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The Spectacle Blog
In 1994, Mitt Romney ran a surprisingly competitive Senate race against Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts. Kennedy fought back with an ad campaign targeting Romney’s business record at Bain, painting the Republican as a heartless plutocrat who ruthlessly broke up companies and laid off workers. The ads helped Kennedy claw his way back from an 8-point deficit to a 17-point reelection.
Bain was brought up in the Republican primaries, with mixed results at best. But that was a Republican primary where criticisms of business struggle to gain traction. The Obama campaign team is eager to try this line of attack again in the general election. There are some complicating factors, however.
The first is that Romney will hit back using the federally supervised layoffs that resulted from the Obama administration’s auto dealer closures. As Ed Morrisey points out at HotAir, the Obama czar who ran this is reluctant to join the Bain attacks. Here’s Steve Rattner on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.
I think the ad is unfair. Mitt Romney made a mistake ever talking about the fact that he created 100,000 jobs. Bain Capital’s responsibility was not to create 100,000 jobs or some other number. It was to create profits for his investors, most of whom were pension funds, endowments and foundations. It did it superbly, acting within the rules and acting very responsibly and was a leading firm.
So I do think to pick out an example of somebody who lost their job unfortunately, this is part of capitalism, this is part of life. And I don’t think there’s anything Bain Capital did that they need to be embarrassed about.
Then there are Obama’s own Bain connections. Robert Costa connects the dots:
[Jonathan] Lavine, according to the Los Angeles Times, is a top Obama bundler and a managing director at Bain Capital. Lavine, who has raised over $100,000 for the president, was at the firm when GST Steel declared bankruptcy. So according to the Obama team’s logic, Romney, who had left Bain, is responsible for GST Steel’s demise, but Lavine, who was there, is not? Expect to hear more about this connection.
Questions about Lavine won’t go away.
View all comments (27) | Leave a comment
More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/05/14/the-bain-wars
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Bill| 5.14.12 @ 12:02PM
War on capitalism is a "dead on arrival" issue. Capitalism offers coice, competition, products, and services, and above all "LIBERTY. Government is not the solution, it's the PROBLEM.
Clint| 5.14.12 @ 12:18PM
They Are Gonna Go After Bain Dividend Recapitalization.
" When a private equity firm buys a company in a traditional leveraged buyout, it typically uses bank loans to finance much of the purchase price. Since the company being acquired takes out the bank loans, it's the one on the hook for future interest payments -- not the private equity owner. The extra twist comes when, often years later, private equity owners instruct the company to take out even more bank loans. Those proceeds are then funneled to private equity investors in the form of a "dividend," rather than being used for corporate purposes like buying new equipment or hiring new employees.
In most cases, companies can handle the extra debt load. But sometimes the interest payments become unbearable and the company folds, as in the case of Bain's investment in medical diagnostics specialist Dade International. Not only did private equity not increase the company's value, but its actions actually helped destroy value."
Oldefarte| 5.14.12 @ 2:16PM
This is horse excrement! Let these socialistic domestic terrorists go after any GD thing they wish, as the American people are smart enough now to understand the difference between these cretins now OCCUPYING our WH/government and the capitalistic potential for this country's survival. In business, there are losers as well as winners, but the overall positive is economic improvement. The excrements now in charge will attempt to propagandize their socialistic welfarisms against a capitalist like Romney because of what/who these community organizer-occupiers are [and aren't]. Let the try this excrement and see what happens; let them explain their over-regulation, excessive taxiation, corruption-dominated socialistic intimidation tactics, economic killing policies/procedures. Bring it on, douches......BRING IT ON! If this group of domestic terrorists are allowed four more years by voters [non]thinking '''''STUPIDLY'''''', this country will lead the pack of Europeon countries down the economic toilet bowl to oblivian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oldefarte| 5.14.12 @ 3:35PM
'.....NewsmaxRon Paul Says He'll No Longer Campaign for GOP Nomination Monday, May 14, 2012 02:50 PMRep. Ron Paul says he will no longer actively campaign for the GOP nomination, but will continue to work to secure delegates at upcoming Republican state conventions."Moving forward, however, we will no longer spend resources campaigning in primaries in states that have not yet voted," said Paul, in a statement released Monday afternoon. "Doing so with any hope of success would take many tens of millions of dollars we simply do not have."
But the longtime congressman from Texas, who's making his third bid for the White House, says he'll continue to try and secure delegates to the Republican convention in Tampa, Fla., in late August."Our campaign will continue to work in the state convention process. We will continue to take leadership positions, win delegates, and carry a strong message to the Republican National Convention that Liberty is the way of the future," adds Paul, in his statement.Paul's campaign had $1.8 million cash on hand in April.Paul is the last remaining major candidate still standing against former Massachusetts Mitt Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, after. Romney has secured 945 delegates, compared with 286 for Rick Santorum, 145 for Newt Gingrich and 99 for Paul, according to CNN. One-thousand, one-hundred and forty-four delegates are needed to clinch the nomination.......'
Clint| 5.14.12 @ 4:34PM
Follow The Campaign Money Trail:
Top Contributors To Mittens Romney:
Goldman Sachs $564,580
JPMorgan Chase & Co $400,675
Bank of America $364,850
Morgan Stanley $363,550
Credit Suisse Group $316,160
Citigroup Inc $286,015
Kirkland & Ellis $235,802
Barclays $229,650
PricewaterhouseCoopers $208,750
HIG Capital $191,000
Wells Fargo $183,100
UBS AG $182,500
Blackstone Group $179,550
Bain Capital $151,500
EMC Corp $129,200
Citadel Investment Group $125,625
Bain & Co $122,800
Elliott Management $118,475
Sullivan & Cromwell $108,650
Ernst & Young $104,7
Top Contributors To Barky Obama:
University of California $1,648,685
Goldman Sachs $1,013,091
Harvard University $878,164
Microsoft Corp $852,167
Google Inc $814,540
JPMorgan Chase & Co $808,799
Citigroup Inc $736,771
Time Warner $624,618
Sidley Austin LLP $600,298
Stanford University $595,716
National Amusements Inc $563,798
WilmerHale LLP $550,668
Columbia University $547,852
Skadden, Arps et al $543,539
UBS AG $532,674
IBM Corp $532,372
General Electric $529,855
US Government $513,308
Morgan Stanley $512,232
Latham & Watkins $503,295
Mickey| 5.14.12 @ 6:54PM
KKKlintie,
Can you post anything without a cut and paste job or the same old?
Clint| 5.15.12 @ 12:13AM
Bibi's Towel Boy, Little Micky,
Can You Post Anything Without Asking The Same Old Israel Firster Smear Bund Bibi's Towel Boy Questions.
L. Ross| 5.15.12 @ 7:21AM
You know, Clint, we don't agree on much (especially Dr. Paul) but I found this post to be excellent, and a point that I have made here several times. Like you, I always get smeared by small minded people who lack objectivity. Just because actions taken in business are legal does not necessarily make them moral. Why is that difficult to understand?
L. Ross| 5.15.12 @ 7:52AM
From The National Review
"One of the big challenges for GS was its debt load. Bain had borrowed tens of millions of dollars to buy GS Technologies. It then borrowed an additional $125 million, $98 million of which went into modernizing the company’s equipment, the remainder being used to pay a dividend to Bain and its investors. The company then borrowed an additional $125 million to buy Georgetown Steel; after the merger, Bain plowed $17 million of its $36 million dividend back into the company. However, by 1995, GS Industries had accumulated $376 million in debt: a significant sum, given that the company was generating operating income of less than a tenth of that."
So, let's see here. Bain Capital used the companies they "bought" to finanace the purchase of said companies, leveraged them to the hilt, and took 10% of the loan value out to pay themselves for being such geniuses. Admittedly, sometimes it did work. The point here to me, however, is that Clint's original post is exactly correct. Bain put the steel mill in debt to finanace the purchase of the steel mill, paid themselves handsomely up front, then put the mill deeper in debt to finance equipment, paid themselves more money out of that debt, not profit, then went into bankruptcy and sold the equipment they had purchased with the steel mill's loan for even more profit. This has never struck me as an ethical business model.
Richard Baker| 5.14.12 @ 12:27PM
And the President has done exactly what in business? Romney was in the arena, as TR put it, and working hard. Many successes and some losses as a result of his efforts within capitalism.
Stephen Klingensmith | 5.14.12 @ 12:47PM
I think during the last few months of the campaign they should sub line their banner as The American Participator, can't afford to have anyone on the sidewalk merely watching the parade.
PattyMor| 5.14.12 @ 1:52PM
No matter what issue they bring, up O'Disaster has an opposing and worse records.
War on Dogs: Romney put one on the roof of a car; O'Disaster ate one.
War on Jobs: Romney may have laid off some people; but MILLIONS have lost jobs under O'Disaster.
War on Women: Mrs. Romney never worked; she raised five boys into men.
Gay Marriage: Most main stream people agree at marriage is between a man and a woman. Why isn't someone running out and interviewing Imam Rauf on his views?
War on the Catholic Church: Its inflamed the traditional Catholics and have united the UCCB against O'Disaster.
Oldefarte| 5.14.12 @ 2:24PM
THIS "....Kennedy fought back with an ad campaign targeting Romney's business record at Bain, painting the Republican as a heartless plutocrat who ruthlessly broke up companies and laid off workers. The ads helped Kennedy claw his way back from an 8-point deficit to a 17-point reelection...." is [or should be self-explanatory]. First of all, you're talking Massachusetts and the Kennedy machine, so it's a wonder Romney wasn't found floating in the harbour of Boston. Scott Brown is fighting the same excrements up there as well currently. Second of all, Romney's/Bain's cut-throatism [is applicable] is exactly what is now needed to deal with our government's excessive defecit/debt. They hopefully will be handing out termination pink slips by the thousands after the January inarguration, along with the eliminations of the duplicative and unnecessary welfare programs/taxpayers' dollars spent that will shake this nation to its core. Romney should appoint Jack Welsh as DOWNSIZING CZAR and tell him to do his magic [as he did with GE]!!!!!!!
Oldefarte| 5.14.12 @ 2:25PM
Correction: "This is WHAT'S NEEDED". Sorry!
tonypal| 5.14.12 @ 2:52PM
Here's the first question Romney should ask in the first debate. You've been President now for nearly 4 years and presumably you've learned quite a bit. Please explain exactly how and under what circumstances does a business create a job?
Please recall the unintelligible and stammering response now senator Richard Blumenthal gave when asked this question during a Connecticut senate debate. I would keep asking the question until I get a straight answer. I would also make his answer the subject of endless commercials.
Bro| 5.14.12 @ 2:54PM
In my opinion Romney dropped the ball on this when Newt brought it up. He needs to explain why capitalism NEEDS to fire people. A business is NOT a charity and it needs every employee pulling his weight, else the bad ones will drag the whole business down. He needs to explain that government is so inefficient because it ignores the lessons of the marketplace.
Instead Romney, says he will NOT fire any government workers if president.
Brandt Hardin | 5.14.12 @ 3:30PM
Romney is a Vampire in Mormon Clothing… under his leadership, Bain gutted companies, sucking them dry and leaving families in shambles without work or a means to provide for their children. Is this the type of leader we want? Read more about the role of Romney’s riches in this election and the power of his sacred undergarments at http://dregstudiosart.blogspot.....rwear.html
Bill| 5.14.12 @ 6:02PM
FL has a constitutional amendmend banning gay marriage (I'm a proud Floridian). Why cannot we have one in the federal level? Gay marriage is an epidemic and must be stopped.
Clint| 5.14.12 @ 6:15PM
Top Contributors To Mitt Romney:
Goldman Sachs $564,580
JPMorgan Chase & Co $400,675
Bank of America $364,850
Morgan Stanley $363,550
Credit Suisse Group $316,160
Citigroup Inc $286,015
Kirkland & Ellis $235,802
Barclays $229,650
PricewaterhouseCoopers $208,750
HIG Capital $191,000
Wells Fargo $183,100
UBS AG $182,500
Blackstone Group $179,550
Bain Capital $151,500
EMC Corp $129,200
Citadel Investment Group $125,625
Bain & Co $122,800
Elliott Management $118,475
Sullivan & Cromwell $108,650
Ernst & Young $104,750
" Gingrich: Conservatives Won't Let Wall St. And Romney "Buy Election"
"Look, the conservative movement is not going to sit by and let a Massachusetts liberal, who's pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase, pro-gay rights, whose Romneycare in two articles in the last 24 hours were described as the equivalent of Obamacare and who George Soros says is just fine. He'd be happy with either Obama or Romney [be]cause they are both the establishment -- that's just George Soros," Newt Gingrich told FOX News' Bret Baier on the campaign trail in Tampa, Florida.
"Now, the conservative movement isn't going to sit back and say 'Oh yes, let's let Wall Street, and Goldman Sachs and Mitt Romney buy the election. So you're going to see a real grass roots fight. It will be people power vs. Goldman Sachs and Mitt Romney," he added."
Mickey| 5.14.12 @ 6:54PM
KKKlintie is an Obma troll now that the Ron Paul doll blew up.
Clint| 5.15.12 @ 12:20AM
That's A Lie.
Obama Is A Traitor Bastard Like You Israel Firster Smear Bund Cowards, Bibi Towel Boy, Little Micky.
Aaaand, Romney Is Your Israel Firster McCain Redux.
We Are Being Set Up By The RINO-CINO Ruling Elite And Their Israel Firster Flunkie Stooges.
These Are The RINO-CINO Israel Firster Agendists , Who Gave Us The Serial Traitor To Conservatism, John McCain Of McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy,McCain-Lieberman,Gang Of 14, Opposing Bush Tax Cuts Of 2001 & 2003,TARP.
Now They Are Trying To Give Us RomneyCare,TARP, Cynical Flip-Flops On Abortion, Gays, Refuses to Sign Pro-Life Pledge, Illegal Immigrants, "Little Chain Saw Al" At Bain, Crony Capitalism Campaign Money Trail.....
L. Ross| 5.15.12 @ 7:27AM
Clint,
Do yourself a favor. Don't wear your heart on your sleeve so much. This is the internet. Anonymity gives people great big balls to be insulting to complete strangers. Don't bother responding to A-holes. It lowers you to their level.
Gold BC| 5.14.12 @ 7:42PM
Romney blew it bringing Bain into the campaign fold claiming a 100,000 job creation. OK but how many jobs were lost? Romney's critics are right Bain was created to make wealth for its investors, fundamentally nothing wrong with that aka Capitalism but the job creation claim allows the Democratic Howitzers to blast away just like '94. Romney needs to come clean about Bain, meaning investment centric along with job creation and job losses plus his financial gain from Bain both in the past and present.
john dubose| 5.14.12 @ 10:12PM
Bain Capital indirectly created more jobs in other companies than it ended in the companies it took over. That may be a difficult thing to explain especially to a committed leftist. But things actually work that was in the big picture.
Clint| 5.15.12 @ 12:39AM
" Massachusetts’ unemployment rate was slightly better than the national unemployment rate of 5.8 percent when Romney took office and was roughly the same as the national rate when he left office.
Over the entirety of Romney’s term in office, the ranks of Massachusetts’ employed increased by 1.4 percent. However, that was far slower growth than the national average, 5.3 percent."
We Are Being Set Up By The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges For The Ruling Elites' Frontman Mittens Romney.
These Are The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges Who Gave Us The Serial Traitor To Conservatism, John McCain Of McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy,McCain-Lieberman,Gang Of 14, Opposing Bush Tax Cuts Of 2001 & 2003,TARP.
Now They Are Trying To Give Us RomneyCare,TARP, Cynical Flip-Flops On Abortion, Gays, Refuses to Sign Pro-Life Pledge, Illegal Immigrants, "Little Chain Saw Al" At Bain, Crony Capitalism Campaign Money Trail.....
L. Ross| 5.15.12 @ 7:31AM
Clint, it's OK. We get it. You're a Paul guy. Paul is essentially out of the race. I was a Newt guy. He's out of the race as well. Romney is who we have, and while he is most likely no Ronald Reagan, he is all we have got. If you're not in a swing state, go ahead. Vote libertarian. I usually do. It's a wasted vote, but it feels good. But if you are in a swing state, hold your nose and vote Romney, 'cause otherwise you are casting half a vote for BHO, and that would just be sad. :-(
Scorpio51| 5.15.12 @ 8:12AM
"Mitt Romney made a mistake ever talking about the fact that he created 100,000 jobs. Bain Capital’s responsibility was not to create 100,000 jobs or some other number. It was to create profits for his investors, most of whom were pension funds, endowments and foundations. It did it superbly, acting within the rules and acting very responsibly and was a leading firm."
This is exactly what a few people, including myself, have been trying to get people to understand.
Mitt misled people about Bain Capital. This was a company that loaded up businesses with debt causing them to implode to make investors wealthy. That to me is not the type of business I would want to be affiliated with.
Also, Romney is just as much a crony capitalist as anyone on Wall Street. Just because it was legal isn't the point. It wasn't right morally.