Report: Bain employees raise millions for Romney

Mitt Romney.

(CBS News) Amid ongoing questions about the nature of Mitt Romney's role at Bain Capital between 1999-2002 - the years he helmed the 2002 Olympics - several new reports suggest that his relationship with Bain, though complicated, continues to bear fruit for the Republican presidential candidate.

According to USA Today, which pieced together data about Mitt Romney's campaign bundlers through an analysis of campaign press releases, FEC reports, news items, and reports from the nonpartisan watchdog group the Sunlight Foundation, former and current Bain employees have contributed $4.5 million toward Romney's presidential campaign.

Unlike President Obama, Mitt Romney does not make public the names of his bundlers. But USA Today cites 26 Bain employees past and present who have led fundraising efforts on behalf of the former Massachusetts governor, including two current Bain managing directors, Steven Barnes and Stephen Zide. Zide, according to USA Today, is on the board of a company purchased by Bain in 2006 that is in the process of laying off 170 employees and outsourcing jobs to China.

Questions about the extent of Romney's involvement at Bain from 1999-2002 continue to dog him. Romney contends he had no involvement in the company's investments or decision-making process after taking a leave of absence from Bain in 1999, but Democrats have questioned the veracity of that claim given the fact that he remained the company's CEO, president, and sole shareholder until 2002.

In an interview with CBS News last Friday, Romney said he had no management role at Bain during that period and could not recall ever attending a management or board meeting.

A Friday report by the Boston Globe paints the picture of Romney's ultimate departure from Bain as a complicated, drawn-out process during which the outgoing CEO "was not merely an absentee owner."

Write the Globe's Beth Healy and Michael Kranish:

"Interviews with a half-dozen of Romney's former partners and associates, as well as public records, show that he was not merely an absentee owner during this period. He signed dozens of company documents, including filings with regulators on a vast array of Bain's investment entities. And he drove the complex negotiations over his own large severance package, a deal that was critical to the firm's future without him, according to his former associates."

According to this account, Romney and his partners at Bain met in Palm Beach not long after he left to take over the Olympics, and the group tapped five managing directors to oversee the company going forward. Romney, however, remained formally the head of the company in 2002, when his retirement package was determined. And as the Globe reports, he used his considerable leverage as head of the company to negotiate a "generous 10-year retirement package." One unnamed Romney associate from that era also notes that by delaying his retirement, he maintained "his ability to extract a huge economic benefit" from the company.

Romney has insisted throughout the ongoing debate that, though technically the CEO of the company, he "had no involvement with the management of Bain Capital" after February of 1999, as he told CBS News' Jan Crawford last week.

Democrats, as well as a number of Republicans, have urged Romney to release his tax records from the years in question, which they argue would shed light on his finances and possibly illuminate further details about his involvement - or lack thereof - at Bain.

Romney, however, has so far demurred, arguing that releasing additional returns will just give Democrats fodder for distraction from the real issues of the campaign.

[milek0032]

Dirty money.

[marychgo]

I don't know whether Mitt Romney or Bain Capital committed a felony by showing Mitt as the boss for two or three years after he left for Utah and the Olympics. But I DO wonder why nobody seems to care at all that those SEC documents misled potential investors, vendors, creditors, and other stakeholders for years!

Showing Romney as "sole owner" is fine; that seems to have been the fact. But showing Romney as "Chairman, CEO, and President" -- and FAILING to show the names of the five-member executive committee that was ACTUALLY running Bain -- from February 1999 until well into 2002 looks like material misrepresentation and material omission.

There was a recession in the early '00s. I'm guessing somewhere there's a wealthy investor or a pension fund or a college endowment manager who's looking at their investment returns from Bain during the period from 1999 through 2002 and wondering if they have a case to sue Bain Capital for fraudulent SEC filings....

[lami987]

U.S. unemployment situation will never get better with Bain bought companies and Romney wannabes still outsourcing jobs. If Romney wannabes like Steven Barnes and Stephen Zide were smart they would stop outsourcing, at least for now, until talk about outsourcing stops. Instead they collect money for Romney. Romney and Bain started outsourcing jobs long before 1999 and apparently Bain is still doing it.

[LEAVA12]

Monetary Achievement

"Why are you demonizing us for it? It's time we had somebody who believes in us, someone who believes that achievement should be rewarded, not punished", from the Romney campaign's latest television ad, released this morning, 07-20-2012.

Yes, monetary achievement may bring fame, political power, .... but it may be discredited.
The criteria to evaluate human monetary achievement is: Does individual achievement reflect the individual dignity and the individual patriotism?

If one has his or her monetary achievement at the expense of much human suffering or at the expense of the nation, then it is discredited; indeed "Wealth is a moral dilemma in Mormonism," . On the other hand, if the monetary achievement contributed to the welfare of other Americans and to the benefit of the country, then it is rewarded and saluted.

Patriotism is only an abstract word; everybody can claim to be patriotic but only real action can prove or disprove the claim. Millions of Americans who never take advantage of tax loopholes to lower their own income tax bracket to an unreasonable level are indeed patriotic. They have contributed to the welfare of Americans and to the benefit of the nation. On the other hand, when the most important public figures try to hide their tax returns or their business record, it makes their patriotism and dignity seem questionable.

Nobody can demonize any other one who has nothing to hide. A political campaign should not complain or beg voters to believe in nonsensical slogans. Voters have the right to know the true nature of the political candidate before they decide their votes.

[LEAVA12]

Comment about Mr. Speaker's statement

Ref: Americans, the speaker said, "are asking, 'Where are the jobs?' They're not asking, 'Where the hell the tax returns are.'"

Reply: (1) Where is the statistical data that justifies the word 'They'?

(2) Thanks for a good remark, Mr. Speaker, " 'Where are the jobs?'.

As an independent voter I believe that Romney's tax issue is a legitimate question since he is our Presidential candidate; paying tax is an act of patriotism.

Unfortunately patriotism is only an abstract word; everybody can claim to be patriotic but only real action can prove or disprove the claim. Millions of Americans who never take advantage of tax loopholes to lower their own income tax bracket to an unreasonable level are indeed patriotic. They have contributed to the welfare of Americans and to the benefit of the nation. On the other hand, when the most important public figures try to hide their tax returns or their business record, it makes their patriotism and dignity seem questionable.

I have only one question: Where is the compelling evidence to prove that our Presidential candidate Romney has been a job creator?

Finally please read: "The first quarter of this year was the best in terms of private sector job creation ... in six years," Axelrod said. "What the president has said is that we need to take some urgent action, and he's called on Congress to do that." and "The truth of the matter is we've created 4.3 million jobs over the last 27 months, over 800,000 just this year alone.

[LEAVA12]

Here are at least six facts to back up "Fact or Fiction" about Bain Capital:

(1) The Securities and Exchange Committee shows: Romney was in charge of Bain Capital from 1999-2001.
Read more: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Obama-unrelenting-on-bashing-Romney-s-job-record-3706765.php#ixzz20bYNqfbl

(2) An affiliate of Bain, Brookside Capital Partners Fund, in 1998 purchased a 6 percent stake in Global-Tech Appliance, which manufactures appliances in China. In fact, Brookside had even listed Romney's name as President and CEO of Brookside Inc.

(3) "Global-Tech made appliances for American companies like, Hamilton Beach, Mr. Coffee, Proctor-Silex, Revlon, and Vidal Sassoon. By the end of 1998, Brookside and Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors LTD, Romney's Bermudan investment fund, both owned pieces of Global Tech. Both Brookside and Sankaty sold their stake in Global-Tech in 2000 after Romney left Bain to work for the Salt Lake City Olympics."
Read more: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/07/romney-used-his-bermudan-offshore-company-invest-chinese-outsourcing/54476/

(4) "On April 17, 1998, Brookside Capital Partners Fund, a Bain Capital affiliate, filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission noting that it had acquired 6.13 percent of Hong Kong-based Global-Tech Appliances, which manufactured household appliances in a production facility in the industrial city of Dongguan, China...
At the time Romney was acquiring shares in Global-Tech, the firm publicly acknowledged that its strategy was to profit from prominent US companies outsourcing production abroad."
Read more: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/bain-capital-mitt-romney-outsourcing-china-global-tech



(5) However, the global expansion that Romney started at Bain persisted even after he left. Bain, in 2000, announced its expansion to Mexico, China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and South Korea. In 1997 Modus Media issued a news release which stated that its outsourcing services occurred in close consultation with Bain; as stated by Terry Leahy, chairman and chief executive of Modus, he would be "working closely with Bain on strategic expansion." In fact, the corporate board of Modus had three Bain directors on it.
Read more: http://ia.aflcio.org/96/index.cfm?action=article&articleID=2e22b040-c31a-4366-a6c0-1398122032a3

(6) "One of those was a California bicycle manufacturer called GT Bicycle Inc. that Bain bought in 1993. The growing company relied on Asian labor, according to SEC filings. Two years later, with the company continuing to expand, Bain helped take it public. In 1998, when Bain owned 22 percent of GT's stock and had three members on the board, the bicycle maker was sold to Schwinn, which had also moved much of its manufacturing offshore as part of a wider trend in the bicycle industry of turning to Chinese labor."

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/romneys-bain-capital-invested-in-companies-that-moved-jobs-overseas/2012/06/21/gJQAsD9ptV_story_2.html

One more ironic fact, Bain Capital's Managing Director Stephen Pagliuca apparently has a strange view on job creation. His goal is not to directly create jobs; it seems he believes that he can do it indirectly by building "great companies." In fact, on an interview on Bloomberg TV, he said "Bain Capital is not trying to create jobs. It's trying to create great companies, but great companies create jobs. "

Read more: http://articles.businessinsider.com/2012-01-27/wall_street/30669538_1_job-creation-private-equity-mitt-romney

On Friday, 07-13-2012, in five interviews, Romney insisted that the had nothing to do with Bain after 1999, even demanding an apology from the Obama campaign for insinuating that Romney may have committed a felony if his statement was not true.

[LEAVA12]

Romney's Bain issue is a "lose-lose strategy " for Mr. Romney unless he is able to overcome many negative aspects relating to his management of Bain Capital.

Bain Capital is a private equity firm which made its money by purchasing businesses and making a profit through any means possible. According to the New York Post, during Romney's 15 years as a head of this company, he made a lot of money for himself at the expense of five profitable businesses, whose bankruptcies resulted in thousands of workers unemployed and an additional burden for taxpayers. The ironic fact is: the bankruptcies of other companies actually brought profits to Bain Capital. Indeed, Bain Capital was not a job creator as a vice president for Dade experienced when his company borrowed money from Bain and ended up in bankruptcy due to high interest from Bain.
According to the Boston Globe: "Romney had chances to fight to save jobs, but didn't..."
Romney still has a chance to turn this losing issue around if he is able to answer questions about his tenure at Bain Capital and clear up his bankruptcy record. In particular, Romney needs to answer questions about the following:

- Bain invested $5 mission in Ampad; the result was $100 million in dividends for Bain, but Ampad lost 385 jobs and had a $392 million debt in 1999, finally declaring bankruptcy in 2000.
- Stage Stores received a $5 million Bain investment. The result was $100 million in stock offerings for Bain. However, Stage Stores suffered the same fate as Ampad and declared bankruptcy in 2000.
- Bain received $65 millions in dividends after infusing $60 million in GS industries; nevertheless GS industries laid off 750 workers at bankruptcy in 2001.
- Dade International received $450 million in investments and borrowed $421 million from Bain Capital. The result was 2,000 workers laid off and a bankruptcy declaration in 2002.
- Bain invested $46.3 million in DDI Corp and received $85.5 million in profit as well as $10 million in "management fees." 2100 workers were laid off and DDI Corp declared for bankruptcy in 2003.
- Details Inc received $46 million in Bain investments. Bain earned $93 million in stocks. Unfortunately, Details Inc filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

Based on these facts, it seems that the nature of Bain Capital investments was parasitical - feed off a healthy living host until it dies, then move on to another host, thus repeating a cycle of destruction.

Sources: Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg News, New York Post, Boston Globe, http://www.romneygekko.com/mitt/

Romney also has an outsourcing problem. Bain Capital, with bases in foreign countries, has created jobs overseas; these jobs could have been filled by Americans. In particular, Bain Capital has created jobs in China, a strategical counterpart of the USA in the aspects of trade and national security, especially in the South and East China Seas and involving surrounding countries.
http://www.greenvilleonline.com/videonetwork27713/1702672066001/Romney-s-Outsourcing-to-China-Problem

[LEAVA12]

As for the tax issue, "the Republican candidate paid a 14 percent tax rate on $21.7 million in income in 2010 - far lower than the rate paid by many Americans because his earnings comes from investments rather than wages. Vanity Fair noted that Romney has continued to receive large payments from Bain Capital since leaving the private equity firm in 1999.", http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election-2012/romney-wealth-hidden-offshore-accounts-report-article-1.1107126#ixzz1zaNZQNKa

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney may keep about $30 million in the tax-free Cayman Islands, Vanity Fair reported on Tuesday, 07-03-2012.
"The Romney campaign claims that the candidate has not exploited offshore havens to avoid paying necessary U.S. taxes, but the Vanity Fair report detailed how Romney continues to have interests in at least 12 of the 138 funds, organized by his company Bain Capital, in the Cayman Islands.".

"Romney has said he gets no tax break. He told an audience at a Maine town hall appearance in February that "I have not saved one dollar by having an investment somewhere outside this country."
http://www.freep.com/article/20120704/NEWS07/120704006/romney-offshore-wealth-bermuda-sankaty, http://www.opposingviews.com/i/politics/2012-election/mitt-romney-keeps-30-million-tax-free-cayman-islands#

[wfw3536]

When is the media going to report on the 29 billion dollars Obama gave to foreign companies which helped them create jobs in their countries, or give us more information on the number of failed green energy companies that have gone bankrupt, or tell us how mnay union workers we will lose from Obama's agreeing to a trade agreement with 3 countries which we all know will take more jobs out of our country, or the fact that many of these green energy companies had connections with the Obama administration before they recieved money from the Obama administration.

[sjc_1]

They want to loot even more money, so of course they want Mitt.