Featured Workers in Gingrich's Anti-Capitalist Movie Say It's Inaccurate

[Toro]

Tsk, tsk.

Three former factory workers featured in a film about layoffs at companies bought by Mitt Romney's Bain Capital say they weren't laid off by Bain, as the film implied, but got promotions and raises after Bain bought the plant they worked in.

The workers' charges of inaccuracy involve "When Mitt Romney Came to Town," a 28-minute film also known as "King of Bain." The film has become a focal point of the Republican presidential race in the past week. It was cited by rival Newt Gingrich at a televised debate last weekend and has been posted online by Winning Our Future, a group supporting Mr. Gingrich's candidacy. The group is also airing ads in South Carolina cut from the film. ...

Mike Baxley and Tracy and Tommy Jones worked at UniMac, a washing-machine plant in Marianna, Fla., that Bain purchased in 1998. They are three of the seven workers named in the film and the only ones mentioned in the Marianna segment.

The film presents the workers as saying that after Bain bought the plant, the company cut costs at the expense of product quality and worker welfare, and that they lost their jobs.

In fact, the company was sold by Bain to Teachers' Private Capital, the private-equity arm of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, in 2005. It was the Canadian purchaser that oversaw the Florida plant's closure and the shift of its operations to Ripon, Wis., in 2006.

During Bain's ownership, the three employees each received multiple promotions, they said. After the plant closed, Mr. Jones said, he landed a consulting contract with UniMac's parent company, helping to coordinate the move of that plant and another in Florida. He, his wife, Tracy, and Mr. Baxley parlayed that work into Washers-R-Us, a commercial washing-machine sales-and-service business in Marianna.

"I guess I have to apologize to Mitt by voting for him. I certainly won't vote for Gingrich," said Mr. Baxley. He said he had received two promotions and a 30% pay increase while Bain owned the UniMac plant, a unit of Alliance Laundry Systems LLC.

Featured Workers Call Bain Film Inaccurate - WSJ.com

 

[jillian]

an inaccurate political ad?

i'm shocked.

 

[California Girl]

Oops.

 

[California Girl]

an inaccurate political ad?

i'm shocked.

Me too!

And I think I might be outraged!



But, you gotta see the funny side of this. I almost feel sorry for Newt. Epic fail!

 

[Toro]

GAFFNEY, S.C. — This small Southern town that once boomed with peaches and cotton mills has found itself the unexpected star of the latest bruising fight in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.

It was here in a corner of the state not far from the North Carolina border that Bain Capital, the private equity firm led by Mitt Romney, closed a factory that produced photo scrapbooks. The decision put 150 people out of work. Mr. Romney’s company profited.

In a new barrage of political advertisements and speeches here, three of Mr. Romney’s opponents in South Carolina’s primary on Jan. 21 have used Gaffney and Bain’s business practices in other communities across the country as a kind of battering ram to portray him as a job-destroying robber baron.

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas picked up the theme this week, calling Mr. Romney a “vulture capitalist” and pointing to Gaffney as an example of the depths to which Mr. Romney will stoop to make a profit.

There is a problem, though. Here in Gaffney, where deeply held Christian beliefs often matter more than jobs, few remember the Holson Burnes photo album plant, let alone the devastation its closing is alleged to have caused back in 1992.

“I have been here all my life,” said Ed Elliott, who sells insurance. “I’m 59 years old, and I’ve never heard of the plant.”

That Bain’s actions carry little resonance in a community whose woes have been seized on by presidential candidates testifies to the impact of the campaigns’ opposition research and their willingness to exploit a convenient storyline. Here in Gaffney, the focus is a little embarrassing for residents who do not know what all the fuss is about.

At The Gaffney Ledger, a newspaper established in 1894 that seems to cover everything from stolen mopeds to the Y.M.C.A. basketball league, the publisher, Cody Sossamon, looked through old microfilm to refresh his memory. He could not find one drop of ink that was spent on the factory closing.

“Nobody here really cares about that. It wasn’t a big deal,” Mr. Sossamon said. “We’re looking for a new school superintendent. That and the economy are what people really care about right now.” ...

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/us/politics/cast-as-romneys-victim-gaffney-sc-says-huh.html?_r=1

 

[GoneBezerk]

The Newt should be blackballed by FOXNews, conservatives groups, etc when he finally quits this scorched Earth campaign for his ego that is larger than his bloated head.

Hannity needs to quit putting him on TV, etc. I gurantee Rush won't have anything to do with him after Rush ripped into him last week. Glenn Beck will only bring Newt on the radio to ridicule him.

Hopefully the blue hair conservative organizations that have been paying The Newt for decades to speak to them now turn him into a bum on the street with cancelled meetings for now on.

 

[imbalance]

Seriously, Hannity should take Newt's balls out of his mouth and start discussing shit objectively before his credibility plummets to Bill Oreilly levels. Hannity was flat out embarrassing himself the other night trying to compare Newt's Freddie Mac lobbying with Romney's work at Bain.

 

[ScienceRocks]

This is going to back fire on newt big time...I'd say he's finished. I liked his energy and space idea's too


O'well...Hopefully Paul can catch up, but if not Mitt will run the field.

 

[ClosedCaption]

The Newt should be blackballed by FOXNews, conservatives groups, etc when he finally quits this scorched Earth campaign for his ego that is larger than his bloated head.

Hannity needs to quit putting him on TV, etc. I gurantee Rush won't have anything to do with him after Rush ripped into him last week. Glenn Beck will only bring Newt on the radio to ridicule him.

Hopefully the blue hair conservative organizations that have been paying The Newt for decades to speak to them now turn him into a bum on the street with cancelled meetings for now on.

Who says Republicans arent a big tent party, huh?

 

[Lovebears65]

an inaccurate political ad?

i'm shocked.

Me too!

And I think I might be outraged!



But, you gotta see the funny side of this. I almost feel sorry for Newt. Epic fail!

Newt should have never went after Romney on this to begin with. He would have done way better if he attacked Romney care.

 

[JoeB131]

The Newt should be blackballed by FOXNews, conservatives groups, etc when he finally quits this scorched Earth campaign for his ego that is larger than his bloated head.

Hannity needs to quit putting him on TV, etc. I gurantee Rush won't have anything to do with him after Rush ripped into him last week. Glenn Beck will only bring Newt on the radio to ridicule him.

Hopefully the blue hair conservative organizations that have been paying The Newt for decades to speak to them now turn him into a bum on the street with cancelled meetings for now on.

Nope, here's how it's going to work.

Romney will get the nomination. Newt will go back to his day job.

The Democrats will find the same people, get the trivial details correct, and do a blistering commerical that will start with Mittens blurting out "I like to be able to fire people". (Unless Mitt says something even more boneheaded before then, which I don't entirely discount.)

He'll lose in a way that will make even Barry Goldwater feel better about himself from the Great Beyond.

After all the recrminations and "I told you so" happen, Republicans will conclude Romney wasn't "Conservative enough" to win, when his problem is really that he's a simply horrible human being.

The Republicans still won't understand that their real problem is that they've lost touch with working folks, many of whom are inclined to vote Republican if we get the right kind of candidate.

Newt will be invited to speak about this at length, and some people might even listen this time.

 

[JoeB131]

an inaccurate political ad?

i'm shocked.

Me too!

And I think I might be outraged!



But, you gotta see the funny side of this. I almost feel sorry for Newt. Epic fail!

Newt should have never went after Romney on this to begin with. He would have done way better if he attacked Romney care.

I disagree. Here's the dirty little secret. Big insurance doesn't want ObamaCare overturned.

If Newt didn't go after him on this, Obama will. Except with Obama, it will be ten times more effective because he's going to have a billion dollar campaign fund plus everything the unions are going to spend on his behalf.

 

[rdean]

So that's "three"? Just "three"? one two three?

Now if you really want a hoot, look up, "bain takes government money" in any search engine and see what pops up. It's hilarious. Also, try, "bain receives subsidies". Equally humorous.

The right wing keeps forgetting about the Internet. Odd that.

 

[Toro]

So that's "three"? Just "three"? one two three?

Now if you really want a hoot, look up, "bain takes government money" in any search engine and see what pops up. It's hilarious. Also, try, "bain receives subsidies". Equally humorous.

The right wing keeps forgetting about the Internet. Odd that.

3 out of 7 workers interviewed = 43%.

Not quite the 99.99% accuracy rate of yourself, but not far off either, right?