Posted on 01/11/2012 8:50:22 AM PST by Daveinyork
About the best that can be said about the Republican attacks on Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital is that President Obama is going to do the same thing eventually, so GOP primary voters might as well know what's coming. Yet that hardly absolves Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and others for their crude and damaging caricatures of modern business and capitalism.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Newt’s attack on vulture capitalism eliminates him as a conservative.
Someone needs to take a meat axe to the federal government, and only one candidate is promising that. The problem is his foreign policy is round the bend. The rest of them don’t seem to realize that without Paul’s domestic and economic policy, their foreign policies will soon be unaffordable.
“Newt’s attack on vulture capitalism eliminates him as a conservative.”
I do not consider “vulture capitalism” conservative. Capitalism is about creating and building wealth, not tearing it down, looting a business and screwing over workers.
As for taking a meat axe to the Federal Govt., that I agree with, but R.Paul isn’t a conservative - he is a libertarian parading around as a Republican. We have $15Trillion in debt; the next President will have no choice but to face that head on, so I find your argument about Congressman Paul being the only candidate to promise that specious. It is a subject best left for figuratively beating Obama over the head.
Vulture capitalism is the language of the left wing populists. In free enterprise it does not exist. As for screwing over the workers, if the company is in trouble, they may be overpaid, and whtn who is screwing whom?
What other candidate is promising to take a meat axe to the government? If we don’t the so-cqlled conservatives can bluster all they want about a nuclear Iran and helping Israel, but we won’t be able to afford it. So, I’m not conceding the label of conservative to any of the sorry lot.
What is your “definition” of a conservative?
Constitutional government.
Constitutional government, with the individual states deciding on morality in law?
What’s your definition and which candidates qualify?
See #60 - I already answered that question.
see 61
Let me tell you a story from 19 years ago.
I worked for Portland General Electric (PGE) Co., at their Trojan Nuclear Plant. The CEO of its holding company, Portland General, was a Democrat, an anti-nuke, and a very savvy accountant.
In 1992 this CEO was offered a deal by Enron. Sell off or close the nuke plant, we’ll buy Porltand General and you will become a member of Enron’s Board of Directors.
So this CEO shut down an operating nuclear plant capable of supplying a sizable amount of electricty to the Northwest grid (a facility generating billions of dollars of profit for PGE), layed off 1300 workers - and all for the benefit of himself.
But that’s not all.
Once he was inside the inner circle of Enron, he did something interesting. He was only on the board for a short time before retiring. He left with a boatload of Enron stocks which, after a legally required length of time, he sold for over $70Million dollars plus.
Six months later Enron goes tits up.
Enron had replaced all the Portland General stock in employees 401K plans with Enron stock. Now those 401Ks weren’t worth spit. Most of the folks who had worked at Trojan found other, lower paying jobs but some like myself were ruined, losing everything they’d worked for in the previous years.
That former CEO is now owner of a large winery, and all at the expense of good business practices. Everything he did was not for the betterment of PGE’s business, its stockholders, or its employees. It was to make himself rich.
And that, my dear, is vulture capitalism. All of it was legal but non of it principled.
Oh, and I am a firm believer in capitalism. I just happen to think poorly of people like the man mentioned above and Mitt Romney.
Gingrich is a conservative. He allied himself with Ronald Reagan to build the Reagan Coalition and the Republican majority (together the Reagan Revolution) which directly led to the Contract with America, government reforms, less government, tax cuts, a balanced budget, and the great, longstanding Reagan economy.
He has done more to put Ronald Reagan’s conservative policies into government practice than anyone else presently running for the Republican Party presidential nominee position. I usually ignore endorsements, as they’re generally quid pro quo arrangements, but Gingrich is now endorsed by Michael Reagan, Art Laffer, and numerous other former Reagan administration officials.
Nothing you will say, which I believe is biased and flat-out wrong, has any effect on my belief that Newt Gingrich is the only candidate with true leadership ability who can and will change Washington, D.C. He isn’t perfect. Who is? But I believe at this time, at this juncture in our nation’s history, he can lead this country away from socialism and to a leaner, more constitutional government.
“I worked for Portland General Electric (PGE) Co., “
That explains why you don’t understand or approve of capitalism.
Those who benefit are many, but they don’t know who they are. Those who are hurt are few, and they know who they are.
I once thought Newt was a conservative. I haven’t since I saw him sitting with the Lady Nancy, talking about stopping global warming, when the evidence is pretty thin to nonexistent that it is actually happening, or that it is man-made.
“I once thought Newt was a conservative. I haven’t since I saw him sitting with the Lady Nancy, talking about stopping global warming,..”
Do you understand politics? Do you understand strategy?
In politics as in life, you don’t let others control any aspects of your life or organization, as it results in your being shut out of the decision making later on.
“For over two decades, Gingrich has taught at the United States Air Force’s Air University, where he is the longest-serving teacher of the Joint Flag Officer Warfighting Course. In addition, he is an honorary Distinguished Visiting Scholar and Professor at the National Defense University and teaches officers from all of the defense services. Gingrich informally advised Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld on strategic issues,..and encouraging the Pentagon to not “yield” foreign policy influence to the State Department and National Security Council. Gingrich is also a guiding coalition member of the Project on National Security Reform.” [Wikipedia]
Note that phrase in there about not yielding influence - I strongly suggest you read up on Gingrich, as it is obvious you don’t know much about him. This man has probably forgot more about strategy and tactics than you even know.
As for YOU assessing my understanding or approval of capitalism, you are out of place, child.
Read what Gingrich says about his actions vis a vis that couch sitting episode before you shoot yourself in the foot, again.
“As for YOU assessing my understanding or approval of capitalism, you are out of place, child.”
I’ve had my own business for almost 40 years. You worked for a public utility with a government protected monopoly, which nis NOT capitalism.
“Read what Gingrich says about his actions vis a vis that couch sitting episode before you shoot yourself in the foot, again.”
His spin.
You’re a Romney supporter.
“You’re a Romney supporter.”
Wrong, I wouldn’t vote for him, even if he was the nominee. I’
I’d stay home rather than vote for him, and now I feel that way about Gingrich and Perry.
So who do you support?
Ron Paul is accepting money from George Soros.
Rick Santorum is a RINO.
Huntsman?
That's not what she wrote.
Capitalism, of the honest, non-crony kind, is good. But that doesn't mean there are not evil capitalists, such as the two Kens (Harrison and Lay) who f'ed over a lot of other people, including apparenty SatinDoll.
none look very good. It’s a pathetic field. I could have voted for Cain, or Palin, or Bachmann. Perry would have been acceptable until he attacted capitalism. Paul’s economic policies are spot on, but his foreign policies are insane. I suppose the least stench is coming from Santorum.
Well, working for a public utility doesn’t give one a good understanding of capitalism.
Oh...I’ve given this information to a few here on FR. It isn’t good news, either.
SANTORUM
What A Big Government Conservative Looks Like
http://www.redstate.com/erick/2012/01/06/what-a-big-government-conservative-looks-like/
Posted by Erick Erickson (Diary)
Friday, January 6th at 12:13PM EST
NEA
Voted for taxpayer funding of the National Endowment for the Arts.
Voted against a 10% cut in the budget for National Endowment for the Arts.
Bankruptcy
Voted for a Schumer amendment to make the debts of pro-life demonstrators not dischargeable in bankruptcy.
Defense and Foreign Policy
Voted for the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Voted against requiring the President to certify that the CWC is effectively verifiable.
Voted against requiring the President to certify that that Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, North Korea, China, and all other countries determined to be state sponsors of terror have joined CWC prior to submitting the instrument of ratification.
Voted for the START II Treaty
Voted to allow the sale of supercomputers to China.
Voted to ban antipersonnel landmines
Voted against increasing defense spending offset by equivalent cuts in non-defense spending.
Voted to require that Federal bureaucrats get the same payraises as uniformed military.
Voted to allow food and medicine sales to state sponsors of terror and tyranical regimes such as Libya and Cuba.
Voted to limit the President’s authority to impose sanctions on nations for reasons of national security unless the sanctions were approved by a multilateral regime.
Voted against requiring Congressional authorization for military action in Bosnia.
Voted to give $25 million in foreign aid to North Korea
Voted to weaken alien terrorist deportation provisions. If the Court determines that the evidence must be withheld for national security reasons, the Justice Department must still provide a summary of the evidence sufficient for the alien terrorist to mount a defense against deportation.
Voted against delaying the India Nuclear until the President certified that India had agreed to suspend military-to-military exchanges with Iran.
Voted against the Conventional Trident Missile Program
Nominations
Voted for Richard Paez to the 9th Curcuit (cloture)
Voted for Sonia Sotomayor, Circuit Judge
Voted for Richard Holbrooke to be Ambassador to the UN
Voted for Margaret Morrow to be District Judge
Voted twice for Marsha Berzon to the 9thg Circuit
Voted for Mary McLaughlin to be District Judge
Voted for Tim Dyk to be District Judge
Voted for James Brady to be District Judge
Labor
Voted against National Right to Work Act
Voted against Real of Davis-Bacon Prevailing union wages
Voted for Alexis Herman to be Secretary of Labor
Voted for mandatory Federal child care funding
Voted for Trade Adjustment Assistance.
Voted for Job Corps funding
Voted twice in support of Fedex Unionization
Voted against allowing a waiver of Davis-Bacon in emergency situations.
Voted for minimum wage increases six times here here here here here and here
Voted to require a union representative on an IRS oversight board.
Voted to exempt IRS union representative from criminal ethics laws.
Voted against creating independent Board of Governors to investigate IRS abuses.
Guns
Voted to require pawn shops to do background checks on people who pawn a gun.
Voted twice to make it illegal to sell a gun without a secure storage or safety device
Voted for a Federal ban on possession of “assault weapons” by those under 18.
Voted for Federal funding for anti-gun education programs in schools.
Voted for anti-gun juvenile justice bill.
Reform
Voted for funding for the legal services corporation.
Voted twice for a Congressional payraise.
Voted to impose a uniform Federal mandate on states to force them to allow convicted rapits, arsonists, drug kingpins, and all other ex-convicts to vote in Federal elections.
Voted for the Specter “backup plan” to allow campaign finance reform to survive if portions of the bill were found unconstitutional.
Voted to mandate discounted broadcast times for politicians.
Voted for a McCain amendment to require State and local campaign committees to report all campaign contributions to the FEC and to require all campaign contributions to be reported to the FEC within 24 hours within 90 days of an election.
Immigration
Voted against increasing the number of immigration investigators
Voted to allow illegal immigrants to receive the earned income credit before becoming citizens
Voted to give SSI benefits to legal aliens.
Voted to give welfare benefits to naturalized citizens without regard to to the earnings of their sponsors.
Voted against hiring an additional 1,000 border partrol agents, paid for by reductions in state grants.
Taxes
Voted against a flat tax.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for Medicare prescription drugs
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to fund health insurance subsidies for small businesses.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for an $8 billion increase in child healh insurance.
Voted to increase tobacco taxes to pay for an increase in NIH funding.
Voted twice for internet taxes.
Voted to allow gas tax revenues to be used to subsidize Amtrak.
Voted to strike marriage penalty tax relief and instead provide fines on tobacco companies.
Voted against repealing the Clinton 4.3 cent gas tax increase.
Voted to increase taxes by $2.3 billion to pay for an Amtrak trust fund.
Voted to allow welfare to a minor who had a child out of wedlock and who resided with an adult who was on welfare within the previous two years.
Voted to increase taxes by $9.4 billion to pay for a $9.4 billion increase in student loans.
Voted to say that AMT patch is more important than capital gains and dividend relief.
Welfare
Voted against food stamp reform
Voted against Medicaid reform
Voted against TANF reform
Voted to increase the Social Services Block Grant from $1 billion to $2 billion
Voted to increase the FHA loan from $170,000 to $197,000. Also opposed increasing GNMA guaranty from 6 basis points to 12.
Voted for $2 billion for low income heating assistance.
Waste
Sponsored An amendment to increase Amtrak funds by $550 million
Voted to use HUD funds for the Joslyn Art Museum (NE), the Stand Up for Animals project (RI) and the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Project (WA)
Voted to increase spending on social programs by $7 billion
Voted to increase NIH funding by $1.6 billion.
Voted to increase NIHnding by $700 million
Voted to for a $2 million earmark to renovate the Vulcan Monument (AL)
Voted for a $1 billion bailout for the steel industry
Voted against requiring that highway earmarks would come out of a state’s highway allocation
Voted to allow Market Access Program funds to go to foreign companies.
Voted to allow OPIC to increase its administrative costs by 50%
Voted against transferring $20 million from Americorps to veterans.
Voted for the $140 billion asbestos compensation bill.
Voted against requiring a uniform medical criteria to ensure asbestos claims were legitimate.
Voted to increase community development programs by $2 billion.
Spending and Entitlements
Voted to make Medicare part B premium subsidies an new entitlement.
Voted against paying off the debt ($5.6 trillion at the time) within 30 years.
Voted to give $18 billion to the IMF.
Voted to raid Social Security instead of using surpluses to pay down the debt.
Health Care
Voted to allow states to impose health care mandates that are stricter than proposed new Federal mandates, but not weaker.
Voted twice for Federal mental health parity mandates in health insurance.
Voted against a allow consumers the option to purchase a plan outside the parity mandate.
Education
Voted to increase Federal funding for teacher testing
Voted to increase spending for the Department of Education by $3.1 billion.
Voted against requiring courts to consider the impact of IDEA awards on a local school district.
Energy
Voted to allow the President to designate certain sites as interim nuclear waste storage sites in the event that he determines that Yucca Mountain is not a suitable site for a permanent waste repository. Those sites are as follows: the nuclear waste site in Hanford, Washington; the Savannah River Site in South Carolina; Barnwell County, South Carolina; and the Oak Ridge Reservation in Tennessee.
Voted to make fuel price gouging a Federal crime.
***********************************
But hey! He didn’t sit on a sofa with Nancy Pelosi.
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