Tag Archives: Romney

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The Top 10 GOP Attacks on Bain Capital

05/24/2012 Nativegrl77

When Republicans Thought Bain Capital Was Fair Game

Just as it did earlier this year during the Republican primary, Mitt Romney’s record of amassing a quarter-billion dollar fortune by bankrupting companies, shipping jobs overseas, and laying off thousands of American workers is dominating the headlines.

The Romney campaign is claiming that the attacks amount to unfair “character assassination” (even as one of Romney’s top surrogates today declared discussion of Romney’s experience at Bain “fair game”). President Obama himself addressed the issue yesterday:

And the reason this is relevant to the campaign is because my opponent, Governor Romney, his main calling card for why he thinks he should be President is his business expertise. He is not going out there touting his experience in Massachusetts. He is saying, I’m a business guy and I know how to fix it, and this is his business.

And when you’re President, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot. Your job is to think about those workers who got laid off and how are we paying for their retraining. Your job is to think about how those communities can start creating new clusters so that they can attract new businesses. Your job as President is to think about how do we set up a equitable tax system so that everybody is paying their fair share that allows us then to invest in science and technology and infrastructure, all of which are going to help us grow.

And so, if your main argument for how to grow the economy is I knew how to make a lot of money for investors, then you’re missing what this job is about. It doesn’t mean you weren’t good at private equity, but that’s not what my job is as President. My job is to take into account everybody, not just some. My job is to make sure that the country is growing not just now, but 10 years from now and 20 years from now.

Just a few short months ago, Romney’s Republican rivals for the GOP nomination thought Romney’s tenure at Bain Capital was very relevant. As ThinkProgress’ Judd Legum notes, the Republican attacks “make Obama’s remarks sound tame by comparison.” He rounded up the top 10 GOP attacks on Bain. Here they are:

1. “The idea that you’ve got private equity companies that come in and take companies apart so they can make profits and have people lose their jobs, that’s not what the Republican Party’s about.” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/12/12]

2. “The Bain model is to go in at a very low price, borrow an immense amount of money, pay Bain an immense amount of money and leave. I’ll let you decide if that’s really good capitalism. I think that’s exploitation.” — Newt Gingrich [New York Times, 1/17/12]

3. “Instead of trying to work with them to try to find a way to keep the jobs and to get them back on their feet, it’s all about how much money can we make, how quick can we make it, and then get out of town and find the next carcass to feed upon” — Rick Perry [National Journal, 1/10/12]

4. “We find it pretty hard to justify rich people figuring out clever legal ways to loot a company, leaving behind 1,700 families without a job.” — Newt Gingrich [Globe and Mail, 1/9/12]

5. “Now, I have no doubt Mitt Romney was worried about pink slips — whether he was going to have enough of them to hand out because his company, Bain Capital, of all the jobs that they killed” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/9/12]

6) “He claims he created 100,000 jobs. The Washington Post, two days ago, reported in their fact check column that he gets three Pinocchios. Now, a Pinocchio is what you get from The Post if you’re not telling the truth.” — Newt Gingrich [1/13/12, NBC News]

7. “There is something inherently wrong when getting rich off failure and sticking it to someone else is how you do your business, and I happen to think that’s indefensible” — Rick Perry [National Journal, 1/10/12]

8. “If Governor Romney would like to give back all the money he’s earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years, then I would be glad to then listen to him” — Newt Gingrich [Mediaite, 12/14/11]

9. “If you’re a victim of Bain Capital’s downsizing, it’s the ultimate insult for Mitt Romney to come to South Carolina and tell you he feels your pain, because he caused it.” — Rick Perry [New York Times, 1/8/12]

10. “They’re vultures that sitting out there on the tree limb waiting for the company to get sick and then they swoop in, they eat the carcass. They leave with that and they leave the skeleton” — Rick Perry [National Journal, 1/10/12]

Tomorrow, we’ll run through how Mitt Romney’s time at Bain Capital fits in to the debate about building an economy that works for everyone, not just the wealthy few or doubling down on an economy that’s rigged to benefit the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.

Evening Brief: Important Stories That You May Have Missed

Can Ryan Murphy write another show about gay characters without making them trite and shallow?

A top Romney aide attacked workers fired by Bain Capital who have been telling their stories of devastation as “performance art gibberish.”

Sheriff Joe Arpaio doesn’t care that he used taxpayer funds to pursue his investigation of President Obama’s birth certificate.

The new GOP’s women caucus actually has a record of voting against equality for women.

Economists are starting to be cautiously optimistic about the housing market’s recovery.

These charts help bust the oft-repeated GOP myth that Obama’s spending is out of control.

Texas launches another war on history.

It’s official: Watching Fox makes you stupider.

Ohio’s prioritizes tax cuts for banks over funding for health care and education.

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Truth to Power – just the facts from Stephanie

05/23/2012 Nativegrl77

President Obama had some pretty powerful words on what this campaign is going to be about — and I wanted to make sure folks on the Truth Team heard them.
At a press conference Monday, the President was asked why the campaign is taking a look at Mitt Romney‘s record as a corporate buyout specialist, a record Romney’s been claiming as his chief qualification for the presidency.
The President said that while there’s nothing wrong with private equity, Romney’s priority wasn’t to create jobs — it was to maximize profits for partners and investors. A president has to focus on more than just that.
Watch the rest of his response on why Romney’s record should be looked at, then share it far and wide:

Video: President Obama on Romney's record

President Obama said of Romney, “his main calling card for why he thinks he should be President is his business expertise … And when you’re President, as opposed to the head of a private equity firm, then your job is not simply to maximize profits. Your job is to figure out how everybody in the country has a fair shot.”
Folks, that’s what we’re going to be fighting for this year — and it’s up to us to lay out the stark differences between Romney’s views and our President’s. Get our President’s back — pass it on:

http://my.barackobama.com/Truth-Team-May22

Thanks,
Stephanie
P.S. — Here’s the video the President refers to in his response. Definitely worth a watch.

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Truth to Power … just the facts from Stephanie

05/05/2012 Nativegrl77

I think the first item in this week’s tipsheet — The Life of Julia — lays out the impact this election will have on millions of American women more clearly than anything this campaign has done so far.
It’s a great tool for the Truth Team and our goal of making sure everyone gets the facts they need. So let’s get to it:
#1 The Life of Julia The Life of Julia is an interactive online tool that looks at how President Obama’s policies help one woman over her lifetime compared to Mitt Romney‘s plans. Whether it’s allowing young people to stay on their parents’ health insurance until age 26, expanding access to Pell Grants, or passing the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that allows women to stand up for their right to equal pay for equal work, President Obama has fought to help women of all ages. Under a Romney administration, Julia’s story would look a lot different: Romney would reverse many of President Obama’s accomplishments to pay for tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires. Take a lookat how the policies the President has put in place would affect a woman at each stage of her life, then share it with others:

#2 Romney: Too extreme for women Romney’s right-wing positions — like promising to “get rid of” Planned Parenthood, refusing to say whether he would have signed or vetoed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and his over-the-top praise for controversial public figures like Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett and Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell — make it clear just how out of touch he is when it comes to women’s issues. We put together a videohighlighting some of Romney’s most extreme stances. Check it out, and make sure others see it, too:

#3 Romney: “It’s not worth moving heaven and earth” On Tuesday, our nation marked the first anniversary of Osama bin Laden’s death. Romney and his allies spent the day claiming that anyone would have made the same call President Obama did. Of course, with the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy for Romney to boast that he would’ve ordered the bin Laden mission. But his own past statements on the issue simply don’t back him up. We chronicled some of these statements— take a look and let others know how Romney felt about things in 2007:

#4 Standing up to the Koch brothers In case you missed my email earlier this week, I recorded a video responding to the Koch brothers’ latest dishonest attempt to smear the President’s energy record. We’re going to call this sort of BS when we see it. If you haven’t already, please pass the videoalong and help set the record straight:

As we saw this week, our opponents are ready to throw anything at us in the hopes that something sticks. You’re an important part of how we’re going to fight these attacks and put the facts in the hands of voters this November. So I want to thank you for all that you do for the President, and all that you’ll continue to do this year.
Until next time,
Stephanie

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speaking of truth to power … 6

04/19/2012 Nativegrl77

What a week — Rick Santorum dropped out of the race, Mitt Romney continued to attack women’s rights, and the Republican National Committee dropped an ad we absolutely have to debunk. On top of all that, Thursday marked the six-year anniversary of Mitt Romney’s health reform in Massachusetts — one of the models for Obamacare — but you won’t hear him taking any credit for it.

Check it out all in this week’s tips:
#1 Video: Mitt Romney — Memories to last a lifetime With Rick Santorum leaving the GOP primary on Tuesday, it’s almost certain that Mitt Romney will be the nominee. To commemorate the GOP primary, and remind people of the extreme positions Romney’s taken over the course of it, we put together a short videolaying out some of his most “severely conservative” moments. Check them out, then share them with anyone who still thinks he’s a moderate:

#2 Keeping his word: 5 ways our president supports economic opportunities for women Governor Romney spent a good deal of this week attacking President Obama’s economic record among women. President Obama has said, “Every decision I make is all about making sure … all our daughters and all our sons grow up in a country that gives them the chance to be anything they set their minds to.” That includes supporting economic policies that help women, like extending the payroll tax cut — which helps 75 million women — or granting more than 16,000 business loans to small businesses owned by women. Check out the top five waysour President has kept his word to women, then pass them on:

#3 Fair Pay Act for women: Romney’s campaign not sure he would’ve signed if president The morning after Rick Santorum left the race, the Romney campaign was asked whether Romney supports the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which helps to ensure women can get equal pay for equal work. Their answer (which should’ve been a no brainer): “We’ll get back to you on that.” This is a basic step to stop pay discrimination in the workplace, the first bill President Obama signed into law in office — and Romney’s campaign isn’t sure if their candidate would’ve signed it. We put together a short video, featuring Lilly Ledbetter, on why equal pay is “not Republican and it’s not Democrat. It’s civil rights.” Watch it, and share it with folks who should see it, too:

#4 The six-year anniversary of Romneycare (Where’s the celebration?) Exactly six years ago yesterday, Mitt Romney signed Massachusetts health reform, or Romneycare, into law. At the time he called it a model for the nation. Six years later, and you don’t hear him celebrating it. Why? Because this godfather of Obamacare is promising to repeal national health reform on Day One in office. So much for a model for the nation. We put together a videoexplaining it — check it out, pass it on, and make sure people know he’s trying to take away the very protections he once fought for:

#5 Debunk this new RNC ad The Republican National Committee is out with a new ad smearing President Obama’s record, saying he hasn’t kept any of his promises from four years ago. You and I both know that’s a lie, so we put together a charge-by-charge rebuttal of the ad, laying out exactly what our president has done. Check it out, and make sure none of the RNC’s lies stick:

#6 Fact check the Koch Brothers on Obamacare The George Mason University Mercatus Center released a report this week claiming Obamacare will actually add to the deficit, to the tune of $340 billion. But don’t for a minute believe that they don’t have an agenda — this center is primarily funded by the Koch brothers, and was founded by their chief lobbyist. A quick look at studiesfrom actual non-partisan sources, like the Congressional Budget Office, back up what the President has said about Obamacare all along — it will actually cut the deficit by $127 billion. Make sure their report doesn’t pick up any steam — share the truth:

Thanks,
Stephanie
P.S. — Now that Mitt Romney is almost surely our opponent, the race is on. We created this Facebook graphic for folks to say they’ve got our president’s back. Share it on your wall here:

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Speak Truth To Power: truthteam Updates … Stephanie Cutter, BarackObama.com

04/09/2012 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

I wanted to make sure everyone on the Truth Team saw this, because it’s exactly why we started this group.

What you see in this video is what we’re up against from here until November 6th.

Check it out, and then pass it on:

If you feel inspired, pitch in to help fund our team’s work, and everything we do.

There’s only one way to make sure none of Romney’s false attacks stick, and that’s by calling him out on it every time:

http://my.barackobama.com/Tipsheet-April7-Video

Thanks for your help in doing that.

If you feel inspired, pitch in to help fund our team’s work, and everything we do.

American Energy Alliance, a Big Oil front group led by a former Koch Brothers lobbyist, is out with a new ad claiming that President Obama actually wants to raise the price of gas. You can’t make this stuff up — but they do!

We debunk their ad in our first two tips this week. Check them out, along with a few other hot topics, then pass them on.

#1 Big Oil’s new ad attacking President Obama
In a battleground state ad, the American Energy Alliance is falsely claiming that President Obama is actively trying to make gas prices higher. Why would they want to tear down the President? Because he’s working to end the $4 billion in taxpayer subsidies to big oil companies. And because he’s working with automakers to nearly double fuel economy standards by 2025, which will save families over $8,000 at the pump over the life of their car. What others would call a smart, commonsense move, they’re calling “government invention at its worst.” It’s pretty clear that this front group is looking out for only one set of interests — their own. It’s up to us to make sure they don’t succeed at misleading Americans. Pass this postalong:

#2 Infographic: Big Oil gets a hand from… Mitt Romney
This week, we also dug in a little on where the GOP candidates stand on Big Oil. Mitt Romney’s front and center in supporting them — he would protect their $4 billion in taxpayer-funded subsidies, and his new tax plan would’ve granted them even more in tax breaks, to the tune of $2.7 billion in 2011 alone. He would even give free rein to oil speculators by repealing Wall Street reform. We crunched the numbers and created this infographic. Check it out, and make sure others see it, too:

#3 Video: Romney lies about the President on fiscal responsibility
What’s the easiest way to show someone’s lying? Their words vs. the truth, back-to-back. Check out this videofeaturing Mitt Romney’s attempt to twist the President’s words about fiscal responsibility, followed right up by exactly what the President said.

#4 Keeping his Word: Manufacturing
Vice President Joe Biden is back on the campaign trail and recently spoke with factory workers in Davenport, Iowa, saying, “I come here today with a very, very simple message: Manufacturing is back.” We noted the occasion with a videoabout how President Obama kept his word from four years ago when he said, “To those who think that the decline of American manufacturing is inevitable or that manufacturing has no place in the 21st century economy, we say right here and right now that the fight for manufacturing’s future is the fight for America’s future.” A report yesterday shows American manufacturing expanding for the 32nd consecutive month. Watch the video, then ask your friends to check it out, too:

The President and Vice President have been fighting to bring back
manufacturing jobs — though Mitt Romney said the President was “out of touch” for suggesting that young people pursue these jobs. But when we take a lookat Mitt Romney’s jobs record, we can see that he’s shipped jobs overseas, and even chosen to invest some of his money there. So before he tries again to tout his jobs record at Bain Capital or as governor of Massachusetts, fight back — with the facts:

#5 Five times Romney’s flunked on foreign policy
Mitt Romney has exhibited a significant lack of knowledge when it comes to foreign policy. From saying he’d like to continue to stay in Afghanistan when most Americans disagree, to calling Russia our “number one geopolitical foe,” we put together his top five foreign policy blunders. Pass them on:

#6 What happens if we repeal Obamacare
To cap off the two-year anniversary of Obamacare, we put together a videohighlighting what would happen if any of the leading GOP candidates got their way and repealed it. Watch the short video, then share it with friends and family. This is one thing we need to make sure people know:

Before I sign off, just one more thing. As you probably saw from the number of emails in your inbox last week, we faced a major fundraising deadline on Saturday — our first big test of 2012. We’ll report back after we crunch the numbers, but I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who chipped in to support the campaign. And, of course, thanks for all you do as members of the Truth Team.

Until next time,

Stephanie