Posted on 01/11/2012 2:34:37 PM PST by Libloather
Right wing rips Gingrich, Perry for attacks on Romney, capitalism
By Justin Sink - 01/11/12 12:31 PM ET
Conservatives are savaging Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry for their attacks on Mitt Romney’s years at the private-equity firm Bain Capital.
The attacks from Gingrich and Perry, whose presidential campaigns are on life support, are meant to resonate in South Carolina, the next state on the GOP calendar and a place hit hard by the economic downturn.
Yet in slamming Romney as a corporate raider, the two candidates fighting for their party’s right-wing might have done what Romney never seemed capable of: rallying conservatives around the former Massachusetts governor’s campaign.
The influential Wall Street Journal editorial page denounced the criticism as “crude and damaging caricatures of modern business and capitalism” on Tuesday, saying that “desperate” GOP candidates “sound like Michael Moore,” the left-wing filmmaker and provocateur.
Other prominent conservatives similarly bemoaned what they viewed as liberal attack tactics that will be copied by President Obama’s campaign in November.
Conservative talk radio stalwart Rush Limbaugh said Monday of Gingrich’s criticism that “you could have read this in an Occupy Wall Street flier.”
“You could, after all these bites, say, ‘I’m Barack Obama, and I approve this message,’” Limbaugh said.
Former GOP vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Tuesday warned on Fox News that candidates should shift the debate from “anti-capitalist mantra to what it is that the GOP really represents in free markets.”
Some conservatives are also warning that the attacks will backfire by galvanizing conservatives who see criticism of Romney’s Bain record as an attack on the cornerstone principle of free market capitalism.
Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) — who has not endorsed in the GOP primary race — predicted the arguments would drive Republican voters toward Romney in the upcoming South Carolina primary.
DeMint said Tuesday that Romney’s critics were “sounding like Democrats” in their attacks
“Frankly, I’m a little concerned about the few Republicans who have criticized some of what I consider free market principles here,” DeMint told talk radio host Mark Levin. “We know over half of new businesses fail ... that’s part of the creative-destruction process of free enterprise.”
Gingrich and Perry are giving their critics plenty of ammunition as they attack Romney.
A pro-Gingrich political action committee in South Carolina spent $3.4 million on a buy featuring ads deriding Romney as a “predatory corporate raider” and “scavenger.”
Perry piled on, calling attempts by Romney to sympathize with voters worried about losing their jobs “the ultimate insult.”
“I have no doubt that Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips — whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out because his company Bain Capital with all the jobs that they killed, I’m sure he was worried that he’d run out of pink slips,” Perry said while campaigning in South Carolina.
GOP strategist Ford O’Connell warned that Republicans are playing with fire.
“If the Romney attacks are seen as an attack on ‘free enterprise,’ it will backfire, because fiscal conservatives see ‘free enterprise’ as the cornerstone of conservative ideology and will protect ‘free enterprise’ at all costs,” he said.
Gingrich has maintained that his criticism is not anti-capitalist but an issue of fairness.
“I think you have to look at the specific companies we are talking about and you have to ask yourself a very tough-minded question: Is it fair to have a system, is it right, is it the kind of country you want to live in, to have a system where somebody comes in [to] take over your company, take out all the cash and leave behind a wreck, and they go off to a country club having a great time and you go off to the unemployment line,” Gingrich said Tuesday in an interview with Fox News.
“Now this is not anti-capitalism, I am not for socialism, I am not for government stopping risk-taking, but I am for some sense of fairness that the entrepreneur and the worker have a joint investment in something succeeding.”
Romney said Wednesday that Bain-related criticisms “fell flat” in New Hampshire.
“They tried it very hard, ran ads here, were up and down the state campaigning, and people in the state here said, ‘Look, we want a guy who spent some time in the private sector, not someone who spent their entire life in Washington.’ So I think it’s working for my benefit,” he told ABC.
But judging from Vice President Biden’s comments Tuesday night, conservatives are right to think Democrats are gleeful to have Republicans using their talking points on the likely GOP standard-bearer.
“He thinks it’s more important for the stockholders and the shareholders and the investors and the venture capital guys to do well [than] for those employees to be part of the bargain,” Biden said during a teleconference with New Hampshire supporters.
Newt Gingrich is a Socialist and his supporters are Socialists.
They do not understand Capitalism.
Let companies run their businesses in the best way they see fit.
It is very revealing the way Newt is dancing around this mess. It is the same way he dances around everything else. He is always either apologizing for everything he did before he was a candidate or he is dancing. It’s like when he said his $1.6 million payoff from Fannie Mae was “free enterprise.”
Newt is a slimy character. Please do not believe anything he says.
Newt and his supporters do not understand capitalism and free enterprise. They are underneath essentially socialists.
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It’s a lot of things but it’s NOT capitalism when Vulture Willard goes unpunished for looting taxpayers..some have gone to jail for much less.
BUT why should American taxpayers have to be forced to pay for Willard’s business incompetence and greed?
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Workers were denied the severance pay and health insurance they’d been promised, and their pension benefits were cut..
What’s more, a FEDERAL GOVERNMENT insurance agency had to PONY UP $44 MILLION TO BAIL OUT the company’s underfunded pension plan.
Nevertheless, Bain profited on the deal, receiving $12 million on its $8 million initial investment and at least $4.5 million in consulting fees.
http://legalinsurrection.com/2012/01/bain-drip-drip-drip/
The Wall Street Journal analysis is ALSO devastating for Willard the Vulture/Lib at Bain.. (Google it)
Adding insult to injury, Bain would hide its profits in tax havens, not even paying the rate it was supposed to on the profits it made laying off workers.
Let’s see how the taxpayers feel about bailing out these companies’ pension funds and receiving no tax money back from Bain. Let’s let the people decide what they think of bailing out Romney.
Bottom line again: Why should American taxpayers have to be forced to pay for Willard’s business incompetence and greed?
"Lately, Bain founder and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has found himself in a spirited defense of the private equity industry, doing all he can to spin decades of data which confirm, without failure, that PE Leveraged Buy Outs are nothing but "efficiency maximizing" transactions whose only goal is the "maximization" of EBITDA in the pursuit of dividend recap deals, IPOs or outright sales, while loading up the company with untenable amounts of leverage. All this with a 3-5 year investment horizon, which ignores the long-term viability of a company and seeks to streamline (read fire as many as possible) operations as quickly as possible in the goal of maximizing short-term returns. We wish him luck in his endeavor."Shame we have so many wannabe Capitalistas here at FR and elsewhere, who adamantly defend this kind of shuck and jive financial paper shuffling as exemplary acts of free-market enterprise.
You are completely wrong. I support Newt and find him to be closest to Reagan when it comes to the economy, individual rights, and turning this country around and back onto the RIGHT track.
Newt is no socialist, and neither am I. You might want to reconsider your judgemental attitude, or at least remove that plank from your eye first.
“Let companies run their businesses in the best way they see fit.”
Madoff and Milken 100% agree with you.
Letting the taxpayers pony up for Vulture Willard’s greed is NOT capitalism. But it could be criminal.
Let the voters decide THAT now or in November. Either way, Willard the Lib is toast. And I’m fine with THAT.
BUT why should American taxpayers have to be forced to pay for Willard’s business incompetence and greed?
Sorry to inform you about this, but everything that Romney did that you talked about *is* legitimate capitalism.
It's okay to fire people to make your company more profitable. It's okay to collect insurance. It's okay to legally take advantage of government handouts.
Newt called his $1.6 million payoff/bribe from Fannie Mae "free enterprise." Sorry, but that is *not* free enterprise or capitalism.
The Socialist Gingrich supporters and Newt Gingrich himself will never understand this. They are dangerous. They cannot be let anywhere near the presidency.
(Note: I *hate* Romney, but Gingrich might actually be more dangerous.)
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“shuck and jive financial paper shuffling”
Is exactly what Willard was doing too often.
The democrats would use this against Romney IF he gets the nomination whether it has been raised as an issue by his Republican primary opponets or not. As Romney himself would say “if you can’t stand the heat” Where was all the outrage when the anti-Newt ads containing lies were being spread by the Romney PAC and Romney maintained after being challenged to stop the lies he lied by saying it was illegal for him to make a public statement to those who were doing it to stop, the fcc said he had the freedom of speech to do this and he choose to ignore that. He must think we’re all idiots.
Again, this shows a dangerous lack of understanding of Capitalism by the Gingrich supporters.
That is exactly what The Left would say. You belong on the Daily Kos, not Free Republic.
No one has shown anything Romney did to be illegal. His actions might have been mean, unfair, viscous and greedy, but those are words the Socialist use against Capitalism.
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FEDERAL GOVERNMENT insurance agency had to PONY UP $44 MILLION TO BAIL OUT the company’s underfunded pension plan.
Nevertheless, Bain profited on the deal, receiving $12 million on its $8 million initial investment and at least $4.5 million in consulting fees.
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So you defend this and expect anyone to take you seriously?
IOW we paid for Mitt and his boys’ yachts.
BTTT............Perfectly Explained! It’s not illegal what mittens did, but it sure was unethical. He should definitely NOT be rewarded for it.
Bingo!!
Hear! Hear! Sometimes the enemy of your enemy is not your friend... Newt is a fraud, and its about time people opened their eyes to it.
Of course the Democrats would use this against Romney. THEY ARE SOCIALISTS. They don't like Capitalism. They don't understand Capitalism.
Republicans need to defend Capitalism, free enterprise and free markets. Unfortunately, Gingrich and his supporters are acting just like the Socialists.
As a long time fighter against The Left, I know what a Socialist sounds like.
Newt Gingrich and his misguided supporters sound exactly like and are making the exact same arguments I have been hearing from the Socialists for decades. They are Socialists.
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More Socialist arguments!
What Mitt did to run his business in the best way possible was not unethical! Laying off people and the other actions are not unethical!
That is Capitalism!
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...and also time for Willard the Vulturist to be called out on his liberal positions everyday he’s running his baloney jobs scam on Republicans.
47th in job creation as governor is about as pathetic as it gets.
Must have learned THAT garbage at Bain.
That article was covered in a previous post on FR.
Newt didn't "nail" anything. He is dancing like he does on many other issues. He is either apologizing for everything he did before running for president, or he is dancing.
Newt Gingrich is a slimy character.
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Hey, “Capitalism” Einstein..
Is this ethical or not?
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT insurance agency had to PONY UP $44 MILLION TO BAIL OUT the company’s underfunded pension plan.
Nevertheless, Bain profited on the deal, receiving $12 million on its $8 million initial investment and at least $4.5 million in consulting fees.
LOL!
Bobk’s hero!
Newt is questioning the integrity of a man who runs his business like a greedy thoughtless pig.
Not questioning free-markets. Questioning Mitt’s judgement and maybe his temperment to be president.
GO NEWT !
Lol ... where did you get that OWS talking point ? It’s a total lie.
There are a dozen issues with which to slam the Socialist Aristocrat, and last among them is Bain Capital. Bob
I'm sorry, but that is definitely the kind of sarcastic statement against businessmen a Socialist would say. Conservatives would never say that.
I don't think there is much more I can say to the Gingrich supporters. If you think there is something wrong with a businessman running our government, then go ahead and support Newt Gingrich.
If you are pro-business and in favor of free enterprise, free markets and Capitalism, please, please, please, stay away from Newt Gingrich and his anti-business supporters.
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Maybe the Euro-minded “right wing” but not conservatives.
Add Bain to list of things we cannot discuss
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2831650/posts
You are SICk.
Mitt’s friends on Wall St, the banks and at Lehmann brothers flatout lied about the real conditions of the companies that Mitt was pillaging. So small investors would be attracted to invest.
Then Mitt left town, the companies collapsed, and the little guy investors were SOL.
Mitt laughs all the way to the bank.. in Cayman, of course.
What Mitt did to run his business in the best way possible was not unethical! Laying off people and the other actions are not unethical!
That is Capitalism!
...ahhhh, HORSEHOCKEY... dumping the liabilities on US taxpayers is more than unethical and RhinoRomney is a Corporatist not a Capitalist! Using my tax dollars to back stop his investment risks is bogus 0bozo/GM criminality, and he and Bain could and should have been sued over it since they ignored normal pension plan payments and made the shortfall worse... and therefore the bailout by taxpayers worse. You don’t know what you’re talking about and it’s NOT defensible if you are a conservative... you sound like a big gov’t statist to me.
ymmv
1. Does stating the facts about some less than honest business practices and/or hypocrisy of big investors like George Soros, "The Union Guy" Ron Burkle or "Not Taxed Enough" Warren Buffett et al> have the same meaning as an "attack on capitalism"?
2. Newt was a member of Advisory Board at Forstmann Little, a big white shoe investment firm which competed with some of the "vulture funds" like Bain Capital or Wilbur Ross etc., so he is very well informed about PE business and the differences in investment models. Also definitely makes him anti-"anti-capitalist" and to call him a socialist or anti-capitalists is just silly. Teddy Forstmann (RIP) and his brother Nicholas (Nick) coined the phrase "Barbarians are at the gates! Let's push the barbarians back!" Teddy was a big Republican donor and philanthropist, donating time and money to reform education system and supporting voucher programs and charter schools, among many other things (instead of donating to the Met and other "glamorous" public "causes"). Ref: Other People's Money - NYM, 2004 July 12.
Most importantly, 3. The people who denounce Gingrich as "anti-capitalist rhetoric" and "speaking the language of the left" just for pointing out problems in Romney's self-described "job-creating," "executive" and "business" background (which the left will use anyway in the general election, along with "privileged," and about specifics of which Romney is uncharacteristically shy / quiet) are themselves engaging in "speaking the language of the left" by using left-wing tactic of defusing and obfuscating issues, e.g.,:
So re being instrument of "Big Government, class warfare and language of the left", it is not Newt who is involved in it, but guess who does:
The GOP's Working Class Muddle (Santorum and Romney following Democrats class-warfare) | The Santorum and Romney campaigns are following Democrats down the class-warfare rabbit hole. - FR / WSJ, by Kimberley A. Strassel, 2012 January 06
From The GOP's Working Class Muddle
In an election that needs to be about contrasts, this is point Obama. Game on for candidate Santorum, who gets to explain why his own policies for government to reward certain classes of citizens over others are any different than Mr. Obama's. Or let's see candidate Romney knock Mr. Obama's proposals to further tax America's job creators, those Mr. Romney thinks are doing "just fine." The bigger risk is that a Republican president actually pursues these distorting economic policies, sacrificing growth. These are mistakes Ronald Reagan would never have made. The Californian was great at identifying with Everyman, but he never pitted the classes against each other. ..... < snip > < snip > ..... What both campaigns are in fact doing is following Democrats down the class-warfare rabbit hole. Spooked by the Democrats' inequality theme, the Romney and Santorum campaigns are taking the narrow view, catering to the blue-collar vote, playing the class game.
Do Republicans really want to nominate yet another Big Government "compassionate conservative Republican" or yet another privileged Harvard and/or Yale-educated lawyer/MBA?
In contrast, here's what Newt was doing post-Contract With America for conservative organizations and causes:
From Pelosi Fires Back at Gingrich - FR, posts #29, #27, 2012 January 09
Now, as Mr. Gingrich prepares to launch a run for president as early as this week, this network of advocacy and for-profit groups is providing a publicity and policy machine without parallel among his likely Republican rivals, few of whom have stirred excitement among donors and activists. His network has amassed more than 1.7 million voter and donor contacts and raised $32 million between 2009 and 2010 -- more than all his potential 2012 rivals combined. Far less clear is whether these efforts, and the extent of his organizational infrastructure, will be enough to put him out front, should Mr. Gingrich decide to seek the presidential nomination. ..... < snip > (Gingrich's Secret Weapon: Newt Inc. - WSJ, by Neil King Jr. and Patrick O'Connor, 2011 May 09 In the 13 years since he suffered a string of political setbacks and quit the third most powerful job in Washington, Newt Gingrich has been busily laying the foundation for a comeback to an even grander perch. On any given day, the former Speaker of the House can be found on a chartered jet headed to Iowa to train future GOP candidates through his American Solutions group, or in Phoenix discussing ways to lower health-care costs with drug makers through his for-profit Center for Health Transformation. He might also be in Philadelphia, narrating a film produced by Gingrich Productions, or in Texas, reaching out to conservative Latino leaders through his bilingual news and commentary website, the Americano.
What did Romney-Perry-Santorum-Bachmann-Huntsman or other "talkers" do for conservative causes and organizations during that post-Contract period that was of any tangible value, instead of engaging in the class-warfare during their campaigns?
Riddle me this....How did Mitt’s business acumen help to make him a good Governor of Massachusetts?
That is a very Socialist thing to do. Socialists would refer to Romney and many, many others as greedy, thoughtless Capitalists Pigs.
When you are running a business, sometimes you have to do unpleasant (but legal) things in order to survive or prosper. Greed and survival are essential motivators in the free market system.
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Did you watch Kingofbain.com ?
Maybe you should.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ikgAzjhd8&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ikgAzjhd8&feature=youtu.be
Please check these links out before you condemn Gingrich and Perry.
He wasn't a good governor, but business experience would help any leader in government.
It helps you understand the importance of business and the needs of business, including less regulation.
Being in business develops management, leadership and financial skills (including controlling costs) that can never be developed in the public sector.
This is basic free market knowledge that all Republicans should know. It's alarming that Newt and his supporters are fighting it.
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“FEDERAL GOVERNMENT insurance agency had to PONY UP $44 MILLION TO BAIL OUT the company’s underfunded pension plan.”
Was the pension fund underfunded prior to Bain’s involvement?
If it were underfunded prior to Bain’s involvement, then Bain had no ethical or legal obligation to inject it’s capital into the company plan.
My oh my! Looks like a negative ad or two with a little resemblance to what Obama will be coming out with daily next fall and Willard’s proxies get a massive wedgy and go into whiny hysterics. Shine a light on Bain and Romney and the screams of despair are heard everywhere.
On the Ace of Shades HQ site he says he’s worried this may make Romney “unelectable”. He has always been UNELECTABLE! No one has to make him that. The only reason anyone thinks he is electable is that the constant droning of the “he’s electable” mantra by the media and elites has placed the message in some empty heads.
sigh...how well the press and the GOP establishment is playing conservatives with this issue.
So what you're saying is that Mitt's business experience ain't all that, after all. Thank you. Mitt's biggest selling point is supposedly his business experience, and well, there's no "there" there.
Rush has been defending Romneys business acumen and calling it capitalism....He has been way off his game this past month...not really interested in listening...guess its time for a few months sabbatical from 12-3pm I am definately not a newt fan, I was for Cain, but hope Newt keeps up the attach Romney deserves it....I love pious baloney remark to Romney...hammer, meet nail or is it nail meet hammer. gg
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/06/us-campaign-romney-bailout-idUSTRE8050LL20120106
Reuters reports in “Special report: Romney’s steel skeleton in the Bain closet” that Romney’s Bain Capital took a $44 million government bailout in 2002 from the federal U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp after they determined that Bain had underfunded its steel mill’s pension by $44 million. Workers were denied the severance pay and health insurance they’d been promised, and their pension benefits were cut by as much as $400 a month. Nevertheless, Bain profited on the deal, receiving $12 million on its $8 million initial investment and at least $4.5 million in consulting fees.
You’ve read the argument, but resort to name-calling. You’ve lost this one!
It is unethical to buy a company with the thought of just scavenging the pieces and firing the workers when they could have made a go of it with a true “white-knight” who had the interests of the the company in mind. That is purposely making gain on the forced misery of others. Are you actually supporting that? If yes, you are as unethical as mittens.
I'm not quite sure how having absolute control over a big business where you try to maximize revenues and boss all the little people under you around prepares you to lead government, unless your government is socialist. No wonder raised taxes and fees (maximize revenue) and instituted socialist health care (control the little people).
It stinks of desperation, attempting to attack Romney by way of the Occupy Wallstreet “we are the 99%” rhetoric. The one thing ROmney is pretty solid on is the economy, hence they are attacking a castle on its most fortified side. Christ, immigration, abortion, gay marriage, healthcare, global warming... All these glaring weaknesses in the Romney candidacy, and these cretins chose to attack Romney on the economy.
Pathetic.
It sure didn't show when he was Governor of Massachusetts.
He was less than a poor Governor,He was an epic disaster for the state and the MA Republican Party.
He also has a very risky back story in his ‘Capitalist’ career. Specifically he never was or will be a capitalist. He is at best a Crony Capitalist but is specifically a Corporatist.
Romney will never be president. If Gingrich destroys himself while taking Romney down and out as the Nominee, he should be rewarded with a medal.
If We don't get Mitt Obama and his billion $’s certainly will.
Sorry, just the facts.
The democrats would use this against Romney IF he gets the nomination whether it has been raised as an issue by his Republican primary opponets or not. As Romney himself would say “if you can’t stand the heat” Where was all the outrage when the anti-Newt ads containing lies were being spread by the Romney PAC and Romney maintained after being challenged to stop the lies he lied by saying it was illegal for him to make a public statement to those who were doing it to stop, the fcc said he had the freedom of speech to do this and he choose to ignore that. He must think we’re all idiots.
The democrats would use this against Romney IF he gets the nomination whether it has been raised as an issue by his Republican primary opponets or not. As Romney himself would say “if you can’t stand the heat” Where was all the outrage when the anti-Newt ads containing lies were being spread by the Romney PAC and Romney maintained after being challenged to stop the lies he lied by saying it was illegal for him to make a public statement to those who were doing it to stop, the fcc said he had the freedom of speech to do this and he choose to ignore that. He must think we’re all idiots.
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