Mitt caught in a direct lie?

[MrFun]

Given the popular subject matter is Bain and its business model attempting to resuscitate distressed businesses ...

That's not what Bain does. The company guts a business, kicks out employees, then rakes in the profit.

[Kidlicious]

That's not what Bain does. The company guts a business, kicks out employees, then rakes in the profit.

Actually, that's how it's done. That's what they teach in college.

[Dinner]

My gaping ******* wants to **** on all of them.

[kentonio]

Mitt Romney Brought Bain Capital With Him To The Olympics

WASHINGTON -- When Mitt Romney transitioned from working full-time at Bain Capital to running the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, he did not fully leave the private equity firm. That's not just because he continued to sign documents and take a salary, or because he described himself as Bain's CEO on the Olympics' website, but because he brought with him Bain's personnel, ethos and, most importantly, its clients.

Romney leaned heavily on Bain to turn the 2002 Olympic committee into a success. Several officials who worked with him said his extensive business network proved critical. But the continued Bain ties came with a price, as Romney opened himself up to criticism that he used the Olympics to assist colleagues and build a foundation for a future political career.

In his book on the Olympics, "Turnaround," Romney portrayed himself as a reluctant savior of the games. He initially thought the idea of taking over the SLOC was "preposterous." He had no background in sports administration, had a family in Massachusetts and was enjoying a lucrative business career.

"How could I walk away from the golden goose?" he asked.

He brought the golden goose with him. Camping in Utah, and confiding to colleagues that his future political career was on the line, Romney opened his Bain rolodex.

Sealy Mattress, a company in which Bain had majority ownership -- earning $2 million in yearly management fees -- signed on as a supplier of 5,000 mattresses for Olympic athletes.

Marriott Corp., the hotel franchise where Romney served as a board member, became a sponsor of the games as well, ponying up $4 million to be the official lodging supplier.

Sometimes Romney cleared hurdles to get Bain-affiliated companies involved. He promised Tom Stremberg, the CEO of Staples, that the company's sponsorship would cost as much as the sales it made in the Salt Lake City market during the Olympics -- guaranteeing it wouldn't lose a cent. He then said he'd lobby "SLOC board members and other corporate contacts to switch their office supply contracts to Staples."

Staples, on whose board Romney served, ended up agreeing to spend $1 million more than the other potential supplier, Office Depot. But by then, Office Depot had already signed on the dotted line. Romney tried once more, offering Office Depot $1 million to back out of the deal. The company declined.

Perhaps one of the most oft-told examples of Romney's belt tightening involved him canceling the organizers' budget busting free lunches. Instead, he brought in Domino's Pizza and made board members pay $1 a slice. Domino's was a Bain company.

Andrea Saul, a spokesperson for Romney's presidential campaign, said that he showed "exceptional skills at leadership."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/19/mitt-romney-bain-olympics_n_1686873.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Yep, no Bain links here.

[Wiglaf]

There is SO MUCH SEX that goes on at the Olympics. Mitt Romney presided over the biggest ORGY SALT LAKE HAS EVER SEEN.

[DaShi]

How many edits did it take for that witty reply?

Just one. I added the extra line to see how easily could still troll you. Turns out I've still got it!

[DaShi]

That's not what Bain does. The company guts a business, kicks out employees, then rakes in the profit.

http://www.narutoforums.com/showthread.php?t=798837

Bain Capital: Successful Business or Exploitation?

Debate hosted by impersonal and baconbits

The Background:

Mitt Romney went to Harvard law & business school. After successful studies, he was employed at Bain & Company. He worked there for 6 years as a consultant. This means other companies requested managerial and strategic advice from Romney and his colleagues, as well as help in implementing the suggested reforms. Bain & Company was paid for the quality of his advice.

Successful at this job, Romney funded his own company, with funding from Bain & Company. The new company, Bain Capital, was different. It did not provide managerial advice; instead, it acquired companies to sell them later on, trying to make a profit in the process.

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/business/ci_19793316

Quote:
(...) Private equity sometimes saves poorly managed companies. Romney points to General Motors as an private equity-likebuyout funded by U.S. taxpayers. GM had an unsustainable structure -- too much debt, unsupportable retiree obligations, an uncompetitive compensation structure, too many dealers and unfocused, overlapping product lines. After the government took over the company, it stiffed bondholders reducing debt. It eliminated dealerships and their jobs. It transferred pension and healthcare obligations to the unions. It killed products. Some jobs were lost but many more were saved. Whether a better outcome could have been achieved in a bankruptcy without government involvement is a question for another day as is the question of whether taxpayers will turn a profit.

But private equity has its dark side. Asset flippers, often in cahoots with company management, take over publicly traded companies with substantial but undervalued assets like Seagate Technology. After skimming the cream, they sell all or part of the company back to the public at an enormous profit. Flippers create value for nobody but themselves and the social utility of their activity is nil.

Others take companies private and improve profit by firing needed workers and cutting future-related investments. Before the deleterious effects of this near-sighted model become obvious, the company is resold to gullible buyers. This activity has negative social value.

As Gingrich observed, private equity also has a nasty habit of loading acquisitions with debt. Using other people's money to gain control, a few home run successes outweigh the losses of many overly indebted strike outs. This may be good for private equity investors but represents a cost to society.

Without more information, it is impossible to say whether Romney and Bain Capital are benefactors of society or, in the memorable phrase of Theodore Roosevelt, malefactors of great wealth.
Romney was clearly a good businessman. He was also, perhaps, a good guy who sometimes took on hard choices that "someone had to do" (buying a bad company, putting it back on its feets even when it meant firing some workers). And he could have been a bad guy doing a dirty job because it's profitable (buying a good, undervalued company, firing employees in order to improve the results in the short term, and selling the whole thing before its value collapses)... And he could have been anything in between: only a systematic investigation of Romney's record would reveal where he stood.

----

The Political Fallout:

This attack against Romney's record at Bain Capital has been fronted by Newt Gingrich. From the Boston Globe:

Quote:
“Is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of other people and walk off with the money, or is that somehow a little bit of a flawed system?” Gingrich told reporters after a visit to an electric company here. “I do draw a distinction between looting a company, leaving behind broken families and broken neighborhoods, and leaving behind a factory that should be there,” he said.
But he's been joined in the attack by others.

Former Candidate John Huntsman (quoted from NY Times):

Quote:
“It seems that Governor Romney believes in putting politics first; Governor Romney enjoys firing people — I enjoy creating jobs,” Mr. Huntsman said. “It may be that he’s slightly out of touch with the economic reality playing out in America right now, and that’s a dangerous place to be.”
Former Candidate Rick Perry (also quoted from NY Times):

Quote:
“I have no doubt Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips — whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out because his company, Bain Capital, of all the jobs that they killed,” Mr. Perry told more than 100 diners at a breakfast gathering here on Monday morning.
It is clear that the candidates are trying to tap into the anti-Wall Street sentiment that seems to be rising across the nation. While one may quibble with the Occupy Movement and some of their supporters one thing cannot be denied: they are representing the anger that many Americans have against the bailouts, large banks and shady Wall Street tactics.

One interesting thing to note is that there is an undercurrent of conservative anger against these attacks. Rush Limbaugh has said he was "uncomfortable" with Gingrich's attacks. The Club for Growth, a conservative group that focuses on taxes and business issues, has been critical of Gingrich for initiating these attacks. The Wall Street Journal, whose editoral board is particularly conservative, has also been critical of these attacks, and skeptical of the allegations against Bain Capital.

----

Final Remarks:

It is difficult to tell, at this point, whether the criticism of Romney is justified, that is, whether he is indeed on the "dark side"; with Bain Capital, he had successes and failures, both in terms of profits and in terms of the companies surviving; there are a few cases of Bain making large profits while selling companies on the brink of collapse, but that does not mean they are the rule (or that Romney was the one behind these operations, or that such individual cases constituted an essential part of the business model).

----

Discuss:

Bain Capital: Successful Business or Exploitation? Also any issues discussed in this OP are also fair game.

Collaboration post written by both impersonal and baconbits.

Some very thoughtful points from a well respected source.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Just one. I added the extra line to see how easily could still troll you. Turns out I've still got it!

Thats so nice, my own little leg humper. Down boy.

[DaShi]

It's quite amusing that you are what you despise.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Another absolute rib tickler in the spirit of "I know you are."

[DaShi]

You really are like a dog with a bone.

[Lorizael]

Ugh. This is like a bad rom com where we're supposed to believe the main characters hate each other but in reality they're just sexually frustrated and will only be able to find release together.

[kentonio]

Pics or it didn't happen

[DaShi]

Tell me about it. I've been willing to let it go several times, yet Ogie fixated on me for some reason. I hardly ever even reply to his posts anymore, because it always ends up like this.

[Lorizael]

Tell me about it. I've been willing to let it go several times, yet Ogie fixated on me for some reason. I hardly ever even reply to his posts anymore, because it always ends up like this.

THEN HAVE SEX WITH HIM AND QUIT ****TING ALL OVER THE FORUM.