One of the worst things that can happen to a politician burdened by a controversy is generally captured by a sound: drip, drip, drip. Instead of making a full disclosure from the outset, the politician allows revelations to come slowly, one at a time, dragging out the issue while creating a longer series of damaging headlines.
When it comes to Mitt Romney and his Bain Capital, the drips just keep coming.
Back in 2002 when he was running for Governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney and his aides had no problem admitting he retained his position as CEO of Bain Capital after 1999. Press articles from the time describe how Mr. Romney was on a "leave of absence" after 1999 and had not fully cut ties with the private equity firm. [...]
Mr. Romney being on a "leave of absence" would explain the discrepancy and it doesn't mean he played any role in managing the company, however, according to at least one former Bain Capital executive, during a prior leave of absence, Mr. Romney still remained in a very active role with the company.
In 2002, a Boston Globe article quoted a former Bain Capital executive named Marc B. Wolpow who said Mr. Romney remained in a very active role at Bain Capital while he was supposedly on a leave of absence for his Senate race. Wolpow specifically said of Romney's role, "I reported directly to Mitt Romney.... You can't be CEO of Bain Capital and say, 'I really don't know what my guys were doing,'"
Daily Kos' Jed Lewison, meanwhile, highlights a Bain press release from July 1999 -- several months after Romney claims to have given up his role at the firm -- that describes Romney as being on "a part-time leave of absence" to work on the Olympics. What's more, Dave Weigel notes Bain materials that said Romney would continue to have "input on investment and key personnel decisions" after his alleged departure.
Making matters slightly worse, the Huffington Post has a report this afternoon, noting a federal disclosure form Romney filed in August 2011 that said Romney, after February 1999, "has not had any active role with any Bain Capital entity and has not been involved in the operations of any Bain Capital entity in any way." The article added, "That is false."
And making matters worse still, BuzzFeed has published a 2000 document, uncovered by our pal James Carter, that identifies Romney as being "principally engaged in the business of serving as sole stockholder of BCI VI, Inc. (Bain Capital Investors VI)" -- materials signed by Romney that clearly contradict other disclosure forms filed with the FEC. (Update: By "other disclosure forms filed with the FEC," I mean materials like these.)
The challenge, then, becomes figuring out which entity Romney was lying to: the SEC, the FEC, voters, or some combination thereof? Given the contradictions, and the fact that Romney's version of events clearly don't add up, his stories can't all be truthful.
Romney still has his defenders -- most notably the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler, whose defense strains credulity -- but the Republican's story appears to be unraveling quickly.
Leave a Comment:
Not as quickly as his whole campaign has been unraveling. Bain only is nailing a few more nails into the coffin it seems.
Or how about this one, old, but it ties in the the outsourcing / "go wherever the profits are" attitude to yesterday's Olympics story.
Picture a segment in classic Maddow style, she starts by zooming in on this "We stand United" pin and she goes into the themes of how the great thing about America is how we stand together united, and that value we hold very high. Then she takes a hard left turn:
While heading the 2002 Olympic games, Romney commissioned such pins with the ironic slogan "We stand united".
They were made in China too. (source thinkprogress) (Includes video of Romney talking about the pins).
What is so tough about using US workers to make products promoting US patriotism? Isn't that a no brainer? Apparently not for Romney, where profit motive is what economies are all about, and only about.
Here's a 640x480 image of the pin: (link)
OoooooAhhh
Mittens also commissioned some pins commemorating his role in "rescuing" the Olympics (actually, the federal government, not corporate sponsors had a lot to do with it, pumping in 1.5 billion in the wake of 9-11, but never mind the facts). Images are here. I wonder if NYTimes photographer Jeffrey D. Allred took pictures of the back of them, so we can find out if they were made in China too?
His tax returns would show whether he actually claimed to be an active or passive owner of Bain Capital during that time period. Perhaps that has something to do with why he doesn't want to release his tax returns.
Bain is not a company that tries to help failing companies become successful but rather a company that finds companies that have assets that can be taken out of them. The proof of this is that Bain always makes money off the company whether the company thrives or goes under. If the company ends up successful, (Staples) that's just a coincidence. If the company goes under and there's a pension fund that can be raided, that's fine with Bain. If Bain can increase their bottom line by outsorcing American jobs, that's even better! Romney was CEO of Bain into 2002, Bain and Romney are inseparable. Romney WILL NOT be our next President.
Cool.
The pin showed up on Mr. O'Donnell's show today 7/16. I was a little surprised he in particular didn't use the We stand United riff regarding standing united with US businesses / workers, but who knows how these segments work. Do the producers write them- or are sometimes the guests the editors- eg maybe it was Finney's story?
Silver thread and golden needles wielded by the uber rich will mend this slight tear in the fabric they have woven. All their minions on Madison avenue are slaving away as I type and soon a new Romney will emerge. King Midas will not allow the golden child to turn to rust for his mission is far too important. He must get that--out of office at any cost!
Damn, after 4 yrs. we're still at 8.2% unemployment, over $3.00 in gas, additional $6 Trillion in debt, more taxes, more regulations, more spending. This is a teachable moment for all Americans that SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM does not work in a free market system. Electing a president with no leadership and no business experience. A painful lesson indeed.
You have to laugh at these people who think Romney has experience. Tell me. From which occupations can you transfer skills to the presidency: governor, senator, or corporate raider? If you chose governor and senator, you get a gold star.
Now which person, Obama or Romney, was successful as a governor or senator? If you chose Romney, please explain why he doesn't talk about his experience as a successful governor? Is it because he is too modest? Hardly. Is it because he forgot about it? Possibly (see doctor's report on head injury suffered by Mitt at a party once (borowitzreport.com)) Or is it because, except for one item which he doesn't want to talk about, he was a total failure as governor and didn't run again because the shame of losing to a dogcatcher would have been more than he could take? Bingo!!! We have a winner!!!
When President Reagan gave his 2nd inaugural speech, unemployment was at 8.3%. Look it up. He also raised taxes ELEVEN, that's 11 times to jump start the economy. You have no idea what Socialism or Communism is. Look those up also.
What is socialism according to your party?
Where do you think unemployment rates would be if not for Obama?
Why is the blame on Obama anyway when the republicans have blocked all of his attempts to create real reform?
In short - quit thinking with your butt and use your head.
The last time the Republicans totally wrecked the economy, it took 10 years and a world war to help bring it back. I think Obama is doing a fairly good job with the economy considering total opposition from the republicans.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/socialism
"STILL" at 8.2%. Check what the figures were at the start of Obama's term and into the first months before he had his policies in place.
Your pathetic "gas over $3.00 a gallon" is very feeble, since a few months ago, before Obama intervened and reined in speculators, it was over $4.00/gallon and people blamed him. They don't give him credit for the decline.
Business experience for a president: let's see: Herbert Hoover comes to mind...
Cindy,
Funny how you miss the OBVIOUS!! Here, I'll make it easy for you:
http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/13/12726689-worst-congress-ever#comments
Did it EVER occur to you that the President doesn't do it all by himself - that he usually works with "somebody" - like Congress??? And since we had a do-nothing Congress, what did you really expect???
I really AM having a hard time figuring out your SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM remark?????? Or were those thrown in there just to generate negative "emotion"??? Or perhaps trying to OBSFUCATE?
The rest of what you said could have been your point of view - something that I don't agree with - but still, you could have defended it with your brand of politics. But then you threw in "SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM" and blew it all away and made yourself sound just stupid. Why????
Yea Cindy, it sure is a shame we had Republican control of the Senate (filibuster dear) the first two years and Republican control of the House the second two years... No wonder things aren't getting done.. Why don't you list all those Jobs bills the GOP have come up with.. I'll wait, but I won't hold my breath.
What we really have is corporate welfare. Hand more and more power to corporate interests and even full-time employees may watch medical coverage disappear. The goal might be "cutting spending", but large tax cuts to corporations will surely give them more power, and I would expect them to have less and less need to appease employees. This is only one example of how the "pure market" will harm the middle class.
We still have the Bush economy, as others have explained. If you're complaining about the unemployment rate, complain to the Republicans. It's their doing. Or perhaps do some reading. What do economists recommend in a recession? Austerity? Throwing the "demand creators" under a bus? Not from what I read. And try understanding the concept of income redistribution. This is a tough one, and not suitable for a sound bite. But to me it's the crux, and it's the reason we do not want a Republican in the White House any time soon.
When did Romney leave Bain? Who cares?
What I want to know is when Ubama will leave the White Hut.
When did Romney Leave Bain? I care. [Note: I am willing to believe he left when he said he did, but that doesn't change the fact that I care]
When will President Obama Leave the White House? When Hillary Clinton is sworn in - January 2017
When did Romney leave Bain? I care. And the SEC says he lied. And that needs to be properly covered.
When will President Obama leave the White House? As soon as you stop being an ignorant bigot.
I hope that answers your questions.
Glen Kessler called and said - 'you call that evidence' .
The much more fundamental problem should be the sheer hypocrisy: Romney wants credit for Bain's post-1999 successes without having to take any accountability for its post-1999 failures. So the next chapter of this story will be that once Romney finally realizes he has to draw a bright line on the date, he'll be vulnerable to attack either way -- if he goes all in on 1999, he lied when he counted the post-1999 jobs as ones he created. If he wants those to count, he'll have to take the negatives, too.
But the real issue here is no longer substantive, but tactical: the campaign's mishandling of the situation means that the Bain story (which will merge with and morph into a tax returns story, which will merge with and morph into a secret offshore accounts/he's HOW freaking rich story) will continue to tie up news cycles. Every news cycle this story dominates is one where Romney can't attack Obama's handling of the economy which, whether you agree with Romney or not, he considers his core election strategy.
There are 115 days left until election, Romney trails the incumbent. Some of those will be dominated absolutely by the Olympics. Every day the media talks about Bain is a very very good day for Obama. The clock will soon become a mortal enemy to Romney.
DO you know how venture capital as Romney practices it is a drain on our economy. Middle Class Family has a blog out that outlines what Vulture ah Venture Capitalism and the huge drain on our economy
http://wp.me/p2y5Pu-P
Hey look, the righty racist retard squad is out in full force! kill yourselves, do us all a favor!
Well Cindy, it couldn't be the do nothing, majority white, racist congress blocking every piece of legislature he introduces to counteract, or at least put wheels in motion to counteract, the exact issues you pointed out...however... let’s check the facts. When Barack Obama took office in January, 2009, we were in the worst recession since the Great Depression. Over the previous 13 months—the final year of George W. Bush’s presidency—the economy had lost 1.7 million jobs. His first full month in office, the economy lost 589,000 jobs. Some economists estimated that without the economic stimulus package demanded by President Obama, our unemployment rate would have soared to almost 12 percent. Without economic stimulus and following the conservative prescription to cut federal and state spending, I think our economic situation would have been much worse. If federal, state, and local governments had been shedding jobs in 2009, our unemployment rate would have easily exceeded 15 percent. So say what you want, things may still be bad, but, at least in my humble opinion, we're on the road out of hell, not back into it.
Have faith Mitt will tell us all of his solutions after the election and as soon thereafter as his rich puppet-masters tell him what they are.
When the last Republican president lied, we ended up in a protracted unnecessary war and an economic crash. Now the Republicans want a rerun. I am very much opposed to reruns because I already know the ending.
I have to say, on social issues I reject the Republicans wholesale. But on the economy and taxes I'm agnostic. Give me some good ideas! I'd consider a moderate Republican.
Romney has lied about everything. In the words of Nicholas Cage, "Good Lord!!" Romney has told bald faced lies the entire time.
He stands for absolutely nothing. We don't have the first clue what he'll do in office, he has lied and changed his tune so many times. He will be led around by the former Bush administration, and will be a good boy and do as he's told. This will be Bush-Cheney all over again.
We can't elect a complete liar. It isn't right.
But you'd need a time machine to vote for one.
I'm a socialist, and I make no apologies for that. But, I'm also deeply a pragmatist, and I know that we're a generation away from America embracing actual socialist values.
I say that, because I've often lamented that I have only one damn choice in my voting. I have to vote straight-ticket democrat, because the GOP has become so radicalized that you can't even trust a republican to be dog catcher.
GOP politicians and sycophants often talk about how "the liberals" are stuck in an echo chamber, but the fact is that the GOP is stuck in an echo chamber so large and cavernous that they can't even hear their own constituents, besides the crazy rabble who infest message boards, comment threads, and town halls like locusts.
I'd love it if I could vote for politicians based on the issues and their stances on those issues, but I can't. I really feel like I simply can't trust a single GOP politician at any level. They've collectively lost any and all credibility, in my mind. And for what? To suck the teat of corporations.
It's a sad, sad time in America. We need some solutions soon, or we're going to lose the republic that exists for all of us, not just for the uber-right-wing and blood sucking corporations.
I know the feeling. I vote Democratic simply because the Democrats serve as a firewall to Republican insanity. And they're not that good a firewall.
@Patrick Blodgett: Are you kidding me?! You want us to live under a socialist government??? Have you looked at what's happening in Europe? Look at Greece and Spain for starters.
Look at Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Canada. All what I'm sure you would call "socialist" countries, and all doing better than we are. There's nothing intrinsically magical about any economic system that guarantees good or bad outcomes. Bad leaders making bad policy make for bad outcomes regardless of how much or how little involvement the government has in the economy.
Givemeabreak ... Have YOU looked at what's happening in THIS country in states where Republicans have complete control of the state government? They've been busy turning back the clock to the late 1800s. There's no end to the assault on women's rights, opportunities for young people, and the middle class in general.
That should be enough to scare off anybody who's capable of conscious thought.
Then don't vote for Obama either because he lied to America. Remember, he how he got Obamacare pass through Congress?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99KFGiBc7Vw
Based on your posts so far, you seem to be pretty disconnected from reality. Obama's problem was that he tried (much TOO hard, in my opinion) to be bipartisan and the work with both Congress and the relevant stakeholders.
What he needed to do was go with single payer and play hardball with people like Lieberman, Ben Nelson, Blanche Lincoln, and several of the Republicans. If he hadn't deferred to Max Baucus and Charles Grassley, who didn't even end up voting for elements he put into the legislation, Obama would have been better off. Single payer by extending Medicare to everyone and raising the payroll tax to around 5% would have been popular with most of the country and would have eliminated much of the Repub carping and demagoguing.
As for the November election, there's only one choice in this election--and it isn't Romney.
I've read that Romney can get money from the Cayman Island back into the U.S.A without paying taxes. He can set up a debit card to get funds from his offshore account that is untraceable. I've read that he can transfer funds from offshore accounts thru a corporation..like perhaps Bain to a willing bank in the U.S. They then loan his money back to him for expenditures..like for his campaign. I'm a R.N. so needless to say this isn't my area of expertise. Please look into this please. Jean
I've also read that Romney has really created jobs where as Obama hasn't. Look at Obama's record you guys! Why do you think we are arguing about Bain and not the economy???
Yeah, let's do that:
http://m.static.newsvine.com/servista/imagesizer?file=steve-benenDBAD0CEC-9EF4-24A8-BE46-1E9E39722F7A.jpg&width=600
Yes, we agree that Romney has created lots of jobs. In China. In India. In Singapore. In other parts of SE Asia. Unfortunately, not in the United States.
Having been a corporate President and CEO there is special meaning in those terms. If you are the CEO of a company then you are ultimately responsible for the actions of the company. If you file documents with the government stating you are CEO then you are telling the government that you were responsible for the activities of the corporation. It doesn't matter if you were working with another organization, if you were CEO you were responsible.
So, what is anyone willing to do in the face of a billionaire presidential candidate who seems to have violated numerous US and MA laws?
When you see the following video you will think Romney's Bain story is a joke in comparison.
Let's see how Obama explains this Jobs Creation plan!!!
http://youtu.be/aMB4hcRvtxE
Hannity as a source ?? LOL ?
Credibility: 0
Givemeabreak!!!! You protest too much. Things are falling apart for your boy, MR.
When you see the following video you will think Romney's Bain story is a joke in comparison.
Let's see how Obama explains his jobs creation plan!!!
When you see the following video you will think Romney's Bain story is a joke in comparison.
Let's see how Obama explains his jobs creation plan!!!
http://youtu.be/aMB4hcRvtxE
Take your Mitt the Hoople and be happy somewhere else Givemeabreak.
Hey givemeabreak are you going to exasperate MITT the HOOPLE for his tax records just like the Obama birther conspirators did for his birth record...Or is MITT too white, too credulous, and too rich to be questioned?
Hey Givemeabreak! China doesn't let their people vote....The Republicans don't want certain Americans to vote...for now! Others they don't want to vote will be selected at a later date if they gain control....The Republicans want their rich to have control of the middle classes, like the socialist Chinese rich and powerful have over there middle classes.
luckily for us, we have Hong Kong's GLOBAL-TECH. Lets not get bogged down in this DATE thing about when Romney left BAIN. Romney invested in outsourcing in 1998, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. and btw - where are the tax returns from these years. Its time to stop the dodge.
At some point - soon! - Democrats and msnbc analysts will need to stop quibbling about the date of Romney's departure and get to the larger issue: the fact that, under Romney's leadership at Bain, he established a business CULTURE and business PRACTICES that favored offshoring and outsourcing as a way to make profit. So, in the final analysis, it doesn't make much difference if Romney the individual was making management decisions about investments between 1999 and 2002. His partners were well equipped in his absence to make the type of business decisions he would have made.
In conjunction with this the Obama campaign needs to reinforce the idea that Obama supports a capitalist system while making a clear distinction between the type of free enterprise approach that Romney takes - which is "free" to make profit at any expense- and a type of capitalism that also considers the impact of business on the environment and on people. Romney's approach to capitalism takes no responsibility (except to shareholders) and wishes no accountability. Obama's approach promotes social responsibility and economic security for a larger community of stakeholders.
Obama doesn't support Capitalism!!! What he's pushing is socialism...what do you think Obamacare is???
Umm we think it's a mostly law that requires people to buy health insurance from private enterprises and makes it cheaper and easier to do so. What do you think it is?
Hey Givemeabreak, stop posting on this site, they'll only collapse your comments. Apparantly people here has a vague idea of the concept of FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
Cindy- while trolls are tiresome, I find them interesting. I often wonder just how people can become so ignorant. Is it poor education ? Is it too much exposure to highly calculated propaganda ? Are they afraid to buck their friends ? I do know that some are serious racists.. to be expected, I guess. I imagine a few are even 'paid' to be trolls.
I guess my curiosity comes from my military training-- know your enemy.
Cindy,
There is no requirement for Freedom of the Speech here. This is a service provided by Newsvine and MSNBC - no one has the "right" to post here!
I, for one, don't mind trolls anymore, because the more you post, the more you teach us how to deal with you - not something you had in mind, huh?
The public deserves to know the truth about Mitt Romney & Bain. Simply refusing to fullly answer questions and not explaining his role, then demanding the President apologize to him will not fly this time. If the legal paperwork says a person is the CEO, then have attested that they are in charge. Active or Inactive doesn't matter. It's Mr. Romney who owes the public an apology!
Eisenhower was the last decent GOP president and he warned us before he left office what today's GOP would be doing. Nixon was smart but lacking in character, Reagan charismatic. Bush the elder meant well. GWB was ignorant and petulant and surrounded himself with greedy men of little conscience. The world has paid dearly for GWB and his policies. If we as a country are stupid enough to let Romney win, especially in light of 4 yrs of GOP obstructionism that has kept us from a decent chance of economic recovery, we will need generations to recover if we recover at all. Perhaps the planet will be poisoned beyond repair before the American dream totally fades into history.
What's so sad about all this is that if it weren't for Watergate, Nixon would be the "last decent GOP president." And that's with the 'secret' bombings (as if Obama with all the drone strikes is going to be in line for a sainthood).
Isn't Mitt's paycheck from Bain after he resigned, in essence, a no show job that gangster's force on corrupt unions?
Maybe we should look at how Obama "CREATED" jobs at Solyndra? Let's take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6sNFtoG6HU
Except it was BUSH who invested in Solyndra; thanks for playing, we have some lovely Wanker Wax for you as a consolation prize.
It was Obama that gave them our tax money!
Bush gave them loan guarantees first. As for Romney's little forays into providing funds for alternative energy companies, you might want to look up Evergreen Solar and Konarka Technologies.
Why does Rachel not mention this article among her long list?
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/12/mitt-romney-bain-exit/
All she is doing is repeating the same lines over and over.
Why does Rachel not mention the Fortune article, since she says she is working so hard digging into this matter?
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/12/mitt-romney-bain-exit/