Romney demands Obama apology over Bain attacks

Obama should answer questions about Obama!

“Ultimately Mr. Romney, I think, is going to have to answer those questions, because if he aspires to being president one of the things you learn is, you are ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations,”

Oh, please, Mr. Obama... we're talking about Republicans here, and thinking about past Republican presidents, when have the last few (at least) EVER been responsible for the conduct of their operations? In that sense, Mitt fits the bill for candidate quite well. And don't forget, he has promised to 'clarify everything once elected'. haha.

because if he aspires to being president one of the things you learn is, you are ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations,”

Well then Obama better hang it up. HOW can he ask for Romney to answer questions when he himself STILL refuses to answer questions on his background, AS WELL AS questions on his cronnies and how those relatoinships cross the lines (Solyndra...). Also dont forget all those broken promises (lies) either!!

If you are buying the hype and spin you need to do a little more reading in sources other than the HIGHLY slanted press. Romney has neither hid nor mis-construed his past, MUCH different from Obama!!!

okimike67: Obama released his birth certificate when the whole 'birthers' movement, led by Trump, demanded it -- and what egg on the face was that! It was priceless, although a lot of people are still in denial on the issue and are STILL demanding to see his birth records! You guys just don't see that those trees ARE the forest. Meanwhile, Romney is quite clearly hiding not only something, but a LOT! The whole Bain employment records, his income statements, offshore accounts, you name it! and again, the funniest part is that he quite literally SAYS he is holding things back but will explain them 'if you elect me' (although he says, "when elected"). How much more transparent can you be that you are lying?

Yes, the big answer to okimike67 is the birth certificate...nice!

Stay on topic please. Obama's birth certificate is not relevant to this discussion.

This is the same dirty, under-handed m.o. that the president's Chicago machine mentors used to get him elected back in Illinois. Obama had at least two of his opponents early in his career removed from the ticket by legal skullduggery before elections even rolled around. He is baasically trying to so the same here. As John Sununu pointed out yesterday the irony makes you wonder how bright this guy really is. Obama was literally surrounded by criminals in Chicago ; his neighbor and business partner Tony Rezcko is in jail and he was mentored by the likes of Rod Blagojevitch, also serving time in a federal prison.

The American people deserve better than Obama's cheap and sleazy demagoguery.

Obama said on Friday that Mitt Romney should answer questions about whether he worked for Bain Capital longer than previously described

Translation: Look at this nice, shiny object, American voters. Pay no attention to the economy.

RR

mitt is clearly bad news, painfully obvious, hope yanks are wise enough not to vote for his sorry you know what

Ha ha, good one, Romney! Of course Obama is never going to apologize for any of his political attacks.

LMAO... I find it laughable when one side claims the other side's politician broke promises, when both sides are guilty of it!! LOL

Oh, poor Romney, has been shielded for way too long is his own little make believe world, where he and his forefathers could get away with anything, oh but you wanna be prez of the US??? Gets what?? The gloves are COMING OFF buddy! Get ready for some good old fashioned RUMBLE in the jungle of American politics! Boy, I can not wait to see what the IRS has on old Mitt Romney!

"This is the same dirty, under-handed m.o. that the president's Chicago machine mentors used to get him elected back in Illinois."

No, this is the hardball tactics that Republicans have used in campaigns for years and now they're crying and whining about it when they're the receiving end.

How desperate it might be for Obama's camp to employ Chicago style politics in order to distract from their own "economy stupid" issue. If Obama looks at himself in the mirror, he would see his early convicted felons friends from Chicago including Rosko Rizzo and Blagojevich; naming a few and do not forget about Rev Wright! The 3D's of distraction, deception, and division are the game of choice for Obamabots. What about deficit, unemployment, class warfare, dictators gone wild around the globe...? We have not seen anything yet, just wait after the election, for the Iran conflict, Arab spring that have brought more fundamentalism instead of moderation, ...and many of Obama broken promises. Excuses and blame games are not what make the country better even might win some votes, and for what?

Correction, I mean Tony Rezcko and not Rosko Rizzo (for clarification of early Chicago friend of Obama).

Serrano: "Ha ha, good one, Romney! Of course Obama is never going to apologize for any of his political attacks."

Why should he? In his case he raises very poignant, and extremely important questions towards a man who wishes to be present. On the contrary, all the Republicans can do is cast shadows over sleeping babies, insinuating Obama is going to steal them, or suggest he is 'the One' (which you yourself still quote), in extremely poor taste. Obama is asking Romney to clarify something that could very well effect how he would deal with the economy (when he says it's his strong point), and his hypocrisy on the matter, whereas all Romney can do is say he'll clarify it after being elected, and when Republicans offer up nothing at all but mudslinging. Again, what should Obama apologize for? If Romney indeed worked beyond 1999, which he can certainly clear up by releasing records, then it shows he was indeed behind a lot of financial scandal and disaster. Same with all his off-shore accounts the reason why he changed the name of ownership one business to his wife's name the day before becoming Governor.

They're all very valid questions, Serrano -- perhaps the Republicans ought to take a page from Obama's books.

paulinusa: "No, this is the hardball tactics that Republicans have used in campaigns for years and now they're crying and whining about it when they're the receiving end."

You gotta love it. Not only can the man no longer dodge and deflect, Romney is now begging for an apology and playing the victim card. What'll it be next, I wonder. :)

I honestly can't wait for the debates to begin. Romney's going to have to spend the ENTIRE time not answering questions (I guess he does that now), but instead contradicting himself when he tries to deflect. Obama's going to sweep the floor with him!

Okimike67, If you are looking for ppl to fill vacancies and someone attending interview, who brags of 25 years(starting 1977~)of experience refuses to put down his resume, would you hire him? Why can't he show us if he isn't hiding anything? Why doesn't he want to stop all these 'speculations? And why do you support secrecy? Can you say play the card of 'It wasn't me' on international stage as president?

"In a blitz of television interviews, Romney demanded an apology from President Barack Obama..."

This is how Romney "strikes back"? by crying?

I (and maybe a few million other Americans) wonder why Romney only does interviews on Fox News.

I am supposed to be outraged that Romney handles his money very well while Obama blows mine, America's and that of unborn Americans even?

Corporations are people, by the way. And Romney - like America's most successful corporation, Apple - chose to put his earnings where they will do him the most good. That happened to be outside of the US.Tax laws leave job creators with no other options. You have to laugh at many of Romney's would-be detractors here. They are the type that imagine they castigate "big business" in America when they talk about America's trade deficit and then when wealthy Americans like Romney invest a portion of their wealth beyond our shores and put downward pressure on America's trade deficit the same whiny doofuses try to come here and defend a demagogue like Obama.

Obama throws hard-earned American money at hell holes like Greece and he outsources billions in jobs to countries like Finland (Fisker Karma).

Does the ideologue and economic illiterate Obama really want this battle ?

Even the WaPo (one of the most liberal newspapers in U.S. history) says the Globe's information is incorrect on this issue.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/mitt-romney-and-his-departure-from-bain/2012/07/12/gJQAASzUfW_blog.html

Heh, this has turned into another exploding cigar moment for "The One".

RR

I (and maybe a few million other Americans) wonder why Romney only does interviews on Fox News.

? From the article:

Romney told ABC News that Obama “needs to rein in these people who are running out of control.”

We don't have either in Japan. However, I am pretty sure ABC and Fox News are not the same network. Perhaps you need to read the articles before starting to wonder about stuff.

If Romney indeed worked beyond 1999, which he can certainly clear up by releasing records, then it shows he was indeed behind a lot of financial scandal and disaster.

The records were released and public years ago. From Factcheck.

None of the SEC filings show that Romney was anything but a passive, absentee owner during that time, as both Romney and Bain have long said. It should not surprise anyone that Romney retained certain titles while he was working out the final disposition of his ownership, for example….

We would reassess our judgment should somebody come up with evidence that Romney took part in specific management decisions or had any active role (not just a title) at Bain after he left to head the Olympics. But nothing we’ve seen directly contradicts Romney’s statements — which he has certified as true under pain of federal prosecution — that he “has not had any active role” with Bain or “been involved in the operations” of Bain since then. And we wish to note, we’re not alone in this judgement.

http://factcheck.org/2012/07/romneys-bain-years-new-evidence-same-conclusion/

Apologies the full portion of excerpt from Factcheck was missing in the above post

We would reassess our judgment should somebody come up with evidence that Romney took part in specific management decisions or had any active role (not just a title) at Bain after he left to head the Olympics. But nothing we’ve seen directly contradicts Romney’s statements — which he has certified as true under pain of federal prosecution — that he “has not had any active role” with Bain or “been involved in the operations” of Bain since then.

Romney was booed by a mostly black audience at the NAACP annual convention this week

And received a standing ovation "by a mostly black audience" at the end of his speech.

Also, how was Obama's speech received "by a mostly black audience"? Heh, there was none because he was a no-show.

RR

Romney was put on the spot by a Boston Globe newspaper report citing federal documents as showing he was listed as Bain CEO and sole shareholder in the three years to 2002, a time when he says he no longer ran the company.

The Boston Globe had to make a few changes to the article. They had a little editing problem it seems.

Pieces of this story were reported by other news organizations. We believe the Globe advanced the story with a more comprehensive and complete look that broke significant news and included additional documents. However, our policy is to give credit to other news organizations for their work. In the editing and shortening process, I have learned, passages giving credit were removed. That was a mistake, and we are now adding appropriate credit back to the online version.

Rowland says via e-mail that TPM and Mother Jones will get their due in the edits

That's Talking Points Memo that they failed to mention in their article, but it's good to see that "Objective journalism" is once again on display by the Media.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/globe-to-credit-tpm-mother-jones-in-bain-romney-story/2012/07/12/gJQACiobfW_blog.html?wprss=rss_opinions

RomeoR: "And received a standing ovation "by a mostly black audience" at the end of his speech."

Since it needs to be spelled out. The ovation at the end was a sign of respect -- for showing up and giving a speech despite knowing full well these people are probably not going to vote for him or approve of his ideas. As for the booing and heckling, those were FOR his ideas -- a very big difference, my friend. Even if your hero GWB were to show up and I booed him all the while, I would still clap for him having come (if he didn't run off during).

As for Obama not showing, he was busy being president (something you're guy will never be since it's clear he can't tell the truth and then always flip-flops if it comes out), and even then still sent a video speech. I'm sure he would have liked to have been there if he could have.

Did he profit from jobs being shipped overseas during that time, whether it was his call or not?

How bad must the internal polls be for "The One" to resort to this level of smear? A successful president would run on his record.

RR

RomeoR: "How bad must the internal polls be for "The One" to resort to this level of smear?"

Says the one STILL using this tired out smear from the Republican run at president! It seems only YOU guys think he's the one. I don't see anyone else saying it. :) As for Romney, he's just a fool who can't tell the truth, and all you guys can do is try to smear Obama to deflect. Typical, but not surprising, you sympathize with whom you do.

Fortunately the majority has a brain and will demand answers from Romney, be it before or at the polls. He won't win by avoiding these critical questions forever and saying "I'll clear it up when I'm elected". That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. You don't go into a job interview and say you'll give over your resume and job history once you've got a signed contract for the job.

Did he profit from jobs being shipped overseas during that time, whether it was his call or not?

No quite sure, I do know that he was quite busy at that time:

In response to the scandal and a financial shortfall for the games, Mitt Romney was hired as the new President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee, leaving him and IOC President Dr. Jacques Rogge to contend with the public outcry and financial mess.

And bringing in lots of overseas folks:

Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout 165 sporting sessions.

And making a 40 million dollar profit that built lasting infrastructure in the U.S that is still being utilized today:

The Salt Lake Games faced a bribery scandal and some local opposition during the bid, as well as some sporting and refereeing controversies during the competitions. Nevertheless, from sporting and business standpoints, they were among the most successful Winter Olympiads in history; records were set in both the broadcasting and marketing programs. Over 2 billion viewers watched more than 13 billion viewer hours.[5] The games were also financially successful raising more money with fewer sponsors than any prior Olympic Games, which left SLOC with a surplus of $40 million at the conclusion of the games. The surplus was used to create the Utah Athletic Foundation, which maintains and operates many of the remaining Olympic venues.[5]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Winter_Olympics

The liberals/Obama caught out lying about Romney again. The Globe hit piece has been debunked by of all media outlets The Washington Post. You'd think Obama's F-Troop would do a bit of fact checking before trying this smear. It's as if they think people don't remember that democrats tried this same thing in 2002 against Romney in Mass. The result of their efforts back then? He won in a deep blue state.

RR

And for the record when he was hired as:

On February 11, 1999, Romney was hired as the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2002.[121]

Romney and his wife contributed $1 million to the Olympics, and he donated to charity the $1.4 million in salary and severance payments he received for his three years as president and CEO.[134]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitt_Romney#2002_Winter_Olympics

So where IS Mitt's money? Seems he's gone out of his way to hide it from both the public and the IRS: http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/08/investigating-mitt-romney-offshore-accounts

Sailwind, stop copying and pasting to promote your guy. He can do it himself by just telling us what he has under the sleeves. Not until after we've hired him. That will be scary

He can do it himself by just telling us what he has under the sleeves.

He has told us and they've also been independently fact-checked.

But nothing we’ve seen directly contradicts Romney’s statements — which he has certified as true under pain of federal prosecution — that he “has not had any active role” with Bain or “been involved in the operations” of Bain since then.

http://factcheck.org/2012/07/romneys-bain-years-new-evidence-same-conclusion/

Heh, even MSDNC is on the air here in the States reporting that the Bain Capital accusations against Romney are not true.

Classic.

RR

sailwind, 25 years from 1977 ends in 2002. No one can spin that. if it was me, I will release all to silence the doubting thomases and move forward. Now he makes us scared and wanting to know more.

And remember after McCain saw Romney's returns until 1984, he had no choice but to choose Palin! Something McCain saw is too gruesome for the rest of us

If Romney can get past this stumbling block, he may be able to win the election the old-fashioned way: he can buy it.

Wow, that is deep. So deep that I bet you don't have a even a single example (from American presidential elections) that could make your preposterous case.

sailwind, 25 years from 1977 ends in 2002. No one can spin that. if it was me, I will release all to silence the doubting thomases and move forward.

He left Bain active management in Bain in 1999. It was even investigated by the 2002 Massachusetts Ballot Law Commission report that certified that Romney could run for governor (Democrats at the time were trying to nullify him from the ballot as a non-resident since he moved to Utah in 1999 to run the Winter Olymplics....The investigative report stated.

“The Respondent was employed in Massachusetts from 1975 until 1999.”

“On February 11, 1999, the Respondent went to Utah to take the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for the Salt Lake Organizing Committee of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games, a non-profit organization burdened by scandal and fiscal crisis.” “On or about February 11, 1999, the Respondent became an employee of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for a fixed term of three years. While so employed, the Respondent worked, on average, over 12 hours per day, 6 days per week.”

Washington Post (of all places) concluded in its fact-checking on this:

The Obama campaign is blowing smoke here

Meanwhile, the weight of evidence suggests that Romney did in fact end active management of Bain in 1999. He stated that in a federal disclosure form he signed, under threat of criminal penalties. He said he was a “former employee” in a state disclosure form. A state commission concluded 10 years ago that he did, indeed, leave Bain in 1999. Investors in Bain funds were told he was not part of the management team.

The SEC documents, especially the ones Romney signed, do raise some questions. One can certainly argue that because Romney did not fully extricate himself from Bain till after his Olympic sojourn ended, he should bear some responsibility for what happened in that period. But that is an entirely different matter than suggesting that he is a potential criminal. It is more of a PR problem, which the Obama campaign is trying to exploit to build a larger case that Romney is secretive.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/do-bain-sec-documents-suggest-mitt-romney-is-a-criminal/2012/07/12/gJQAlyPpgW_blog.html

Apologies:

Ballot commission Investigation summary:

On or about February 11, 1999, the Respondent became an employee of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for a fixed term of three years. While so employed, the Respondent worked, on average, over 12 hours per day, 6 days per week.”

"So where IS Mitt's money?"

He's given a lot to charity.

Obama should apologize.

And, instead do like Mitt did in his very first ad against Obama and take quotes out of context... . I'd suggest borrowing from, say Newt:

You can't run a campaign with no principles and win the United States.

... Romney as a symbol of a protected, super-affluent class that has grown even richer while working Americans have suffered,"

Is capitalism really about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of other people and walk off with the money, or is that somehow a little bit of a flawed system?

....some guy who has Swiss bank accounts, Cayman Island accounts, owns shares of Goldman Sachs while it forecloses on Florida and is himself a stockholder in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while he tries to think the rest of us are too stupid to put the dots together to understand what this is all about....

[Romney's] not telling the American people the truth. It's just like this pretense that he's a conservative.... I just think he ought to be honest with the American people and try to win as the real Mitt Romney, not try to invent a poll-driven, consultant-guided version that goes around with talking points.

smith: "I honestly can't wait for the debates to begin"

As an Obama supporter, are you sure about that? Obama doesn't have much to stand on. Not that it matters, he has so much more charisma than Romney, he'll win re-election easily.

Sail, it's obvious that a guy who is sole shareholder and CEO is going to be involved in some way, even if it's just with quick phone calls for approval or strategy. You can easily show his schedule and say that he wasn't involved in day-to-day activities, but if you're telling me he was completely out of the loop with everythng Bain did then I'd have to call BS. A man in his position doesn't just vanish for 3 years without contact. I suppose his best defense is that he didn't ship jobs overseas while he was there, but after he left he turned into an owner with absolutely no knowledge or input over a company he owned. All he did was make money from people under sending jobs overseas without his knowledge.

Romney left himself wide-open on this issue, and he only has himself to blame.

Only a few months ago, he'd introduced a new line of attack: that Obama was well-meaning but incompetent as he didn't understand the economy, whereas he himself was a successful businessman and thus understood how businesses work - how to "meet a payroll."

Now, there are businessmen and then there are businessmen. I'm sure, back when Mitt's kids were in JHS and someone asked what his father did, they'd answer in some vague fashion as, "He makes money." He never made cars, as his father did; he never made anything. He bought and reorganized and sold and managed to reap incredible profit margins, in most cases regardless of the eventual fate of the entity at hand.

Perhaps he contributed to society; perhaps he destroyed parts for gain; likely, it was a mixture of both. Herein lie two points.

First, Americans are not so stupid as to lump all private sector ventures together. "Meeting a payroll" is widely recognized as vastly different between an engineering firm and a private equity fund. The LIBOR scandal has drawn fresh attention to the indifference some sectors pay towards not only the law but towards human decency itself. For every Bill Gates, there is a John Thain, after all. It is fine for Romney to tout his business experience; it is natural for Americans to desire clarification as to what that means.

Second, politics is no game of badminton, and for any Republican to object to this line of attack as "not sporting" is the heart of hypocrisy - particularly as Carl Rove (aka "Turd Blossom") has emerged as such an influential force behind those-not-officially-involved-with-the-campaign-but-nonetheless-are group. Piqued Republicans should place blame where it belongs: on their hapless candidate. To think that Romney and his people did not see this coming implies naivete on a stunning scale, itself delegitimizing the candidate for the position. Obama and his team seem to be achieving a classic tactical maneuver: turning an enemies strength into his weakness. How many Pinocchios the WaPo gives it, how often the accusations are shown to be recycled does not matter: it still does not pass the smell test for those to whom it is administered for the first time. Romney is being left looking like a high school football player in an NFL game.

It might be possible for Romney to turn this around, but I doubt if he possesses either the agility or the strength of stomach to do so: one thing private capital guys abhor most is transparency. It seems like there is one opinion I hold in common with Rick Santorum: Romney was the worst candidate to put up against Obama.

Super,

It would be ludicrous to suggest that he did not have contact with his firm after he left to run the Winter Olympics in 1999. It is obvious from the objective facts that at the time of his departure it was with the intent to return Bain after the Olympics were over.

It is also obvious that to leave that door open he would have to retain some figurehead title with the firm and that title would show up on documents until he decided to formally leave the firm. This is just common sense. I will say to even entertain the notion that he is somehow a superman who could juggle managing the preparations for the 2002 Winter Olympics a venue where the entire world is watching and still have time to manage Bain defies common sense.

He had his hands full and he left Bains active day to day management and decisions to others and left the door open for his eventual return but during that time was convinced to run for Governor of Massachusetts. Setting a campaign is also a massive undertaking to put in place, fundraising, staff, events etc. I am not buying that Romney is some sort of super human who could manage running Bain and the Wint Olympics at the sometime or start a campaign for Governor and manage Bain at the sometime. The facts support and as the Washington Post said, Obama's campaign is blowing Smoke. And it is pretty sleazy smoke at that.

Yep, Romney sure did leave himself wide-open on this issue, he was successful whilst not doing anything illegal, lol.

Out of 300,000,000 people, is this the choice?

Obama or Romney?

OMG!

Laguna,

I understand that you feel the Republicans should not object to this line of attack as "not sporting". I would then take it you would concur that if the Republicans and Romney's campaign began an attack that President Obama is an admitted felon you would approve of the tactic. After all this is not badminton and President Obama wrote in "Dreams of My Father" that he did a little blow in the past. Last time I checked using cocaine was a felony in the United States.

Mitt McBain was still getting paid a salary by his company after 1999. After he quit. Nice to get paid after quitting. Not something the other 99% get, but Mitt did.

Its great to see that the republican apologists for failure are already starting to twist in the wind regarding Mittens. Rick Sanatorium was right about the the Mittens, he is the worse candidate the republicans could put forward. Except maybe for Rick. He cannot defend how he made his money, he will not come clean on his tax dodging in the Caymans and in Zurich, he is getting caught in lies constantly, he invented Romneycare which is essentailly Obamacare, he is a Morman whose church does not believe in Christ and he has zero charm. He is about as bland as a vanilla wafer. He is McCain without morality. He is Bush without a drawl. He is Nixon without the smarts. He is the Spiro Agnew of our times, except whiter.

...he did a little blow in the past.

By all means, that is fair game. Don't think it'll take you far, though - see, most Americans are able to separate youthful indiscretion from formidable experience. That is what is happening here.

Also, ironically, Obama's line of attack may well bring into sharper focus what should have been all along: the economy, or more specifically, the budget, its deficit, and how to deal with it. Romney had hoped to glide through victory with no specifics, instead emphasizing how bad things are, that Obama is president, and that he is responsible because he "doesn't understand business." He has thus far aggressively refrained from fleshing out anything but broad ideological concepts. This is because his math does not add up, and he knows it. Even simple arithmetic proves that cutting taxes further, increasing military spending, and balancing the budget are impossible without draconian cuts in social spending. Romney has thus far tried to paper this over with comments equivalent to, "Don't worry - I understand how things work, and when I am president, you will not only have and eat your cake simultaneously, you'll do it through a magical glowing unicorn horn."

Obama has quite a bit of spinach in his dietary plan for America; Romney so far only has unicorn. He had hoped to keep it that way. Let's see if these several notches he's been taken down will encourage him to flesh things out a bit.

Romney told ABC News that Obama “needs to rein in these people who are running out of control.”

@ ben jack "Why Mitt Romney only does Fox News interviews: 5 theories CBS News' Bob Schieffer wants to know why Romney is largely ignoring other networks. Here, some explanations" please read them at: http://theweek.com/article/index/228498/why-mitt-romney-only-does-fox-news-interviews-5-theories

Laguna,

I actually agree with you. American's are quite forgiving of "youthful indiscretions" ......well except when the Obama and his press gatekeepers wish to use it to discredit someone. Was there not quite the smear piece on how Romney bullied someone back in 60's?

And as far as Obama's dietary plan for America I also have to agree. America's kids in the future will be choking on the massive spinach debt that he has left them to pay for.

America's kids in the future will be choking on the massive spinach debt that he has left them to pay for.

Ah. I see. I see that you've been gorging on unicorn horn. Would you care to give me one example of how Obama has increased spending? Please don't mention the ACA - it's paid for. Perhaps you would like to dump the legacy of 80 years of progressive social initiatives on his back; no - please, go ahead and do so: you'll be in, well, if not good, at least in plentiful company.

You might also, while you're at it, look back at the previous three Republican administrations for prognosis. You can toss out Bush I as an aberration: he was reviled even within his own party. Both Reagan and Bush II ruled over historical increases in debt. I know you will knee-jerkingly attribute this to Democratic majorities in Congress, and that is your right as a deluded ideologue.

Let us say that Romney were elected with majorities in Congress. Do you really think they would be able to eliminate almost every social program known to Americans in order to achieve what Romney has stated as his goal? Or do you think he will acquiesce to what Reagan acquiesced to: bloated military spending with a diminished tax base?

Obama is the Gerald Ford of the Democratic Party; it would be difficult to find someone more moderate. Why some continue to paint him as a radical is beyond me; it must be that some are beyond their ability to think rationally when it comes to certain topics.

Laguna,

"Why some continue to paint him as a radical is beyond me; it must be that some are beyond their ability to think rationally when it comes to certain topics."

Half

Whoops half these people are so far gone on the extreme right everyone is a leftist to them. I'm still hoping after Romney's defeat the party will split and get rid of these nuts. They're giving conservatives a bad name.

Romny, even though he was running the Winter Olympics, was still CEO of Bain Capital and should be accountable for the direction of the company. He is basically claiming Temporary Insanity. As CEO of Bain during that time he was legally responsible for the company and participated in company profits. He wants it both ways.... make the money but not take responsibility. Truthfully I don't care if he shipped a few jobs overseas but to be CEO of a company and not take responsibility for it, even though you're making money from it, is wrong in my book.

sailwind: I am not buying that Romney is some sort of super human who could manage running Bain and the Wint Olympics at the sometime or start a campaign for Governor and manage Bain at the sometime.

Who needs to be a super human? You know what I wrote and you understood it. To think that the CEO of a company would live in a vacuum from that company is absurd. The day -to-day things can be managed by other people. But my guess is that he was consulted before the trigger was pulled on larger deals. If not, then he's not the type of businessman I want running the country anyway. He's either partly responsible for the decisions the company made or he's an inept, absentee owner who knew nothing about anything. Take your pick.

Laguna,

Would you care to give me one example of how Obama has increased spending?

Yesterday's news.

WASHINGTON – The budget deficit grew by nearly $60 billion in June, remaining on track to exceed $1 trillion for the fourth straight year.

President Barack Obama is almost certain to face re-election having run trillion-dollar-plus deficits in each his first four years in office.

http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/story/2012-07-12/federal-budget-deficit/56173002/1

Super,

he's an inept, absentee owner who knew nothing about anything. Take your pick.

That's my pick, all the fack-checkers comfirm it. Though he wasn't an inept absentee owner. He took a leave of absence to be the CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympics from Bain on FeB 11 1999. He wasn't running Bain he was runningf the Winter Olympics. facts are facts and President Obama trying to prove that he was involved in promoting offshoring at that time frame when he left Bain to head the Olympic effort is akin to the to the " So Mitt. When did you stop beating your wife question" .

Super, Laguna,

Just FYI. The next smear is now in the works and the gatekeepers in the Media will no doubt be more than happy to report it soon enough.

The Obama campaign went on the attack Thursday after a bombshell report revealed that Mitt Romney was the CEO of Bain Capital for years longer than he has previously admitted.

Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter said this new disclosure shows Romney is “the most secretive candidate to run for president since Richard Nixon.”

And then finally, Mitt Romney’s Olympic record [is] less than wholesome, shall we say, in terms of the decisions that were made there, the contracts that were signed, and the basic operation of how Mitt Romney ran the Olympics,” she said.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78438.html

Question: So, does not managing a company but "only" owning it leave you off the hook for what happens in it? We're to believe that when Mitt left Bain it just morphed into the kind of company he'd now want to distance himself from?

Not sure how anyone expects him to run a country if he can't even take responsibility for what happens in a company he happens to own?

I think Gov. Romney will have to defend what he did at Bain. That's his record. He's proud of the fact that he wasn't in public office while I was. Fine. He can take on my public record, but then he owes us a report on his stewardship of his private record, and we ought to do it now because whatever happens this spring, I guarantee you it will be much worse in September and October, and we wouldn't want to stumble into a campaign not knowing what's at risk. -the Newt-ster

Romney's having trouble explaining Bain:

Bain didn't make widgets. It made money. Americans, like most peoples, don't understand or trust financiers. I am not saying this is right, but just that it is.

He won't release his tax records. Hmmmmm.

What could be in his returns that is so deadly? One possibility is that he paid little or no income tax on a very high income for many years. And did it legally. See No. 1.

Another possibility: the whole when did Mitt leave Bain? He say's '99, but then signs some SEC thing is '02.

Again, probably all legal., Again, see No. 1.

Bottom line: Obama is going after Romney's proclaimed strength: his business record. Rove's been doing this for years. (Swift Boat, anyone?)

So Romney, and his supporter's here, have no real ground upon which to gripe about Obama's attacks.

An interesting question or 2 in Forbes ..

You earned at least $100,000 as an executive from Bain in 2001 and 2002, separate from investment earnings according to filings with State of Massachusetts. Can you give an example of anyone else you personally know getting a six figure income, not divided or investment return, but actual income, from a company they had nothing to do with?

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjwalker/2012/07/14/35-questions-mitt-romney-must-answer-about-bain-capital-before-the-issue-can-go-away/

Now, there are businessmen and then there are businessmen. I'm sure, back when Mitt's kids were in JHS and someone asked what his father did, they'd answer in some vague fashion as, "He makes money." He never made cars, as his father did; he never made anything. He bought and reorganized and sold and managed to reap incredible profit margins, in most cases regardless of the eventual fate of the entity at hand.

And yet, who did the IOC members in charge of organizing the winter Olympics see fit to hire when they needed to get the whole multi-million dollar enterprise going ? Did they call a rabble-rouser 'community organizer' whose experience in the private sector was a six month stint as a glorified copywriter , and one who lied about his experience and described his half year among businessmen and professionals as being "behind enemy lines" ?

Obama and the corrupt Democrat leadership believe that Americans, dumbed down by Democrat-run schools that indoctrinate instead of teach , don't understand capitalism well enough to understand that the few businessmen who can do what Romney did do in fact create jobs. Like it or not venture capitalists play as vital a role in the economy as any other player.

It is very amusing though to watch the contradictions that emerge when the increasingly totalitarian left (see zurcronium, above, with the adolescent "we are the 99 percent" occupyWS drivel) try and attack Romney's record with Bain. If I understand the rather tortured logic here former Gov. Romney had the power , the leverage and the permission to ship thousands of jobs overseas and reap obscene profits but he actually doesn't know anything about economics or leadership; he is " a fool" (smithofjapan) and actually anybody, even an English teacher, could do what he did at Bain. You can almost smell the envy and bitterness in some of these posts.

@Shimagaicha

What's wrong with Obama?

"don't understand capitalism well enough to understand that the few businessmen who can do what Romney did do in fact create jobs"

Yes, by shipping American jobs to Mexico and China. Pretty astute point you have there.

Romney understands capitalism all right.

Whenever I hear a republican whine and cry, I think Adlai Stevenson's quote and how apropos it is now, as it has always been:

“If the Republicans will stop telling lies about the Democrats, we will stop telling the truth about them.”

It was true when Stevenson said it and it's true now.

The republicans sure can dish it out. But when it comes to taking a little of their own medicine...why that's just a injustice against humanity.

Losers, the lot of 'em.

Romney is showing once again that he is a bad business leader and a hypocrite.

Hey Mitt. Tell you what, why don't you apologize to Gingrich for all the mud you slung at him before you demand (and you, are nobody; you do NOT make demands of the President of the United States) an apology from the president.

I see it like this. We had to suffer 2 terms of GB jr because the dems couldn't offer anything better during the 2nd term and now we're going to have to suffer 2 terms of Obama because the repubs aren't offering anything that seems it would improve our situation (only filling the coffers of the wealthy a bit more...). With the candidates available during these recent re-elections it hasn't been a pretty picture.

Reminds me of that old Family Guy time travel episode where "President" Al Gore was elected and had everything running smoothly xD. Ah what wonderful speculation that was!

@Serrano, I'd say one of the many sticking points is that Obama is focusing on the wrong things at the wrong time. The health care plan is a good idea, but with the economy the way it is, its absolutely at the wrong time. Plus his administration seems to have a problem telling American citizens what to do instead of doing what the American citizens are telling them to do. I'd go on but I'm running a bit short on time.

Romeny is now getting heat about not releasing his tax returns.

From Republicans.