The Bain of his own existence

Boston Herald ^ | 1/11/12 | Howie Carr

[raccoonradio]

What did Callista put in Newt Gingrich’s Bosco yesterday?

We all knew he was coming hard after Mitt with his newfound cache of funny money. But who knew he was planning to become a suicide bomber? His office in D.C. is on K Street — the K apparently stands for Kamikaze. He is now out Ron Paul-ing Ron Paul himself.

I had him on my radio show last night before the polls in New Hampshire closed, and I tried to get Newt to explain what’s gotten into him. He seemed surprised that some people might be taken aback by his new Barack Obama-like theories on how much money is too much. Like, $60 million on a $30 million investment — that’s OK, Newt explained at length yesterday. Ninety million — thumbs up. But by God, if you make $180 million on $30 million, a six-fold profit, well, whoa Nellie.

Despite being the smartest guy in the room (just ask him), Newt must not know much Latin. Specifically, caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware. No pain, no gain. For every job Bain Capital destroyed, how many did it create?

I asked Newt, weren’t you angry when the press went after you for your $500,000 line of credit at Tiffany’s?

“That’s completely different from this.”

When Newt got into the fight last year, many suspected he wasn’t really a serious candidate, that he was just trying to freshen up the aging Newt “brand,” to jack up his speaking fees. I guess not. The Club for Growth called his comments about Mitt “disgusting.”

The only group that might want him as a speaker now is the Occupy Wall Street Alumni Association.

What do you suppose the Union Leader thinks of its Newt endorsement now? First he doesn’t even show up in the Granite State for 15 days after he gets the nod, and then in the closing hours he morphs into a butch Ariana Huffington.

How about Sheldon Adelson, the casino billionaire from Dorchester who just wrote Newt’s super PAC a check for $5 million? Does he have too much money, Newt?

“Sheldon Adelson built his own businesses from scratch. He’s battled the unions in Nevada because he wanted to keep paying the health insurance of some of his workers after he had to lay them off.”

I don’t know the details, but I’m guessing the Nevada unions think Adelson is a regular ... Mitt Romney. Adelson’s got, oh, 100 times as much money as Mitt.

Newt’s been complaining about the Mitt super PAC ads allegedly lying about him. Yet his PAC has got a spot up on YouTube with some old lady saying she lost her house because of Mitt “and he has 15 houses.”

Mitt has two houses and one condo. I asked him yesterday after I saw the spot.

“Then they should take that ad down,” Newt said, Pontius Pilate-like.

Ayn Rand would be shocked. Ditto, Milton Friedman. And what good is it doing Newt? The early exit polls last night showed him in fifth place. To paraphrase Harry S Truman, “If you give the people a choice between a Democrat and a Democrat, they’ll vote for the Democrat every time.”

Somebody said yesterday on the Internet that Rick Santorum is wearing a sweater vest, Rick Perry a hunting vest, and now Newt has put on a suicide vest. That about sums it up.

[USS Alaska]

Questions on business ethics are legitimate inquiries that one should have to answer for, especially if they're running for public office—these are not attacks on capitalism, and it's completely goofy that some would construe it that way. Those advocating a willful blind eye towards ethical repercussions in the realm of private enterprise, aren't doing capitalism any favors.

If an investment company buys another company that makes steel and decides, it is in their best interests to lay off all the union slugs, and sell the equipment and take whatever profit they can, ethics has nothing to do with it.

It is not a moral judgment, it is a business decision based on profit.

If you want moral "fairness" join a Monastery where every one is treated the same {or move to cuba}, business is only about profit.

There are two choices, capitalism or communism and every thing else is just a distortion of these two polar opposites.

Oh, but looking out for the poor workers sounds so nice and good and capitalism is so bad and evil and just a bunch of...vultures.

Get a grip you twit.

[raccoonradio]

Huntsman: so conservative he got endorsed by the very
right-wing...Boston Globe...

Paul: a fave of Occupiers. Howie was hinting yesterday that
Gingrich was heading into that territory, too; he came at
Newt very hard with all kinds of questions (”Don’t you own a building on K Street?”—”No, we have an office there.”) and said “a lot of people are wondering why you sound so different now”. Someone suggested Newt should start to read Ayn Rand (he probably has already...) Either Howie is def. a Mitt man from the start or he’s just
resigned to the fact that he feels Mitt is the only electable one.
And hey, Mitt DID promise Howie that IF a Senate seat
opened up in ‘04 (had Kerry got elected Prez) he might have
appointed him...

[raccoonradio]

Fox News:
>>The Boston Globe, which has subscribers in southern New Hampshire, endorsed Sen. John McCain over Romney for the 2008 election. On Thursday, it said both Romney and Huntsman stand out as presidential, but where Romney has been cautious, Huntsman has been bold.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/06/huntsman-picks-up-boston-globe-endorsement/#ixzz1jA4cZXFj

(You can trust the Globe-Democrat! :) )

[raccoonradio]

Anyone (_|_) (butt) Obama.

[raccoonradio]

" so like (giggle) I voted for Paul, man. Cause he's gonna legalize pot, man. " :)

[USS Alaska]

These practices of Bain (A.K.A. Romney) are not representative of capitalism may have been bordering on fraud but are without a doubt definitely "predatory," "unconscionable" and he has "unclean hands in these takeovers."

These practices are absolutely representative of capitalism, do not "border on fraud" and predatory, unconscionable, and unclean hands are all moral judgments being made about business decisions.

All the whining from you "clean capitalists" don't hurt the poor union worker, {workers of the world unite}, sound like you should join OWS. Down with those mean, old, white capitalist pigs.

[Georgia Girl 2]

A Mittbot circling the wagons.

[Old Badger]

"All the whining from you "clean capitalists" don't hurt the poor union worker, {workers of the world unite}, sound like you should join OWS. Down with those mean, old, white capitalist pigs."

All of this obviously went right over your head and the only retort you have is to use confused logic and slander.

And so in keeping the discussion on your level of mentality so you can understand (an oxymoron when applied to you) what your little rant calls to mind is a scene from the Wizard of Oz that could be applied directly to you .......... "Oh, I wish I had a brain."

Your arrogance is exceeded only by your ignorance ..... back at you!

[USS Alaska]

All this left wing whining, are you sure you are not mikey moore?

I'm sick at what has happened at FR over this left wing attack on capitalism, and I don't give a whit about mittens.

Bain did what they had every right to do, they bought companies, and made a profit.

If union slugs and their kids got thrown into debtors prison, had to drink sewer water and breath filthy air, then so much the better.

Us filthy, greedy, old white capitalist pigs love it when our peons are living in grief and misery. S/ON

[greeneyes]

“It does sound as if Gingrich needs to refocus or clarify the ads, however, because the message that seems to be going out all of a sudden is that Gingrich is opposed to capitalism, which of course is ridiculous and a complete distortion of his position.”

I think Newt's statements are pretty clear. This misrepresentation by the LSM is apparent. Anyone who remembers the criticism of corporate raiders in the 1990’s that appeared in the Wall Street Journal, will not be fooled, but some people have apparently fallen for the meme of LSM.

Look it's pretty simple. Conservatives had begun to consolidate around Newt prior to Iowa. So the long knives came out. He's not dead yet, so this false anti-capitalism crap is being used to try to destroy him further.

What Newt has said is mild compared to what Huntsman and Perry have said. Perry has even used the term VULTURE capitalism. Yet almost all you heard is Newt attacking capitalism.

Equating corporate raiders with capitalism is like equating shady bounty hunters with law enforcement. There is a big difference between taking over a company, right sizing it, and helping it to survive and what corporate raiders do.

This issue undermines all the criticisms of Obamanomics, if Romney(Bain) becomes the nominee. Once all the facts are revealed, I'll bet plenty of Republicans will wish they had investigated fully instead of just sticking up for Bain.

[Utmost Certainty]

If an investment company buys another company that makes steel and decides, it is in their best interests to lay off all the union slugs, and sell the equipment and take whatever profit they can, ethics has nothing to do with it.

FFS. Of course the investment company can do whatever it wants under the law and take profit—nobody said it couldn't! But that doesn't mean such activities necessarily reflect well on the firm as one you'd want to do business with, nor does it reflect well on someone who's going into public office.

It is not a moral judgment, it is a business decision based on profit.

Yep.

If you want moral "fairness" join a Monastery where every one is treated the same {or move to cuba}, business is only about profit.

I never said anything about "fairness." You're either suffering from a misunderstanding here, or you're blatantly misrepresenting my position.

There are two choices, capitalism or communism and every thing else is just a distortion of these two polar opposites.

Yawn. Your inane platitudes are moot, since Bain Capital profiteered from government bailouts. I'm absolutely pro-markets (probably more than you), but let's not pretend Bain Capital was an exemplar of free enterprise.

Oh, but looking out for the poor workers sounds so nice and good and capitalism is so bad and evil and just a bunch of...vultures.

I never pushed such rhetoric.

Get a grip you twit.

Good job outing yourself as a doofus. Not everyone has the kind of courage you do to be so boldly retarded.

[cynwoody]

Every so often the Globe-Democrat has a bout of sanity — e.g., when they came out against Jim Braude's graduated income tax.

[livius]

Equating corporate raiders with capitalism is like equating shady bounty hunters with law enforcement.

Exactly. Maybe Bain didn't engage in the worst of the worst behavior, maybe it did, but in any case, Romney should explain himself and not pretend that his business experience comes from the productive sector.

Also, it got a bailout on one bad deal, so let's hear an explanation of that.

[LibsRJerks]

Yes, let’s hear the explanation. Because right now a complete army of opposition research and reporters at the NTY or elsewhere are researching Bain right down to the wiring.

And we WILL hear about it again. And Mr. Romney will have nowhere to go. Whining about being attacked will not be seen as quite so cute anymore.

[duckln]

Newt has a point.

Goolge search...
Aug 11, 2003 – Saban Capital Group Announces Tender Offer for All Outstanding Shares of ... United Industries, Rayovac, Fisher Scientific International, Experian, GNC ... Bain Capital is a global private investment firm that manages several ...

I'm not a stock player by a long shot, but I did own a couple hundred shares of a local company, Rayovac. I bought it in the teens and the next time I looked, it was 7 cents and then pf ff. A lot of people lost money on shady mergers, name changes, butouts etc.

Romney, being in the business , should explain who the losers were.