Romney at Bain: Big gains, some busts

[JoeB131]

[



Did Obama set any benchmarks by which to judge his success or failure as the POTUS?

I think I might remember him saying something about cutting the deficit in half and getting to 6% unemployment by the end of his first term.

Your comment about setting the rules?

He also said these things 1) Before the economy was slammed into a wall by Bush and 2) contingent on Congress doing it's job. So, um, no. Argument fail.

 

[code1211]

Of course this is relevant to the discussion.

Compare this to an emergency room at a hospital.

If a mother brings in her son with a sliver in his finger, the chances of recovery are pretty good.

If an ambulance brings in a guy who fell out of 30 story window, the survival chances are lower.

The companies that were purchased by Bain were the ones that fell out of the thirty story windows. The folks that lost their jobs after the Bain acquistion were in jobs that were about to go way in any event whether Bain got involved or not.

This is not just good. It's spectacular. Only a very few companies are this good at this.

And again, I think you aren't seeing it from a voter perspective.

It's one thing if the guy fell out of the 30 story window. The problem is, Mitt Romney pushed him out and then made a fortune selling his organs to transplant banks... which is exactly how those workers will see it and exactly what they will say

In the last 20 years, I've been downsized three times. Once because the company went out of business completely, the others because management made awful decisions and lost business and had to reorganize. Frankly, I do not give a **** about the two companies and how wonderfully they've reorganized or how profitable they became.

From my perspective, I worked hard, and got the shaft anyway.

And this is the problem with Romney in a nutshell. As Mike Huckabee said, "He looks like the guy who lays you off."

I read mismanagement and I think, "Obama".

I've said before on this board that W was campaigning on tax cuts because we were heading into surplus. Suddenly the .Com bubble burst and W still campaigned on tax cuts to stimulate the economy.

His thing was tax cuts.

Obama's thing is government control. If the economy is going south, he needs to control things because everyone needs help. If the economy gins up again, he will need to control things because the Little Guy is getting screwed.

His thing is control.

Problem is that the Big 0 has not the first clue what he's trying to do, how to do it or why the economy works. He's like a child driving a car who can't even see over the dashboard.

We know with absolute certainty that Obama is not capable of fixing the problem. Why do you think he does?

 

[code1211]

[



Did Obama set any benchmarks by which to judge his success or failure as the POTUS?

I think I might remember him saying something about cutting the deficit in half and getting to 6% unemployment by the end of his first term.

Your comment about setting the rules?

He also said these things 1) Before the economy was slammed into a wall by Bush and 2) contingent on Congress doing it's job. So, um, no. Argument fail.

The economy went bad due to the real estate bubble bursting. The Congress was in the control of the Dems when this occurred and Barney Frank was saying that there was nothing to worry about right up to the end.

Obama had the White House and the Dems had overwhelming majorities in both houses for two years and they did not correct this the problem. They did not even address this problem. They said that the banks had "toxic assets". They still do. They did NOTHING to correct the toxic assets.

They did not even pass a budget.

As Yogi Berra said, "If you don't know where you're going, you're probably not going to get there."

A budget is nothing more than a plan to get where you want to go.

 

[Toro]

5% of the companies Bain invested in went bankrupt.

“There were a number of investments that didn’t perform well,” he said. “In the case of Bain it was less than 5 percent of the investments that ended up in bankruptcy.”

Obama Campaign Attacks Romney

 

[JoeB131]

I read mismanagement and I think, "Obama".

I think every bad word in the dictionary makes you think "Obama". I'm sorry you can't look at problems more objectively. November is going to be a very rude wakeup call fo ryou.

I've said before on this board that W was campaigning on tax cuts because we were heading into surplus. Suddenly the .Com bubble burst and W still campaigned on tax cuts to stimulate the economy.

His thing was tax cuts.

But that was the thing. No matter what the question was, the answer was always Tax Cuts.

We have a Surprlus? Tax cuts. (Forget we still owe 6 trillion on the national debt)

Dot Com Bubble Burst? Tax cuts to stimulate the economy. (Even though it really didn't.)

Go to war? Tax cuts! (We'll just borrow from the Chinese.)

Obama's thing is government control. If the economy is going south, he needs to control things because everyone needs help. If the economy gins up again, he will need to control things because the Little Guy is getting screwed.

His thing is control.

Problem is that the Big 0 has not the first clue what he's trying to do, how to do it or why the economy works. He's like a child driving a car who can't even see over the dashboard.

We know with absolute certainty that Obama is not capable of fixing the problem. Why do you think he does?

You know what, I'm an old guy. I've lived through five recessions and they all happened on Republican watches. And when I was a kid, my parents used to say, "Republicans give us recessions, Democrats give us wars". Now Republicans give us both.

I frankly have seen the Middle Class vanish in this country... and that's the root of all our economic problems. Maybe Obama doesn't have the answers, but at least he's asking the right questions.

Romney thinks the worst part of this recession is he can't buy a fifth mansion with a Car elevator.

 

[Toro]

This is a good article looking at both the pros and cons of private equity.

Noahpinion: In defense of private equity: Japan.

 

[code1211]

I read mismanagement and I think, "Obama".

I think every bad word in the dictionary makes you think "Obama". I'm sorry you can't look at problems more objectively. November is going to be a very rude wakeup call fo ryou.

I've said before on this board that W was campaigning on tax cuts because we were heading into surplus. Suddenly the .Com bubble burst and W still campaigned on tax cuts to stimulate the economy.

His thing was tax cuts.

But that was the thing. No matter what the question was, the answer was always Tax Cuts.

We have a Surprlus? Tax cuts. (Forget we still owe 6 trillion on the national debt)

Dot Com Bubble Burst? Tax cuts to stimulate the economy. (Even though it really didn't.)

Go to war? Tax cuts! (We'll just borrow from the Chinese.)

Obama's thing is government control. If the economy is going south, he needs to control things because everyone needs help. If the economy gins up again, he will need to control things because the Little Guy is getting screwed.

His thing is control.

Problem is that the Big 0 has not the first clue what he's trying to do, how to do it or why the economy works. He's like a child driving a car who can't even see over the dashboard.

We know with absolute certainty that Obama is not capable of fixing the problem. Why do you think he does?

You know what, I'm an old guy. I've lived through five recessions and they all happened on Republican watches. And when I was a kid, my parents used to say, "Republicans give us recessions, Democrats give us wars". Now Republicans give us both.

I frankly have seen the Middle Class vanish in this country... and that's the root of all our economic problems. Maybe Obama doesn't have the answers, but at least he's asking the right questions.

Romney thinks the worst part of this recession is he can't buy a fifth mansion with a Car elevator.

What are the questions that Obama is asking?

 

[candycorn]

Bain did not hold a controlling interest in AmPad after 1996 which your article says was the best year for AmPad.

What point are you trying to make? Bain did not control AmPad after the IPO.

That they ran up the debt on a company already up to their eyes in red ink to pay themselves back first and foremost. Politically, that isn't going to play well in Peoria. Then again Peoria is in Illinois so it won't matter there anyway.

Did they run up the debt? The article said that 1996b was the best year for AmPad.

Again, why did Meade sell AmPad?

Yes, they (Bain) added to the debt to pay themselves back and loaded the company up with debt on top of the poor management that was there to start with (apparently).

I don't recall why AmPad was sold. I know it's held by another PE firm currently though.

 

[Conservative]

5% of the companies Bain invested in went bankrupt.

“There were a number of investments that didn’t perform well,” he said. “In the case of Bain it was less than 5 percent of the investments that ended up in bankruptcy.”

Obama Campaign Attacks Romney

that would be a 95% success rate.

Not too shabby.

 

[code1211]

That they ran up the debt on a company already up to their eyes in red ink to pay themselves back first and foremost. Politically, that isn't going to play well in Peoria. Then again Peoria is in Illinois so it won't matter there anyway.

Did they run up the debt? The article said that 1996b was the best year for AmPad.

Again, why did Meade sell AmPad?

Yes, they (Bain) added to the debt to pay themselves back and loaded the company up with debt on top of the poor management that was there to start with (apparently).

I don't recall why AmPad was sold. I know it's held by another PE firm currently though.

The reason for selling anything is that the seller sees a benefit in selling it over keeping it.

There was something about AmPad that made the sellers sell.

 

[bripat9643]

In the last 20 years, I've been downsized three times. Once because the company went out of business completely, the others because management made awful decisions and lost business and had to reorganize.

Aren't turds like you always saying the management is superfulous to the success of a business? That the workers are the ones responsible for making all the profit? But here you just admitted that good management makes all the difference between success and failure.

 

[The T]

In the last 20 years, I've been downsized three times. Once because the company went out of business completely, the others because management made awful decisions and lost business and had to reorganize.

Aren't turds like you always saying the management is superfulous to the success of a business? That the workers are the ones responsible for making all the profit? But here you just admitted that good management makes all the difference between success and failure.

Joey changes his mind according to argument like his hero launched from Chicago...Obama.

 

[Toro]

5% of the companies Bain invested in went bankrupt.

“There were a number of investments that didn’t perform well,” he said. “In the case of Bain it was less than 5 percent of the investments that ended up in bankruptcy.”

Obama Campaign Attacks Romney

that would be a 95% success rate.

Not too shabby.

I wouldn't say it's a 95% success rate. Not going bankrupt isn't a success. 78% of Bain's investments made money. The rest did not, and a fraction filed for bankruptcy.

 

[Trajan]

5% of the companies Bain invested in went bankrupt.



Obama Campaign Attacks Romney

that would be a 95% success rate.

Not too shabby.

I wouldn't say it's a 95% success rate. Not going bankrupt isn't a success. 78% of Bain's investments made money. The rest did not, and a fraction filed for bankruptcy.

agreed, the Journal had a detailed breakdown and thats the no. they came up wiht, which I think is pretty good.

if I were in a co. that was dieing on its feet and knew that in a year or 2, they'd be busted, and I'd unemployed and you told me someone bought us and we had a better than 3 of 4 shot to stay open and turn it around, I think I would be damn glad for the chance.