Obama presses Bain attacks despite D grumbles
The Philadelphia Inquirer's Thomas Fitzgerald covers politics and political animals under the big tent.
Obama presses Bain attacks despite D grumbles
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
President Obama’s re-election campaign is continuing its attacks on Republican Mitt Romney as a job killing profiteer during his career in private equity, launching a web video Monday centered on the experience of workers at Ampad, a paper company.
Bain Capital, where Romney was CEO, bought Ampad in 1992, mostly with borrowed money, then acquired other paper companies over the next several years. By 1999, the company carried $400 million in debt, and it went bankrupt in 2000. Bain realized a profit of $100 million on its initial $5 million cash investment.
The latest Obama video focuses on a paper company in Marion, Ind. that Bain-controlled Ampad bought in 1994; all 250 workers were immediately fired and made to reapply for their jobs – at much lower wages and benefits. That plant closed one year later. The video features interviews with several workers who saw their middle-class lives fall apart.
Romney, who was governor of Massachusetts from 2003-2007, touts his Bain experience as an important credential as a job creator. Obama strategists believe there is a darker story: of a man who pursued profits at the expense of workers, an enemy of the middle class.
The Obama campaign came under fire from a top surrogate on the Bain issue on Sunday, when Newark Mayor Cory Booker said on NBC’s Meet the Press that he found the attacks “nauseating.”
"I'm not going to sit here and indict private equity. To me we're getting to a ridiculous point in America," Booker said on Meet. “If you look at the totality of Bain Capital's record, they've done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses, and this, to me, I'm very uncomfortable with.”
Later Booker released a video, presumably after heat from the Obama camp, in which he sought to clarify his comments. He said that Romney’s record at Bain was fair game, and added he had been making the point that there are too many negative attacks on both sides of the presidential race.
Last week, the Obama campaign highlighted a GST Steel, a Kansas City-company that was bought by Bain and then went under (though it was also under heavy pressure from imports of cheaper foreign steel.)
The Romney campaign Monday called the Obama attacks “an assault on the free-enterprise system.”
Here is the web video that the Obama campaign is circulating :
Romney destroys 250 jobs and profits $100,000,000 at Ampad
Romney destroys 750 jobs and profits $140,000,000 at GAT Steel
Romney made more money when he destroyed more jobs. Why would Romney create more jobs for us?— Seed
Comment removed.- Better yet, invite the Muslim Brotherhood to the White House for a party!...Oh, that already took place... sorry.
— dogman5 - Who sold WMD to Saddam? Rumsfeld and Chenney.
Who funded Osama in Afghanistan? Ronald Regan
Who hosted taliban in Texas? Governor Bush
Anything for money and misguided polities, that's GOP for you!— Seed - Seed seriously? Posting and commenting on every single post? Your obession with promoting Obama and Demoting Romney is kind of creepy. — towelie
- In MA Romney destroyed jobs to make it 47th in job creation in nation. Year before that MA was 37th in job creation.
Romney and his business friends made more profit than ever. On top of it he kept the tax low for his friends while increasing state fees by $450,000,000. Fees are taxes targeted at middle class and poor.
Romney followed his pattern of making money by exploiting the people from business world to political world. Why would he do any different for the whole country?— Seed - Harvard Hoover- Harvard MBA- great depression
George Bush- Harvard MBA- second depression
Mitt Romney- Harvard MBA- third depression?
Vulture capitalists don't create! They destroy; death is where they see the best opportunity like a mortisian— Seed - Who the heck is "Harvard" Hoover and what is a "mortisian," genius? — E
- Thanks for reading!
Corrected name would be Herbert Hoover.
It is good to know that some tea baggers have knowledge of history; but they refuse to learn from it.— Seed - Despite holding all the voting cards and deficit spending at the highest levels in the history of mankind....Barack Obama has not a single economic accomplishment he can use in his campaign. So, he attacks Romney. If that is what he needs to campaign on it is just further evidence that Barack Obama has earned & deserves his legacy of The Failure in Chief. "Historic" presidential disaster.— kelprod2
- So the company was deep in the black until the salaries were revamped, right? WRONG! Attempts to rescue the company fell short because it was too far gone. It could no longer compete. If anything, the closure of layoffs were delayed a year.
— lefty - In short, Romney circles around a weak animal, feeds it 5 million dollar and cashes out 100 million that kills the animal. Then Romney transfer the pension and other cost of the employees to the tax payers.
Vulture capitalist as Rick Perry described him! A heartless soul!— Seed - What did your boy Cory Booker have to say about it recently seed?? Fact is, even most Demo's agree with Booker. — dogman5
- Booker said Romney is a vulture capitalist and bringing attention to this vulture like behavior is legitimate issue.
Update yourself on the news.— Seed
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
