This is not a statement on the GOP. This is not a critique of capitalism. Nor is it a criticism of Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich. It is absolutely laughable that GOP candidates in the primary season have come to be critical of Mitt Romney's former company, Bain Capital.
Bain is a private equity firm. This type of company first became prominence in the 1980s. They purchase public companies that they assess are undervalued. Usually by taking loans using the company they are purchasing as collateral. Then the company is streamlined, and costs are cut. Costs are usually people who work there. Labor is the greatest cost of most companies - so this also is not a labor rant. Once costs are cut, then the companies are made public again with the equity firm taking the profits of the stock sale. It's capitalism. Not illegal. The ethics can be debated too. We can also debate whether it's the "right" kind of capitalism, but again not the point. Newt says there's a difference between people like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs who make things, and people like Mitt Romney who buy something, slice and dice it and then sell it to others. Then again there's nothing in Newt's record where he champions legislation to hinder takeovers, or foster environments for those who "make things" like Jobs and Gates.
I guess the douchiness of this all really is, if Bain Capital is bad for capitalism as Gingrich, Perry, and others all said as part of their campaigning, do any of these people running for the GOP nomination intend to champion policies that will rein in this type of business? I have to say no. They all favor less regulation overall, especially in the finance sector (you know, the one that was at the center of the meltdown in 08, and heretofore has not had any meaningful reform put into practice). None of them are in favor of restoring the Glass-Steagal separation of commercial, and investmant banks. They talk about the blight about shattered families, and communities when people are laid off, but they don't propose anything that will improve, even temporarily the situaltion of the laid off people, like education, retraining, unemployment insurance.
If you believe in free, unfettered capitalism, that's fine. Then don't be a hypocrite and say you're on the side of the laid off middle classers because it's politically convenient when there's a history of public postitions you've taken that have fostered the environment under which firms like Bain Capital have flourished.
What you're really doing is showing us all how full of shit you really are.
No comments:
Post a Comment