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.
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.
However, when he decides to run for President, his business activity will be assessed in a different light. Is this the way we would want our President to conduct the affairs of this Country?
We have a perfect example handed to us by Romney himself today: Obama and GM. Obama wrecked lives and GM in the same fashion that Romney did to a target company. They both laid off thousands. Both defaulted on debt to pension funds that counted on those funds to pay their pensioners and defaulted on obligations to trade creditors, providing the credits that facilitated the cash extraction. Both relied on government subsidies and grants, from you and me. Obama extracted political capital from his actions; Romney extracted cash for himself through fees and 'profit'. Both Obama and Romney walked away from the respective corpses (GM will die eventually). Neither Obama nor Romney were free enterprisers. Romney is the Volt of capitalism.
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I have found more free enterprisers here, those with small businesses, supporting Newts comments than defending Romney's behavior. The Romney defenders here sound like stock brokers running a few million on the side and talking like they are God's gift to capitalism, i.e. they probably do what Romney did: shuffle paper.
That's the point. Romney is all those things and cannot claim to be a "man of the people".
What Newt Gingrich & Rick Perry did to smear Mitt Romney is unforgivable!!! They both should be thrown out of the Republican Party. I heard Rush Limbaugh today, and.....El Rushbo was right on target, even though, both he and I am not great fans of Mitt Romney.
I have supported both Gingrich and Perry through the years and voted for Perry in his governor races here in Texas. But, never again!!! It’s a free country, so......any Freeper or citizen can vote as they choose, but IMHO, I truly believe that both Gingrich & Perry have gone over to the dark side, and...as such, deserve no votes from any Republican, Conservative or Freeper.
I stand with Rush Limbaugh, 100%. We and millions of other American voters of all political stripes will do all that is within the law to see that Barack Hussein Obama is defeated and the Democrat Party destroyed politically in 2012!!! And.....I really do not care who our nominee is, as long as he is not Barack Hussein “Muslim Brotherhood”, “Hate America” Obama!!! Mitt Romney will do just fine for me, and....it seems that Mr. Limbaugh is of one and the same mind!!!
Citizens of South Carolina, cast not one vote for either Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry, not because of their abilities to lead, but because what they have done is not now, nor ever, tolerable in the Republican Party!!! They have both jumped the shark big time!!! They should have engaged their brains, before they opened their mouths. These are grown men, or are they??? Neither would make a good POTUS, that has become quite obvious!!!
For all the reasons we haven’t supported Romney, we can say the same about Newt. From belief in man-made global warming, to defending some elements of Obamacare, to even flip flopping, their both guilty. So why the man-crush for Newt on FR ? I just don’t get it. What has changed about him since just a few months ago when he was in the single digits, and Cain and Perry were battling for top spot? Nothing. Look back at the FR archive, and you scarcely find a kind word about Newt on FR. He is the same Newt we didn’t like 5 or 6 months ago.
I’ve lost all confidence in Newt. He has a serious case of perpetual hoof-in-mouth disease. We need someone more self disciplined than Newt.
“FEDERAL GOVERNMENT insurance agency had to PONY UP $44 MILLION TO BAIL OUT the company’s underfunded pension plan.”
Underfunded before Bain got involved. Government insurance agency would have to bail out, anyway. Maybe Bain involvement reduced the cost to agency? Do you know?
“Nevertheless, Bain profited on the deal, receiving $12 million on its $8 million initial investment and at least $4.5 million in consulting fees.”
They are in business to profit from deals. Those fees and returns are consistent with industry norms.
“So you defend this and expect anyone to take you seriously?”
Who do you suggest as the arbiter of consulting, venture capital activities, merger & acquisition activities?
You want an all-powerfull government agency? Answer: There are already TOO MANY of those.
You believe the BS about consulting with quasi-goverment Fannie as a “historian?” Really?
the establishment had no problem though with Romney running those ad’s and telling lies.
Romney and nutbag Paul can piss off
RINO Romney and his supporters know now they are coming south and getting desperate to attack others.
They should have thought about all of this when they kept running AD’s telling lies.
Given up on talk radio for the most part.
I’ll listen to Levin if I ma out driving but that is it.
Seems most of them especially Hannity seem to forgot that conservatism is socially and fiscal and to hell with their elitist liberal cross dressing homo pals.
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