Mitt Romney's Skeleton Closet: Scandals, Quotes, and Character

[SunsetDreams]

Last edited Sat Jun 2, 2012, 01:54 PM - Edit history (1)

Medicare Fraud That Made Him Rich


In 1989, Romney led Bain Capital's purchase of Damon Corp., a medical testing company, and took a seat on the Board of Directors to better manage it. During Romney's four years, Bain tripled its investment, and Romney personally made $473,000 -- while Damon plumped its profits with Medicare fraud (running thousands of medical tests doctors didn't want, and billing Medicare for them). The company pled guilty to crimes committed during his tenure and paid a record fine of $119 million. Company President Joseph Isola pleaded no contest to fraud, and a vice president was also convicted.

Romney claims he "uncovered" the fraudulent claims and "took corrective action," but court records show that he did not notify prosecutors or stop the fraudulent billing. He just asked company lawyers what changes they could make to avoid prosecution, after the feds' LABSCAM prosecution targeted a different medical testing firm. The cheating continued, prosecutors say, until the day Bain sold the company to Corning. Furthermore, Damon Corp. was required to list in various SEC filings any significant legal risks it faced. Romney made no mention of the fraud he "uncovered," even though it led to a $119 million fine, the largest in history. Damon Corp. is another Bain acquisition that later went bankrupt, killing over a thousand jobs -- but not before Bain made $7.4 million in profit. By amazing coincidence, Rick Santorum also made a lot of money off of a company involved in Medicare fraud: Universal Health Care.

Top Aide Illegally Impersonating Police Officers

Well, it gets worse. According to three different anonymous sources, one who works for the Romney campaign, Garrity made up fake police badges -- bright silver plates with the seal of Massachusetts on them -- and gave them to several other staffers, who used them to order reporters and other people out of events, get past security guards, and avoid paying highway tolls. In fact, Garrity has been handing out badges since Romney was governor of Massachusetts.

So this was not just one staffer's personal fetish. Sources named at least two other Romney staffers who used the badges -- Mark Glanville and William Ritter. "They knew the badges were fake and probably illegal," the campaign source said. In fact, Garrity was Romney's right-hand man and rarely left his side. It's hard to believe that Mitt Romney himself did not notice the fact that Garrity was constantly flashing a police badge as they blew through security into various events. The Romney campaign has not commented on whether Mitt Romney knew about the badges.

http://www.realchange.org/romney.htm

"I saw my father march with Martin Luther King." (Romney's campaign later admitted that they didn't march on the same day, or in the same city)

"PETA is not happy that my dog likes fresh air." --on strapping his dog to the top of the car

"Hugo Chavez has tried to steal an inspiring phrase 'Patria o muerte, venceremos.' It does not belong to him. It belongs to a free Cuba." --invoking a phrase that translates to "Fatherland or death, we shall overcome," which Fidel Castro has used to close his speeches for years, and which is associated with Cuban oppression

"We should double Guantanamo!"

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/mittromney/a/romneyquotes.htm



Dumb Mitt Romney Quotes
Top 10 Dumbest Mitt Romney Quotes (So Far)

1. "Corporations are people, my friend… of course they are. Everything corporations earn ultimately goes to the people. Where do you think it goes? Whose pockets? Whose pockets? People's pockets. Human beings, my friend." —Mitt Romney to a heckler at the Iowa State Fair who suggested that taxes should be raised on corporations as part of balancing the budget (August 2011)

2. "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me." –Mitt Romney, using an unfortunate choice of words while advocating for consumer choice in health insurance plans (January 2012)

...

5. "I should tell my story. I'm also unemployed." —Mitt Romney, speaking in 2011 to unemployed people in Florida. Romney's net worth is over $200 million.

6. "There were a couple of times I wondered whether I was going to get a pink slip" –Mitt Romney, attempting to identify with the problems of average folk (January 2012)

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/mittromney/a/Mitt-Romney-Quotes.htm

Mitt Romney - Maine GOP Caucus Fraud here


Mitt Romney, bully with Rachel Maddow

Very long article but well worth the read.
Mitt Romney’s prep school classmates recall pranks, but also troubling incidents
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/mitt-romneys-prep-school-classmates-recall-pranks-but-also-troubling-incidents/2012/05/10/gIQA3WOKFU_story.html

Failed as Governor
Romney economics didn’t work then, and it won’t work now:

Ten years ago, Mitt Romney told the people of Massachusetts that his experience in business uniquely qualified him to strengthen the state’s economy. Foreshadowing the message of his current campaign, Romney presented himself as a “job creator,” whose experience as a corporate buyout specialist had given him special insight into how to grow the economy.

It was a false representation. For, as even his colleagues have acknowledged, Romney’s goal in business was never job creation. It was to maximize quick profits for himself and his investors, and those profits often came at the expense of the long-term growth of the companies they took over and the well-being of the men and women who worked there. Whether companies succeeded or failed, Romney Economics netted huge profits for him and his investors, but sometimes proved devastating for the middle-class workers whose jobs, benefits and pensions were put at risk.

So what did that experience mean for Massachusetts?

Romney campaigned for Governor on the promises of more jobs, decreased debt and smaller government. He served during a nationwide economic expansion, and when he entered office Massachusetts’ unemployment rate was still below the national average – where it had been for nearly a decade. Republicans and Democrats across the state were hopeful that he would deliver on his promises. When he left office, however, state debt had increased, the size of government had grown, and over his four years, Massachusetts’ record of job creation was among the worst in the nation.

Now Romney’s back, making the same pitch to America that he did to the people of Massachusetts. “I’ve had a real job,” he says. “I think it helps to have a real job, to be able to create real jobs.”

http://www.theliberaloc.com/2012/06/01/romney-economics-didnt-work-then-wont-work-now/


Romney Economics Failures
IN DETAIL: Massachusetts And Bain Capital
Almost 18 minutes long

_________________________________________________________________

Feel free to add your own. Keep Romney's greedy little hands off our White House!

[renate]

1. K&R

Thanks so much for putting this together!

[SunsetDreams]

3. My pleasure :)

[SunsetDreams]

2. Maddow: Chronicling Mitt's Mendacity, Vol. XX

On last night's show, Rachel talked at some length about a subject I follow with great interest: Mitt Romney's habit of saying things that aren't true. Summarizing some of yesterday's big political headlines, Rachel explained, "Just like Mitt Romney lied in his very first ad, in a really blunt, schoolyard kind of way. They're now lying in the new ad that is about Solyndra and Mitt Romney is lying about it personally out of his face at his big campaign stunt today.


(Watch Video At Link)

...

6. Romney went on to say, "You see, when businesses have lower taxes, they're able to invest in their future, put people back to work. Do you think President Obama's tax increases will add jobs in America?"

President Obama has not increased taxes; he's lowered them. Government spending, taxes, and deficits are all lower today than when Obama took office.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/01/12010806-chronicling-mitts-mendacity-vol-xx?lite

[SunsetDreams]

4. Romney does not bend the truth, he actually lies

By Eugene Robinson
Washington Post
May 31, 2012 12:00 AM

There are those who tell the truth. There are those who distort the truth. And then there's Mitt Romney.

Every political campaign exaggerates and dissembles. This practice may not be admirable - it's surely one reason so many Americans are disenchanted with politics - but it's something we've all come to expect. Candidates claim the right to make any boast or accusation as long as there's a kernel of veracity in there somewhere.

Even by this lax standard, Romney too often fails. Not to put too fine a point on it, he lies. Quite a bit.

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120531/A_OPINION0608/205310305/-1/A_OPINION

[felix_numinous]

5. At least W had a handler

but I don't think Mitt can be handled, if it even matters to the RW. They like idiot puppets.

[SunsetDreams]

6. I don't think you can keep a lid

on the Romney jar of cow pie. He is his own worst enemy.

[felix_numinous]

13. LOL cow pie

--maybe the R's have gambled themselves to the outer limits.

[SunsetDreams]

15. Romney likes to keep his money in the Outer Limits of the USA

Romney Parks Millions in Cayman Islands (Video at link)

Tax experts agree that Romney remains subject to American taxes. But they say the offshore accounts have provided him -- and Bain -- with other potential financial benefits, such as higher management fees and greater foreign interest, all at the expense of the U.S. Treasury. Rebecca J. Wilkins, a tax policy expert with Citizens for Tax Justice, said the federal government loses an estimated $100 billion a year because of tax havens.

Blum, the D.C. tax lawyer, said working through an offshore investment vehicle allows the investor to "avoid a whole series of small traps in the tax code that ordinary people would face if they paid tax on an onshore basis."

Wilkins agreed, saying the "primary advantage to setting those funds up in an offshore jurisdiction like the Cayman Islands or Bermuda is it helps the investors avoid tax."

"It helps U.S. investors avoid U.S. tax," said Wilkins, "it helps foreign investors avoid taxes in their home country, so it's not illegal or improper to set those funds up in a foreign jurisdiction, but it makes it more attractive to investors because it helps them avoid paying taxes on that income."

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/romney-parks-millions-offshore-tax-haven/story?id=15378566#.T8qAJdWJf24

[SunsetDreams]

7. Romney On Board: Marriott Accused Of Cheating Clients On His Watch

Mitt Romney, who makes his hands-on business experience a talking point in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, was a member of the board of directors and audit committee of a global company when it paid millions of dollars to settle charges of extracting kickbacks that cheated clients.

The company is Marriott International and the accusers were hotel owners who had hired Marriott to manage their properties under the Marriott name.

In recent weeks, Romney has come under fire for his role at Bain Capital, with critics faulting Bain for putting employees out of work when it bought up ailing companies and loading them with unsustainable debt—charges that Romney rejects.

But his actions as an independent director at Marriott in the late 1990s and again just two years ago open another window on the candidate’s record in business and leadership qualities.

http://www.browardbulldog.org/2012/01/romney-on-board-marriott-accused-of-cheating-clients-on-his-watch/

[SunsetDreams]

8. Mitt Romney: Goldman Sachs Guy

"I am not a Wall Street guy, classically defined," said Mitt Romney in a December interview with the Huffington Post. Private equity firm Bain Capital, Romney's longtime employer and the company that made him rich, he seemed to say, was a different breed from JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and the other Wall Street financial titans. It was as if he was distancing himself from the unpopular Wall Streeters who helped cause the 2008 economic collapse.

But in one key way, Romney is pure Wall Street. A review of his personal financial disclosure records shows that a chunk of Romney's wealth—he's worth an estimated $190 million to $250 million—comes from investments in an array of Wall Street banks and investment houses, none more so than Goldman Sachs.

Romney and his wife, Ann, have investments in nearly three-dozen various Goldman funds together valued at between $17.7 million to $50.5 million, according to a financial disclosure form (PDF) filed in August 2011. Those investments appear in the blind trusts and individual retirement accounts belonging to the Romneys. Romney's been a loyal Goldman Sachs client. His 2007 disclosure, filed before his first presidential run, showed Goldman investments valued at between $18.2 million and $51.5 million.

No other Republican presidential candidate comes to close to matching the size and breadth of Romney's investment portfolio. Nor do any of the other candidates' personal financial disclosures list any investments in Goldman-run funds. Romney's big bet on Goldman's financial wizardry could give more ammo to his critics who attack him as a out-of-touch corporate elite who profited by flipping companies and laying off workers, and who has little in common with average Americans. (A Romney spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.)

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/01/mitt-romney-goldman-sachs-investments

[SunsetDreams]

9. Mitt Romney:Big Oil's $200 Million Man

Billionaire Oil Baron Koch Brothers Plan to Spend More Than $200 Million on 2012 – “Potentially Much More.” According to Politico, “David and Charles Koch plan to steer more than $200 million — potentially much more — to conservative groups ahead of Election Day, POLITICO has learned. That puts their libertarian-leaning network in the same league as the most active of the groups in the more establishment-oriented network conceived last year by veteran GOP operatives Rove and Ed Gillespie, which plans to raise $240 million.” [Politico, 10/11/11]

"Principle Goal" and “Real Focus” of Koch's is to Win Presidential Race. In an article about the Koch's attempted takeover of the Cato Institute, the Chairman of Cato's board said David Koch told him a primary goal of their groups was to defeat President Obama. According to Slate, "In early November, David Koch met with Bob Levy, chairman of Cato’s board of directors, at Dulles International Airport. They were joined by Richard Fink, Koch's chief adviser, and Kevin Gentry, a vice president of Charles Koch’s charitable foundation who’d been put on Cato’s board of directors. (Former Americans for Prosperity President Nancy Pfotenhauer had joined the board after the same meeting.) “They said that a principle goal was to defeat Barack Obama,” remembered Levy. “The way David [Koch] put it was, ‘We would like you to provide intellectual ammunition that we can then use at Americans for Prosperity and our allied organizations.’ AFP and others would apply Cato's work to advance their electoral goals.”" According to Mother Jones magazine reporting on the Kochs, “the real focus was making Barack Obama a one-term president.” [Mother Jones, November/December 2011; Slate, 3/5/12]

New Yorker: “The billionaire brothers who are waging a war against Obama.” In a long investigative piece, the New Yorker looked at the Koch Brother’s ‘war against Obama.’ [New Yorker, 8/30/10]

Oil Company Profits Padded by Tax Breaks – Profits That are Recycled For Ad Campaigns. According to a New York Times editorial, “President Obama and the Senate Democrats have again fallen short in their quest to eliminate billions of dollars in unnecessary tax breaks for an oil industry that is rolling in enormous profits. A big reason for that failure is that some of those profits are being continuously recycled to win the support of pliable legislators, underwrite misleading advertising campaigns and advance an energy policy defined solely by more oil and gas production.” [New York Times, 3/30/12]

http://www.lcv.org/media/mitt-romney-the-200-million.html

[SunsetDreams]

10. Romney Economics: Cheat Main Street (Ampad and Bain)

Mitt Romney made a boatload of money for himself and his fellow fat cats. No doubt about it. Billions. But he made it the way Americans hate most -- Wall Street style wheeling and dealing.

Americans hate it because when all that scheming went bad, when the market collapsed, it was the 99 percent who footed the bill to bailout Wall Street. The same is true of Romney and Bain. When Bain bankrupted the companies it bought -- and Bain did that shockingly often -- workers and Main Street businesses paid the price.

Romney contends his money making as CEO of Bain qualifies him to be President of the United States. That's true if Americans believe money should flow out of their pockets, out of the cash registers of Main Street shops and into the Swiss bank accounts of Romney and his 1 percenter cronies.

Here are some of Romney's victims, Main Street businesses owed money by just one bankrupted Bain company, American Pad and Paper Co. (Ampad): Technical Coatings Laboratory, owed $125,191.20 and paid in bankruptcy $237.03; Services Plus Inc., owed $12,064.71, paid $22.84; Crown Vantage, owed $32,155.26, paid $60.89.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/leo-w-gerard/bain-capital-ampad-bankruptcy_b_1549471.html

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

24. Bain helped aggravate the U.S. deficit

What was Bain doing with the money they made for their investors while destroying jobs? They were investing it in offshore tax havens, eliminating it from tax liability and therefore aggravating the U.S. deficit. Romney should never be allowed to discuss the federal deficit without having this fact thrown in his face.

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/04/12/157766/mitt-romney-tax-havens/

[napkinz]

11. a sample ...

see more at my thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002749553

[SunsetDreams]

16. nice collection of quotes! nt

[treestar]

12. K&R

The Medicaid fraud one is really not a good thing for a free market advocate. Not only dealing with Big Government but defrauding it.

[Bozita]

14. Rmoney on Michigan's trees, ...

[SunsetDreams]

17. Nice cartoon!

[SunsetDreams]

18. kick

[ProgressiveEconomist]

19. Don't forget Acusphere, Spherics Inc, and Evergreen Solar. Rachel Maddow

mentioned them Friday as some of Romney's Massachusetts "Solyndras".

Republicans have devoted millions in anti-Obama ads to the supposed waste of taxpayer dollars on a GW Bush-era program that provided federal seed money for a solar firm that went bust. Of course, for most investment programs, MOST investments never pan out, and investors (and taxpayers) make money on their few huge winners.

But if Solyndra is a "scandal", so are Acusphere, Spherics Inc, and Evergreen Solar, who received Massachusetts State tax money when Romney was Governor.

IMO, these three names need to be made at least as famous as Solyndra, just to counter the steady drumbeat of Solyndra Solyndra Solyndra, which otherwise might have a cumulative effect on President Obama's public approval.

[SunsetDreams]

23. Thank you so much for that

I'm researching it right now. As much as Bush and people surrounding Romney are tied to Solyndras, do you think it was a set up? I'm not sure...just a random thought thrown out there based on what I've read so far. I'll add what I've found, as soon as I'm done researching it. In light of the damning information I'm finding, it may get it's own OP too.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

26. I'm glad you are going forward with this info.

Since of all the things you've mentioned in this thread, these Massachuserrs firms are the most relevant to current Romney ads and publicity srunts (such as his surprise bus trip with reporters to the shuttered Solyndra HQ last week), you may want to lead with it in writeups in the near future. It could serve as a "hook" for getting attention for the other things you've discovered.

[PufPuf23]

20. Mitt Romney is unfit to be POTUS.

The fact that Mitt Romney is a presumed candidate for POTUS is chilling.

[Rosa Luxemburg]

21. The more we highlight this the better

sent it to all the newspapers, Tweet it, FB it.

[spanone]

22. romney lies

[Ichingcarpenter]

25. Isn't his career just 'sterling'?

thanks Bill