Daily Archives: June 17, 2012

Why does Romney like to fire people?

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You can stop wondering why Romney likes being able to fire people now:

• American Pad & Paper: Bain invested $5 million in the small paper company in 1992, and reportedly collected $100 million in dividends on that investment. AMPAD went bankrupt in 2000, laying off 385 employees.

• Dade Behring: Bain Capital invested $415 million in a leveraged buyout in 1994, borrowed an additional $421 million, and ultimately walked away with $1.78 billion. Dade filed for bankruptcy in 2002, and 2,000 workers lost their jobs.

• DDI Corporation: Bain Capital reportedly invested $46.3 million in 1997, reaping $85.5 million in profits and an additional $10 million in management fees. When the company later went bankrupt, 2,100 workers were laid off.

• GS International: In a somewhat less profitable transaction, Bain Capital invested $60 million in 1993 and received $65 million in dividends. This company, too, went bankrupt in 2002, and 750 workers lost their jobs.

• Stage Stores: Bain invested $5 million to purchase the company and took it public in the mid-’90s, reaping $100 million from stock offerings. Stage filed for bankruptcy in 2000, and 5,795 workers reportedly were laid off.

via: quickhits

Bill Maher: the problem with racism is Matt Drudge

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Raw Story: Matt Drudge is, of course, the internet-famous, race-obsessed recluse who has been called “America’s assignment editor” by Politico and the CNN’s Howard Kurtz. For a time in the late 90′s and early part of this century, Drudge’s blog, The Drudge Report was the place to get breaking news ahead of the news networks and newspapers.

Drudge’s relevance has declined steeply in recent years and Maher gave us a quick demonstration as to why. A quick tour of some recent cover photos from Drudge’s website revealed “Mike Tyson, looking like he’s going to eat your head,” said Maher, “Oh, yes, Louis Farrakhan, because he’s so relevant now. Oh and Marion Barry, he’s in the news every day also.” It was a depressing parade of glowering, angry-looking African American men, who Drudge appears to feel are the greatest threat facing our society.

The point Maher made is that ultimately, this is the only way a lot of conservatives are capable of seeing the president, and it’s at the root of the blatant disrespect some of them have shown him since he took office. From South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson (R), who shouted “You lie!” at Obama during his first State of the Union address to Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) pointing her finger in his face on an airport tarmac to yesterday’s incident wherein a staff member from Tucker Carlson’s blog “The Daily Caller” heckled the president during a Rose Garden signing ceremony, conservatives apparently only respect authority when it’s being wielded by white people.

Obstructionism: The GOP wants you to suffer while they’re not in the White House

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“Conservatives would have you believe that our disappointing economic performance has somehow been caused by excessive government spending, which crowds out private job creation. But the reality is that private-sector job growth has more or less matched the recoveries from the last two recessions; the big difference this time is an unprecedented fall in public employment, which is now about 1.4 million jobs less than it would be if it had grown as fast as it did under President George W. Bush. And, if we had those extra jobs, the unemployment rate would be much lower than it is — something like 7.3 percent instead of 8.2 percent. It sure looks as if cutting government when the economy is deeply depressed hurts rather than helps the American people.” – Paul Krugman (via azspot)

Bob Cesca: Former Romney adviser Rob Gray told Fox News Channel: “I am buying that they’re rooting against the economy somewhat, because they think that the short term pain of the next four months is much better than having an additional four years under Obama. If we have to suffer between now and November to get a president, they’re all for it.”

Related: Mitt Romney wants to ‘trickle down’ all over you and tell you it’s raining

Traveling today

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via: tastefullyoffensive

I’m flying to Orlando this morning (ugh!) to attend a conference for the week. So while I’m trapped on a plane, I’ve set up some auto-posting until I get to the other side.

Wish me luck — and Happy Father’s Day to all the dads who love their job : )