Newark mayor Cory Booker may find attacks on Bain Capital "nauseating," (though he now says it's fair game), but President Obama is making clear that he still sees the issue as a centerpiece of his campaign.
"This issue is not a quote 'distraction,'" Obama said Monday at a press conference in Chicago, where he had traveled for the NATO summit. "This is part of the debate that we're going to be having in this election campaign, about how do we create an economy, where everybody from top to bottom -- folks on Wall Street and folks on Main Street -- have a shot at success."
"Mr. Romney is responsible for the proposals he's putting forward for how he says he's going to fix the economy," Obama continued. "And if the main basis for him suggesting he can do a better job is his track record as the head of a private equity firm, then both the upsides and the downsides are worth examining."
And Obama added: "When you're president, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot. Your job is to think about those workers who get laid off."
Why criticizing Bain's record of laying off workers should be off the table is hard to fathom. As Sen. Frank Lautenberg, a New Jersey Democrat, put it on The Ed Show Monday: "Why should Romney be able to escape responsibilty when he talks about, judge me on my business record -- and it stinks?"
Schultz agreed. "If Mitt Romney wants to be president of the United States, his record in the private industry is not only fair game, it is the only game," he said. "This is what we have to talk about."
Leave a Comment:
Look, we all know that many/most investment firms are in it simply for the money. I think what we need to look at are the morals and ethics behind sucking away retirement accounts and dismantling a company and then having the taxpayers bail out the retirement accounts when a company like Bain walked away with it all. I do not consider what they did hard work.
It is simply wrong to do this for the benefit of a few, this shows the true character of these kinds of people. Now if the company was falling apart due to lack of proper management and Bain walked in and saved the company and it is growing still today that would be good.
If this is the mentality of Mitt Romney and many other faulty programmed investment people, then what do you think he will do if he is President, help the many, or help the few like himself? I would bet that the top 10 % would double their net assets under Romney while everyone else would lose.
Looking at some of the deals Bain made, I am quite upset that they walked away with so much money and raided the retirement funds, that should be a criminal offense no different than theft. How can anyone with a conscience feel good about that? I think this says a lot about Mitt Romney and many others out there who value money over people. It also says a lot about our laws and regulations.
People create or go in to business to make money job creation is a by product of doing so.
When you invest money into your retirement plan do you do so to create money for your retirement or do you do so to create jobs?
what you are spewing is Communism which is the fruits of your labor goes for the common good of the country and not for the individual benefit
Do you know what true communism is? I bet not. If you look at communist China you will find that the people at the top are the wealthy and the rest, well they are the rest. What we are seeing is not capitalism, what we see is the wealthy few paying off people to do their bidding. Is that what you call capitalism, sounds like Chinese communism already, at least the perverted form of communism.
Yes, we still have the freedom to invent and create, but if you have not noticed the cost of filing a patent requires a lot of money. Ok, suppose I invest my own funds building a new innovative process or device, then I want to go and secure MY idea with a patent. Well, now I am faced with a $10000-$50000 bill to get it done across the world. If I only do a US patent, communist countries like China can copy my patent and because they are government controlled they can hide this in their companies and profit from my ideas. That is wrong. This is essentially what these so called wealthy job creators do. They are making it more difficult for highly educated creative people to profit from their ideas without the help from investment firms. Then they find ways to steal your ideas and make huge profits for themselves and screw the inventor. You call that capitalism? Huh, what school did you learn about forms of government and economics from? Was this school a public or privately funded school? What do you call a form of government where the industries and financials control? Our form of government is not a true democracy, it is run by the wealthy few, you people should be very aware of this already. This society is more like a capitalistic/democratic monarchy run by the wealthy kings and queens and not truly run by the majority in number, but the majority in wealth.
I am building my business to make money, but also to hire people and help create jobs. I have run into every roadblock put up by big corporations and paid off government grant offices to get my ideas off of the ground and I am happy to say that I beat them by slowly building it with my own money because as long as they do not know how you do something, they are not smart enough to figure it out without spending lots of money to try and steal my unique technology.
I planned on creating jobs, just because your view of business is not correct for the advancement of a society that must come together with morals and values, please do not try to tell me that these mega corporations are capitalistic. When the control of any company is centralized, it becomes a form of communism/dictatorship where only the lucky few get to prosper and if you can get into the boys club, you will prosper as well, unless you cross them.
If everyone had health care and everyone had a good free education, we would have a much better society. Smarter, healthier and more values and morals.
We can do better, this is the attitude we should have. This is the attitude I have. People need education and knowledge to grow up and people need to be taught that money is not everything. This idea that money is GOD is false and the people who push this are wrong and will inevitably fail just like Rome fell do to the few at the top who thought they were special and deserving of all that power and money. We as a society need to learn from those past mistakes and build something better and more stable in terms of government and wealth. Everyone can have food, shelter and the basic necessities in life, we do not need to be greedy and selfish thinking we need it all. This demented thinking comes from the power/money thinking instead of the power/knowledge thinking. People with money are not all that smart, more like corrupt, liars, cheaters, thieves and just dumb luck. The smart ones work together with their employees and share in the profits with their employees while not paying themselves ridiculous sums of money. Yes, there are a few companies out there like this. They may not be huge corporations, but they are privately held and the owners are not greedy. One great example is Link Engineering. A company like this pays its employees well and yet has more than enough money tucked away for bad times. They actually have morals and values unlike mega corporations and investment firms.
We can do better and we must or face collapse due to the wealthy few thinking they are royalty. We have been through this in the history of this planet, why can't you people learn and remember the past and grow beyond this primitive thinking.
I apologize for the long wind, but I am tired of these people who think money is all powerful and those that call equality for all communism. I think everyone should have education, health care, food and shelter regardless of their socioeconomic position. I do not call that communism, but the right thing to do in an advanced society. Promote science, math and creativity with history so we can avoid making the same mistakes over and over again.
I agree that talking about Romney's record at Bain is fair game...as long as the Democrats talk about what happened while Romney was at Bain until 1999 when he left to run the Olympics. It is not "fair" game to talk about what Bain did after he left.
Then let us talke about what Romney wants to do now......with this country. Not a corporation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pASJfMpG10
And just what is obama's private job sector job record???
Oh wait obama has never held a private job, dude has been on the tax payers payroll from day one.
It is hard to get the taste out of your mouth, once you have put your foot in it.
You put your foot in your mouth? maybe you should wash it first..
TRFjr - People don't go into business to create jobs. NO one, not one person that ever went into business did it to create jobs. Supply creates jobs in case you are wondering.
"Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" -JFK
So now you are saying JFK was a communist? Get a life dude..
And if there is no demand for your supply, it sets on the shelf while you go broke.
Bring it on Mr. Obama. Make is a campaign issue. As soon as you made your little speech, you hopped on a plane to have a $32,000 a plate fund raiser with the head of Blackstone....wait a minute...Blackstone is a venture capitalist!!!....who has made moves so that thousands of people have lost their jobs and insurance because of their investment moves.
Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Bring it on Barack. It is going to backfire into your face. You are even more guilty with your big banking buddies, your big venture capitalist buddies. And you have the gaul to talk about Bain.
Just wait until it is all out for the public to see. Remember that name Ed heads.....BLACKSTONE. Don't forget it.
By the way, on Meet the Press......Corey Booker in a heated moment, spoke his true feelings.
Then he gets the call from the Obama Chicago thugs.....
Then he changes and does a 180.
Hilarious! It is amusing to watch the leftie MSNBC reporters and talk show hosts trying to spin it into something positive for them. OOOOOOPS!!!!
O.K. Let's put aside our emotions and think with our brain about Mayor Booker's statement on the Obama campaign's calling out of Romney's Bain record.
First off, Mayor Booker spoke positively about Pres. Obama's record in his previous comments before addressing the negative aspects of the present campaign on both sides of the political parties. Then, bless him, he answered the Bain question with an honest answer about what he thinks of negative campaigning, calling out both parties on it. I cheered as I finally had heard a politician give an honest observation about campaigning actions. It felt so good since, even when we support someone for president, we can still disagree with them. That is what is so great about democracy. Let's celebrate it, not knock someone for giving an honest answer.
The positive side of his comment was that it put Pres. Obama in a position to really clarify the campaign's rhetoric on Romney's record. Now it all has a solid basis of using it to show that investors are a good thing for the economy but it has to be done with responsibility for one's actions.
Communism, you say? Ha, you don't understand the differance between communism and democracy. Like it or not, Ladies and Gentlemen, we live in a society. A country that decides to unite for the common good of all people becomes a society. And a society DOES take care of its members. Social Security is not an entitlement as the members participating in it have bought into it with a tax on their earnings. It is, if you will, a public insurance program. The people who purchased it are entitled to receive return payment on their investment.
A country that beats its chest about being the richest country in the world certainly ought to assist citizens who are hungry and with out shelter. That is not communism, it is humanism. Or are all of you people who yell communism at every turn no longer human?
Come on, let's put aside our emotions, start thinking with our brains and figure out how we can work together to restore unity in this country. If we don't get together we are killing democracy. Is that really what you want?
Booker got upset and said what he thought instead of what the party thought. He spoke about what was best for the people of Newark. He thought about the needs of the people that elected him. Good for him. It's about time people understood that having the same letter next to your name on a ballot does not mean you have to agree with each other about everything. Yay for a Democrat speaking out against policies he does not agree with on both sides of the aisle.
The RNC is now taking SERIOUS heat FROM BOOKER, for misusing his comments!
Booker IS a good guy, and definitely NOT a NEOcon jackass!
Protest louder......Booker is probably honest in wording. It just wasn't defined.
There is no problem with Booker. No big deal Thankfulmom. He just spoke his mind and heart and the Obama slugs didn't like it and contacted him and instructed him to fix it. That was the 3.5 minute speech you heard later.
Now, if the tables were turned and this was something someone on the right said.......Thankfulmom...whomitmay and all of the other Ed followers were be screaming to the highest hills. That is why you guys are so two faced.
When it happens in your own camp...you are so embarassed, you start making up crap. "wasn't defined".........it did not need defining thankfulmom....it was easy to understand.....He is sick of it from BOTH sides.....
Guess what? Both sides includes Obama.
Using Ed's logic, then we can say.... "If Barrack Obama wants to be president of the United States, his record as president is not only fair game, it is the only game," ... and he ain't got a record only a bunch of promises.
what Booker said is also the feeling of Emanuel and Daley both of whom are Obama's friend and both of whom made their money visa vie PRIVATE EQUITY firms....so BO doesn't have a leg to stand on when he criticizes Mitt...he is throwing spittle at his friends as well..not a good thing to do.
I'm disappointed with Ed Rendell but Gerald Ford should be the last to cast an opinion on what information the public should know about Bain Capital. We are all aware that many of these Democrats receive the same funding from Wall Street as do Mitt.
Corey, you opened your mouth and then inserted your foot. GOP is now raising money on your original statements about Bain Capital.
it's the Economy stupid??? then why is the 3rd way distortion campaign attempting to take the Economy off the the table??? And why is it that We The People are being sold down the river so they can secure positions on Wall Street???
Harry and Louise would be disappointed with the call by 3rd way Democrats to remove the Economy from the conversation...Could it be that is isn't is to them?
i wonder about their true agenda!!!
Nafta, citizens united, the wars, the Bush taxes, and every single politician bought and paid for by the wall street banks, so of course anything is fair in this insane political modern day arena. Where are all the doctors in this insane asylum? This Mr. Booker is nauseating.
Why is Romney's dismal record as governor MA off limits? Who believes that he would be able to deal with everything the president must deal with? Romney would be the worst puppet of the far right. He's a robot. And his bullish, heartlessness is showing with every revealing detail of his record at Bain. Making money for the wealthy is his only goal. There have been no details to any of his "plans". That's because there are none. And by the way, I love Cory Booker and all the good he has done for the City of Newark.
This confirms that most Americans are clueless regarding how business actually world in a free market. The simple truth is that many businesses make BIG mistakes, ones which will quickly force bankruptcy unless quickly corrected. Sometimes top management is out of their league and must be replaced to respond to changing market conditions, but often that big mistake is agreeing to an overly-generous labor union contract which makes the product so expensive that it cannot compete in the marketplace. Customers choose not to reward businesses that want to overcharge for the same product that more efficient businesses can supply for less. Private equity firms exist for a single purpose: to identify those firms whose big mistake can be corrected with the proper action.
Obama's ads deliberately lie when they claim that the firms bought by Bain were financially healthy. Nonsense! Private equity only makes money by buying highly distressed firms which will soon be out of business without drastic corrective action. That is why their owners are willing to sell at incredibly low prices, transferring all the risk of saving them to the private equity firm. In most cases, private equity saves the ‘patient’, either by replacing ineffective management or renegotiating unrealistic contracts with unions.
In the case of Ampad, whose ex-employees are now blaming Romney for their lost jobs, the big problem was an overly-generous labor contract. Without renegotiation, Ampad would have closed its doors within a short time. Bain bet a lot of money that Ampad's employees would prefer lower paying jobs to no jobs at all. However, the labor unions instead decided to play hard ball and strike. Bain then had no choice but to close the doors, because Ampad products were too expensive to compete in the free market. (How many of us go shopping and buy the more expensive of two identical products?)
For Obama, the Democratic Party and their lapdog liberal media to now claim that Ampad workers lost their jobs due to Romney’s greed is a shameful lie. That lie might be successful, since most Democrats have virtually no understanding of the nature and role of business. That is a real shame, because if we continue down this road, more and more of our brightest and most industrious young adults will leave this bankrupt nation to seek their fortune in other nations offering them a better return on their hard work and dedication. This election is critical if we are to bring the economy back to health.
Obama does a huge disservice to the nation by stooping to use such dishonest and disgusting ads, aimed only at citizens for ignorant to understand the role of private equity firms in our economy. You can easily tell that a voter is ignorant if they buy the nonsense that Bain bought healthy firms; private equity has no interest in any firm that isn't at death's door with a correctable problem - otherwise the owners wouldn't sell it at fire-sale prices, and the saved firm wouldn't bring the huge profit that private equity seeks. It’s not greed; it’s simply applying extraordinary business acumen where it offers the greatest value – in salvaging firms already at death’s door. If ordinary business intelligence could save the firms, the previous owners wouldn’t have sold out.
Private equity saves many struggling firms, but they can only save the ones smart enough to correct their BIG problem. Romney can save our dying economy, but only if our voters are smart enough to understand how business works.
There is a thing called profit sharing. The best companies use profit sharing to compensate their employees for lower wages and then they work harder because more production means lower cost and more sales, hopefully. This includes the CEO and management salaries as well. Management should never make more than 10 times the pay of the average employee.
CORY BOOKER, what a disappointment, aka, the "enemy within".
agree
Attention young, Takers. Read, and learn. You will see how Obama is trying to destroy capitalism and replace it with socialism.
Explain this to me because I am missing something:
If the Republicans spend $10M on a fictitious advertisement with actors pretending to be suffering under Obama, that is okay.
If the Democrats run portions of a documentary with REAL people saying that they suffered under Romney's Bain Capital, that's just spin.
When did REAL stop being ... REAL?
Did I miss the memo?