Though much of the nation's attention has shifted to the tragic overnight violence in Aurora, Colorado, the political world will apparently move forward. Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney had already scheduled a campaign event in New Hampshire, and his staff alerted reporters this morning that their plans have not changed.
With that in mind, there are new questions about the candidate's controversial private-sector background that deserve answers. The Boston Globe has this new report, for example, noting Romney's ongoing ties to Bain Capital after his departure in February 1999.
Interviews with a half-dozen of Romney's former partners and associates, as well as public records, show that he was not merely an absentee owner during this period. He signed dozens of company documents, including filings with regulators on a vast array of Bain's investment entities. And he drove the complex negotiations over his own large severance package, a deal that was critical to the firm's future without him, according to his former associates.
Indeed, by remaining CEO and sole shareholder, Romney held on to his leverage in the talks that resulted in his generous 10-year retirement package, according to former associates.
"The elephant in the room was not whether Mitt was involved in investment decisions but Mitt's retention of control of the firm and therefore his ability to extract a huge economic benefit by delaying his giving up of that control," said one former associate.
So, on the one hand, we see Mitt Romney telling voters, "I was in Utah full time. I had no responsibility for management at Bain Capital." On the other hand, we see evidence that Romney was not in Utah full time and had quite a few responsibilities for management of Bain Capital.
In the meantime, David Corn has a new report on Bain, during Romney's tenure, investing millions in a pair of companies that specialized in outsourcing high-tech manufacturing.
As for the still-hidden tax returns, the number of Republicans urging Romney to disclose more materials continues to grow.
Leave a Comment:
Romney continues to filibuster and delay in allowing the American voters he is demanding install him in the White House study his tax returns and Bain history and decide for themselves whether he has properly paid his fair share and just how much money he has in his fortune. What is Mitt hiding? He needs to come clean so the American people can see this for themselves and judge whether he is still qualified for the job of commander in chief. He is running the most secretive campaign in recent history, refusing to comply with simple requests and attacking those who demand the truth with the most vicious and aggressive language. Romney needs to release everything. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
Look people, the fact remains that Romney was in Utah. All this other nonsense...The sweetheart retirement deal, retaining control of the company, shipping jobs overseas...Those are what we call "Activist Facts", which is to say they are facts which you people just flaunt around like they're not just true, but super-duper true, like really true with no fingers crossed...to try to distract the American people from the fact that I actually got on a plane and went to Utah to save the Olympics for the American people. And how dare you question my
capitalismpatriotism at a time when we're recovering from the terrible tragedy in Colorado?and shortly later got on another and went back to MA and then
and shortly later got on another and went back to MA and then
shortly later got on another and went back to MA and repeat several times over the following months
businesses in Utah that would lose their shirts if more Federal money didn't come in to put the whole show together.
That is correct DC Sesssions; We the tax payers saved the Olympics. I guess mittens forgot to share the credit with us.
I think this is a sensitive issue. Reporting it is important because the average person isn't going to get lost in the details. What's the tag-line summary of this report? That Romney's a liar? That HE was responsible for shifting jobs overseas? Can we easily prove it? Can we put it in an effective ad? Can Obama call him on it in a debate? Is it worth all this?
Bain bought the company I worked for and the jobs went to Mexico and China. I watched it unfold.
In 2008 I was worried that McCain would pick mittens as VP. No way I could vote for McCain if he did. I was in Houston airport when he announce Palin, I was so happy, until I listened to her talk. The air went out of the balloon. If McCain picked Palin over mittens he must know things the rest of the couintry needs to know.
The fact that Romney said he entered Bain in 1977 and stayed there 25 years. Do the math it means Romney left Bain in 2002. Three years after he said he left. Mitt can't even lie with simple math.
Like being shocked that there is gambling at Rick's, we are somehow expected to be surprised that the world of high finance and global business involves "unfair" practices.
Maybe the Little People are shocked, but every member of Congress is not. They know full well that it is the same substance that greases the wheels of business and the gears of government.
How many dope smokers are in prison? How many businessmen? Politicians?
Good point Day. I proposes we switch bankers and politicians with the dope smokers. It only takes a few snacks to keep them happy.
Off topic but, I see where some republicans are upset over the Navy using bio-fuels.
I guess in the GOP history books the fact that one reason the Germans lost WWII was due to the blockade of oil and their depleted fuel supplies.
As to Bain being the bane of Mitt's existance, the real question is why he wants to be president. I think his attitude has shown us all he is not doing it out of a sense of duty or patriotism but more for the power and glory.
Paul I agree that it's all about power,glory and ego for Romney.I also think his wife Ann want's it much worse than he does.If you watch her on stage,she act's like it's the happiest day of her life,she just beam's.Would'nt they just love to turn the White House into The Romney Socialite Club.
I think Ann has measured for drapes already!
The longer we focus the discussion on how long Romney was at Bain or what is in his tax returns, the longer he can postpone making any solid statements about:
His statements mean nothing if we don't trust him, so the taxes have to come first.
Personally, I don't need to hear what he will say he believes. He lies about everything. He will do whatever his corporate masters tell him to and whatever he has promised them he would do.
It seems like some Republicans actively don't want to know what's in his taxes-- I can't understand that. How could anyone not want to know about their candidate?
I wonder what the Repubs' reaction would be if the roles were reversed, and Obama wasn't forthcoming with documents they wanted to see ..... oh, yeah. That's right. We don't have to wonder. We already know.
LOL I can't help wondering if the word "dog" in the headline was specially chosen. Romney is a mean, devious guy. The Republicans should have chosen someone else.
Since the McCain Campaign has all of Romney’s tax returns, I would think any refusal of the McCain Campaign to share them with the media would effect McCain’s re-election, or his future elections.
McCain blew his political future by choosing Palin.
as an aside, seeing dog and romney together always reminds me of Gail Collins :D
Since Mrs. Romney recently told the media that her husband donates 10% of his income to his church, we know he could have deducted that amount from his taxes due, but wanted to pay even less than that by keeping most of his money overseas.
Which is the reason, or reason’s, Romney does not want America to see his tax returns? Is it simply that Romney does not want the American Public to know what percentage of taxes he paid compared to what most American’s have paid, and he does not want to publicly stand-up for other corporate CEO’s or corporations that paid the same percentage as he? Is it that it will show how many companies went bankrupt under his takeovers and maybe, how much he made off them? On the other hand, is it both of those reasons?
Bain or no Bain, if Romney were to have been involved in the swapping of derivatives in late 2007 and into 2008, therefore benefiting from the economic downfall, this would be clearly evident in his tax returns.
We all know that Romney has always been about the best return possible regardless of whether it was at the expense of other people. Being involved in the very activity that nearly brought down the global economy would not be out of the question, and would definitely be something he would want to hide no matter how much flak he gets for not releasing the tax returns.
I may be wrong. I may be right. The only way to get to the bottom of it is to see the returns, and that is not going to happen. There is something there that would out him as the financial parasite that he is. Allegedly.
"So, on the one hand, we see Mitt Romney telling voters, "I was in Utah full time. I had no responsibility for management at Bain Capital." On the other hand, we see evidence that Romney was not in Utah full time and had quite a few responsibilities for management of Bain Capital."
1. RoMoney has told us (you people) to grade him on his business abilities. So if he convinces me that he was Pres., CEO, Chairman of the Board and Sole Owner (which is what he swore to the SEC he was) meaning he was legally responsible for whatever went on with Bain whether he was physically there or not, BUT he really did not control or even inquire about what was going on, then his business abilities are terrible. Enough reason to not vote for him.
2. If he really, really did not pay an iota of attention to the business of Bain and signed whatever was put in front of him without reading it (will he do that as President?), BUT he signed a document for the SEC that said he was Pres., CEO, Chair & Sole Owner and therefore the "responsible person", then he is a felon as well as a terrible business person.
3. RoMoney is demanding that his Veep Wannabes disclose everything about their lives and finances because afterall they are interviewing to be his Second. However, he refuses to grant the same courtesy to you people who are interviewing him to be their employee.
4. Of all the explanations I've heard about why RoMoney refuses to release more tax returns, I think this one makes the most sense: That he did not disclose his Swiss Bank Account until he took advantage of the Amnesty offered whereby he did not pay any taxes on the funds and his tax returns will show that the Swiss funds were not on previous returns. This explanation makes the most sense to me.
5. While in high school, DaddyRomney, Gov of Michigan, gave his son a State Trooper Uniform to wear to a party. He told friends that he used to put the uniform on, put a flahsing light on his car and actually pulled drivers off the highway. THEN he took that uniform and flashing light to college with him and used it for a prank. We don't know if he was stopping drivers or not, but my point is - WHY would he take that uniform and light to college with him? This is NOT just a corny sense of humor.
And the hits just keep on coming.
This is going to sound terrible, but the best news for Romney in days came from Colorado today.
One deal that Bain backed out of was taking over Port-A-Potty. They knew they'd be in deep sh-t whether it succeeded or not.
What no one seems to address is: Do we want a president who claims to be unable to multitask?! Yes, running the Olympics in Salt Lake City was a big undertaking, and one cannot be involved in the day-to-day operations of a company, even if it is financial rather than manufacturing. But the president is always faced with more than one pressing issue and job. The most obvious example was finding and killing of Osama Bin Laden while Obama was meeting journalists. Others abound -- natural disasters during budget discussions, foreign policy issues, civil war in Syria during the campaign. Romney maintains that he was "off running the Olympics in Salt Lake City" from February, 1999, and says he had "no involvement in Bain" after that date. (!) Meaning he couldn't run the Olympics at the same time as he ran a money-making company?! Well, the Olympics are not international leadership, they last two weeks, the presidency lasts four years. So how will he deal with health care, the oil and gas industry, the social issues he plans to cut back on, and foreign affairs if he couldn't run a small company and the Olympics at the same time?
TROLL ALERT LOOK BELOW ITS MS SOUTH CAROLINAS BROTHER
because,therefore,because
WARNING TROLLING BELOW
Where is Obama's real birth certificate? Where are his college transcripts? Obama is supported by the unions; as Obama supports the unions. Production costs are too expensive in the US because of the unions, therefore causing outsourcing, because of the unions and Obama. Obama is protecting Fast and Furious documents for Holder. Maybe if Obama bellies up and shows his hand, Romney will do the same. I know for a fact that Romney is American. Romney wants jobs for Americans. Obama wants less people to work and more to go on welfare and foodstamps and disability, so that eventually the American people will be completely reliant upon the government. The military is being slashed so much that important TDY's and missions for national security can't be completed while GSA's create their "cute" videos and go on their lavish "business" trips. Obama needs to go, plain and simple.
Oh, I forgot another thing...the lib media is saying the Romney is out of touch with the American people. Where has Obama been for the last 3.5 years?-staying in touch with the American people by playing golf, playing basketball, going to lavish fund raisers at celebrity's homes-while his family undertakes extravagant vacations on the people's dime? He's the first black president, so that makes him better than "us" people.
Ahhh. With that last sentence, we finally come to your real issue. That we have a black president. Thought that would come out sooner or later.
Oh Mitty-Poo, I don't think the GOP is that into you. And now it looks like your Bain partners may not think that highly of you either. Have you considered the possibility that you are being subtly sabotaged by your friends? I'm beginning to believe that their call for you to release your tax returns is a means to see you die a political death of a thousand cuts and an excuse for the party to pass on you at the convention. Be very paranoid Mitt. Have a nice day ;-)
Question please. Did Bain ever break a mormon company up.
McCain has started stoking the Syria fire to distract from the growing Bain evidence. Romney is running out of tricks. How can the argument of his economic leadership stand when modeled in the back-room despised by the American public? The longer he delays the cleaner those returns better be.
Maybe there is some creative retirement going on in his private company. 100% matching with no donation limit in the company 401k. Maybe he managed the 401k at the same time. Free 2 for 1 retirement to roll over into his massive IRA. Don't think our budget could be balanced using the same magic math.
Mrs. Romney thinks average folk have no case against her hubby. She may be right. Those peoples case falls to those that filed his return and those that make laws disadvantaging its majority of citizens. Mrs. Romney may not want to know the other story of Bane Capitals part in downsizing americas industrial economy and shipping those folks advantage offshore.