have percentage stakes in the GP and specific duties and permissions (”pulling the trigger”, as we call it). There are also passive members of the GP, such as advisers and some of the office staff. These folks are called “Special Limited Partners” or something similar in LLC’s.

When a Trigger Puller retires, they usually “go limited”, which means they keep all or part of their economic interest, but give up the privilege and liability of Trigger Pulling.

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/10/16/business/the-good-life-after-goldman.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

When one “goes limited”, it means that CANNOT have any say in the decision making of any part of the firm or its associated entities, else he risk losing everything he owns if the firm makes a bad decision or gets sued. (General Partners have UNLIMITED LIABILITY. Limited Partners only can lose their invested capital.)

Bain is one of the best advised PE firms in the world. I am sure everything Romney did was audited each year (standard practice) and that the lawyers prepared the documents for him to sign. If not, then Bain would be the only firm in the industry to do so.

[databoss]

obama is a self admitted felon for possessing/snorting coke and weed...

[tsowellfan]

I guess that means 4 more years of the Dear Leader.

I have my doubts about that. Maybe another 10 or 15 years but not just another 4.

[muawiyah]

You are evading the ONLY meaningful question ~ which is ~ where was Romney's money in this period?

Can you answer that.

[Verginius Rufus]

Ever since he ran in 2008, I have figured that Obama's goal was to be President for Life like other Communist dictators (Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez, Robert Mugabe, Kim I and Kim II in North Korea, Marshall Tito, etc.).

There is the little business of the 22nd amendment, but if the Supreme Court will approve Obamacare, they will approve anything...and by 2015 he could have 5 or 6 sure liberal votes on the Court. The only obstacle would be Hillary's ambition to be elected in 2016. If she was out of the way the Democrats would not have any big names to contend with Obama for the nomination. Who else do they have? John Edwards? RFK Jr.? Chuck Schumer? Janet Napolitano? Maxine Waters?

[Andy from Chapel Hill]

I am evading nothing. Please stop the personal attack.

What is your question?

You may want to read the Goldman article before your reply or do some searching on the USA phrase “go limited”. (In the UK, “go limited” means converting to a ltd. or a plc. for of corporate organization - a completely different matter)

[muawiyah]

your suggestion is totally irrelevant. mitt's a very wealthy individual. he has enough money it ought to make some small waves somewhere. HOW HE OWNS HIS BUCKS isn't what we need to know ~ rather, it's WHAT DOES HE INVEST IN?

we want to make an estimation of the man's moral character, and that's one way to do it ~ see what he likes to buy. see what that purchase does.

understanding investment vehicles and how corporations are governed really doesn't have all that much to do with the question I just asked.

assuming you to be a Mittbot, the fact you want to walk around that particular question tells me an awful lot about him and you.

so, let's hear the answer.

BTW, that's not a personal attack unless, of course, there's something in there you really, really, really think needs to be hidden, and then, of course, it is a very prying attack ~but it's one designed to bring this guy up for our judgment. after all, he wants us to vote for him, so let's hear it ~ tell us about his judgments.

if he doesn't want us to know how he thinks then why is he running for public office?

[Andy from Chapel Hill]

If you review yours posts to me, you will see that this is the first time you articulated “the question.”

Also, I am not a Mitt-bot. Look at my last 1000 posts to be sure.

I have no idea what Mitt Romney currently owns. We may find out when he files his federal disclosure forms. I was posting about the Boston Globe canard that Mitt owed 100% of Bain Capital and therefore committed a felony.

[PapaBear3625]

Politico seems incapable of distinguishing between having responsibility for a company, and actually being involved in the day-to-day decision-making.

[Missouri gal]

Yeah, I agree. Probably that's one of several reasons his college transcripts are all locked up. Not to mention that at least some of them are under the name Soetoro, which would raise awkward questions about his legal name, legally adopted or not, immigration status, etc. etc.