The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters. - Dwight D. Eisenhower
Well, after last night, I guess we know where the Republican bus is sitting.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Bain Capital and Mitt Romney: It was never about jobs
Mitt Romney certainly knows something about business. He knows how to play the investment game and can do it pretty well. To some degree, he saved the Salt Lake City Olympics from disaster, so I hear. He has been said to have a strong work ethic and is frugal with his own life. But all this talk about being a job creator? Huh?
I went over to Bain Capital's web page and checked their "about us" page. Boldface added by me. Nothin' about jobs here:
I went over to Bain Capital's web page and checked their "about us" page. Boldface added by me. Nothin' about jobs here:
About Us
Established in 1984, Bain Capital is one of the world's leading private investment firms managing approximately $66 billion in assets under management. Our affiliated advisors make private equity, public equity, leveraged debt asset, venture capital, and absolute return investments across multiple sectors, industries, and asset classes. Since our inception, our competitive advantage has been grounded in a people-intensive, value-added investment approach that has enabled the firm to deliver industry-leading returns for our investors.
Bain's, and therefore Mitt's job was to make money for investors using the usual tricks of the investment trade. Jobs and workers are a means towards that end. If you don't need a tool, you don't buy it--its a senseless expense. Likewise with employees. Plus, if you can get a cheaper tool Made in China, you don't necessarily buy one made in U.S.A., i.e., that tool named you or me.
From National Public Radio:
"What Bain Capital was in the business of doing was increasing the wealth of their investors," (Anderson) says. "In some cases, it meant expanding companies and growing. In some cases, they may have eliminated jobs. Job growth was never the goal. Job growth was the byproduct." --Howard Anderson, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has followed Bain's business for years.
I'm not so sure we need or want a Wall Street type Vulture Capitalist leading this nation, even if he is damn good at what he did at Bain. If, on the other hand, Mitt considers his new job to be the welfare of Joe Sixpack as well as Mr. Main Street Republican, maybe he can bring that immense energy and keen mind of his to everyone's benefit. In this essay he wrote for the NY Times, that seems quite possible. But this guy just seems as far removed from Joe Sixpack as the Earth is from Pluto. Consider that if you are in the 99%. I don't know.
On the Republican side, I'm still rooting for Jon Huntsman. In a different time, I would be a GOP member of the likes of Jake Javits, Jack Kemp, and other main street East Coast Republicans. That party seems to have died. I want to see both parties move off of the shoulders of the road. That's all I'll say for now.
The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters. - Dwight D. Eisenhower
Bain's, and therefore Mitt's job was to make money for investors using the usual tricks of the investment trade. Jobs and workers are a means towards that end. If you don't need a tool, you don't buy it--its a senseless expense. Likewise with employees. Plus, if you can get a cheaper tool Made in China, you don't necessarily buy one made in U.S.A., i.e., that tool named you or me.
From National Public Radio:
"What Bain Capital was in the business of doing was increasing the wealth of their investors," (Anderson) says. "In some cases, it meant expanding companies and growing. In some cases, they may have eliminated jobs. Job growth was never the goal. Job growth was the byproduct." --Howard Anderson, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has followed Bain's business for years.
I'm not so sure we need or want a Wall Street type Vulture Capitalist leading this nation, even if he is damn good at what he did at Bain. If, on the other hand, Mitt considers his new job to be the welfare of Joe Sixpack as well as Mr. Main Street Republican, maybe he can bring that immense energy and keen mind of his to everyone's benefit. In this essay he wrote for the NY Times, that seems quite possible. But this guy just seems as far removed from Joe Sixpack as the Earth is from Pluto. Consider that if you are in the 99%. I don't know.
On the Republican side, I'm still rooting for Jon Huntsman. In a different time, I would be a GOP member of the likes of Jake Javits, Jack Kemp, and other main street East Coast Republicans. That party seems to have died. I want to see both parties move off of the shoulders of the road. That's all I'll say for now.
The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters. - Dwight D. Eisenhower
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