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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Federal Bailout That Saved Mitt Romney - Gov docs show legend crafted by Romney basically a lie
Last edited Wed Aug 29, 2012, 02:46 PM - Edit history (1)
from Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-federal-bailout-that-saved-mitt-romney-20120829
Mitt Romney likes to say he won't "apologize" for his success in business. But what he never says is "thank you" to the American people for the federal bailout of Bain & Company that made so much of his outsize wealth possible.
According to the candidate's mythology, Romney took leave of his duties at the private equity firm Bain Capital in 1990 and rode in on a white horse to lead a swift restructuring of Bain & Company, preventing the collapse of the consulting firm where his career began. When The Boston Globe reported on the rescue at the time of his Senate run against Ted Kennedy, campaign aides spun Romney as the wizard behind a "long-shot miracle," bragging that he had "saved bank depositors all over the country $30 million when he saved Bain & Company."
In fact, government documents on the bailout obtained by Rolling Stone show that the legend crafted by Romney is basically a lie. The federal records, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal that Romney's initial rescue attempt at Bain & Company was actually a disaster leaving the firm so financially strapped that it had "no value as a going concern." Even worse, the federal bailout ultimately engineered by Romney screwed the FDIC the bank insurance system backed by taxpayers out of at least $10 million. And in an added insult, Romney rewarded top executives at Bain with hefty bonuses at the very moment that he was demanding his handout from the feds . . .
. . . the FDIC documents on the Bain deal which were heavily redacted by the firm prior to release show that as a wealthy businessman, Romney was willing to go to extremes to secure a federal bailout to serve his own interests. He had a lot at stake, both financially and politically. Had Bain & Company collapsed, insiders say, it would have dealt a grave setback to Bain Capital, where Romney went on to build a personal fortune valued at as much as $250 million. It would also have short-circuited his political career before it began, tagging Romney as a failed businessman unable to rescue his own firm . . .
read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-federal-bailout-that-saved-mitt-romney-20120829
Scuba
(53,475 posts)highplainsdem
(48,650 posts)calimary
(80,521 posts)gerryburns
(4 posts)Glad to see people continue digging at this Bain myth that Romney has constructed. One reason he hasn't revealed his tax returns is because they belie his current Extreme Right Wing Position. Revealing his tax returns would immediately take him out of the race, he knows it.
Why can't I get any of these big bailouts? I could really use one right now.
andym
(5,437 posts)burnsei sensei
(1,820 posts). . . the FDIC documents on the Bain deal which were heavily redacted by the firm prior to release show that as a wealthy businessman, Romney was willing to go to extremes to secure a federal bailout to serve his own interests.
He was "willing to go to extremes" to "serve his own interests."
The poor and low middle-class do not have interests and aspirations they wish the Feds to bankroll.
They have concrete needs in the here and now, and to ask for help is not unreasonable.
This is a truth the Romney and the Ryan do not know.
And as for Chris Christie's speech last night?
It was the ugliest thing I've ever heard.
Angry Dragon
(36,693 posts)Egalitarian Thug
(12,448 posts)erpowers
(9,350 posts)So, it seems that Mitt Romney did not actually build it.
bigtree
(85,813 posts). . . the federal government (taxpayers) picked up the pieces and enabled him to his fortune.
Octafish
(55,745 posts)Thank you for the heads-up, bigtree. A must-read that makes clear what kind of a warmongering, draft-dodging, tax-evading hypocrite Mitt is.
beac
(9,992 posts)Rmoney DIDN'T BUILD IT!
nc4bo
(17,651 posts)Stuart G
(38,328 posts)bigtree
(85,813 posts)amuse bouche
(3,657 posts)to show what phony this huckster is
bigtree
(85,813 posts)Cha
(295,512 posts)mitt romney Exposure.
jsmirman
(4,507 posts)Really building there on your own, Mitt.
The only reason you had the deal with the banks and the FDIC that you would later exploit to the hilt is because of your connections and ability to extract favors thanks to your daddy's career.
And then you used that deal to bilk the federal bank insurance system out of 53% of what you owed them. That's not shrewd business - that's corporate graft, perpetrated on the American taxpayer!
Somebody with contacts to TRMS get this to them?
This needs to be brought up.
PA Democrat
(13,225 posts)Crooked and greedy to the core.
Bill USA
(6,436 posts)Waiting For Everyman
(9,385 posts)President Obama tweeted a link to it, too:
"Rolling Stone: Mitt Romney secured millions in a federal bailout for Bain while paying big bonuses to executives."
I think Mittster is toast.
KansDem
(28,498 posts)...but for some reason, I doubt it will be.
patrice
(47,992 posts)spanone
(135,586 posts)exboyfil
(17,853 posts)Contrast Romney's approach and willing friends in the government versus what a typical underwater homeowner is facing.
dkf
(37,305 posts)They took over a bank that held Bain's loan. If Bain was really worth nothing at the time, then Romney actually got more paid to the FDIC fund (which is paid by banks, not taxpayers) than otherwise.
I have to say I think this is pretty damned impressive. He got the raiders who took all the money to give it back. Then he used bonuses as leverage to keep the funds in the firm. He kept 1000 people in their jobs and turned Bain Capital into a thriving venture.
Say what you will about his principals...this guy is kind of spooky in how he knows how to play the situation.
The man is a shark.
Judi Lynn
(160,076 posts)Overseas
(12,121 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)no way!
kentuck
(110,916 posts)Important info.