If Mitt Romney wins, the middle class loses.
Read more about Mitt Romney here.
Supporting Facts:
Romney Wanted To “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” And Said The Demise Of The Auto Industry Would Be “Virtually Guaranteed” By A Government Bailout. According to Romney, “If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed. Without that bailout, Detroit will need to drastically restructure itself. With it, the automakers will stay the course — the suicidal course of declining market shares, insurmountable labor and retiree burdens, technology atrophy, product inferiority and never-ending job losses. Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.” [Romney Op-Ed, New York Times, 11/19/08]
When Bain Invested In Steel Dynamics, The State And County Pledged $37 Million In Subsidies And Grants For The Project. According to Los Angeles Times, “As Mitt Romney defends his record running a private equity firm, he frequently points to a fast-growing Indiana steel company, financed in part by Bain Capital, that now employs 6,000 workers. What Romney doesn’t mention is that Steel Dynamics also received generous tax breaks and other subsidies provided by the state of Indiana and the residents of DeKalb County, where the company’s first mill was built. … As Bain made its investment, the state and county pledged $37 million in subsidies and grants for the $385-million plant project. The county also levied a new income tax to finance infrastructure improvements to benefit the steel mill over the heated objections of some county residents.” [Los Angeles Times, 01/12/12]
Bain Owned GS Industries Filed For Bankruptcy And 750 People Lost Their Jobs. “Bain acquired GS Industries in 1993. The steelmaker borrowed heavily to modernize plants in Kansas City and North Carolina, as well as pay dividends to Bain investors. But as foreign competition increased and steel prices fell in the late 1990s, the company struggled to support the debt, according to Mark Essig, the former CEO. GS filed for bankruptcy in 2001, and shut down its money-losing Kansas City plant, throwing some 750 employees out of work.” [Boston Globe, 1/27/08]
‘Bain-backed management’ underfunded the steel mill’s pension plan. According to Reuters, “His supporters say the pension gap at the Kansas City mill was an unforeseen consequence of a falling stock market and adverse market conditions. But records show that the mill’s Bain-backed management was confronted several times about the fund’s shortfall, which, in the end, required an infusion of funds from the federal Pension Benefits Guarantee Corp.” [Reuters, 1/6/12]
After GST Steel filed for bankruptcy, health insurance, severance pay and pension benefits were slashed. According to Reuters, “Less than a decade later, the mill was padlocked and some 750 people lost their jobs. Workers were denied the severance pay and health insurance they’d been promised, and their pension benefits were cut by as much as $400 a month.” [Reuters, 1/6/12]
Even With the Company Bankrupted, Bain Received A $12 Million Return On Its $8 Million Investment In GST Steel, Along With Over $4.5 Million In Consulting Fees. According to Reuters, “Less than a decade later, the mill was padlocked and some 750 people lost their jobs. Workers were denied the severance pay and health insurance they’d been promised, and their pension benefits were cut by as much as $400 a month. What’s more, a federal government insurance agency had to pony up $44 million to bail out the company’s underfunded pension plan. Nevertheless, Bain profited on the deal, receiving $12 million on its $8 million initial investment and at least $4.5 million in consulting fees.” [Reuters, 1/6/12]
The SCM paper plant in Marion, Indiana, was running three shifts a day before being bought by Bain Capital. According to the Christian Science Monitor, “Before Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital bought the rambling SCM factory in Marion, Ind., it was running three shifts a day, making hanging file folders and other office supplies. But on July 5, 1994, everything changed. The new owner, American Pad & Paper, owned in turn by Bain Capital, told all 258 union workers they were fired, in a cost-cutting move. Security guards hustled them out of the building. They would be able to reapply for their jobs, at lesser wages and benefits, but not all would be rehired.” [Christian Science Monitor, 1/19/12]
Workers at the paper plant in Marion were fired hours after Bain Capital purchased the plant. According to the Boston Herald, “Hours after Bain-owned Ampad Corp. bought the plant July 5 from Smith Corona Corp., the plant’s 250 union workers were fired and told they could re-apply for their old jobs. Ampad scuttled Smith Corona’s contract with the United Paperworkers International, seeking to make wage and labor conditions similar to its three other non-union plants. Drug tests were also required.” [Boston Herlad, 9/23/94]
The SCM paper plant in Marion, Indiana, was running three shifts a day before being bought by Bain Capital. According to the Christian Science Monitor, “Before Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital bought the rambling SCM factory in Marion, Ind., it was running three shifts a day, making hanging file folders and other office supplies. But on July 5, 1994, everything changed. The new owner, American Pad & Paper, owned in turn by Bain Capital, told all 258 union workers they were fired, in a cost-cutting move. Security guards hustled them out of the building. They would be able to reapply for their jobs, at lesser wages and benefits, but not all would be rehired.” [Christian Science Monitor, 1/19/12]
Workers at the paper plant in Marion were fired hours after Bain Capital purchased the plant. According to the Boston Herald, “Hours after Bain-owned Ampad Corp. bought the plant July 5 from Smith Corona Corp., the plant’s 250 union workers were fired and told they could re-apply for their old jobs. Ampad scuttled Smith Corona’s contract with the United Paperworkers International, seeking to make wage and labor conditions similar to its three other non-union plants. Drug tests were also required.” [Boston Herlad, 9/23/94]
The SCM paper plant in Marion, Indiana, was running three shifts a day before being bought by Bain Capital. According to the Christian Science Monitor, “Before Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital bought the rambling SCM factory in Marion, Ind., it was running three shifts a day, making hanging file folders and other office supplies. But on July 5, 1994, everything changed. The new owner, American Pad & Paper, owned in turn by Bain Capital, told all 258 union workers they were fired, in a cost-cutting move. Security guards hustled them out of the building. They would be able to reapply for their jobs, at lesser wages and benefits, but not all would be rehired.” [Christian Science Monitor, 1/19/12]
Workers at the paper plant in Marion were fired hours after Bain Capital purchased the plant. According to the Boston Herald, “Hours after Bain-owned Ampad Corp. bought the plant July 5 from Smith Corona Corp., the plant’s 250 union workers were fired and told they could re-apply for their old jobs. Ampad scuttled Smith Corona’s contract with the United Paperworkers International, seeking to make wage and labor conditions similar to its three other non-union plants. Drug tests were also required.” [Boston Herlad, 9/23/94]
The SCM paper plant in Marion, Indiana, was running three shifts a day before being bought by Bain Capital. According to the Christian Science Monitor, “Before Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital bought the rambling SCM factory in Marion, Ind., it was running three shifts a day, making hanging file folders and other office supplies. But on July 5, 1994, everything changed. The new owner, American Pad & Paper, owned in turn by Bain Capital, told all 258 union workers they were fired, in a cost-cutting move. Security guards hustled them out of the building. They would be able to reapply for their jobs, at lesser wages and benefits, but not all would be rehired.” [Christian Science Monitor, 1/19/12]
Workers at the paper plant in Marion were fired hours after Bain Capital purchased the plant. According to the Boston Herald, “Hours after Bain-owned Ampad Corp. bought the plant July 5 from Smith Corona Corp., the plant’s 250 union workers were fired and told they could re-apply for their old jobs. Ampad scuttled Smith Corona’s contract with the United Paperworkers International, seeking to make wage and labor conditions similar to its three other non-union plants. Drug tests were also required.” [Boston Herlad, 9/23/94]
Tax Policy Center: Romney Tax Plan Would Raise Taxes On Families With Children With Income Below $200,000 By $2,041. According to a Tax Policy Center analysis of Romney’s tax plan and promises, families with children that earn below $200,000 a year would see tax increases of $2,041. [Tax Policy Center, 8/1/12]
Tax Policy Center: Top 0.1% Would See $246,652 Tax Cut Per Year Under Romney Plan. According to a Tax Policy Center analysis of Romney’s tax plan and promises, the top 0.1% would receive a tax cut of $246,652 per year. [Tax Policy Center, 8/1/12]
Romney Held Investments In Off-Shore Tax Havens And An Unusually Large IRA In Places Like Switzerland, Bermuda and The Cayman Islands. According to Bloomberg, “Romney’s extensive investments in tax havens are drawing intensifying media scrutiny at the same time that revenue- starved governments around the world are cracking down on such practices. In recent weeks, Romney has faced increasing pressure to release additional years of tax returns because of questions over his 13.9 percent personal tax rate, his Swiss bank account, an IRA valued at as much as $102 million and his investments in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands.” [Bloomberg, 08/06/12]
Romney Thought Efforts To Reduce Classroom Size “May Actually Hurt Education More Than It Helps.” In his book “No Apology” Romney wrote, “In The United States, then, the effort to reduce classroom size may actually hurt education more than it helps.” [Romney, No Apology, Pg. 216]
Romney Said Smaller Class Sizes Will Not Improve Education. In his book “No Apology,” Romney wrote, “Simply putting more money into the system we already have has not and will not give our kids a better education. Neither reduced class size nor increased spending will repair our broken education system. There are much better answers.” [Romney, “No Apology,” Pg. 210]
Romney Said He Would Not “Promise” Government Money To Help Students Pay For College But Suggested They Shop Around For Schools. According to New York Times, “The high school senior who stood up at Mitt Romney’s town hall meeting here today was worried about how he and his family would pay for college, and wanted to hear what the candidate would do about rising college costs if elected…The answer: nothing. Mr. Romney was perfectly polite to the student. He didn’t talk about the dangers of liberal indoctrination on college campuses, as Rick Santorum might have. But his warning was clear: shop around and get a good price, because you’re on your own. ‘It would be popular for me to stand up and say I’m going to give you government money to pay for your college, but I’m not going to promise that,’ he said, to sustained applause from the crowd at a high-tech metals assembly factory here. ‘Don’t just go to one that has the highest price. Go to one that has a little lower price where you can get a good education. And hopefully you’ll find that. And don’t expect the government to forgive the debt that you take on.’ There wasn’t a word about the variety of government loan programs, which have made it possible for millions of students to get college degrees. There wasn’t a word urging colleges to hold down tuition increases, as President Obama has been doing, or a suggestion that the student consider a work-study program.” [New York Times, 3/5/12]
Published: Oct 26, 2012