Sarah Palin says Republican criticism of Romney's Bain record is fair

Sarah Palin

/ Gilles Mingasson

Fox news analyst Sarah Palin said criticism of Mitt Romney's record as the head of Bain Capital by fellow Republicans is fair and the front-runner should provide proof to his clams that his tenure there helped created 100,000 jobs.

"Sometimes it gets rough and tumble as you try to hold these candidates accountable for what they are claiming," Palin said in an interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel Wednesday.

Asked about attacks from Texas Gov. Rick Perry that Romney is a "vulture capitalist," the former Alaska governor said Perry is just holding his rival accountable.

"This isn't about a politician making huge profits in the private sector," Palin said, adding "I think what Governor Perry is getting at is that Governor Romney has claimed to have created 100,000 jobs at Bain and people are wanting to know is there proof of that claim?"

Romney is under fire from his rivals for his record running the investment firm for 15 years through 1999. Romney has claimed that he has helped to create about 100,000 jobs on net as a result of his time there, but the campaign has not said how they precisely came up with that figure.

Romney's rivals, including a group supporting former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, are running millions of dollars of advertising against Romney in South Carolina, which holds its primary January 21. The ads claim that Romney destroyed communities when Bain invested in companies that later shed workers and some even went bankrupt, a charge which had until recently been most often heard from Democrats, not fellow Republicans.

Palin said it is better for the Republicans to press Romney on these matters now, since President Obama and his re-election team are sure to use these lines of attack against Romney if he becomes the Republican nominee for president.

"They need to vet one another," Palin said of the Republicans hoping to get the nomination.

Gingrich, who has been one of the most vocal critics of Romney, on Wednesday said he is not able to speak rationally about his chief rival on the matter.

Gingrich's comment came after a voter in Spartanburg, South Carolina, told Gingrich that he believed the former House speaker has "missed the target on the way you're addressing Romney's weaknesses."

"I want to beg you to redirect and go after his obvious disingenuosness about his conservatism and lay off the corporatist versus the free market," said the voter.

Gingrich replied: "I agree - I agree with you." His spokesman later said the former speaker is not backing off attacks against Romney.

Full coverage: Campaign 2012

[hoeldy]

Just great that Sarah Palin thinks she is entitled to demand that Romney disclose his income tax records and when she was running for VP, she refused to disclose any medical records, birth certificate, etc for Trig. Romney has no history of being dishonest and why should he show his records until it gets down to the final two campaigning for President on the GOP ticket. Sarah Palin has been caught in lies almost on a daily basis--as has Bristol. Go to Politicalgates to see all the LLC's/trusts/etc she has set up in different names. Both of them lied under oath in the trial of the college student who hacked into her illegal e-mail account. And look how she tried to weasel out of any responsibility for placing bulleye targets on the Democrats she wanted to lose their elections. Dirty fighter-dishonest-a real back stabber who deserves to be called barracuda.

[_Liann_]

The one thing which cannot be denied is the 40,000,000 under-employed or unemployed Americans. No matter how much blah-blah-blah the public relation agents spew, the creation of jobs are not keeping up with the outsourcing and not keeping up with the consolidating-mergers eliminating competition. There are vowels and consonants coming out of their mouths, but the truth refuses to agree with their paid propaganda.

[italianro]

She is a smart and beautiful lady.

[starving1968-3]

Now the lemmings are going to be REALLY CONFUSED....

[mick7744]

"Sometimes it gets rough and tumble as you try to hold these candidates accountable for what they are claiming."

MY GOD!

SARAH PALIN said that?

Americans were already aware that the former half-guv has no sense of honor or decency...and certainly no sense of shame...but now we must add no sense of irony to the list...

[ajcVeteran]

My fellow voters, please be wary and be very scared of Mitt Romney carney salesman of the Bain Capital carpetbagger company. Romney's extremist vulture capitalist job wacking ender approach is NOT 'what' Reagan's pro-business approach was about. Reagan's conservative business philosophy was about creating quality high paying jobs, not acting like Darth Romney and Bain factory busters whom swept down on struggling companies, took their double edge boot knives out and gutted them and their poor fellow Americans of ours...down to their skeletons. As your co-workers and you head for unemployment, off they go running in the other direction with millions in profits, preying on any company they can gleefully sack. He doesn't want to save your or America's soul...he wants to collect your dying hopes in his personal cookie memory jars---owning it in a way that you will never get it back.

Sadly, it was two US government bailouts that Romney/Bain applied for and utilized...that saved their company so they could then destroy more folks dreams.

In Gaffney, South Carolina for example, Bain's company, Holson Burns Group Inc, shut down a company while raking in $24 million dollar, doubling their initial investment as the South Carolinians he pink slipped...stayed home empty handed. As Romney-Bain said recently, he "like(s) to fire people". Indeed he does! When a business is run by ethical leaders and in the right hands, capitalism is a great job creator and community uplifter...just not in Romney-Bain's. In gaffney, after he shut down that company...a community of 12,000 suffered the side negative affects. You see, shutting down factories instead of saving them, harms lots more than those whom got let go...

Below link to actual copies of financial documents regarding this shut down and sale:

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/275058-holson-burnes-documents.html

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/275058/holson-burnes-documents.pdf

Romney-Bain collectively, gave conservative family values and what is respectable about America's business tradition a back eye and a bad name. Candidate Romney-Bain is no Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet, etc...Not by liberal mile.

As a combat veteran myself I believe---the Romney-Bain approach is robbing the suffering and giving them the middle finger as Romney-Bain and his family roll around their many home's palacial beds, luxuring in your hard earned money they hijacked from you.

Do fear, yes that's right---FEAR Romney Gecko swooping upon your city ripping apart everything you have left.. If he gets in, he'll take away everything that you and your family hold dear. In both Iowa and New Hampshire, 60% of the Republican voters voted AGAINST Romneycare man.

Fellow GOPers, your vital voting duty moment is near. It's up to each and every one of you---to stop Romney's carried out scorched earth conservatism.

One day he is for abortions, the next day he isn't. One day he tells T
Ted Kennedy I'm not for Reaganism, but today..he claims he loves Ronald Reagan. Our future voting, must enjoin to stop this poser.

This time, pretty...is just too pretty to be true. I know Ronald Reagan, and Mitt the Hun workforce terminator, is no Reagan. Good luck and God bless you!!!

[solidprinciples]

And when Palin became McCain's VP in 20008, Romney hit the media circuit to defend her, and continued to do so there after. When Obama, Perry, Gingrich and now Palin all agree, than you know hell is freezing over. If Palin wants to spin this as showing 'GOP Tough Love' towards Mitt, I don't think the public views it that way.

[sanebrain]

Now that Romney has the bimbo Palin against him , he is bound to soar. That is the last thing I would want if I were a candidate, is having Palin be on my side. Now we just need to hear from the other bimbo Bachmann. She is another one I would not want endorsing me.

[ladyang]

The vultures have come home to nest. You neocons/teabaggers are funny. Now you can't get enough of romney!

[zenia5]

Sarah who? Who really gives a rat's patootie what Palin thinks or says.