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Posted on 01/12/2012 6:15:07 PM PST by VinL
I saw the connections yesterday. There is NOTHING that is pro-Capitalism in this bunch.
Wow!
Wisconsin Talk Radio Ping
In the Milwaukee market, Clear Channel runs the Jay Weber Show, the vicki McKenna Show, and the Mark Belling Show. Mark Belling regularly subs for Rush Limbaugh on the national stage. Clear Channel also airs Sean Hannity and mark levin at night. We appreciate all of these shows very much. Now we know we can thank Mitt Romney for this boon.
HA !
I cancelled my Rush 24/7 yesterday.
Rush is giving me ulcers and he certainly doesn’t need my $50a year.
Church Lady: “Well, well, well.
Not ONE freely admitted it.
Their PIMPING Romney is tantamount to yet
another Romney dirty trick."
By Pat Garofalo on Jan 9, 2012 at 9:25 am
2012 GOP presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney, who has a large lead in the polls heading into the New Hampshire primary tomorrow, has been taking heat from both Democrats and his Republican challengers for his time at Bain Capital, the private equity firm that he headed. Bain’s modus operandi was to invest in companies, leverage them up with debt, and then sell them off for scrap, allowing Bain’s investors to walk away with huge profits while the companies in which Bain invested wound up in bankruptcy, laying off workers and reneging on benefits.
Last week, Reuters profiled one company, Worldwide Grinding Systems, that went belly up after Bain invested in it. The company not only lost 750 jobs, but the federal government had to come in to bail out its pension fund, while Bain walked away with millions in profits.
And according to an analysis by the Wall Street Journal, this was far from an isolated incident. In fact, 22 percent of the companies in which Bain invested wound up either in bankruptcy or shutting their doors entirely, while Bain itself has made billions of dollars for its investors:
The Wall Street Journal, aiming for a comprehensive assessment, examined 77 businesses Bain invested in while Mr. Romney led the firm from its 1984 start until early 1999, to see how they fared during Bain’s involvement and shortly afterward.
Among the findings: 22% either filed for bankruptcy reorganization or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain first invested, sometimes with substantial job losses. An additional 8% ran into so much trouble that all of the money Bain invested was lost. [...]
The Journal analysis shows that in total, Bain produced about $2.5 billion in gains for its investors in the 77 deals, on about $1.1 billion invested. Overall, Bain recorded roughly 50% to 80% annual gains in this period, which experts said was among the best track records for buyout firms in that era.
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.
Federal aid
The US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp, which insures company retirement plans, determined in 2002 that GS (Steel) had underfunded its pension by $US44 million. The federal agency, funded by corporate levies, stepped in to cover the basic pension payments, but not the supplement the union had negotiated as a hedge against the plant's closure.
For Joe Soptic, who worked at the plant for 28 years, that meant a loss of $US283 per month, about 22 per cent of his pension. Others lost up to $US400 per month, according to documents supplied by the union.
Comparatively, the GS bailout was one of the pension guarantor's smaller hits. The federal fund swung from a $US7.7 billion surplus to a $US3.6 billion deficit that year as it struggled to cover bankruptcies in the steel and transportation industries. The failure of LTV Steel, for example, cost the agency $US1.9 billion.
The agency's woes prompted Congress in 2006 to require companies to contribute more toward their pensions. Press accounts said this change accelerated the shift away from pension plans toward 401(k)s and other defined-contribution retirement plans that offer less security for workers.
Now I understand the attacks on Newt!
Its never been a big secret..
Williard Mitt Romney bought Clear Channel back in 2007-08 when he was running for POTUS the first time...
We few who were warning y’all about Romney back then knew...
Where were you ???
Hmmm...I’ve watched the decline of FR since about four years ago when it became a haven for birthers, conspiracy theorists and self appointed ideological “guardians” of conservatism. This post is just another nail in the coffin.
And since Clear Channel bought WABC in NYC they have systematically destroyed the largest and best station in the country. The first blow was hiring that idiot Imus, then they replaced other conservative talent with mediocre moderates or RINOS.
I only listen to Rush and Mark Levin on that station anymore. It used to be on from sun up to sun down.
“HA !
I cancelled my Rush 24/7 yesterday.
Rush is giving me ulcers and he certainly doesn’t need my $50a year.”
____________________________________________________
You are joking...right?
I’m a big Newt guy - but there is no way Bain has any editorial sway over these guys. Rush has been Rush for longer than Bain has been around. Besides, Rush has trashed Mitt’s repsonse to the Bain attacks almost as much as he’s trashed Newt and Perry’s use of it. Anyone who listens to Rush at all knew full well how he would respond to this. Utterly predictable.
Folks invested in Clear Channel for the business opportunity of owning all the talk radio bigs, regardless of whether or not they agree with content. This is connecting dots that simply do not connect.
Whut???????????
Rush is the only voice of sanity in this insane world.
Yep, Actually, I’m pleased with Newt taking on the Vultures and Vampires. Didn’t think he had it in him. But I guess it takes someone on the inside that KNOWS what is actually going on.
“The deal was finalized in 2008. Today, Bain Capital is still one of the primary owners of Clear Channel. “
This is 2012.
Romney left Bain in 1992.
I think everyone can do the math.
It could be as simple as the fact that in his anti-Capitalist attacks on Bain & Romney, Newt has alienated a lot of core conservative support.
I was first a Cain, supporter, then Newt. Yet this line of attack against Romney, whom I dislike immensely, is a betrayal of the things I thought Newt believed in.
I’m left with, like, Santorum I guess.
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