David Corn: EXCLUSIVE: A government document shows that at Bain he held a $54 million

[Laura PourMeADrink]

EXCLUSIVE: A government document shows that at Bain he held a $54 million stake in companies that manufactured electronics in China and Mexico for US firms.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/mitt-romney-bain-outsourcing-flextronics-jabil-circuit


snip

In March 1999, shortly after Romney left Bain to take over the troubled Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Brookside Capital Investors Inc., a Bain-related entity wholly owned by Romney, filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission that listed dozens of companies in which Brookside held a stake the previous quarter. The roster included investments in Singapore-based Flextronics International ($13 million) and Florida-headquartered Jabil Circuit Inc. ($41 million), two companies that were leaders in the fast-growing field of outsourcing electronics manufacturing and offshoring production to low-wage countries. Together, these two investments represented almost 10 percent of Brookside's $559 million portfolio.

[Jim__]

1. I hope the Obama campaign is making a list of these things.

The news media will stop reporting them soon - thinking it's an old story. The Obama campaign will need to make an ad that specifically lists these off-shoring companies owned by Romney/Bain and the numbers of jobs outsourced.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. Makes me sad that there are so few big investigative news efforts anymore...I think of WaPo

during Watergate. You are so right.

[boxman15]

7. There are a few reasons for that too.

1. Most news outlets are owned by one of six corporations. They all have an interest in keeping the race as close as humanly possible so that people will watch TV, buy the newspaper, and read online. If Romney were to look like a ridiculous liar, he'd be set back. So, it's better to frame these things as a "he said, she said" type thing instead of calling it what it is so that the race remains close.

2. If you were to use facts to cast Romney as an out-of-touch lying plutocrat, which he is, you would alienate 40-45% of the audience. That's a lot of lost revenue.

3. Most reporters want to report on the facts. I studied journalism. Reporters all want to be the new Woodward and Bernstein. They want to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable, as the saying goes. Many (not all, mind you, but many) can't be that person, though, for the reasons listed above. They are instructed to be as inoffensive as possible. Don't alienate one end of the political spectrum if you don't have to. Instead of saying "Romney was listed as CEO, owner, etc. of Bain in 2001 according to SEC filings" say "Obama alleges Romney was with Bain longer than he says he was" and proceed to do a "he said, she said" thing. They don't want to lose their jobs, so they'll do that to keep their family afloat.

[DallasNE]

13. All Part Of The Corruption Enterprise

Money has corrupted everything and it is the consolidation of money that has fueled the corruption. Just today Dan Rather had a report on CNN outlining how political campaigns now pre-approve what reporters are allow to report on. In other words, self-serving statements are now passed off as news. Nothing works like it should because everything has been allowed to become corrupt.

[Coyotl]

24. George W. Money, Inc. Romney and friends is who Bush was working for.

This time, at least, they cut out the surrogate because that plan was a dismal failure.

[TeamPooka]

30. Bush is staying away because they are eliminating the middleman...

and taking over themselves.

[Frustratedlady]

3. David is doing a great job

I look forward to his articles.

[Blue Meany]

4. Some reporter (are there any left?) has to ask this guy: "Why *do* jobs go?" What

prompted you to send them overseas and what will motivate you to bring them back?

[6502]

26. No... we should not ask. Think about it...

If that question is thrown out it would beg the the Republicans and outsourcing supporters and anti-labor types to just respond with a barrage of their talking points. They will just throw out whatever they can with the hope that something sticks with the public. It's what they always do.

You know that those talking points are just excuses for greed and selfishness.
We know that, too.

To win, we do not need to focus on the causes then solve forward.

To win, we need to start with the effects and work backwards.

But only now, many Americans are catching on.
What is helping is that the information is getting out and people are speaking with each other about what the effects have been. The cousin out of work. The friend out of work. Themselves out of work. The infrastructure around them that is failing and the news reports of American firms moving to China and investing millions of US dollars to build infrastructure there.

People are now connecting the dots from the effects they are living with today and the real causes.

The people, en mass, are thinking.

Starting from the effect, the people will choose policies that do not feel the need to cow-tow to the wealthy, the corporations, the outsourcers, Republicans, etc.; but will come to understand the value of policies that support the society first.

It is unwise to give the enemy a chance to strike with their most effective weapon (if this was Dungeon & Dragons, I believe the weapon might be called "Confuse the Masses&quot .
The current approach nullifies it.

No, Meany, we should not ask.

[vlyons]

32. Jobs go offshore because

a) workers are paid much less. There are no labor unions to bargain for higher wages, better safety and working conditions, and benefits. In some countries like China, labor comes from convicts in slave labor prisons.
b) environmental regulations are lax or non-existent. Companies can dump pollutants into the air, ground, and water with impunity.

[Spazito]

5. David Corn is doing a great job investigating Romney's activity...

at Bain, his focus is the outsourcing/offshoring that took place even before Romney supposedly left Bain in 1999. We know Romney is lying about the timeframe and stayed at least three years longer but, with David's work, Romney can be tied to the obscene tactics of Bain before he 'left' while others are raising great questions regarding his time between 1999 and 2002.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

6. what doesn't make sense is that he's not against outsourcing. But, he does know it looks bad nt

[Spazito]

8. I think it's because of the economic climate now...

The repubs are trying to use the high unemployment numbers to slam the President and having their candidate, Romney, being a "pioneer of outsourcing" American jobs doesn't look good. The repubs are also fighting to keep the tax cuts for the 1%ers while cutting programs/increasing taxes on the poor and middle class, having Romney getting tax cuts while shipping American jobs overseas is not good 'optics' for them.

1%ers like Romney don't like a spotlight on the uglier things they do to ensure they grow their wealth on the backs of the American public, they like to keep these actions under cover, imo.

[Indykatie]

11. Closer Scrutiny on Romney Will No Doubt Also Disclose His Worth is Much Greater than $250 Million

I think this is another reason he is fighting the release of the returns. If I recall he spent a significant amount of his own money when he ran before (maybe in the $40-$50M range). If he was only worth $250 million I don't see him blowing that much of his own $$$ to try and get the nomination. Maybe the $250M number is what he has in US holdings that can be tracked.

[DallasNE]

15. That Also Doesn't Include

The $100 million trust fund he controls but is set up for his 5 sons. There is also the issue of how he could transfer that large amount of money tax free to his kids. And they will only be subject to taxation on the gains going forward at the "carry intrerst" 15% rate.

[DallasNE]

14. The Other Day Romney Told A Campaign Rally

That he worked at Bain for 25 years. Since Romney started at Bain in 1977 it would mean that he left Bain in 2002. Oops!

[Spazito]

22. Yes, the number of documents, videos, etc, that are coming out...

completely contradict Romney's contention he left in 1999 hence the ridiculous excuse put forward by Ed Gillespie re "retroactively retired".

The tax returns must have something completely devastating in them for Romney to be SO adamant about not releasing them. My suspicion, speculation only, is that he DID take advantage of the amnesty offer re offshore stashing of money and that would show up in his tax returns in 2009 and 2010 (remember there is a key reporting form that was NOT included in his release of his 2010 tax return). It would explain why the 'cost/benefit' decision was for NOT releasing them and try and overcome the hit about them instead.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

25. that's interesting....did anyone pick up on it? nt

[disndat]

9. Sadly, WaPo has become r.w.

George Will is WaPo leading r.w. writer, although even he seems to be mortified by the Tea Partiers and others of that ilk in the Republican Party.

[aquart]

12. Thank you for your concern.

[davidpdx]

33. I think you are being obtuse

You can disagree with a person, but dismissing them is rude. DU is a discussion board and people are not always going to agree. Personally rather than alert this, I think people should address it when people act like this.

People do have genuine concerns that the media will whitewash Romney's business dealings in order to make the election appear closer.

After the 2000 election people should be worried that the Republicans are going to try the same shit again. If they got away with it once, what's to say they couldn't again? I'm by no means saying they will, but it is possible. The big difference is technology has improved with the internet, cell phones (with camera), etc. which makes bring these things to light a bit easier.

The Republicans would kill if they thought they could get away with it to get rid of Obama that's how desperate they are. I would never underestimate the crap they are capable of.

I personally have a pretty good feeling that the election will turn out fine though, I'm skeptical we will get control of both chambers of Congress.

[warrior1]

16. kick

[ProSense]

17. Romney

loses WaPo fact checker Glenn Kessler
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002980717

[emulatorloo]

21. Glad to hear Kessler is starting to withdraw his head from the sand.

Still needs to pull it out completely. Or he is gonna look like a fact-avoider rather than a fact-checker

[malaise]

18. Willard the ReTHUG scumbag

is the 'outsourcer' in chief.

[Tarheel_Dem]

19. K&R

[Canuckistanian]

20. Ah, Flextronics

They're the go-to company for outsourcing electronics production. They're responsible for the slaughter of many good electronics manufacturing jobs here in Ottawa (Silicon Valley North).

Figures Romney's fingerprints are all over this.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

23. Mitt RobMe

[Raine]

27. Hopefully this won't get lost in the theater tragedy.

Luckily there are months of the campaign to go and plenty of time for the all the crap Rmoney has pulled to stick to him and drag him down.

[arely staircase]

28. ah the privilege nt

[kitt6]

29. When bad exposure of Repugs

come out; crazy things start happening. Now whether this is just coincidence; they are in there somewhere! Guaranteed.

[B Calm]

31. Exploiting, cheaper labor and younger developing

consumer markets outside the US that present more attractive investment opportunities is what traitorous predatory capitalists do!