JHB
JHB's JournalHow Uncle Sam Helped Mitt Romney Build His Fortune
Via Crooks and Liars
http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/how-uncle-sam-helped-romney-build-his-fortune
And not just a little cheaper. As the Treasury Department recently explained, "The effective corporate marginal tax rate on new equity-financed investment in equipment is 37 percent in the United States. At the same time, the effective marginal tax rate on the same investment made with debt financing is minus 60 percent--a gap of 97 percentage points." The result:
Or, for the likes of Mitt Romney, a business model.
For the leveraged buyout (LBO) kings of the 1970's and 1980's, that was the pot of the gold at the end of the rainbow. Because the same interest deduction applied whether debt was taken on for a new factory or just to pay investors, Josh Kosman detailed in The Buyout of America, the early corporate raiders and their private equity successors could almost mint money as they bought firms for a fraction of the overall deal size:
This isn't just about Mitt. Everything I've read about this sort of finanvial wheeling and dealing notes that much of it wouldn't have made financial sense without obscure provisions like this.
It's not "punishing success", and never was. It's about re-aligning incentives with desired outcomes, not incentivizing destructive ones. And exploiting a tax loophole, destroying good-paying jobs to free up enough money to make deductible payments on the debt you incurred, then cashing out for huge profit is not a desired outcome for anyone but the vultures taking the profits on it.
How Uncle Sam Helped Mitt Romney Build His Fortune
...or, "How I made millions and millions and millions by gaming the system (corporate debt interest tax deduction edition)".
Via Crooks and Liars
http://crooksandliars.com/jon-perr/how-uncle-sam-helped-romney-build-his-fortune
And not just a little cheaper. As the Treasury Department recently explained, "The effective corporate marginal tax rate on new equity-financed investment in equipment is 37 percent in the United States. At the same time, the effective marginal tax rate on the same investment made with debt financing is minus 60 percent--a gap of 97 percentage points." The result:
Or, for the likes of Mitt Romney, a business model.
For the leveraged buyout (LBO) kings of the 1970's and 1980's, that was the pot of the gold at the end of the rainbow. Because the same interest deduction applied whether debt was taken on for a new factory or just to pay investors, Josh Kosman detailed in The Buyout of America, the early corporate raiders and their private equity successors could almost mint money as they bought firms for a fraction of the overall deal size:
This isn't just about Mitt. Everything I've read about this sort of financial wheeling and dealing notes that much of it wouldn't have made financial sense without obscure provisions like this. And it's not as if this problem was unrecognized: once upon a time ordinary could deduct for credit card debt. Once everyone started getting cards and people discovered that by maxing out their cards they could cut their taxes, that was ended. Not so for other (corporate) forms of the same rule-exploitation.
This isn't about "punishing success", and never was. It's about re-aligning incentives with desired outcomes.
Mitt's Salt Lake City Olympics pins: why does his chin...
...have a bustline?
Pics via Digby's Hullabaloo. Post on the pins (first executive to be on a pin!):
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/heroes-in-their-own-minds.html
Stay classy, Mitt
The man Mitt is running against (as rendered by the Daily Show)
Fella's been around for years. Reagan ran against him, Newt spent his career protecting Cobb Country Georgia from him, and he's the Rupert Murdoch of the left:
Thomas Jefferson proposed putting Anglo-Saxon brother-kings on the Great Seal of the United States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hengist_and_Horsa
Obviously, Jefferson did not prevail, so we got the ol' Sam the Eagle here:
Now, if our Anglo-Saxon heritage is as strong as Mitt's people claim, where is Hengist Romney? Horsa Romney?
Why don't those names ever show up on "most popular baby name" lists? The only people I know of named Hengist are from Scandinavia. You know, the cesspit of socialism.
And would Horsa Romney get tax breaks for his dressage?
Note that Jefferson proposed we be represented by the great (x9) grandsons of a pagan god. How's that for the "faith of our Founding Fathers" crowd?
"Do you think that is the kind of person that is trying to hide things, or do things?"
While it doesn't get as much attention as the "you people" part of the interview with Ann Romney, this part jogs a thought:
Charles Keating
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Keating
Keating is best known as the man behind Lincoln Savings and Loan back during the S&L crisis, a high flyer who was swindling retirees by selling them "secure investments" that were actually junk bonds, and used the political influence of The Keating Five (four Democrats and John McCain) to keep it going.
Before that, in the 70's, he had a some dubious dealings too:
By 1975 and 1976, several stockholder lawsuits were filed against American Financial, and Keating was under fire for aspects involving unsecured loans, stock warrants, and the sale of the Enquirer.[41] The Securities and Exchange Commission launched a major investigation of the company and charged Lindner, Keating, and others with having defrauded investors for their own benefit and filing false SEC reports.[27][52] At particular issue was a $14 million loan that the SEC said was made on preferential terms.
How did a guy with such dubious dealings get in charge of an S&L (aside from deregulation)? He acquired a reputation as an upstanding citizen.
Keating was (and is, he's not dead) a very moralizing Catholic, and when he had money he donated to Catholic charities, including a million dollars to Mother Theresa's organization.
Going back to the mid-50's, he was a crusader against smut and pornography (and defined it broadly).
So yes, Mrs. Romney. Of course plenty of honest, honorable people donate to their church, but the fact that someone does so is no proof at all that they're not a swindler or have some other agenda.
By the way, I notice your husband plans to crack down on pornography. Please excuse me while I find an MP3 of the theme from The Twilight Zone.
43 Years ago today, we created a symbol that anything was possible
To insert a break into today's sad news and toxic politics
We used to build great things, achieve accomplishments that once had only been flights of fancy, and chose enduring words like "we came in peace for all mankind" rather than chest-thumping bravado.
And if you describe our economy and policies back then to today's Republicans, we were a bunch of "socialists".
Where Have I heard Mitt's explanations before? Hmmm...
Demand a full and accurate prospectus from the Business Leader
Mitt should fully disclose everything. Period.
All the tax returns he gave John McCain, plus the ones since then.
All the documents related to his relationship with Bain and its associated companies and other organizations (whatever their actual name and category might be).
Full accounting of his offshore accounts. And any in his wife's name.
Not merely what the law requires. Not "more than this, less than that". Not just the minimum he can get away with revealing. Everything.
Sure, usually that information is considered private. This isn't usual.
How much he made and how he made it has a direct bearing on his potential presidency, because that's supposed to be his strength: that his monetary success gives him expertise and vision to lead the country as a whole.
If keeping it private is that important to him, then let him stay a private citizen. If he wants to be president, if he wants the broad public to "invest" in him with their votes, then he needs to put forth a compete and accurate prospectus. He can monkey around all he wants, but nobody is obligated to vote for him.
(well, nobody except the guys the Republican Party made sign loyalty oaths)
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Gender: Do not displayCurrent location: Somewhere in the NYC metropolitan statistical area
Member since: 2001
Number of posts: 37,160