Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
People, particularly Republicans, understand the difference between capitalism and safety-net socialism. They are even savvy enough to have heard of Schumpeter’s doctrine of the “gales of creative destruction” that blow through our economy. They grasp that if we save everyone’s job and everyone’s pension and everyone’s company, we will become so ossified, so indebted, so burdened that we will never be able to create any new jobs or wealth.
They get it that to attract capital to turn around ailing companies, you need either to have a very good lobbyist who makes mega campaign contributions or a good enough return on capital to attract private investors. Obama is trying the first way. Romney did the second. Republicans get this.
They also understand that Romney was scarcely a “predator” as Rick Tyler, spokesman for the new anti-Romney movie, describes him. Critics zero in on GS Technologies, a steel company that, like more than forty others, went bankrupt in the late 90s or the early years of the new century. Was Romney a “predator?” Was Bain Capital? What predator would make an initial investment of $8 million and then up its investment to $16 million in an effort to turn the failing company around? What “predator” would merge the company with a stronger one in an effort to preserve it in a highly competitive global marketplace?
Was Romney a “predator” when GS went bankrupt in 2001? He had left Bain in 1999. The decision to deny the GS workers their pensions and health benefits was Bain’s, not Romney’s. He was out of the picture by then.
And what of the more than one hundred thousand people who have jobs and pensions and health insurance because of Romney’s work at Bain Capital? What of the winners and the survivors who far outnumbered the losers during Romney’s Bain Capital years?
For Republicans to be attacking a Republican for winning in the free market and for turning companies around so they make a profit (without public subsidy) is a sad sight. They will come to rue their criticisms. Bain will not become the bane of Romney’s existence!
You''re probably right, but it's still amusing to watch Republicans pretend to care about the little guys being thrown out of their jobs by takeover artists.
Likely not much in the GOP race, but it will most certainly cause him trouble in the general election ... Don't kid yourself.
I agree. While arguments like "creative destruction" are nice in an academic sense they will not play well in areas that have been left behind by this economy.
I'm not a Romney supporter, but anybody that holds his time at Bain Capital against him was never for him. I'm still waiting for someone to go after him on real issues, like how he's going fund the Empire. Same question needs to be asked of Obama.
Likely not much in the GOP race, but it will most certainly cause him trouble in the general election ... Don't kid yourself.
No it won't, because Democrats that care about that sort of class warfare wouldn't vote for him to begin with. Indpendents are smarter than that and Republicans will come together and don't care about this nonsense to begin with.
No it won't, because Democrats that care about that sort of class warfare wouldn't vote for him to begin with. Indpendents are smarter than that and Republicans will come together and don't care about this nonsense to begin with.
I agree. Mr. Romney's Bain activities should NOT be 'used' against him, since he was providing a recognized service: rescuing companies that were in danger of literally going out of business. Buy an ailing company, 'fix it', then sell it for a profit.
However, I do fear that many people will simply latch on to Newt's negative statements about predatory practices, etc., as well as Mr. Romney's 'taken out of context' remark concerning how he likes to 'fire people'.
Yet, in politics, memories are short. If Mr. Romney can get through South Carolina, then, hopefully, the Bain issue (really, a non issue) will fade away (at least, until the Democrats bring it up again for the general election).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
