The other Republican candidates and the media are attacking Romney’s experience with Bain Capital.
Here’s all you need to know. In the 77 deals Bain was involved in, they produced $2.5 billion in gains for investors on a billion in investor capital or a 50-80% return on investment while Romney was in change.
Now for the criticisms. Not all companies Bain invested in succeeded. Gee, the real world. But, Bain, unlike the professional politicians criticizing Romney, would not have kept running Amtrak, the Post Office, and Freddie and Fannie. Which would you rather have? A leader who runs losers for decades or a leader who tries to make them work, but realizes they can’t, and shuts them down.
Big criticism. People were laid off. What better credential to be president today. Someone needs to lay off thousands of government workers to get our expenses in order. Obama laid off millions in the private sector while hiring millions in the public sector. Hiring while we are borrowing.
Romney was reported to make a big gaffe on the campaign trail when he said firing service people who don’t do the job is a good thing. With two houses to maintain, I’m with him on that. It takes a lot of firing sometimes to find people who do what that say, come when they are supposed to be there, and do quality work. All of us know a lot about this, and sometimes replacing a service worker is your best alternative. Otherwise, you get the post office.
Our next president needs to be adept at firing. Cutting the size of government will mean laying off thousands of government employees. No one in elected office seems to have the stomach to do that. Maybe Romney’s firing experice will be a positive, not a negative. Remember when Reagan fired air traffic controllers? That was a good thing. No more illegal strikes after that.
But, let’s be fair. Let’s make some comparisons. Look at the rest of the Republican field. Blowhard professional politicians who can do only one thing. Except for Dr. Paul who can deliver babies. When not in office, they parlay their political experience into cash. Huntsman, who’s father is one of the best businessmen in America, must have decided John couldn’t cut it in the chemical business. Gingrich uses every sleazy method in the world to profit from anything he can. Including working for Freddie and Fannie. Santorum made millions while out of office without a real job. Why bother talking about Perry.
Then we have the community organizer. He parlayed diversity into two prestigious universities. Despite mediocre grades. Then, pretended to practice law for a while. Then pretended to be a state senator. Then pretended to be a US senator while campaigning for president.
Let’s take another look at Romney’s real world experience. Does it pass muster against the competition? From 1984 to 1999 he created and led a firm that took huge risks investing in company’s that were not huge successes. By making more good choices than bad and doing more things right than wrong, he created significant returns on investment for his investors and himself.
If it’s that easy, why don’t you try it?
