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bigtree

(85,813 posts)
Wed Aug 29, 2012, 07:31 AM Aug 2012

The 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


33 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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The Federal Bailout That Saved Mitt Romney - Gov docs show legend crafted by Romney basically a lie (Original Post) bigtree Aug 2012 OP
K&R This needs more vis. Thanks for posting. Scuba Aug 2012 #1
K&R! Thanks for the link! Let's get this out on social media. highplainsdem Aug 2012 #2
Let's keep this kicked! calimary Aug 2012 #3
All I got was a lousy $20 payroll tax cut gerryburns Aug 2012 #4
Let's hope he never gets to run the country. NT. andym Aug 2012 #5
Please note burnsei sensei Aug 2012 #6
kick Angry Dragon Aug 2012 #7
Behind every great fortune lies a great crime. - Balzac K&R Egalitarian Thug Aug 2012 #8
K & R AzDar Aug 2012 #9
Romney Did Not Build It erpowers Aug 2012 #10
he almost destroyed it bigtree Aug 2012 #11
GOP means HYPOCRISY Octafish Aug 2012 #12
K&R! This information needs to be known far and wide. beac Aug 2012 #13
Wow, what a grifter. Like Palin on steroids. nt nc4bo Aug 2012 #14
Oh MY....how nice of him....nt. Stuart G Aug 2012 #15
kick bigtree Aug 2012 #16
Team Obama needs to use this amuse bouche Aug 2012 #17
kick bigtree Aug 2012 #18
K&R for More Con man/aka/ Cha Aug 2012 #19
Wow - people should read the whole article - Romney got his own personal bail out! jsmirman Aug 2012 #20
Can Flatpicker Aug 2012 #21
No wonder Wall Street loves Mitt. He is one of them. PA Democrat Aug 2012 #22
bombshell. RECOMMENDED! Bill USA Aug 2012 #23
Olbermann tweeted this morning... "Bain Bailout = Ballgame. See ya, Mitt." Waiting For Everyman Aug 2012 #24
This topic should be brought up in the debates KansDem Aug 2012 #25
It's a fortune created out of DEBT & GOVERNMENT HANDOUTS. Mitt is a WEALTHFARE QUEEN.eof patrice Aug 2012 #26
k&r... spanone Aug 2012 #27
Any chance this could be a debate question? exboyfil Aug 2012 #28
Ummm...the FDIC didn't give him a bailout. dkf Aug 2012 #29
This shouldn't be our little secret. It needs a lot of exposure. Thank you, bigtree. Rec. n/t Judi Lynn Sep 2012 #30
K&R. Overseas Sep 2012 #31
Romney lie? Liberal_in_LA Sep 2012 #32
Sorry I missed this on the first round. kentuck Sep 2012 #33

gerryburns

(4 posts)
4. All I got was a lousy $20 payroll tax cut
Wed Aug 29, 2012, 10:14 AM
Aug 2012


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.

burnsei sensei

(1,820 posts)
6. Please note
Wed Aug 29, 2012, 10:18 AM
Aug 2012
. . . 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.

bigtree

(85,813 posts)
11. he almost destroyed it
Wed Aug 29, 2012, 11:04 AM
Aug 2012

. . . the federal government (taxpayers) picked up the pieces and enabled him to his fortune.

Octafish

(55,745 posts)
12. GOP means HYPOCRISY
Wed Aug 29, 2012, 11:04 AM
Aug 2012

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.

jsmirman

(4,507 posts)
20. Wow - people should read the whole article - Romney got his own personal bail out!
Wed Aug 29, 2012, 05:59 PM
Aug 2012

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!

Waiting For Everyman

(9,385 posts)
24. Olbermann tweeted this morning... "Bain Bailout = Ballgame. See ya, Mitt."
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 05:21 PM
Aug 2012

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.

exboyfil

(17,853 posts)
28. Any chance this could be a debate question?
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 05:38 PM
Aug 2012

Contrast Romney's approach and willing friends in the government versus what a typical underwater homeowner is facing.

 

dkf

(37,305 posts)
29. Ummm...the FDIC didn't give him a bailout.
Fri Aug 31, 2012, 05:53 PM
Aug 2012

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.

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