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I think the "self-made" part is the important distinction.
Romney was born rich and when his inheritance and trust funds weren't enough to satisfy him, he decided to embark on a career, a career that didn't build anything or provide value to anyone but him and his cronies. He chose the path of destroying companies, eliminating jobs in the US, outsourcing to foreign countries and stashing his wealth offshore. Romney was already rich, but became uber rich by taking advantage of businesses and employees that were already down on their luck.
I tried to read the Rolling Stone article but couldn't get through it for two reasons: 1) It is an uber left hit piece bent on demonizing Bain Capital and Mitt Romney and is just as biased as anything that comes from an uber right wing site with an equal and opposite agenda and 2) it's a very long article and the font is so small I had trouble reading it. Yes, I know I can enlarge the font but doing that would require constant scrolling back and forth on every single line.
I looked for a more unbiased source for the successes and failure of Bain Capital and came across this entry from Wikipedia which is probably as unbiased as anything to be found. It is far from comprehensive but I think it gives a decent overview.
Quote:
Much of the firm's profits was earned from a relatively small number of deals, with Bain Capital's overall success and failure rate being about even. One study of 68 deals that Bain Capital made up through the 1990s found that the firm lost money or broke even on 33 of them.[47] Another study that looked at the eight-year period following 77 deals during the same time found that in 17 cases the company went bankrupt or out of business, and in 6 cases Bain Capital lost all its investment. But 10 deals were very successful and represented 70 percent of the total profits.
It would be disingenuous to expect a private equity company to turn every single company about to fold into a shining success story. Note that Bain Capital lost money (all of it in six of their investments), not just the ailing companies that could not be saved. They also had some stunning successes.
Bain’s private-equity executives have enriched dozens of organizations and millions of individuals in the Democratic base — including some who scream most loudly for President Obama’s re-election.
Government-worker pension funds are the chief beneficiaries of Bain’s economic stewardship. New York-based Preqin uses public documents, news accounts and Freedom of Information requests to track private-equity holdings. Since 2000, Preqin reports, the following funds have entrusted some $1.56 billion to Bain:
* Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund ($2.2 million)
* Indiana Public Retirement System ($39.3 million)
* Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System ($177.1 million)
* The Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System ($19.5 million)
* Maryland State Retirement and Pension System ($117.5 million)
* Public Employees’ Retirement System of Nevada ($20.3 million)
* State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio ($767.3 million)
* Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System ($231.5 million)
* Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island ($25 million)
* San Diego County Employees Retirement Association ($23.5 million)
* Teacher Retirement System of Texas ($122.5 million)
* Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System ($15 million)
These funds aggregate the savings of millions of unionized teachers, social workers, public-health personnel and first responders. Many would be startled to learn that their nest eggs are incubated by the company that Romney launched and the financiers he hired.
Leading universities have also profited from Bain’s expertise. According to Infrastructure Investor, Bain Capital Ventures Fund I (launched in 2001) managed wealth for “endowments and foundations such as Columbia, Princeton and Yale universities.”
I think the "self-made" part is the important distinction.
Romney was born rich and when his inheritance and trust funds weren't enough to satisfy him, he decided to embark on a career, a career that didn't build anything or provide value to anyone but him and his cronies. He chose the path of destroying companies, eliminating jobs in the US, outsourcing to foreign countries and stashing his wealth offshore. Romney was already rich, but became uber rich by taking advantage of businesses and employees that were already down on their luck.
Romney was born into a wealthy family. He father could afford to send him to college. Lucky for him. Instead of squandering and frittering away what he had--as so many spoiled, rich kids have been known to do--he made it grow. Along with his success in the business world, he saved MA taxpayers a ton of money by taking no salary as governor and he saved the Olympics and took no money for it. I have no problem giving him credit for that or for all the charitable donations and work he has done in his lifetime.
If Bain Capital did nothing but raid and destroy companies, no distressed company would hire them and Bain Capital, itself, would have gone under a long time ago. Bain Capital established a track record for turning around a number of troubled companies. There were both successes and failures and Bain Capital lost money, too. See my post above and read the Wikipedia and NY Post's articles I linked to.
Be realistic. Money, BIG money, controls both political parties plus Congress, the FDA, the USDA and countless other bureaucracies. Occasionally, very honorable people rise to high levels in government but, as often as not, they are corrupted by the power and their own need to get re-elected time after time so they, too, can reap the benefits that come with such high office.
Last edited by Cunucu Beach; 09-11-2012 at 04:24 PM..
Off topic but I am with you 100% on not being able to find shirts and t's that have sleeves long enough to cover my upper arms. However, I've been complaining about this for years, long before Michelle Obama became First Lady. I also dislike those with the scoop neckline that expose you clear down to there.
I agree 100% about Laura Bush. She was a very classy First Lady and her clothes were modest and tasteful.
Thank you for actually knowing what I was saying. Some of the others on here either have twisted minds or a reading comprehension problem. I think it is more that they want to discredit what I said. It would be comical to read back through and see what I said and then see what others THOUGHT I said. I don't think they actually thought I said the things they said that I said. They were just attacking me because I stated some truths they did not like.
Thank you for actually knowing what I was saying. Some of the others on here either have twisted minds or a reading comprehension problem. I think it is more that they want to discredit what I said. It would be comical to read back through and see what I said and then see what others THOUGHT I said. I don't think they actually thought I said the things they said that I said. They were just attacking me because I stated some truths they did not like.
Hmm... I don't remember any truths in your comments...
I DO remember a WHOLE HECK OF A LOT OF CRAZY.
Let me ask you something, are you punking us? Is this some sort of fake persona you use to shock people on the internet or something? I'm not even joking I really want to know.
The other stuff he says, we really dont know if he is telling the truth or stretching the truth or just saying things so he can get votes. Because he contstantly contradicts himself. This is what liars do.[/quote]
Romney was born into a wealthy family. He father could afford to send him to college. Lucky for him. Instead of squandering and frittering away what he had--as so many spoiled, rich kids have been known to do--he made it grow. Along with his success in the business world, he saved MA taxpayers a ton of money by taking no salary as governor and he saved the Olympics and took no money for it. I have no problem giving him credit for that or for all the charitable donations and work he has done in his lifetime.
If Bain Capital did nothing but raid and destroy companies, no distressed company would hire them and Bain Capital, itself, would have gone under a long time ago. Bain Capital established a track record for turning around a number of troubled companies. There were both successes and failures and Bain Capital lost money, too. See my post above and read the Wikipedia and NY Post's articles I linked to.
Be realistic. Money, BIG money, controls both political parties plus Congress, the FDA, the USDA and countless other bureaucracies. Occasionally, very honorable people rise to high levels in government but, as often as not, they are corrupted by the power and their own need to get re-elected time after time so they, too, can reap the benefits that come with such high office.
The companies Bain bought did not hire them! Bain bought them, whether or not they wanted to be bought! what Bain did with them afterward was totally beyond a company's founder and/or board's control. Bain decided for itself if the company was to be broken up and sold off, enlarged and improved, or left alone and only used as part of their portfolio.
Not all rich kids squander. In fact, most do not. They much more often grow to be wealthier than their parents, and in the case of the oldest monied families, the children are so wealthy they literally own nothing; their family trusts own their homes, cars, and almost everything their monthly trust allowance does not cover. Those monthly allowances are often more than a working class family makes in a year, but the fact is, the only thing they need to do is send their family trust the bill on anything they want.
The fact is: the ultra-rich are not like the rest of us. They never worry about our most common concerns. They pick and choose what their concerns are, and are capricious. They can fire 20 people and never blink an eye, then an hour later, can give some sick kid a couple of million dollars, and they do stuff like this all the time.
We've been tight at times but a bill collector has never called our house or knocked on our door.
What's the big deal with that?
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I also dislike those with the scoop neckline that expose you clear down to there. 
I don't remember any truths in your comments...
