Mitt Romney's campaign team told reporters earlier yesterday there would be no questions for the candidate at any point during the day. As it turns out, that wasn't quite true -- the presumptive Republican nominee was willing to answer plenty of questions from conservative blogger and radio host Ed Morrissey.
Of particular interest yesterday was Romney responding to criticisms of his controversial work at Bain Capital, where he orchestrated leveraged buyouts, flipping companies quickly for large profits, at the expense of thousands of workers who were considered collateral damage. Romney tried to turn around talk about the mass layoffs he engineered.
In reference to his private-sector background -- which, apparently, is the only aspect of Romney's experiences that are supposed to matter in 2012 -- Romney claimed:
"We were able to help create over 100,000 jobs.... On the president's watch, about 100,000 jobs were lost in the auto industry and auto dealers and auto manufacturers, so he's hardly one to point a finger."
The Nation's Ari Berman argued that Romney is guilty of "fuzzy jobs math," and Ari's absolutely right. The closer one looks at this, the more delusional Romney's argument appears.
First, President Obama's rescue of the American automotive industry (over Romney's objections) is largely the opposite of Bain Capital's vulture-capitalist tactics. The comparison is silly. But even if we put that aside, Obama's rescue policy saved over 1 million jobs and according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, auto industry employment has increased by over 100,000 jobs since Obama took office in January 2009. Romney has this backwards.
Second, Romney keeps moving the goal posts on his Bain-era job totals. Asked about the jobs he created in the private sector, Romney has gone from "10,000 jobs," to "tens of thousands of jobs," to "over 100,000 new jobs," then back to "tens of thousands jobs," then down to "thousands of jobs," then up to "some 120,000 jobs" (using an amusing standard), and now back down to "over 100,000 jobs."
This isn't true, and the constantly-changing figure has become laughable.
Finally, there's generally-overlooked detail: Bain Capital was never in the job-creating business.
Romney's making a fundamental mistake by even trying to argue that his private-sector experience had anything to do with employment. Bain Capital never tried to create jobs; it simply wasn't the point of the firm's work. The goal was to generate wealth for Romney's investors, not create jobs. And as Romney often found, the way to maximize profit was to frequently engage in mass layoffs.
What matters far more is Romney's term as governor, when he had an opportunity to apply all he knows about using public office to put people to work. Unfortunately, Massachusetts' job creation record during Romney's term was "one of the worst in the country," ranking 47th out of 50 states.
This is the record that has the most relevance in the presidential race. It's also the record Romney prefers to ignore.
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Romney's problem wıth numbers ısn't any dıfferent than hs problem wıth every other ıssue be the economy, foıreıgn polıcy, war and peace, women, the elderly and cıvıl rıghts for LGBT people. As Judge Judy tells people before her ın a case on her show, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember what you saıd the last tıme."
All relıgıons are a bıt goofy and there are a lot of goofy thıngs about Mormonısm - lıke the magıc underwear - but beıng truthful ıs one of ıts precepts. Apparently, the presumptıve nomınee forgot thıs lesson from hıs upbrıngıng.
I love the Judge Judy quote , but Mormons truthful?
I don't think so. Their whole cult is based on a lie from a con artist out of upper NY State . They lie to themselves every day , as a part of embracing the Fairy Tales and Science Fiction of Joesph Smith, the L Ron Hubbard of his day.
Nice work if you can get it
Then, accompanied by his trademark "laugh", (see James Lipton), Mitt added, "Besides, he's black, and I'm not!"
I think it was Lawrence O'Donnell who had the video that the 100,000 jobs now..
was only 10,000 during the Senate campaign. maybe you can get that video and post it, so we can help spread the word
Obama's ad team should come up with an ad campaign series of "Be Careful What You Wish For" ads to constantly remind voters of Romeny's record as governor including how Massachusetts' job creation record during Romney's term was "one of the worst in the country," ranking 47th out of 50 states. There's so-o much material with that and his other lies to the media it might just sway a higher percentage of the independents to vote Democratic in November!
Not only that, during Romney's term, Massachusetts had the highest debt in the nation.
That ad will be coming in the future. Most likely it will be a set of ads that will aid just before the election. Obama is not going to let Romney slide on his governor years. Romney may have amnesia but the Dems do not.
So is Romney going to say that as president, he'll create wealth for the 1% at the expense of losing tens of thousands of jobs? At least, is there the implication of that horrible thought? That's where his so-called 'expertise' lies. I would argue he couldn't even do that.
So why to Right Wingers support a guy who:
Lies constantly and is caught lying constantly (but never called on them by the press who can't talk to him anyway)?
Flip-flops more than McCain did last election and more than John Kerry did ("I don't trust Kerry, I don't know where he stands on anything, what does he stand for?"-GOP voters)?
Has less government experience than Obama (a point that the GOP attacked and thought was a 'big problem' for Obama, at the time)?
A candidate very few in the GOP supported until a month ago (which tells you what is important to them)?
Romney is BAD FOR AMERICA and Republicans and Republican voters know it.
Why do they hate America? Why do they want to F%&$ America?
What FAKE REASONING are Republicans going to use THIS TIME to justify screwing America?
Four years from now, when their next candidate is a flip-flopping liar, with little experience, who hides from the press, who uses old GOP policy positions that don't work (in many cases have proven to fail), who offers nothing to a voter other than empty rhetoric, who shows no ability to lead or govern or understand important issues - What will their STUPID EXCUSE be then?
How bad does a candidate have to be before they vote for the better candidate? Would they vote for Hitler if he was on the GOP ticket?
Who is that stupid?
This is a limus test for me. If someone tells me they are voting for Romney, they show what is important to them. They show their hypocrisy. They show that no matter who is on the GOP ticket, it doesn't matter who the candidate is, whether they are capable, knowledgeable, credible, not willing to lie constantly, the list goes on...
These voters don't care what happens to America. Once they make that vote they no longer have credibility on anything political because, in the end, none of that matters to these automatons. They are indoctrinated to believe/vote in a certain way (easily manipulated by proven liars) and that's the way they'll vote despite proof, facts, reality, reasoning.
My new response (after the election) to these dip$hits: "You voted for Romney, so whatever point you're trying to make is either silly, not supported by facts (not that it matters to these guys), was fed to you by someone who you're letting manipulate you, doesn't matter because you're looking for any 'excuse' (in their minds) to vote for nonsense anyway. You never cared about the facts. You never cared about the issues, you never cared about what happens to Americans so I don't expect you to be credible in this discussion. You were going to vote for a Republican no matter what happens, what is said, what the issues are. So no one should listen to you."
See: Palin, Sarah (Moron-AK), 30% rabid approval rate from GOTPers
30%, eh? That's pretty close...
I wonder how Romney's Team is prepping him for the debates with Obama. Maybe they think Obama isn't going to make Mitt eat his own words. Unlike the media, Obama will have every reason to sissy slap Mitt every time he mouths this incoherent sicko-babble. Based on Mitt's sleezy, awkward performances in the primaries against the GOP side-show clowns (the be-quiet-and-chuckle-while-the-crazy-ones-embarrass-themselves strategy) and Obama's performance in '08 against the angry,mavericky old white dude, Mitt's "fuzzy math" lying is going to be big ol' stinky bear for him come this Fall...
I'm imagining, "there you go again, Mitt."
As a whole the GOP suffers with "fuzzy math", anyone remember George H.W., Saint Ronnie - all "fuzzy mathematicians". No surprise there. The real issue is whether the sheeple will continue to buy into the prevarications, obfuscations, and dis-association from reality. Mittens just "wants" the job and has to deflect from reality and as long as the reich-wing media allows him to he will.
Let's look at those jobs Romney giveth and taketh away.
He taketh higher paying jobs (steelmakers, for example, probably $25 an hour) and raped people of pensions and put taxpayers on the hook for what he taketh, and he giveth jobs like Staples (paying maybe $10 an hour).
Even if he does tout his "job creating" bona fides, what was taken was far more than what was given, in numbers and the impact of those numbers on people's lives.
Romney was part of the Bain Capital group that invested about $650,000 venture capital to help start Staples. The business concept was to sell office supplies made in Red China by slave labor and undercut ligitimate office supply businesses in the United States that sold office supplies manufactured in the United States by workers that were paid a decent wage. 81% of all the office supplies sold by Staples are made in China. The cameras are made in Japan. Even the staplers are made in China. Romney is a job creator...in China. Staples does not represent any sort of "success." Businesses like Staples are exactly what is wrong with business in the United States today. Screw the 99% and reap massive profits.
Categorizing Bain Capital "vulture capital" is an insult to vultures. Vultures feed on things that have already died. Bain is "predator capital", attacking companies with lowered defenses and going in for the kill.
Everything Romney does is motivated by self-interest and the need to have power/wealth. He will happily lie to the American public to get into office, even tell different lies to different constituencies. The best defense we have to is to remind him that the Internet is forever, and every random lie he contradicts himself with is documented on film.
Keep those cameras rolling, my friends. ^_^
It isn't just Romney, the entire GOP has a problem with basic math. When with the "left-wing" media come out and actually call them on their BS? Oh wait, they aren't what the GOP calls them - they are the corporate-owned media. I keep forgetting that truth and facts are foreign concepts to GOP speak.