Folks,
In Less than 4 years, we witnessed what President Obama Achieved in Facts not in Fiction:
From Economic collapse where President Obama took office, we now have an America Built to Last. America with potential to bargain for good value. There is hope for America to excel in the world and gain respect Globally. Those who failed America cannot pretend to have a better plan for America; it is an open public information, and we all know the Special Interest are hungry for wealth creation without caring or considering that America is just turning around from economic collapse and is not yet fully recovered. It has just turned around from getting out of the mess the unscrupulous Special Interest created.
President Obama toiled to build a country and an economy where people will be rewarded for their hard work, others will gain value in fairness, and where everyone is held accountable for what they do. He is meeting the challenges we all face as a nation with a bold, comprehensive plan where everyone's interest is included. And he is re-imaging government to be more open, balanced, transparent, and accountable.
Reform & Fiscal Responsibility
President Obama believes this is a make or break moment for the middle class with those trying to reach it to have ease of access to make Reform work for them; and he has laid out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last (on a rock, but not on quick sand where storm is able to wash it away) - an economy built on American manufacturing, New Innovation and Technology, American energy, renewed skills for American workers, Union establishment and a renewal of American values which is expected to strengthen the backbone of America's sustainability with stability for durability.
President Obama has led the way putting in place fixtures on structuring the government to live within its means through a balanced approach that protects key Business and Public priorities and ensures that everyone pays their fair share to make Government system operational and efficient in service delivery.
Security for the Middle Class
The President overcame furious lobbying by big banks to pass the most far reaching reform of Wall Street in history, Healthcare, destroyed terrorists hub which will prevent the excessive risk-taking that led to the financial crisis while providing common-sense protections to American families for their mortgages and credit cards and secured peace to the world from fears of terrorist organized groups. The law created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to prevent mortgage companies and pay-day lenders from exploiting consumers.
Economy
There is no economy that can thrive when the rich want more and more for themselves selfishly without providing a balance or caring for the rest of the population security, nature or environment in a "Give and Take" principles.
This is a make or break moment for the middle class, and President Obama is working to build an economy that works for everyone which in Partnership, provides fair common value shared equally by all -- where hard work and responsibility are rewarded without discrimination both locally and globally.
It is evidently clear why we trust President Obama endeavored for the middle and the poor and that he can be trusted that; we still believe in him that, he will not rest until every American who wants work can find a job easily. Yes, President Obama can be trusted because he is transparent and truly understand predicament of an ordinary person, as he did not come from a rich family. That's why he is fighting and working to grow our economy in a balance, so middle class families feel confident in their savings and plan for the future with those of their children's futures; and that the world will remain a wonderful place for all, living at peace with each other and are united sharing in common value fair to all. People, It would not have been possible if President Obama was not passionately committed to lift up America on top of the world and being concerned to American values. He never faultered but remained passionately concerned to secure America's power to regain its postures on the face of the world, even with extreme opposition and obstruction poised at him to fail, from those extremists who think they are more Americans than everyone else; that President Obama does not qualify or belong to be an America; playing a divisive card of segregation, and from those who constantly pleasure in painting him negatively because he does not look like them. With the kind of unquestionable clear achievements and at the peak of campaign rallies, President Obama's challengers still wont bulg, they have a bone to pick with the President. We saw it at Mitt Romney's recent rally in Michigan where instead of him engaging on issues of substance he went on rampage to demonstrate divisionary speech galvanized by hate playing President Obama dirty on birther. Mitt Romney and Ryan with team aim not to work and unite Americans, but are poised to help the business tycoons who are at the top to avoid paying taxes but instead burden the general public and the middle-class to bear their burden of accrued debts without providing a balance in fair share of the National Debt. Their philosophy are for the rich to get richer and the poor to become miserably poor (they just dont care). In which case the rich according to their plan intends to screw-up the middle-class and the poor into a corner of extreme pain and sufferings. With their kind of approach, their budget cannot balance favorably to benefit the middle-class or poor. This is why Mitt Romney as a Presidential candidate, does not have a blue print budget of his own. The kind of philosophy they have was the reason America was in economic collapse and in a serious crisis before President Obama took office. Their target to repeal what they call ObamaCare which is the Medicare now helping many middle-class, the poor and the old seniors in prescription drugs, to them is baseless and must be repealed. If they are bend to fight the middle-class healthcare law they will be denying people fair share in healthcare reform. They intend to make healthcare more expensive compaired to the big saving the ObamaCare (healthcare) has been made. This shows they are out of touch with reality.
Fighting for a Government shut-down is a bad idea aimed to impact faction-ability from delivering services to people and leaning on fundamental public service delivery entitlements. Government is a machinery that provides balances between the rich, the middle-class and the poor. Without a Government people will live in a jungle rule where the middle-class and the poor will have no other way except to depend on God's saving help........
Mitt Romney does not seem to have a plan to take on rulership; it is the reason he has no message for those who attend his rallies. Instead of Mitt Romney focusing on economy and engaging on issues he is targeting President Obama birther in a bragging show off style. This was seen as childish and mostly shameful. It is sad that, this approach was made intentional before a crowd of people who came for specific message from Mitt Romeny. His speech of birther at the rally overshadowed his message and was empty without significance to policy challenge he intends to run on. If anything, this is what is called dividing Americans against each other on hate speech pittying the rich against the poor. The birther reference at Michigan was baseless, inconsiquential and completely irrelevant and was completely out of order. Mitt Romney lost and failed to offer policy message why he is running for presidency to challenge President Obama.
There was no way Mitt Romney could have scored any points as he said literally nothing of substance with no-show-case why he thinks he can do better than President Obama. As far as I can remember, Mitt Romeny is a flip-flopper who cannot be trusted as he keeps changing goal posts and millions people's livelihood cannot be put on a gambling table.
President Obama has proved his bi-partisan ability to Govern and given the second chance, America will remain stable on a path to full recovery in a success story where all shall be greatful and happy ........
Cheers everybody....... Judy Miriga Diaspora Spokesperson Executive Director Confederation Council Foundation for Africa Inc., USA http://socioeconomicforum50.blogspot.com SHOW-CASE
Watch & take stock of these achievements:
Jobs & The Economy:
Putting America Back to Work
Reform and Responsibility
Offices
Interactives
Health Care
President Obama is reforming health care to ensure a more secure future for American families.
President Obama Continues the Push for Middle Class Tax Cuts
he said. "When families have the security of knowing that their taxes won't go up they're more likely to spend, and more likely to grow the economy. When small business owners have certainty on taxes and can plan ahead they're more likely to hire and create new jobs. And that benefits all of us."
Getting Women the Care They Need is crucial
Under the Affordable Care Act, for the first time ever, women will now have access to life-saving preventive care, such as mammograms and contraception, without paying any more out of their own pockets.
Today, we move yet another step closer to giving women control over their health care. In addition to the benefits for women already included in the Affordable Care Act, beginning the first plan year after August 1, 2012, most private health insurance plans will cover additional women's preventive services without requiring women to pay an extra penny out of their pockets. These services include:
•Well-woman visits •Screening for gestational diabetes, which help protect the mother and her child from one of the most serious pregnancy-related diseases •Breastfeeding support, supplies and counseling •Screening and counseling for interpersonal and domestic violence •Contraception and contraceptive counseling •HPV DNA testing •STI counseling •HIV screening and counseling
These services are based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine, which relied on advice from independent physicians, nurses, scientists, and other experts, as well as evidence-based research, to develop its recommendations. And insurance companies know these services help prevent disease and illness, which can save them money in the long run.
By eliminating barriers like copays, co-insurance, and deductibles, secure, affordable coverage is quickly becoming a reality for millions of American women and families.
President Obama recalled his mother telling him, "You can tell how far a society is going to go by how it treats its women and girls. And if they're doing well, then the society is going to do well; and if they're not, then they won't be." With that principle in mind, these new guidelines for women's preventive health are a crucial step forward for the health of women, and for our society as a whole.
President Obama believes that every child deserves access to the type of education they need to prepare for the challenges of a new century.
Energy and the Environment
President Obama has taken unprecedented action to build the foundation for a clean energy economy, tackling the issue of climate change, and protecting our environment.
Protecting Our Oceans
President Obama has established the first comprehensive National Policy for the Stewardship of the Ocean, our Coasts, and the Great Lakes. America's oceans and coastal regions support tens of millions of jobs and contribute trillions of dollars a year to the national economy. The National Ocean Policy helps us prioritize our efforts and resources to address the most critical issues facing our oceans and establishes a comprehensive, collaborative, regionally based planning process to ensure healthy ocean and coastal resources for the many communities and economies that rely on and enjoy them.
Supporting Land Conservation
When he signed the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, President Obama marked the most extensive expansion of land and water conservation in more than a generation, designating more than 2 million acres of federal wilderness, thousands of miles of trails, and protecting more than 1,000 miles of rivers. The President also used his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, as a national monument, protecting a site of historic significance for slavery, the Civil War, and the U.S. military.
President Obama established the America's Great Outdoors Initiative to work with the American people to develop a community-based conservation and recreation agenda for the 21st century. Through this initiative, the Administration is opening up access to millions of acres for recreation, making historic investments in restoring critical landscapes, and supporting an outdoor economy that includes approximately 9 million jobs and $1 trillion in economic activity.
Prioritizing Clean Water
The Administration is taking comprehensive action to ensure the integrity of the waters Americans rely on every day for drinking, swimming, and fishing, and that support farming, recreation, tourism and economic growth. We have issued draft Federal guidance to clarify which waters are protected by the Clean Water Act nationwide; launched innovative partnerships and programs to improve water quality and water efficiency; and created initiatives to revitalize communities and economies by restoring rivers and critical watersheds. The Administration has also proposed to modernize the guidelines that govern Federal water resource planning, calling for water resources projects based on sound science, improved transparency, and consideration of the variety of community benefits of projects.
Reducing the Environmental Impacts of Mountaintop Coal Mining
Through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by EPA, the Department of the Interior and the Army Corps of Engineers on June 11, 2009, Federal agencies are taking action to minimize adverse environmental and health impacts of mountaintop coal mining.
Reducing Air Pollution
A. Curbing Vehicle Pollution
The Obama Administration is aggressively working to reduce pollution in the air we breathe. We have proposed historic fuel economy standards that will double the fuel efficiency of cars and light trucks by 2025, saving consumers $1.7 trillion at the pump and eliminating 6 billion metric tons of carbon pollution. The Administration has also finalized the first-ever national fuel economy and greenhouse gas emission standards for commercial trucks, vans, and buses built in 2014-2018, which are projected to save more than 500 million barrels of oil and an estimated $50 billion in fuel costs.
B. Cleaning up Toxic Air Pollution
The Administration established the first-ever national limits for mercury and other toxic air pollution from power plants, which will prevent up to 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks, and 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms each year. This rule follows a series of EPA actions to reduce emissions from power plants and other large emitters, including a rule to cut soot and smog-forming pollution from power plants that create health problems downwind, and rules to limit mercury and other pollution for the largest sources of industrial air pollution, such as cement plants, industrial boilers, and waste incinerators.
Supporting Sustainable Communities
The Administration created the historic Partnership for Sustainable Communities to break down traditional silos among the Federal agencies for housing, transportation, and environmental protection. Through 2011, this partnership announced more than $1.7 billion in funding to support resilient economies, healthy environments and quality of life in more than 550 communities and regions across the country.
Foreign Policy
President Obama is turning the page on a decade of war and restoring American leadership abroad.
Guiding Principles
President Obama has pursued national security policies that keep the American people safe, while turning the page on a decade of war and restoring American leadership abroad. Since President Obama took office, the United States has devastated al Qaeda's leadership. Now, thanks to our extraordinary servicemen and women, we have reached a pivotal moment – as we definitively end the war in Iraq and begin to wind down the war in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, we have refocused on a broader set of priorities around the globe that will allow the United States to be safe, strong, and prosperous in the 21st century.
To advance America's national security, the President is committed to using all elements of American power, including the strength of America's values.
The National Security Strategy
The National Security Strategy, released May 27, 2010, lays out a strategic approach for advancing American interests, including the security of the American people, a growing U.S. economy, support for our values, and an international order that can address 21st century challenges.
Read the full National Security Strategy (pdf)
President Obama made Progress:
•Hosted the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Russia joined President Obama Camp David for the annual G8 Summit on May 18-19, 2012, where the leaders addressed major global economic, political, and security challenges, including energy and climate change, food security and nutrition, Afghanistan's economic transition and transitions taking place across the Middle East and North Africa. The next day, the President went to Chicago, where the U.S. hosted the annual NATO Summit, a gathering of leaders from the 28 member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. On the second day of the Summit, May 21, the 50 nations that make up the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan met to discuss the next step in the transition of power there— setting a goal for Afghan forces to take the lead for combat operations across the country in 2013.
•Taken the fight to al Qaeda and eliminated Osama bin Laden.
•Presented President Obama's National Strategy for Counterterrorism, with a principal focus on al-Qa'ida, its affiliates and its adherents.
•Announced a plan to responsibly end the War in Iraqand kept our promise to end combat operations there by August 31, 2010 and to remove all US troops by the end of 2011. Implemented a new strategy for Pakistan and Afghanistan that re-focuses our efforts on disrupting, dismantling and defeating al Qaeda and that begins the drawdown of U.S. forces in July 2011. Refocusing on the Threat from al Qaeda in Afghanistan and PakistanPresident Obama took office pledging to end the war in Iraq while refocusing on al Qaeda – particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Since taking office, the Obama Administration has focused its resources on al Qaeda and its affiliates. These counter-terrorism efforts have substantially impacted al Qaeda's leadership, including the death of Osama bin Laden in May 2011. On December 1, 2009, at West Point, the President put forth a new U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan that is focused on disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda and preventing its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future. To accomplish this, he said we would pursue three objectives: denying al Qaeda a safe haven, reversing the Taliban's momentum, and strengthening the capacity of Afghanistan's security forces and government so that they can take lead responsibility for Afghanistan's future. He also committed to begin the responsible withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan beginning in July 2011. On June 22, the President addressed the American people about the way forward in Afghanistan. We have made substantial progress on the objectives the President laid out at West Point, and he made clear that we will begin the drawdown of U.S. troops from a position of strength. We have exceeded our expectations on our core goal of defeating al-Qa'ida – killing 20 of its top 30 leaders, including Osama bin Laden. We have broken the Taliban's momentum, and trained over 100,000 Afghan National Security Forces. The U.S. will withdraw 10,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2011, and the 33,000 "surge" troops he approved in December 2009 will leave Afghanistan by the end of summer 2012. Responsibly Ending the War in IraqOn February 27, 2009, President Obama announced a plan to responsibly end the war in Iraq. On August 31, 2010, the President announced the end of our combat mission in Iraq, and Iraqi Security Forces assumed lead responsibility for their nation's security. On October 21, 2011, the President announced that all U.S. troops will be out of Iraq by the end of the year, as promised. Beyond 2011, the United States will have a normal relationship with a sovereign Iraq, one in which we work together as partners to promote our common security and prosperity. In December of 2011, the final U.S. troops left Iraq, ending America's war there. When the Obama Administration took office, there were roughly 180,000 U.S. troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan – by the end of 2011, that number will be cut in half, and it will continue to go down. As we wind down the wars, we are refocusing on rebuilding our nation at home, and addressing a broader set of priorities abroad. Stopping a Massacre and Supporting the Libyan PeopleFaced with an imminent massacre by Moammar Qadhafi's regime, President Obama led in building an international coalition to protect the Libyan people. The United States helped save thousands of lives and stopped Qadhafi's forces in their tracks. We then supported the Libyan people as they brought down the Qadhafi regime, ending the reign of a dictator who persecuted his people and killed Americans. During our intervention in Libya, our friends and allies shared the costs and responsibilities of action – there were no U.S. casualties or troops on the ground. Going forward, we will continue to support the Libyan people as a friend and partner as they build a democracy. Keeping Nuclear Weapons Out of the Hands of TerroristsOn April 5, 2009 in Prague, President Obama declared his vision for achieving the "peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons," laying out a plan for near term practical steps to move in that direction. He proposed measures to: reduce the number and role of nuclear weapons by those states that already possess nuclear weapons, starting first with Russia and the U.S.; to prevent additional countries from acquiring nuclear weapons by strengthening the international non-proliferation regime and by holding accountable those states that have violated their obligations, such as Iran and North Korea; to prevent nuclear terrorism by securing vulnerable nuclear materials and strengthening international cooperation on nuclear security; and, to develop new mechanisms to support the growth of safe and secure nuclear power in ways that reduce the spread of dangerous technologies. President Obama issued an updated Nuclear Posture Review that reduces the role of nuclear weapons in our overall defense posture by declaring that the fundamental role of U.S. nuclear forces is to deter nuclear attacks against the U.S. and our allies and partners. In April 2010, the President hosted the Nuclear Security Summit where leaders pledged specific steps to prevent nuclear terrorism and support the President's proposal to lock down all vulnerable nuclear materials in four years. The Administration also oversaw the negotiation and ratification of the New START Treaty, which President Obama and President Medvedev signed in April 2010 in Prague. By significantly reducing levels of U.S. and Russia deployed strategic weapons, the Treaty represents a commitment by the world's two largest nuclear powers to the goal of disarmament. In addition, the Treaty strengthens the reset in relations between Washington and Moscow that is helping us to address the most urgent proliferation threats we face in Iran and North Korea. Promoting Peace and Security in Israel and the Middle EastThe United States is committed to a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East, including two states for two peoples – Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people and the State of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people – each enjoying self-determination, mutual recognition, and peace. President Obama believes that a key component of achieving peace is maintaining the unshakeable U.S. commitment to Israel's security. He has also said that the core issues can only be negotiated in direct talks between the parties. That is why the President stated publicly principles on territory and security that can provide a foundation for an agreement to end the conflict and resolve all claims. Re-energizing America's AlliancesAmerica's relationships with our allies are at the center of our engagement with the world.Since taking office, President Obama has strengthened America's old alliances, while building new partnerships to confront the challenges of the 21st century.
Maintaining Core American ValuesEvery challenge is more easily met if we tend to our own democratic foundation. This is why the President prohibited -- without exception or equivocation -- the use of torture, and set up a Special Task Force to thoroughly review detainee policy. He also reformed Military Commissions to make the more effective in bringing terrorists to justice consistent with the rule of law. He remains committed to closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, which endangers our security. SudanAfter years of war, the President successfully led an international effort to ensure the emergence of an independent South Sudan and remains committed to ending the suffering in the Darfur region. Since the beginning of the Administration, we have implemented a whole-of-government strategy to end the violence; to get humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan; to implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement; and to assist in negotiations between Sudan and South Sudan even after its independence on July 9, 2011. The President appointed a Special Envoy for Sudan as a strong signal of his commitment to support the Sudanese people. We are committed to working with the international community to ensure a stable and secure future for the region.
Restoring American Leadership in Latin AmericaThe future of the United States is inextricably bound to the future of the people of the Americas. We are committed to a new era of partnership with countries throughout the hemisphere, working on key shared challenges of economic growth and equality, our energy and climate futures, and regional and citizen security. We are committed to shaping that future through engagement that is strong, sustained, meaningful, and based on mutual respect. Less than a hundred days into the administration, the President went to the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, where he met with all of the leaders in the Western Hemisphere. The President also traveled to Brazil, Chile, and El Salvador to strengthen our partnerships in the Americas.
Ensuring Energy Security and Fighting Climate ChangeThe President has committed to put America on a path to a clean energy economy that improves our energy security, reduces our use of fossil fuels, and drives a new era of American innovation.The United States recognizes the need to break from old ways that threaten our economy and our planet and the President has committed to investing $150 billion in clean energy research and development over ten years. From the Americas to Asia, he is building new clean energy partnerships that will grow our economy while preserving our planet. The U.S. will be a leader in addressing global climate change both by making contributions of our own and engaging other countries to do the same. President Obama has demonstrated the United States' commitment to a low-carbon future, bilaterally and through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change process by working with other major economies to reduce emissions and pursue clean energy. AP Interview: Obama on Romney's 'extreme' viewsBy | Associated Press – 22 mins ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama said Mitt Romney has locked himself into "extreme positions" on economic and social issues and would surely impose them if elected, trying to discredit his Republican rival at the biggest political moment of his life. In an interview with The Associated Press, Obama said Romney lacks serious ideas, refuses to "own up" to the responsibilities of what it takes to be president, and deals in factually dishonest arguments that could soon haunt him in face-to-face debates. Obama also offered a glimpse of how he would govern in a second term of divided government, insisting rosily that the forces of the election would help break Washington's stalemate. He said he would be willing to make a range of compromises with Republicans, confident there are some who would rather make deals than remain part of "one of the least productive Congresses in American history." Mainly, Obama was intent on countering Romney even before his challenger got to the Republican National Convention, which starts Monday in Tampa, Fla . In doing so, the president depicted his opponent as having accumulated ideas far outside the mainstream with no room to turn back. "I can't speak to Governor Romney's motivations," Obama said. "What I can say is that he has signed up for positions, extreme positions, that are very consistent with positions that a number of House Republicans have taken. And whether he actually believes in those or not, I have no doubt that he would carry forward some of the things that he's talked about." Obama spoke to the AP on Thursday before heading off to a long weekend with his family at Camp David, the secluded presidential retreat in the Maryland mountains. The president was at ease but doggedly on script, steering even personal-themed questions about Romney and running mate Paul Ryan into answers about starkly different visions for helping the middle class. Romney, a successful former executive of a private equity firm and one-time Massachusetts governor, will introduce himself to a TV audience of millions next Thursday as he takes the convention stage to accept his party's presidential nomination. He has offered himself as a business-minded alternative to Obama and has seized on voter concerns about joblessness and the direction of the nation. Nearly ten weeks before Election Day, the race is remarkably stable and reflective of a sharply divided nation, with registered voters about evenly split on their choice and nearly a quarter of them unsure or still willing to change their mind. Across the interview, Obama's messages often seemed directed at moderate and independent voters whose sway could make the difference. Obama's depiction of a Romney presidency grew most pointed when he was asked if his Republican challenger has no core, as one of Obama's top advisers once put it. The president suggested that whatever Romney really stands for in life is secondary to the promises Romney has made in the campaign. In explaining his accusation of "extreme" positions, the president cited Romney's call for across-the-board tax cuts that Obama said would mostly help the rich at the expense of everyone else and cost the nation $5 trillion. Obama singled out Romney's opposition to tax credits for producers of wind energy, the kind of issue that carries large political resonance in a battleground state such as Iowa. And Obama alluded to the provocative issue of abortion, suddenly thrust to the fore this week when Republican Missouri Senate candidate Todd Akin said the female body has a way to "shut that whole thing down" when a woman is the victim of "legitimate rape." The Republican platform in Tampa calls for a ban on abortion with no specific exceptions for rape or other circumstances. Obama predicted that a President Romney would not "stand in the way" if Congress gave him a bill that stripped away women's control over their reproductive health. Romney is on record, however, as not opposing abortion in cases of rape and incest or if it will save the mother's life. Polling shows social issues such as abortion represent perhaps Obama's best opportunity to draw support from Romney. Obama already holds a broad lead as the candidate more trusted to handle those social issues among Democrats and independents. The issue is one of Romney's biggest vulnerabilities among moderate and liberal Republicans. Obama also sought to chip away at Romney's trustworthiness, taking fresh shots at Romney's refusal to release years of tax returns for public inspection. He said that position was indicative of a candidate who has a "lack of willingness to take responsibility for what this job entails." Yet it is the economy that has driven this election and has dominated Obama's message of a middle-class revival. "We aren't where we need to be. Everybody agrees with that," said Obama, who inherited an economy in free fall and now bears responsibility for a recovery that remains weak. "But Governor Romney's policies would make things worse for middle-class families and offer no prospect for long-term opportunity for those striving to get into the middle class," the president said. A Romney spokesman, Ryan Williams, jumped on Obama's account in the interview that the economy clearly needs to get better. "Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan agree," Williams said. "The American people know they aren't better off than they were four years ago." Obama holds a decisive advantage over Romney when Americans are asked who better understands their daily woes. Yet nearly two-thirds of people in a new AP-GfK poll say the economy is in poor shape, and 60 percent say the country is headed in the wrong direction. Obama expressed confidence that even voters whose lives have not improved during his term will stick with him as they assess the two candidates. "If they saw Gov. Romney offering serious proposals that offered some sort of concrete ways in which middle-class families would be helped, then I could understand them thinking about that choice," Obama said. "But that's not what's happening." And therein lies the central case that Obama made in the interview, as he has made for months, and as he will again at his own party's convention in Charlotte, N.C., in early September. Obama said he is the candidate whose policies have historically helped the middle class on issues that people care about and that shape the economy — education, manufacturing, science and research, Medicare, debt reduction, tax rates, health care, consumer protection, college aid, energy. Williams, the Romney spokesman, responded that Obama has piled up national debt and presided over high unemployment. "Too many middle-class families are going to sleep each night worried," he said. "This may be the best President Obama can do, but it's not the best America can do." The moment that could finally shake up a close race could come in the three debates Obama and Romney hold in October. The president said Romney could run into trouble because of arguments that are not backed up by facts, citing a widely debunked television ad campaign in which Romney accuses Obama of gutting the work requirement in the federal welfare law. "It will be a little tougher to defend face-to-face," Obama said. Obama's view of a different second-term dynamic in Washington, even if both and House Republicans retain power, seems a stretch given the gridlocked politics of a divided government. He said two changes — the facts that "the American people will have voted," and that Republicans will no longer need to be focused on beating him — could lead to better conditions for deal-making. If Republicans are willing, Obama said, "I'm prepared to make a whole range of compromises" that could even rankle his own party. But he did not get specific. The 25-minute interview, conducted in the library of the White House residence, was part of a multi-faceted campaign by Obama's team to snag some of the spotlight during Romney's big week. Obama denied the notion, widely if quietly held in political circles, that the fiercely competitive president is also driven to beat Romney because he does not hold him in high regard. "I don't really know him well," Obama said. "The big arguments that I have with Governor Romney have to do with where we take this country forward."
Associated Press Writer Ken Thomas and AP Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta in Washington and AP Writer Steve Peoples in Columbus, Ohio contributed to this report. Ron Paul on Romney: 'I don't fully endorse him for president' Political Reporter
The Ticket – 2 hrs 22 mins ago  Ron Paul (T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images) TAMPA -- Mitt Romney's presidential campaign gave Texas Rep. Ron Paul a chance to speak at the Republican National Convention, but he declined due to the conditions of the offer, the New York Times reports:
Republicans plan to show a tribute video honoring the the retiring libertarian politician Tuesday at the convention. Paul is also holding his own rally nearby on Sunday afternoon. Analysis: Akin row shows GOP's social-fiscal riftBy | Associated Press – 4 hrs ago
Related Content
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Every now and then, an event awakens the ever-slumbering tensions between the Republican Party's two core wings: social conservatives and corporate interests. A Missouri congressman's comment about rape and pregnancy was one such moment, and it came just as Republicans were hoping for a united front at their convention to nominate Mitt Romney for president. A full-blown rupture — such as the one at the 1992 convention, when a defeated candidate declared a national "culture war" — seems unlikely. But even a modest squabble between key party factions might raise concerns in a tight presidential race. Romney joined other mainstream Republicans in denouncing the Aug. 19 remarks by Rep. Todd Akin, the party's Senate nominee in Missouri. Akin said rape victims can generally avoid pregnancy because "if it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down." Romney called Akin's comments "offensive and wrong." He unsuccessfully urged Akin to quit the Senate race. Like many other top Republicans, Romney stopped short of criticizing Akin's stand on abortion, as opposed to his comments about rape and conception. Akin opposes abortion in all cases, including rape. Romney would allow abortions in instances of rape and incest. He showed no interest, however, in picking a fight with his party's most ardent abortion opponents, a crucial source of GOP votes and volunteers. And he downplayed the fact that his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan, has often joined Akin in anti-abortion measures, including some that sought to differentiate between forcible and non-forcible rapes. It's hardly surprising that Romney, who's running mainly on economic issues, is trying to maintain a quiet balance between fiscal and social conservatives. The Republican Party cannot win national elections without an alliance between the two groups. Corporate titans know they must hold hands with anti-abortion crusaders to elect politicians who will keep government regulations and taxes low. Evangelicals and other social conservatives realize they must join ranks with business executives — even if they would never mingle at a country club — to elect champions of public prayer, abortion limits and so on. Romney, who made a fortune heading the private equity firm Bain Capital, comes from the corporate wing. He seems less convincing when talking about the social issues that animate many on the right. As Massachusetts governor, Romney supported abortion rights, gun control and gay rights. He abandoned those positions as he prepared to run for president in 2008, but many "movement conservatives" remain wary of him. Romney had to struggle for their support during the Republican primaries, when Newt Gingrich briefly depicted him as a "vulture capitalist." Romney's most persistent rival was Rick Santorum, a hero to anti-abortion activists and home-schoolers. Now that the primaries are over, and unaffiliated voters are crucial this fall, Republican leaders would rather keep the abortion debate to a simmer, not a boil. Last week, the party's platform committee approved a provision that backs the "Human Life Amendment," a proposed constitutional amendment that would ban abortion, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The Republican platforms in 2004 and 2008 did the same. That might surprise some GOP-leaning centrists, who rarely hear Republican presidents or congressional leaders make loud, full-bore pushes to outlaw abortion. "Ronald Reagan used to talk about the party's three-legged stool: fiscal conservatives, social conservatives and national-security conservatives," said Dan Schnur, a former Republican adviser who now teaches political science at the University of Southern California. "At best, it's a three-legged stool," Schnur said. "At worst, it's three scorpions in a bottle." The party's factions usually coexist peacefully, he said, but "the Akin matter makes it a lot harder." The visibility and prominence of national-security conservatives have waned in recent years, partly because of widespread disillusionment with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. But business-oriented fiscal conservatives remain vitally important, as do social conservatives, who play big roles in swing states including Iowa, Florida and North Carolina. The Akin episode ignited new tensions between the groups. Mike Huckabee, the Baptist minister and former Arkansas governor, ripped into establishment Republicans for trying to force Akin from the Senate race. Huckabee, who ran for president in 2008, likened the National Republican Senatorial Committee to "union goons" trying to kneecap rivals. Romney needs as much peace between the factions as possible. Corporate conservatives provide a disproportionate amount of funding for the GOP. Casino owner Sheldon Adelson, for instance, has pledged more than $10 million for groups opposing President Barack Obama. The wealthy industrialist brothers David and Charles Koch have donated and helped raise millions more. Religious conservatives and anti-abortion activists, meanwhile, provide thousands of foot soldiers to knock on doors and make phone calls for candidates they support. Akin's remarks gave Democrats new ammunition to accuse the GOP of encouraging zealots who operate on the political fringe. Democrats note, for example, that convention speakers in Tampa will include Donald Trump and others who still question whether Obama was born in the United States. "The Akin case shows that the Republican establishment will pander to the social conservatives until they become a liability," said Democratic strategist Doug Hattaway. "But the Wall Street/country club set still rely on the right-wing religious vote to prop up the party at the polls." Even some veteran Republican operatives question why Romney maintains ties with Trump, whom they view as a distracting glory hound. A hard, clean break with Trump, however, might alienate a small but fervent group of conservatives who, for now, are in Romney's corner. In a presidential race that conceivably could turn on a few votes in one or two states, the loss of a tiny faction — led by Donald Trump, Todd Akin or someone else unloved by the Republican establishment — could prove crucial.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are eagerly renewing their fight against privatizing Social Security now that Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has picked Paul Ryan as his running mate. It was a fight that didn't go well for the GOP when President George W. Bush pushed the idea in 2005. In his 2010 "Road Map for America's Future," the Wisconsin congressman proposed a plan to allow younger workers to divert more than one-third of their Social Security taxes into personal accounts that they would own and could will to their heirs. Ryan wrote that the accounts would provide workers an opportunity "to build a significant nest egg for retirement that far exceeds what the current program can provide." Workers 55 and older would stay in the current system. Romney hasn't embraced the proposal and Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, didn't include it in either of the federal budgets passed by House Republicans the past two years. But now that Ryan is running for vice president, Democrats hope to capitalize on the issue. Bush's proposal for private accounts received a chilly reception from members in both parties in Congress, though Ryan embraced it. Democrats used the issue against GOP congressional candidates in the 2006 election, when they regained control of the House and Senate. "The very last thing we ought to be doing is putting at risk the retirement security of millions of America's seniors," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who heads the Democratic National Committee. Until now, Social Security had been largely absent from the presidential campaign. President Barack Obama has yet to lay out a detailed plan for addressing the issue, and his silence is drawing criticism from advocates who supported him in the past. Romney has been more forthcoming with proposals, but Social Security has not been a big part of his campaign, either. Romney, in his book, "No Apology," said he liked the idea of personal accounts. But, he wrote, "Given the volatility of investment values that we have just experienced, I would prefer that individual accounts were added to Social Security, not diverted from it, and that they were voluntary." Romney's current plan for Social Security doesn't mention personal accounts. Instead, he proposes a gradual increase in the retirement age to account for growing life expectancy. For future generations, Romney would slow the growth of benefits "for those with higher incomes." Romney says tax increases should be off the table, and current beneficiaries and those near retirement should be spared from cuts. "Mitt Romney and Paul support gradual reforms to Social Security that protect current beneficiaries from any benefit disruptions while strengthening the program to ensure that it doesn't go bankrupt," Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams said. The trustees who oversee Social Security say the trust funds that support the program will run dry in 2033. At that point, Social Security will generate only enough tax revenue to pay about 75 percent of benefits, triggering automatic cuts unless Congress acts. During the 2008 campaign, Obama said he wanted to improve Social Security's finances by applying the payroll tax to annual wages above $250,000. It is now limited to wages below $110,100, a level that increases with inflation. Obama also pledged to oppose raising the retirement age or reducing annual cost-of-living adjustments, or COLAs. "Let me be clear, I will not do either," Obama said at the time. Last year, however, Obama put on the table a proposal to reduce annual COLAs during deficit-reduction talks with House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. The talks ultimately failed and nothing came of the proposal, but it raised questions about whether Obama would honor his 2008 pledge. "A national politician would do well to strongly identify themselves with Social Security, not just with rhetoric, but to be very clear that they understand the pain people are experiencing today, that they stand behind this program and they will protect the citizenry and they will not cut benefits," said Eric Kingson, a Syracuse University professor who co-founded Social Security Works. "I hope to hear that from the White House. I have not heard that yet." Obama offered some principles to strengthen Social Security in his 2011 State of the Union address. "We must do it without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable or people with disabilities, without slashing benefits for future generations and without subjecting Americans' guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market," Obama said in the speech. Last week, Vice President Joe Biden made a more sweeping guarantee during a campaign swing in southern Virginia, telling a customer at a diner that Social Security will not be changed. "I guarantee you, flat guarantee you, there will be no changes in Social Security," Biden told the customer, according to a White House pool report. "I flat guarantee you." A Biden adviser said later the vice president was merely reassuring the woman that her benefits would not be changed. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue. Obama campaign spokesman Adam Fetcher said the president "has put forward a set of principles to guide bipartisan action to strengthen it for future generations. Rather than laying the groundwork for a bipartisan approach as the president has done, Mitt Romney's only solution would mean deep benefit cuts for future retirees. His running mate, Paul Ryan was an architect of privatization." Romney's campaign chided Obama's inaction. "His failure to lead on entitlements has put the future of Social Security at risk," said Williams, the Romney spokesman. "Mitt Romney is committed to ensuring that Social Security is there for future generations and he has a comprehensive plan to save Social Security with commonsense reforms."
Follow Stephen Ohlemacher on Twitter: http://twitter.com/stephenatap President Obama: "We've Come Too Far to Turn Back Now." Published on Aug 18, 2012 by BarackObamadotcom Help build this campaign: http://OFA.BO/nHAK2p Nice I think this is a good reason why Obama should win. Even if he fails miserably, I can say he tried to do good. More than I can say for most republicans with bad intentions and their successes only hurt America more. This made me cry. If Obama doesn't win i am leaving America! Tht was beautiful Best. President. Ever. THIS IS WHY I'M VOTING OBAMA! Just remember no matter how great our president is he can't do it alone. This should be obvious to everyone who has a pulse. President Barack Obama needs a Congress and Senate that are equally great. So on election day lets remember to vote for our progressive leaders that will help this country become great once again. GO AMERICA! President Obama Urges Congress to Pass American Jobs Act Uploaded by whitehouse on Sep 14, 2011 President Obama travelled to North Carolina State University where he delivered remarks on the American Jobs Act, emphasizing the need for Congress to pass it now and put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of working Americans, while not adding a dime to the deficit. September 14, 2011. Reid: Next Steps Towards Deficit-Reduction, Job-Creation Uploaded by SenateDemocrats on Aug 1, 2011 Senator Harry Reid, speaking to reporters on Monday afternoon, says that once a compromise plan to reduce the deficit becomes law, Congress will focus on getting Americans back to work. Obama Urges Congress to Help Put Teachers Back to WorkBy Mary Bruce | ABC OTUS News – Sat, Aug 18, 2012With students heading back to school, President Obama is accusing Republicans of wanting to cut education funding to give tax breaks to the wealthy, saying their economic plan "undercuts our future." "This year, several thousand fewer educators will be going back to school," the president says in his weekly address. More than 300,000 local education jobs have been lost since the end of the recession, according to a new White House report on the impact of teacher layoffs. Obama says cuts in education "force kids into crowded classrooms, cancel programs for preschoolers and kindergarteners, and shorten the school week and the school year." Even in tough fiscal times, Obama says states should make education a priority, but adds, "Congress should be willing to help out - because this affects all of us." "That's why part of the jobs bill that I sent to Congress last September included support for states to prevent further layoffs and to rehire teachers who'd lost their jobs. But here we are - a year later with tens of thousands more educators laid off - and Congress still hasn't done anything about it," he says. The president says the Republicans' economic plan would "make the situation even worse." "It would actually cut funding for education - which means fewer kids in Head Start, fewer teachers in our classrooms, and fewer college students with access to financial aid - all to pay for a massive new tax cut for millionaires and billionaires," he says. "That's backwards. That's wrong. That plan doesn't invest in our future; it undercuts our future." Obama touts the steps he has taken to boost the nation's education system, including instituting the Race to the Top competitive grant program, giving states flexibility on No Child Left Behind requirements, and reforming the student loan program. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican U.S. presidential challenger Mitt Romney plans to make public his 2011 tax return by October 15, a senior campaign adviser said on Sunday, as President Barack Obama's re-election team pressed its criticism of Romney's decision not to disclose more about his personal taxes. Romney, a former private equity executive who is one of the richest men ever to run for president, has come under pressure for months from the Obama campaign to release more years of tax returns. He has released his 2010 tax return and estimates for 2011 but does not plan to reveal more years of returns. In April, he requested an extension from the Internal Revenue Service to file his 2011 tax forms, while estimating his tax liability at $3.2 million for last year. Ed Gillespie, a senior Romney adviser, indicated the former Massachusetts governor would release the 2011 return by October 15, about three weeks before the November 6 election, but refused to say exactly when. "Look, October 15 is the deadline for the IRS on an extension. We have said as soon as they're ready we're going to release them. And I believe they'll be ready before that," Gillespie told the "Fox News Sunday" program. "They're being finalized. There's a lot of forms that have to come in from other entities that the governor doesn't have control over," Gillespie added. He said Americans will have "ample information" about Romney's taxes with the disclosure of the 2010 return and the planned release of the 2011 return. The Obama campaign and its Democratic allies have targeted Romney's wealth and refusal to release more tax returns in ads that paint him as out of touch with ordinary Americans. Romney has an estimated net worth of up to $250 million. Obama's campaign said on Friday that if Romney releases five years of returns, it would not press him to release more - a proposal quickly rejected by Romney's team. 'MORE DAMAGING' "Look, Mitt Romney is a highly educated man. And he has clearly made a decision that what is in those tax returns is far more damaging to him than to do what every presidential candidate has done, which is show the American people your personal finances," Obama campaign senior adviser Robert Gibbs told "Fox News Sunday." Gillespie faulted the Obama team's focus on Romney's personal taxes. "It wasn't an issue in 2008 because President Obama wasn't trying to distract from a four-year-long record of failed policies," he added. Romney's vice presidential choice, congressman Paul Ryan, on Friday released tax returns showing he paid an effective tax rate of 20 percent last year, roughly in line with Obama's rate and likely higher than that of his running mate, Mitt Romney. Ryan's release of his 2010 and 2011 tax returns aligned him with Romney's position that giving out two years of tax returns is adequate. The top congressional Democrat, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, this month accused Romney of not paying taxes for 10 years, a claim Romney has strongly denied. Romney said on Thursday he paid at least a 13 percent tax rate every year over the last 10 years. Romney has released tax information showing that he paid a 13.9 percent rate for 2010. He said in January he would probably pay 15.4 percent for 2011. Obama paid a rate of 20.5 percent for 2011. Speaking on NBC's "Meet the Press" program, Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley, head of the Democratic Governors Association, said: "The only thing we know for sure is one year of returns. ... We know that he (Romney) has been engaged in tax avoidance schemes, with offshore accounts ... in Cayman Islands and the Bahamas. ... But it is tax avoidance." (Reporting by Will Dunham, Christopher Wilson, Jason Lange and Paul Eckert; Editing by Eric Beech)  Photograph by Luke Sharrett/The New York Times via Redux Paul Ryan at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. Politics & PolicyPaul Ryan's Peculiar Definition of BipartisanshipBy Elizabeth Dwoskin on August 17, 2012 In early 2011, Representative Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) was shopping around a Medicare plan, and he was in search of Democratic support. The previous year he'd released a proposal for privatizing Medicare that he had trouble selling to even his own party: Only 13 Republicans signed on. Clearly he needed to expand his base of support. Ryan found a partner in Alice Rivlin. A former director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Clinton White House and a Washington Wise Woman, Rivlin was serving with Ryan on the Simpson-Bowles Commission that was looking for ways to bring the federal deficit and national debt under control. After an extended back and forth, the two came up with a proposal both could live with: Instead of getting rid of the fee-for-service model—Medicare as we know it, in which the government pays providers directly—and opening everything to the free market, Medicare would compete directly with private plans regulated by government exchanges. And rather than pegging the growth rate of Medicare to the Consumer Price Index, as Ryan had proposed, Ryan appeased Rivlin with a more generous cost cap. Yet when Ryan released his first budget as chairman of the House Budget Committee that April, the outlines of the deal he and Rivlin worked out had been changed. (Ryan-Rivlin never officially got off the ground. Democrats on the Simpson-Bowles Commission refused to endorse it.) They'd agreed that private plans would compete with Medicare. But in Ryan's budget, the option for seniors to stick with traditional fee-for-service Medicare had disappeared. Democrats attacked the budget in ads featuring a man in a suit pushing an old woman off a cliff. In his defense, Ryan said the Medicare proposal was actually a bipartisan effort and pointed to his work with Rivlin. Announcing his budget at the Brookings Institution, where Rivlin is a senior fellow, he said Ryan-Rivlin was the basis of his plan. "Alice Rivlin and I designed these Medicare and Medicaid reforms," Ryan said in an appearance on Morning Joe in April 2011. "Alice Rivlin was Clinton's OMB director," he said. "She's a proud Democrat at the Brookings Institution. These entitlement reforms are based off of those models that she and I worked on together." Rivlin was not happy to see herself being held up as Ryan's partner on a bill that bore little resemblance to their deal, especially since, right before he released the budget, Rivlin had told him she couldn't support it. Rivlin came out publicly against the budget and denied Ryan's claims that she was his co-author: "When I called him on out it, he softened the tone of his references to me," Rivlin says. She isn't upset with Ryan. "He genuinely wanted a bipartisan bill," she says of his initial efforts. "I don't think he was doing anything bad," she adds. "He was pleased to have a Democratic partner." Something similar happened this week. In announcing his running mate, Mitt Romney praised Ryan as a man who works "across the aisle." As an example of Ryan's bipartisanship, Romney offered up Ryan's relationship with Senator Ron Wyden, a liberal Democrat from Oregon. After Rivlin-Ryan failed, Ryan continued to look for Democrats who would support his plan. Eventually he found Wyden, who has a reputation of teaming up with Republicans on ambitious legislation. In December 2011, they worked together on a blueprint for reforming Medicare. Ryan-Wyden wasn't a bill, but a white paper—a set of principles the two men endorsed. But what ultimately came out months later in Ryan's next budget didn't look to Wyden like what he'd signed on for. In the 2012 budget, Ryan agreed to keep traditional Medicare as an option. In the white paper, Ryan had agreed to Wyden's demand that if Medicare costs exceeded an agreed-upon cap, the costs would be covered by insurance providers—not beneficiaries. Ryan's budget cut the cap in half—and lost the guarantee. Wyden made his opposition known: He voted against the budget (which also repealed the Affordable Care Act entirely), which he argued shifted costs onto the most vulnerable, and let Ryan know that the new budget was not the same as Ryan-Wyden. Brendan Buck, a Romney spokesman, says in an e-mail exchange that the differences between his plan with Ryan and Wyden's, were "negligible." Wyden didn't think so: The senator, who typically avoids divisive comments, accused Romney of "talking nonsense" about his work with Ryan. Asked for other examples of Ryan's bipartisanship, Buck brought up … Rivlin. Just because she didn't ultimately support Ryan's Medicare plan, he says, "doesn't mean he hasn't worked in a bipartisan manner to find solutions to our debt crisis." Bain Capital started with help of offshore investorsMitt Romney's firm raised more than a third of its first investment fund from wealthy foreigners — who mostly used companies in Panama, then known for tax advantages and banking secrecy.Mitt Romney in 1990 with Bain & Co. founder Bill Bain, who reportedly… (Boston Globe, Justine Schiavo ) Washington Bureau WASHINGTON — When Mitt Romney launched Bain Capital in 1984, he struggled at first to raise enough money for the untested venture. Old-money families like the Rothschilds turned down the young Boston consultant. 
So he and his partners tapped an eclectic roster of investors, raising more than a third of their first $37-million investment fund from wealthy foreigners. Most of the foreign investors' money came through corporations registered in Panama, then known for tax advantages and unusual banking secrecy. Previously unreported details, documented in Massachusetts corporate filings and other public records, show that Bain Capital was enmeshed in the largely opaque world of international high finance from its very inception. The documents don't indicate any wrongdoing, and experts say that such financial vehicles are common for wealthy foreign investors. But the new details come as President Obama has criticized Romney for profiting from Bain Capital's own offshore investment entities, which are unavailable to most Americans. The Romney campaign declined to comment on the specifics of Bain's early investors. Romney has argued that his offshore investments are entirely proper, and that he has paid all the U.S. taxes that he owes. The offshore funds do provide tax advantages for foreign investors, allowing Bain to attract billions of dollars. "The world of finance is not as simple as some would have you believe," Romney said in an interview this week with National Review Online. The first outside investor in Bain was a leading London financier, Sir Jack Lyons, who made a $2.5-million investment through a Panama shell company set up by a Swiss money manager, further shielding his identity. Years later, Lyons was convicted in an unrelated stock fraud scandal. About $9 million came from rich Latin Americans, including powerful Salvadoran families living in Miami during their country's brutal civil war. That first investment fund — used to invest in start-up companies and leveraged buyouts — paid out a stunning 173% in average annual returns over a decade, according to a prospectus prepared by an outside bank. It was the start of the private equity powerhouse that ultimately fueled Romney's political career. He now cites his experience at Bain as a chief qualification for the White House. Romney faced unusual complications when he launched Bain Capital, a spinoff of Bain & Co., the Boston consulting firm he joined when he graduated from Harvard Business School. At the time, U.S. officials were publicly accusing some exiles in Miami of funding right-wing death squads in El Salvador. Some family members of the first Bain Capital investors were later linked to groups responsible for killings, though no evidence indicates those relatives invested in Bain or benefited from it. Romney has said he checked the foreign investors' backgrounds. His campaign and Bain Capital declined to provide specifics. Alex Stanton, a spokesman for Bain Capital, said confidentiality rules barred him from commenting on the investors. "The hyperbole of political campaigns cannot change the fact that Bain Capital has operated with high standards of integrity and excellence, including compliance with all applicable laws and regulations regarding the vetting of our investors in consultation with experienced counsel and other advisors," he said. "Any suggestion to the contrary is baseless." Matt McDonald, a spokesman for the Romney campaign, also declined to discuss details of the original fund. "There were many investors who saw the opportunity of a firm that could help fix broken companies and help them grow." But when Romney and his partners started the firm, Bain & Co. founder Bill Bain — worried the new venture could fail — barred them from soliciting current clients or corporations that would have to publicly disclose the investment, according to an early Bain Capital employee. Bain partners put in $12 million of their own money, then sought the rest from wealthy individuals. Records show the first investment in Bain Capital — $1.25 million in June 1984 — was in the name of Jean Overseas Ltd., registered in Panama by Marcel Elfen, a Swiss money manager. Later, the investment was doubled. The Panamanian shell company apparently was a vehicle for Lyons, the British businessman and philanthropist. Lyons died in 2008. His son, David Lyons of Quebec, said in a phone interview that he had never heard of Jean Overseas, but he confirmed that his father was "absolutely" an early investor in Bain Capital and said that Elfen, who died last year, was his father's money manager. David Lyons said that wealthy Europeans like his father often invested through offshore shell corporations. "It allowed some confidentiality," he said. "It allowed a lot of things." FROM THE ARCHIVES
Bain CapitalFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the investment firm. For the management consulting company, see Bain & Company.
 Bain Capital is a Boston-headquartered alternative asset management and financial services company that specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit and public market investments. Bain invests across a broad range of industry sectors and geographic regions. As of early 2012, the firm managed approximately $66 billion of investor capital across its various investment platforms. The firm was founded in 1984 by partners from the consulting firm Bain & Company. Since inception it has invested in or acquired hundreds of companies including AMC Entertainment, Aspen Education Group, Brookstone, Burger King, Burlington Coat Factory, Clear Channel Communications, Domino's Pizza, DoubleClick, Dunkin' Donuts, D&M Holdings, Guitar Center, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Sealy, The Sports Authority, Staples, Toys "R" Us, Warner Music Group and The Weather Channel. As of the end of 2011, Bain Capital had approximately 400 professionals, most with previous experience in consulting, operations or finance.[2] Bain is headquartered at the John Hancock Tower in Boston, Massachusetts with additional offices in New York City, Chicago, Palo Alto, London, Luxembourg, Munich, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo. The company, and its actions during its first 15 years, have become the subject of political and media scrutiny as a result of co-founder Mitt Romney's later political career, especially his 2012 presidential campaign.[4]
[edit] History[edit] 1984 founding and early historyBain Capital was founded in 1984 by Bain & Company partners Mitt Romney, T. Coleman Andrews III, and Eric Kriss, after Bill Bain had offered Romney the chance to head a new venture that would invest in companies and apply Bain's consulting techniques to improve operations.[5] In addition to the three founding partners, the early team included Fraser Bullock, Robert F. White, Joshua Bekenstein, Adam Kirsch, and Geoffrey S. Rehnert.[6] Romney initially had the titles of president[7] and managing general partner[8][9] or managing partner.[10] He later became referred to as managing director[11] or CEO[12] as well. He was also the sole shareholder of the firm.[13] At the beginning, the firm had fewer than ten employees.[14] When new employees were hired, they were generally in their twenties and top-ranked graduates from Stanford University or Harvard University, both of which Romney had attended.[15] In the face of skepticism from potential investors, Romney and his partners spent a year raising the $37 million in funds needed to start the new operation.[16][17][14][18] Early investors also included members of elite Salvadoran families who fled the country's civil war.[19] They and other wealthy Latin Americans invested $9 million primarily through offshore companies registered in Panama.[20] While Bain Capital was founded by Bain executives, the firm was not an affiliate or a division of Bain & Company but rather a completely separate company. Initially, the two firms shared the same offices - in an office tower at Copley Place in Boston[21] - and a similar approach to improving business operations. However, the two firms had put in place certain protections to avoid sharing information between the two companies and the Bain & Company executives had the ability to veto investments that posed potential conflicts of interest.[22] Bain Capital also provided an investment opportunity for partners of Bain & Company. Bain Capital's original $37 million fund was raised entirely from private individuals in mid-1984.[6] The firm initially gave a cut of its profits to Bain & Company, but Romney later persuaded Bill Bain to give that up.[23]  The Bain Capital team was initially reluctant to invest its capital. By 1985, things were going poorly enough that Romney considered closing the operation, returning investors' money back to them, and having the partners go back to their old positions.[24] The partners saw weak spots in so many potential deals that by 1986, very few had been done.[25] At first, Bain Capital focused on venture capital opportunities.[25] One of Bain's earliest and most notable venture investments was in Staples, Inc., the office supply retailer. In 1986, Bain provided $4.5 million to two supermarket executives, Leo Kahn and Thomas G. Stemberg, to open an office supply supermarket in Brighton, Massachusetts.[26] The fast-growing retail chain went public in 1989;[27] by 1996, the company had grown to over 1,100 stores,[28] and by 2008, over 2,000 stores.[29] Bain Capital eventually reaped a nearly sevenfold return on its investment, and Romney sat on the Staples board of directors for over a decade.[14][18][25] Another very successful investment occurred in 1986 when $1 million was invested in medical equipment maker Calumet Coach, which eventually returned $34 million.[30] A few years later, Bain Capital made an investment in the technology research outfit the Gartner Group, which ended up returning a 16-fold gain.[30] Bain invested the $37 million of capital in its first fund in twenty companies and by 1989 was generating an annualized return in excess of 50 percent. By the end of the decade, Bain's second fund, raised in 1987 had deployed $106 million into 13 investments.[31] As the firm began organizing around funds, each such fund was run by a specific general partnership – that included all Bain Capital executives as well as others – which in turn was controlled by Bain Capital Inc., the management company that Romney had full ownership control of.[32] As CEO, Romney had the final approval say on every deal made.[33] [edit] 1990sBeginning in 1989, the firm, which began as a venture capital source investing in start-up companies, adjusted its strategy to focus on leveraged buyouts and growth capital investments in more mature companies.[34] Their model was to buy existing firms with money mostly borrowed against their assets, partner with existing management to apply Bain methodology to their operations (rather than the hostile takeovers practiced in other leverage buyout scenarios), and sell them off in a few years.[25][17] Existing CEOs were offered large equity stakes in the process, owing to Bain Capital's belief in the emerging agency theory that CEOs should be bound to maximizing shareholder value rather than other goals.[18] By the end of 1990, Bain had raised $175 million of capital and financed 35 companies with combined revenues of $3.5 billion.[35] In July 1992, Bain acquired Ampad (originally American Pad & Paper) from Mead Corporation, which had acquired the company in 1986. Mead which had been experiencing difficulties integrating Ampad's products into its existing product lines, generated a cash gain of $56 million on the sale.[36] Under Bain's ownership, the company enjoyed a significant growth in sales from $106.7 million in 1992 to $583.9 million in 1996, when the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Under Bain's ownership, the company also made a number of acquisitions, including writing products company SCM in July 1994, brand names from the American Trading and Production Corporation in August 1995, WR Acquisition and the Williamhouse-Regency Division of Delaware, Inc. in October, 1995, Niagara Envelope Company, Inc. in 1996, and Shade/Allied, Inc. in February 1997.[37] Ampad's revenue began to decline in 1997 and the company laid off employees and closed production facilities to maintain profitability. However, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and the assets were acquired in 2003 by Crescent Investments. Bain's ownership of Ampad, is estimated to have generated more than $100 million in profit for Bain.[38] In 1994, Bain acquired Totes, a producer of umbrellas and overshoes.[39] Three years later, Totes, under Bain's ownership, acquired Isotoner, a producer of leather gloves.[40] Bain, together with Thomas H. Lee Partners, acquired Experian, the consumer credit reporting business of TRW, in 1996 for more than $1 billion. Formerly known as TRW's Information Systems and Services unit, Experian is one of the leading providers of credit reports on consumers and businesses in the US.[41] The company was sold to Great Universal Stores for $1.7 billion just months after being acquired.[42] Other notable Bain investments of the late 1990s included Sealy Corporation, the manufacturer of mattresses;[43] Alliance Laundry Systems;[44] Domino's Pizza[45] and Artisan Entertainment.[46] Much of the firm's profits was earned from a relatively small number of deals, with Bain Capital's overall success and failure rate being about even. One study of 68 deals that Bain Capital made up through the 1990s found that the firm lost money or broke even on 33 of them.[47] Another study that looked at the eight-year period following 77 deals during the same time found that in 17 cases the company went bankrupt or out of business, and in 6 cases Bain Capital lost all its investment. But 10 deals were very successful and represented 70 percent of the total profits.[48] Romney had two diversions from Bain Capital during the first half of the decade. From January 1991 to December 1992,[49][25] Romney served as the CEO of Bain & Company where he led the successful turnaround of the consulting firm (he remained managing general partner of Bain Capital during this time).[8][9] In November 1993, he took a leave of absence for his unsuccessful 1994 run for the U.S. Senate seat from Massachusetts; he returned the day after the election in November 1994.[50][25][51] During that time, Ampad workers went on strike, and asked Romney to intervene; Bain Capital lawyers asked him not to get involved, although he did meet with the workers to tell them he had no position of active authority in the matter.[52][53] In 1994, Bain invested in Steel Dynamics, based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, a prosperous steel company that has grown to the fifth largest in the U.S.A, employs about 6,100 people, and produces carbon steel products with 2010 revenues of $6.3 billion on steel shipments of 5.3 million tons.[54] In 1993, Bain acquired the Armco Worldwide Grinding System steel plant in Kansas City, Missouri and merged it with its steel plant in Georgetown, South Carolina to form GST Steel. The Kansas City plant had a strike in 1997 and Bain closed the plant in 2001 laying off 750 workers when it went into bankruptcy. The South Carolina plant closed in 2003 but subsequently reopened under a different owner. At the time of its bankruptcy it reported $553.9 million in debts against $395.2 in assets. Bain reported $58.4 million in profits, the employee pension fund had a liability of $44 million.[55][56][57][58] Bain's investment in Dade Behring represented a significant investment in the medical diagnostics industry. In 1994, Bain, together with Goldman Sachs Capital Partners completed a carveout acquisition of Dade International,[59] the medical diagnostics division of Baxter International in a $440 million acquisition. Dade's private equity owners merged the company with DuPont's in vitro diagnostics business in May 1996 and subsequently with the Behring Diagnostics division of Hoechst AG in 1997.[60] Aventis, the successor of Hoechst, acquired 52% of the combined company.[61] In 1999, the company reported $1.3 billion of revenue and completed a $1.25 billion leveraged recapitalization that resulted in a payout to shareholders.[60] The dividend, taken together with other previous shareholder dividends resulted in an eightfold return on investment to Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs.[30][48] Revenues declined from 1999 through 2002 and despite attempts to cut costs through layoffs the company entered into bankruptcy in 2002. Following its restructuring, Dade Behring emerged from Bankruptcy in 2003 and continued to operate independently until 2007 when the business was acquired by Siemens Medical Solutions. Bain and Goldman lost their remaining stock in the company as part of the bankruptcy.[62] By the end of the decade, Bain Capital was on its way to being one of the top private equity firms in the nation,[23] having increased its number of partners from 5 to 18, having 115 employees overall, and having $4 billion under its management.[17][14] The firm's average annual return on investments was 113 percent.[16][63] It had made between 100 and 150 deals where it acquired and then sold a company.[30][47][48] [edit] 1999-2002: Romney departure and political legacyRomney took a paid leave of absence from Bain Capital in February 1999 when he became the head of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics.[64][65] The decision caused turmoil at Bain Capital, with a power struggle ensuing.[66] Some partners left and founded the Audax Group and Golden Gate Capital.[33] Other partners threatened to leave, and there was a prospect of eight-figure lawsuits being filed.[66] Romney was worried that the firm might be destroyed, but the crisis ebbed.[66] Romney was not involved in day-to-day operations of the firm after starting the Olympics position.[67][68] Those were handled by a management committee, consisting of five of the fourteen remaining active partners with the firm.[33] However, according to some interviews and press releases during 1999, Romney said he was keeping a part-time function at Bain.[69][33] During his leave of absence, Romney continued to be listed in filings to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission[70] as "sole shareholder, sole director, Chief Executive Officer and President".[71][72] The SEC filings reflected the legal reality[73] and the ownership interest in the Bain Capital management company.[32][74] In practice, former Bain partners have stated that Romney's attention was mostly occupied by his Olympics position.[75][73] He did stay in regular contact with his partners, and traveled to meet with them several times, signing corporate and legal documents and paying attention to his own interests within the firm and to his departure negotiations.[74] Bain Capital Fund VI in 1998 was the last one Romney was involved in; investors were worried that with Romney gone, the firm would have trouble raising money for Bain Capital Fund VII in 2000, but in practice the $2.5 billion was raised without much trouble.[33] His former partners have said that Romney had no role in assessing other new investments after February 1999,[33] nor was he involved in directing the company's investment funds.[32] Discussions over the final terms of Romney's departure dragged on during this time, with Romney negotiating for the best deal he could get and his continuing position as CEO and sole shareholder giving him the leverage to do so.[73][33] Although he had left open the possibility of returning to Bain after the Olympics, Romney made his crossover to politics permanent with an announcement in August 2001.[64] His separation from the firm was finalized in early 2002.[33][76] Romney negotiated a ten-year retirement agreement with Bain Capital[33] that allowed him to receive a passive profit share and interest as a retired partner in some Bain Capital entities, including buyout and Bain Capital investment funds, in exchange for his ownership in the management company.[77][78] Because the private equity business continued to thrive, this deal would bring him millions of dollars in annual income.[78] Romney was the first and last CEO of Bain Capital; since his departure became final, it has continued to be run by management committee.[33] Bain Capital itself, and especially its actions and investments during its first 15 years, came under press scrutiny as the result of Romney's 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns.[30][79][80] Bain Capital made as few comments about those actions and investments as possible, as even by the standards of the private equity industry it was known for its commitment towards secrecy about itself and privacy for its clients and investors.[80] Romney's leave of absence and the level of activity he had within the firm during the 1999-2002 period also garnered attention.[81][82][83][84][85][86] [edit] Early 2000s Bain Capital began the new decade by closing on its seventh fund, Bain Capital Fund VII, with over $3.1 billion of investor commitments. The firm's most notable investments in 2000 included the $700 million acquisition of Datek, the online stock brokerage firm,[87] as well as the $305 million acquisition of KB Toys from Consolidated Stores.[88] Datek was ultimately merged with Ameritrade in 2002. KB Toys, which had been financially troubled since the 1990s as a result of increased pressure from national discount chains such as Wal-Mart and Target, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2004. Bain had been able to recover value on its investment through a dividend recapitalization in 2003.[89] In early 2001, Bain agreed to purchase a 30 percent stake, worth $600 million, in Huntsman Corporation, a leading chemical company owned by Jon Huntsman, Sr., but the deal was never completed. [90][91] With a significant amount of committed capital in its new fund available for investment, Bain was one of a handful of private equity investors capable of completing large transactions in the adverse conditions of the early 2000s recession. In July 2002, Bain together with TPG Capital and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, announced the high profile $2.3 billion leveraged buyout of Burger King from Diageo.[92] However, in November the original transaction collapsed, when Burger King failed to meet certain performance targets. In December 2002, Bain and its co-investors agreed on a reduced $1.5 billion purchase price for the investment.[93] The Bain consortium had support from Burger King's franchisees, who controlled approximately 92% of Burger King restaurants at the time of the transaction. Under its new owners, Burger King underwent a major brand overhaul including the use of The Burger King character in advertising. In February 2006, Burger King announced plans for an initial public offering.[94] In late 2002, Bain remained active acquiring Houghton Mifflin Company for $1.28 billion, together with Thomas H. Lee Partners and The Blackstone Group. Houghton Mifflin and Burger King represented two of the first large club deals, completed since the collapse of the Dot-com bubble.[95] In November 2003, Bain completed an investment in Warner Music Group. In 2004 Bain acquired the Dollarama chain of dollar stores, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and operating stores in the provinces of Eastern Canada for $1.05 billion CAD. In March 2004, Bain acquired Brenntag Group from Deutsche Bahn AG (Exited in 2006; sold to BC Partners for $4B). In August 2003, Bain acquired a 50% interest in Bombardier Inc.'s recreational products division, along with the Bombardier family and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, and created Bombardier Recreational Products or BRP. [edit] Bain and the 2000s buy-out boom In 2004 a consortium comprising KKR, Bain Capital and real estate development company Vornado Realty Trust announced the $6.6 billion acquisition of Toys "R" Us, the toy retailer. A month earlier, Cerberus Capital Management, made a $5.5 billion offer for both the toy and baby supplies businesses.[96] The Toys 'R' Us buyout was one of the largest in several years.[97] Following this transaction, by the end of 2004 and in 2005, major buyouts were once again becoming common and market observers were stunned by the leverage levels and financing terms obtained by financial sponsors in their buyouts.[98] The following year, in 2005, Bain was one of seven private equity firms involved in the buyout of SunGard in a transaction valued at $11.3 billion. Bain's partners in the acquisition were Silver Lake Partners, TPG Capital, Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Providence Equity Partners, and The Blackstone Group. This represented the largest leveraged buyout completed since the takeover of RJR Nabisco at the end of the 1980s leveraged buyout boom. Also, at the time of its announcement, SunGard would be the largest buyout of a technology company in history, a distinction it would cede to the buyout of Freescale Semiconductor. The SunGard transaction is also notable in the number of firms involved in the transaction, the largest club deal completed to that point. The involvement of seven firms in the consortium was criticized by investors in private equity who considered cross-holdings among firms to be generally unattractive.[99][100]  Bain led a consortium, together with The Carlyle Group and Thomas H. Lee Partners to acquire Dunkin' Brands. The private equity firms paid $2.425 billion in cash for the parent company of Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins in December 2005.[101] In 2006, Bain Capital and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, together with Merrill Lynch and the Frist family (which had founded the company) completed a $31.6 billion acquisition of Hospital Corporation of America, 17 years after it was taken private for the first time in a management buyout. At the time of its announcement, the HCA buyout would be the first of several to set new records for the largest buyout, eclipsing the 1989 buyout of RJR Nabisco. It would later be surpassed by the buyouts of Equity Office Properties and TXU.[102] In August 2006, Bain was part of the consortium, together with Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Silver Lake Partners and AlpInvest Partners, that acquired a controlling 80.1% share of semiconductors unit of Philips for €6.4 billion. The new company, based in the Netherlands, was renamed NXP Semiconductors.[103][104] During the buyout boom, Bain was active in the acquisition of various retail businesses.[105] In January 2006, Bain announced the acquisition of Burlington Coat Factory, a discount retailer operating 367 department stores in 42 states, in a $2 billion buyout transaction.[106] Six months later, in October 2006, Bain and The Blackstone Group acquired Michaels Stores, the largest arts and crafts retailer in North America in a $6.0 billion leveraged buyout. Bain and Blackstone narrowly beat out Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and TPG Capital in an auction for the company.[107] In June 2007, Bain agreed to acquire HD Supply, the wholesale construction supply business of Home Depot for $10.3 billion.[108] Bain, along with partners Carlyle Group and Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, would later negotiate a lower price ($8.5 billion) when the initial stages of the subprime mortgage crisis caused lenders to seek to renegotiate the terms of the acquisition financing.[109] Just days after the announcement of the HD Supply deal, on June 27, Bain announced the acquisition of Guitar Center, the leading musical equipment retailer in the U.S. Bain paid $1.9 billion, plus $200 million in assumed debt, representing a 26% premium to the stock's closing price prior to the announcement.[110] Bain also acquired Edcon Limited, which operates Edgars Department Stores in South Africa and Zimbabwe for 25 billion-rand ($3.5 billion) in February 2007.[111] Other investments during the buyout boom included: Bavaria Yachtbau, acquired for €1.3 billion in July 2007[112] as well as Sensata Technologies, acquired from Texas Instruments in 2006 for approximately $3 billion.[113] [edit] Since 2008In the wake of the closure of the credit markets in 2007 and 2008, Bain managed to close only a small number of sizable transactions. In July 2008, Bain, together with NBC Universal and The Blackstone Group agreed to purchase The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications.[114][115] Subsequent investments include, but are not limited to:
[edit] Businesses and affiliatesBain Capital's family of funds includes private equity, venture capital, public equity, and leveraged debt assets. [edit] Bain Capital Private EquityBain Capital Private Equity has raised ten funds and invested in more than 250 companies. The private equity activity includes leveraged buyouts and growth capital in a wide variety of industries.[122] Bain began investing in Europe in 1989 through its London-based affiliate Bain Capital Europe.[123] Bain also operates international affiliates Bain Capital Asia and Bain Capital India. Bain Capital Private Equity is made up of more than 250 investment professionals, including 38 managing directors operating from offices in Boston, Hong Kong, London, Mumbai, Munich, New York, Shanghai, and Tokyo, as of the beginning of 2011. Historically, Bain has primarily relied on private equity funds, pools of committed capital from pension funds, insurance companies, endowments, fund of funds, high net worth individuals, sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors. Bain's own investment professionals are the largest single investor in each of its funds. From 1993, when Bain raised its first institutional fund through the beginning of 2012, Bain had completed fundraising for 11 funds with total investor commitments of over $38 billion, including its global private equity funds and separate funds focusing specifically on investments in Europe and Asia. Since 1998, each of Bain's global funds has invested alongside a coinvestment fund that invests only in certain larger transactions. The following is a summary of Bain's private equity funds raised from its inception through the beginning of 2012:[124]
[edit] Bain Capital VenturesMain article: Bain Capital Ventures Bain Capital Ventures is the venture capital arm of Bain Capital, focused on seed through late-stage growth equity, investing in business services, consumer, healthcare, internet & mobile, and software companies. Bain Capital Ventures has raised approximately $1.53 billion of investor capital since 2001 across four investment funds. The firm's 30 investment professionals are currently investing its fourth fund, Bain Capital Venture Fund 2009, which raised $525 million from investors.[126] The following is a summary of Bain's private equity funds raised from its inception through the beginning of 2012:[124]
Since 2001, Bain Capital Ventures' most notable investments include DoubleClick, LinkedIn,[128] Shopping.com, Taleo Corporation, MinuteClinic and SurveyMonkey.[129] [edit] Brookside CapitalBrookside Capital is the public equity affiliate of Bain Capital. Established in October 1996, Brookside's primary objective is to invest in securities of publicly traded companies that offer opportunities to realize substantial long-term capital appreciation. Brookside employs a long/short equity strategy to reduce market risk in the portfolio[130] [edit] Sankaty AdvisorsSankaty Advisors, the fixed income affiliate of Bain Capital, is one of the nation's leading private managers of high yield debt securities. With $15.7 billion of assets under management, Sankaty invests in a wide variety of securities, including leveraged loans, high-yield bonds, distressed securities, mezzanine debt, convertible bonds, structured products and equity investments. Sankaty has approximately 140 employees, including 80 investment professionals across offices in Boston, Chicago, New York and London.[131] [edit] Absolute Return CapitalAbsolute Return Capital (ARC) is the absolute return affiliate of Bain Capital managing approximately $1.2 billion of capital. Approximately one-third of the capital managed by ARC represents commitments from Bain investment professionals. Established in May 2004, ARC invests across fixed income, equity and commodity markets to produce attractive risk-adjusted returns while maintaining low correlation to traditional investments.[132] [edit] Appraisals and critiquesBain Capital's approach of applying consulting expertise to the companies it invested in became widely copied within the private equity industry.[14][133] University of Chicago Booth School of Business economist Steven Kaplan said in 2011 that the firm "came up with a model that was very successful and very innovative and that now everybody uses."[18] In his 2009 book The Buyout of America: How Private Equity Is Destroying Jobs and Killing the American Economy, Josh Kosman described Bain Capital as "notorious for its failure to plow profits back into its businesses," being the first large private-equity firm to derive a large fraction of its revenues from corporate dividends and other distributions. The revenue potential of this strategy, which may "starve" a company of capital,[134] was increased by a 1970s court ruling that allowed companies to consider the entire fair-market value of the company, instead of only their "hard assets", in determining how much money was available to pay dividends.[135] In at least some instances, companies acquired by Bain borrowed money in order to increase their dividend payments, ultimately leading to the collapse of what had been financially stable businesses.[51] See also [edit] References
[edit] Bibliography
[edit] External links
Mitt RomneyFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia  "Romney" redirects here. For other uses, see Romney (disambiguation). 
Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and politician who is the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party for President of the United States in the 2012 election. He was the 70th Governor of Massachusetts (2003–07). The son of Lenore and George W. Romney (Governor of Michigan, 1963–69), he was raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Beginning in 1966, he spent thirty months in France as a Mormon missionary. In 1969, he married Ann Davies, and the couple have five children together. In 1971, he earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brigham Young University and, in 1975, a joint Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration from Harvard University. Romney entered the management consulting industry, and in 1977 secured a position at Bain & Company. Later serving as its chief executive officer, he helped bring the company out of financial crisis. In 1984, he co-founded and led the spin-off Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm that became highly profitable and one of the largest such firms in the nation. His net worth is estimated at $190–250 million, wealth that helped fund his political campaigns prior to 2012. Active in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served as bishop of his ward and later stake president in his home area near Boston. He ran as the Republican candidate in the 1994 U.S. Senate election in Massachusetts, losing to long-time incumbent Ted Kennedy. In 1999, he was hired as President and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics. The visibility he gained from this stint gave him the opportunity to relaunch his political aspirations. Romney was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002 but did not seek re-election in 2006. During his term he presided over the elimination of a projected $3 billion deficit by reducing state funding for higher education, cutting state aid to cities and towns, raising various fees, and removing corporate tax loopholes; Massachusetts also benefitted from unanticipated federal grants and unexpected revenue from a previously enacted capital gains tax increase. He helped develop, and signed into law, the Massachusetts health care reform legislation. The first of its kind in the nation, it provided near-universal health insurance access via state-level subsidies and individual mandates to purchase insurance. Romney ran for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, winning several primaries and caucuses but losing the nomination to John McCain. In June 2011, he announced that he would seek the 2012 Republican presidential nomination; by May 2012, he had won enough caucuses and primaries to become the party's presumptive nominee. Early life and educationHeritage and youthSee also: Romney family Willard Mitt Romney[1] was born at Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan,[2] the youngest child of George W. Romney, who was an automobile executive, and Lenore Romney (née LaFount), a homemaker.[3][4][5] His mother was a native of Logan, Utah, and his father was born in a Mormon colony in Chihuahua, Mexico, to American parents.[6][7] He is of primarily English descent, and also has more distant Scottish and German ancestry.[8][9][10] He is a fifth-generation member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).[11][12] A great-great-grandfather, Miles Romney, converted to the faith in its first decade, and another great-great-grandfather, Parley P. Pratt, was an early leader in the church during the same time.[13] Romney followed his three siblings – Margo Lynn, Jane LaFount, and G. Scott – after a gap of nearly six years.[14] He was named after family friend, hotel magnate J. Willard Marriott, and his father's cousin, Milton "Mitt" Romney, a former quarterback for the Chicago Bears.[15] He was called "Billy" until kindergarten, when he indicated a preference for "Mitt".[16] In 1953, the family moved from Detroit to the affluent suburb of Bloomfield Hills.[17] In 1954, his father became the chairman and CEO of American Motors, helping the company avoid bankruptcy and return to profitability.[17] By the time Mitt was twelve, his father had become a nationally known figure in print and on television,[18] and Mitt idolized him.[19]  Romney attended public elementary schools[16] until the seventh grade, when he began commuting to Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, a traditional private boys' preparatory school where he was one of only a few Mormons and where many students came from backgrounds even more privileged than his.[20][21] He was not particularly athletic and at first did not excel academically.[19] He participated in the 1962 campaign in which his father was elected Governor of Michigan.[22] When his father took office in Lansing, Mitt took up residence at Cranbrook's Stevens Hall.[20] George Romney was re-elected twice; Mitt worked for him as an intern in the Governor's office and was present at the 1964 Republican National Convention when his moderate father battled conservative party nominee Barry Goldwater over issues of civil rights and ideological extremism.[19][23] At Cranbrook, Romney was a manager for the ice hockey team and a member of the pep squad,[20] and during his final year joined the cross country running team.[16] He belonged to eleven school organizations and school clubs, and started the Blue Key Club booster group.[20] During his final year at Cranbook, he improved academically, but was still not a star pupil.[19][21] He won an award for those "whose contributions to school life are often not fully recognized through already existing channels".[21] Romney was involved in many pranks, some of which he later said may have gone too far and apologized for.[nb 1] In March of his senior year, he began dating Ann Davies; she attended the private Kingswood School, the sister school to Cranbrook.[21][29] The two informally agreed to marriage around the time of his June 1965 graduation.[19] University, France mission, marriage, and children: 1965–1975Romney attended Stanford University in 1965–1966 for a year.[19][nb 2] Although the campus and environs were becoming radicalized with the beginnings of 1960s social and political movements, he kept a well-groomed appearance and participated in pre-"Big Game" customs involving the Stanford Axe.[19][30] In May 1966, he was part of a counter-protest against a group staging a sit-in at the university administration building in opposition to draft status tests.[19][30] In July 1966, he left for a thirty-month stay in France as a Mormon missionary,[19][31] a traditional rite of passage for which his father and many other relatives had volunteered.[nb 3] He arrived in Le Havre with ideas about how to change and promote the French Mission, while facing physical and economic deprivation in their cramped quarters.[13][33] Rules against drinking, smoking, and dating were strictly enforced.[13] Most individual Mormon missionaries do not gain many converts[nb 4] and Romney was no exception:[33] he later estimated ten to twenty for his entire mission.[38] The nominally Catholic but secular, wine-loving French people were especially resistant to a religion that prohibits alcohol.[13][19][39][nb 5] He became demoralized and later recalled it as the only time when "most of what I was trying to do was rejected."[33] In Nantes, he suffered a bruised jaw while defending two female missionaries who were being bothered by a group of local rugby players.[13] He gained recognition within the mission for the many homes he called on and the repeat visits he was granted.[13] He was promoted to zone leader in Bordeaux in early 1968, then in the spring of that year became assistant to the mission president in Paris, the highest position for a missionary.[13][33][40] In the Mission Home in Paris he enjoyed palace-like accommodations.[40] Romney's support for the U.S. role in the Vietnam War was only reinforced when the French greeted him with hostility over the matter and he debated them in return.[13][33] He witnessed the May 1968 general strike and student uprisings and was upset by the breakdown in social order.[41]   In June 1968, an automobile he was driving in southern France was hit by another vehicle, seriously injuring him and killing one of his passengers, the wife of the mission president.[nb 6] Romney, who was not at fault in the accident,[nb 6] became co-acting president of a mission demoralized and disorganized by the May civil disturbances and by the car accident.[42] He rallied and motivated the others and they met an ambitious goal of 200 baptisms for the year, the most for the mission in a decade.[42] By the end of his stint in December 1968, he was overseeing the work of 175 fellow members.[33][43] Romney developed a lifelong affection for France and its people, and speaks French.[45] The experience in the country instilled in him a belief that life is fragile and that he needed seriousness of purpose.[13][19][42] It also represented a crucible, after having been an indifferent Mormon growing up: "On a mission, your faith in Jesus Christ either evaporates or it becomes much deeper ... For me it became much deeper."[33] While he was away, Ann Davies had converted to the Mormon faith and had begun attending Brigham Young University (BYU).[19] Romney was nervous that she had been wooed by others while he was away, and indeed she had sent him a "Dear John letter" of sorts, greatly upsetting him; he wrote to her in an attempt to win her back.[46][47] At their first meeting following his return, they reconnected and decided to get married immediately, but subsequently agreed to wait three months to appease their parents.[48] At Ann's request, Romney began attending Brigham Young, in February 1969.[47][nb 2] The couple were married on March 21, 1969, in a civil ceremony in Bloomfield Hills.[46][50] The following day, the couple flew to Utah for a wedding ceremony at the Salt Lake Temple.[46][50] Romney had missed much of the tumultuous American anti-Vietnam War movement while away and was surprised to learn that his father had turned against the effort during his unsuccessful 1968 presidential campaign.[33] George was now serving in President Richard Nixon's cabinet as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. In a June 1970 newspaper profile of children of cabinet members, Mitt said that U.S. involvement in the war had been misguided – "If it wasn't a political blunder to move into Vietnam, I don't know what is" – but supported Nixon's ongoing Cambodian Incursion as a sincere attempt to bring the war to a quicker conclusion.[51] Regarding the military draft, Romney had initially received two 2-S student deferments, then, like most Mormon missionaries, a 4-D ministerial deferment while in France, and then two more student deferments.[30][52] When those ran out, his high number in the December 1969 draft lottery (300) ensured that he would not be selected.[30][52][53] At culturally conservative BYU, he remained isolated from much of the upheaval of the era.[25][47][33] He became president of, and an innovative fundraiser for, the all-male Cougar Club booster organization and showed a new-found discipline in his studies.[33][47] In his senior year, he took a leave to work as driver and advance man for his mother Lenore Romney's eventually unsuccessful 1970 campaign for U.S. Senator from Michigan;[25][46] together, they visited all 83 Michigan counties.[54][55] He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English with highest honors in 1971,[47] and gave commencement addresses to both the College of Humanities and to the whole of BYU.[nb 7] The Romneys' first son, Taggart (known as "Tagg"), was born in 1970[35] while they were undergraduates at BYU and living in a basement apartment.[47] Ann subsequently gave birth to Matthew ("Matt", 1971), Joshua ("Josh", 1975), Benjamin ("Ben", 1978), and Craig (1981).[35] Her work as a homemaker would enable her husband to pursue his career.[57] Romney still wanted to pursue a business path, but his father advised him that a law degree would be valuable to his career.[58][59] Thus he became one of only fifteen students to enroll at the recently created joint Juris Doctor/Master of Business Administration four-year program coordinated between Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School.[60] Fellow students considered him guilelessly optimistic, noting his solid work ethic and buttoned-down demeanor and appearance.[60][61] He readily adapted to the business school's pragmatic, data-driven case study method of teaching, participated in class well, and led a study group whom he pushed to get all A's.[59] He had a different social experience from most of his classmates, since he lived in a Belmont, Massachusetts house with Ann and two children.[46][59] He was non-ideological and did not involve himself in the political or social issues of the day.[46][59] He graduated in 1975 cum laude from the law school, in the top third of that class, and was named a Baker Scholar for graduating in the top five percent of his business school class.[56][60] Business careerManagement consultingRomney was recruited by several firms and chose to remain in Massachusetts to work for Boston Consulting Group (BCG), reasoning that working as a management consultant to a variety of companies would better prepare him for a future position as a chief executive.[58][62][nb 8] He was part of a 1970s wave of top graduates who chose to go into consulting rather than join a major company directly.[64] His legal and business education proved useful in his job[58] while he applied BCG principles such as the growth-share matrix.[65] He was viewed as having a bright future there.[58][66] In 1977, he was hired by Bain & Company, a management consulting firm in Boston that had been formed a few years earlier by Bill Bain and other former BCG employees.[58][65][67] Bain would later say of the thirty-year-old Romney, "He had the appearance of confidence of a guy who was maybe ten years older."[68] Unlike other consulting firms, which issued recommendations and then left, Bain & Company had a practice, that Romney learned, of immersing itself in a client's business and working with them until changes were implemented.[58][65] Romney became a vice-president of the firm in 1978[16] and worked with clients such as the Monsanto Company, Outboard Marine Corporation, Burlington Industries, and Corning Incorporated.[62] Within a few years, he was considered one of their best consultants and at times sought by clients over more senior partners.[58][69] Two family incidents during this time later came to light during Romney's political career: a confrontation with a park ranger in 1981,[nb 9] and persistent interest in a 1983 episode in which Romney kept his family dog on the roof of his car during a long road trip.[46][71] Private equityFor more details on this topic, see Bain Capital. Romney was restless for a company of his own to run, and in 1983, Bill Bain offered him a new venture that would buy into companies and allow the venture's partners to reap higher rewards than consulting fees.[58][65] He initially refrained from accepting the offer, but Bain re-arranged the terms in a complicated partnership structure so that there was no financial or professional risk to Romney.[58][68][72] In 1984, Romney left Bain & Company to co-found the spin-off private equity investment firm, Bain Capital.[73] At first, Bain Capital focused on venture capital opportunities, which Romney proceeded cautiously on.[58] Their first big success was a 1986 investment to help start Staples Inc., after founder Thomas G. Stemberg convinced Romney of the market size for office supplies and Romney convinced others; Bain Capital eventually reaped a nearly sevenfold return on its investment, and Romney sat on the Staples board of directors for over a decade.[58][74][75] Romney soon switched Bain Capital's focus from startups to the relatively new business of leveraged buyouts, and selling them off in a few years.[58][68] Bain Capital lost most of its money in many of its early leveraged buyouts, but then started finding deals that made large returns.[58] The firm invested in or acquired Accuride, Brookstone, Domino's Pizza, Sealy Corporation, Sports Authority, and Artisan Entertainment, as well as lesser-known companies in the industrial and medical sectors.[58][68][76]  Much of the firm's profit was earned from a relatively small number of deals; Bain Capital's overall success–to–failure ratio was about even.[nb 10] Romney discovered few investment opportunities himself (and those that he did, often failed to make money for the firm).[78] Instead, he focused on analyzing the merits of possible deals that others brought forward and on recruiting investors to participate in them once approved.[78] The firm initially gave a cut of its profits to Bain & Company, but Romney persuaded Bain to give that up.[72] Within Bain Capital, Romney spread profits from deals widely within the firm to keep people motivated, often keeping less than ten percent for himself.[79] Viewed as a fair manager, he received considerable loyalty from the firm's members.[75] Romney's wary instincts were still in force at times, and he was generally data-driven and averse to risk.[58][75] He wanted to drop a Bain Capital hedge fund that initially lost money, but other partners prevailed and it eventually gained billions.[58] In 1990, Romney was asked to return to Bain & Company, which was facing financial collapse.[73] He was announced as its new CEO in January 1991[80][81] but drew only a symbolic salary of one dollar[73] (he remained managing general partner of Bain Capital during this time).[81][80] Within about a year, he had led Bain & Company through a turnaround and returned the firm to profitability without further layoffs or partner defections.[62] He turned Bain & Company over to new leadership and returned to Bain Capital in December 1992.[58][82][83] Romney took a leave of absence from Bain Capital from November 1993[84] to November 1994[46] in order to run for the U.S. Senate. During that time, Ampad workers went on strike, and asked Romney to intervene; Bain Capital lawyers asked him not to get involved, although he did meet with the workers to tell them he had no position of active authority in the matter.[85][86] By 1999, Bain Capital was on its way to being one of the top private equity firms in the nation,[72] having increased its number of partners from 5 to 18, with 115 employees overall, and $4 billion under its management.[68][74] Romney took another paid leave of absence from Bain Capital in February 1999 to serve as the President and CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games Organizing Committee.[87][88] Billed in some public statements as keeping a part-time role,[89][87] Romney remained the firm's sole shareholder, managing director, CEO and president, signing corporate and legal documents, attending to his interests within the firm, and conducting prolonged negotiations for the terms of his departure.[90][87] He was not involved in day-to-day operations of the firm, nor was he involved in investment decisions for Bain Capital's new private equity funds.[87][90] In August 2001, Romney announced that he would not return to Bain Capital.[91] His separation from the firm was finalized in early 2002. ;[87] he transferred his ownership to other partners and negotiated an agreement that allowed him to receive a passive profit share as a retired partner in some Bain Capital entities, including buyout and investment funds.[79][92] Because the private equity business continued to thrive, this deal brings him millions of dollars in annual income.[79] Personal wealthAs a result of his business career, by 2007, Romney and his wife had a net worth of between $190 and $250 million, most of it held in blind trusts since 2003.[92] The couple's net worth remained in the same range as of 2011, and is still held in blind trusts.[93] In 2012, it was estimated that he had amassed twice the net worth of the last eight U.S. presidents combined,[94] and would rank among the richest in American history if elected.[94][95] An additional blind trust exists in the name of the Romneys' children and grandchildren that was valued at between $70 and $100 million as of 2007.[96] In 2010, Romney and his wife received $21.7 million in income, almost all of it from investments, of which about $3 million went to federal income taxes and almost $3 million to charity, including $1.5 million to the LDS Church.[97] Romney has always tithed to the church, including stock from Bain Capital holdings.[13][98][99] In 2010, the Romney family's Tyler Charitable Foundation gave out about $650,000, with some of it going to organizations that fight specific diseases such as cystic fibrosis and multiple sclerosis.[100] Local LDS Church leadershipDuring his years in business, Romney held several specific positions in the local lay clergy, which consists of worthy males over the age of 12. Around 1977, he became a counselor to the president of the Boston Stake.[101] He served as bishop of the ward (ecclesiastical and administrative head of his congregation) at Belmont, Massachusetts, from 1981 to 1986.[102][103] As such, in addition to home teaching, he also formulated Sunday services and classes using LDS scriptures to guide the congregation.[104] He forged links with other religious institutions in the area when the Belmont meetinghouse was destroyed by a fire of suspicious origins in 1984; the congregation rotated its meetings to other houses of worship while the structure was rebuilt.[98][103] From 1986 to 1994, Romney presided over the Boston Stake, which included more than a dozen wards in eastern Massachusetts with about 4,000 church members altogether.[69][104][105] He organized a team to handle financial and management issues, sought to counter anti-Mormon sentiments, and tried to solve social problems among poor Southeast Asian converts.[98][103] An unpaid position, his local church leadership often took 30 or more hours a week of his time,[104] and he became known for his tireless energy in the role.[69] He generally refrained from overnight business travel owing to his church responsibilities.[104] Romney took a hands-on role in general matters, helping in maintenance efforts in- and outside homes, visiting the sick, and counseling troubled or burdened church members.[102][103][104] A number of local church members later credited him with turning their lives around or helping them through difficult times.[98][103][104] Some others were rankled by his leadership style and desired a more consensus-based approach.[103] Romney tried to balance the conservative dogma insisted upon by the church leadership in Utah with the desire of some Massachusetts members to have a more flexible application of doctrine.[69] He agreed with some requests from the liberal women's group Exponent II for changes in the way the church dealt with women, but clashed with women whom he felt were departing too much from doctrine.[69] In particular, he counseled women not to have abortions except in the rare cases allowed by LDS doctrine, and also in accordance with church policy encouraged single women facing unplanned pregnancies to give up the baby for adoption.[69] Romney later said that the years spent as an LDS minister gave him direct exposure to people struggling in economically difficult circumstances, and empathy for those going through problematic family situations.[106] 1994 U.S. senatorial campaignMain article: United States Senate election in Massachusetts, 1994 For much of his business career, Romney did not take public political stances.[107][108] He had kept abreast of national politics during college,[33] though, and the circumstances of his father's presidential campaign loss would irk him for decades.[25] He was registered as an Independent[46] who in the 1992 Democratic Party presidential primaries had voted for the Democratic former senator from Massachusetts, Paul Tsongas.[107][109] By 1993, Romney had been thinking about entering politics, partly based upon Ann's urging and partly to follow in his father's footsteps.[46] He decided to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, who was seeking re-election for the sixth time. Kennedy was potentially vulnerable that year – in part because of the unpopularity of the Democratic Congress as a whole, and in part because this was Kennedy's first election since the William Kennedy Smith trial in Florida, in which the senator had suffered some negative public relations regarding his character.[110][111][112] Romney changed his affiliation to Republican in October 1993 and formally announced his candidacy in February 1994.[46] In addition to his leave from Bain Capital, he stepped down from his church leadership role in 1994.[104] Radio personality Janet Jeghelian took an early lead in polls among candidates for the Republican nomination for the Senate seat, but Romney proved the most effective fundraiser.[113][114] He won 68 percent of the vote at the May 1994 Massachusetts Republican Party convention; businessman John Lakian finished a distant second and Jeghelian was eliminated.[115] Romney defeated Lakian in the September 1994 primary with over 80 percent of the vote.[16][116] In the general election, Kennedy faced the first serious re-election challenger of his career in the younger, telegenic, and well-funded Romney.[110] Romney ran as a fresh face, as a businessperson who stated he had created ten thousand jobs, and as a Washington outsider with a solid family image and moderate stances on social issues.[110][117] When Kennedy tried to tie Romney's policies to those of Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, Romney responded, "Look, I was an independent during the time of Reagan-Bush. I'm not trying to take us back to Reagan-Bush."[118] Romney stated: "Ultimately, this is a campaign about change."[119] Romney's campaign was effective in portraying Kennedy as soft on crime, but had trouble establishing its own positions in a consistent manner.[120] By mid-September 1994, polls showed the race to be approximately even.[110][121][122] Kennedy responded with a series of ads that focused on Romney's seemingly shifting political views on issues such as abortion and on layoffs of workers at the Ampad plant owned by Romney's Bain Capital.[110][123][124] The latter was effective in blunting Romney's momentum.[75] Kennedy and Romney held a widely watched late October debate without a clear winner, but by then, Kennedy had pulled ahead in polls and stayed ahead afterward.[125] Romney spent $3 million of his own money in the race and more than $7 million overall.[126][nb 11] In the November general election, despite a disastrous showing for Democrats overall, Kennedy won the election with 58 percent of the vote to Romney's 41 percent,[58] the smallest margin in Kennedy's eight re-election campaigns for the Senate.[129] Romney returned to Bain Capital the day after the election, but the loss had a lasting effect; he told his brother, "I never want to run for something again unless I can win."[46][130] When his father died in 1995, Mitt donated his inheritance to BYU's George W. Romney Institute of Public Management.[49] He also joined the board, as vice-chair, of the Points of Light Foundation,[91] which had incorporated his father's National Volunteer Center. His mother died in 1998. Romney felt restless as the decade neared a close; the goal of simply making more money was losing its appeal to him.[46][130] He no longer had a church leadership position, although he still taught Sunday School.[102] During the long and controversial approval and construction process for the $30 million Mormon temple in Belmont, he feared that as a political figure who had opposed Kennedy, he would become a focal point for opposition to the structure.[103] He thus kept to a limited, behind-the-scenes role in attempts to ease tensions between the church and local residents, but locals nonetheless sometimes referred to it as "Mitt's Temple".[98][102][103] 2002 Winter OlympicsMain article: 2002 Winter Olympics  Ann Romney was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998; Mitt described watching her fail a series of neurological tests as the worst day of his life.[46] After two years of severe difficulties with the disease, she found while living in Park City, Utah (where the couple had built a vacation home) a mixture of mainstream, alternative, and equestrian therapies that gave her a lifestyle mostly without limitations.[57] When the offer came for him to take over the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, to be held in Salt Lake City in Utah, she urged him to take it, and eager for a new challenge, as well as another chance to prove himself in public life, he did.[130][131][132] On February 11, 1999, Romney was hired as the president and CEO of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games of 2002.[133] Before Romney came on, the event was running $379 million short of its revenue benchmarks.[133] Plans were being made to scale back the Games to compensate for the fiscal crisis, and there were fears the Games might be moved away entirely.[134] The Games had also been damaged by allegations of bribery involving top officials, including prior Salt Lake Olympic Committee president and CEO Frank Joklik. Joklik and committee vice president Dave Johnson were forced to resign.[135] Romney was chosen by Utah figures looking for someone with expertise in business and law and with connections to the state and the LDS Church.[132] The appointment faced some initial criticism from non-Mormons, and fears from Mormons, that it represented cronyism or gave the Games too Mormon an image.[39] Romney and his wife contributed $1 million to the Olympics, and he donated to charity the $1.4 million in salary and severance payments he received for his three years as president and CEO.[136] Romney revamped the organization's leadership and policies, reduced budgets, and boosted fundraising, alleviated the concerns of corporate sponsors and recruited many new ones.[130][132] Romney worked to ensure the safety of the Games following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by coordinating a $300 million security budget.[131] Overall, he oversaw a $1.32 billion budget, 700 employees, and 26,000 volunteers.[133] The federal government provided between approximately $400 million[132][137][138] and $600 million[139][140] of that budget, much of it a result of Romney's having aggressively lobbied Congress and federal agencies.[140][141] It would prove to be a record level of federal funding for the staging of a U.S. Olympics.[138][141] An additional $1.1 billion of indirect federal funding came in the form of highway and transit projects.[142] Romney emerged as the public face of the Olympic effort, appearing in photographs, in news stories, on Olympics pins depicting a superhero Romney wrapped by an American flag, and on buttons carrying phrases like "Hey, Mitt, we love you!"[132][130] Robert H. Garff, the chair of the organizing committee, later said that "It was obvious that he had an agenda larger than just the Olympics,"[130] and that Romney wanted to use the Olympics to propel himself into the national spotlight and a political career.[132][143] Garff believed the initial budget shortfall was not as bad as Romney portrayed, given there were still three years to reorganize.[132] Utah Senator Bob Bennett said that much of the needed federal money was already in place and an analysis by The Boston Globe stated that the committee already had nearly $1 billion in committed revenues.[132] Olympics critic Steve Pace, who led Utahns for Responsible Public Spending, thought Romney exaggerated the initial fiscal state in order to lay the groundwork for a well-publicized rescue.[143] Kenneth Bullock, another board member of the organizing committee and also head of the Utah League of Cities and Towns, often clashed with Romney at the time, and later said that Romney deserved some credit for the turnaround but not as much as he claimed:[130] Bullock said: "He tried very hard to build an image of himself as a savior, the great white hope. He was very good at characterizing and castigating people and putting himself on a pedestal."[132] Despite the initial fiscal shortfall, the Games ended up clearing a profit of $100 million.[144] Romney was praised for his efforts by President George W. Bush[26] and his performance as Olympics head was rated positively by 87 percent of Utahns.[145] It solidified his reputation as a "turnaround artist"[132][146][147] and Harvard Business School taught a case study based around his actions.[65] He wrote a book about his experience titled Turnaround: Crisis, Leadership, and the Olympic Games, published in 2004. The role gave Romney experience in dealing with federal, state, and local entities, a public persona he had previously lacked, and the chance to relaunch his political aspirations.[130] He was mentioned as a possible candidate for statewide office in both Massachusetts and Utah, and also as possibly joining the Bush administration.[131][148][149] Governor of Massachusetts2002 gubernatorial campaignMain article: Massachusetts gubernatorial election, 2002 In 2002, Republican Acting Governor Jane Swift's administration was plagued by political missteps and personal scandals.[145] Many Republicans viewed her as a liability and considered her unable to win a general election.[150] Prominent party figures – as well as the White House – wanted Romney to run for governor,[148][151] and the opportunity appealed to him for its national visibility.[152] One poll taken at that time showed Republicans favoring Romney over Swift by more than 50 percentage points.[153] On March 19, 2002, Swift announced she would not seek her party's nomination, and hours later Romney declared his candidacy,[153] for which he would face no opposition in the primary.[154] In June 2002, the Massachusetts Democratic Party challenged Romney's eligibility to run for governor, noting that state law required seven years' consecutive residence and that Romney had filed his state tax returns as a Utah resident in 1999 and 2000.[155][156] In response, the bipartisan Massachusetts State Ballot Law Commission unanimously ruled that he had maintained sufficient financial and personal ties to Massachusetts and was therefore an eligible candidate.[157] Romney again ran as a political outsider.[145] He played down his party affiliation,[149] saying he was "not a partisan Republican" but rather a "moderate" with "progressive" views.[158] He touted his private sector experience as qualifying him for addressing the state's fiscal problems[154] and stressed his ability to obtain federal funds for the state, giving his Olympics record as evidence.[138][141][159] He proposed to reorganize the state government while eliminating waste, fraud, and mismanagement.[149][160] The campaign was the first to use microtargeting techniques, in which fine-grained groups of voters were reached with narrowly tailored messaging.[161] To overcome the image that had damaged him in the 1994 Senate race – that of a wealthy corporate buyout specialist out of touch with the needs of regular people – a series of "work days" were staged throughout the campaign, in which Romney performed blue-collar jobs such as herding cows and baling hay, unloading a fishing boat, and hauling garbage.[160][162][163] Television ads highlighting the effort, as well as one portraying his family in gushing terms and showing him shirtless,[162] received a poor public response and contributed to his being behind his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts State Treasurer Shannon O'Brien, in polls as late as mid-October.[160][163] He rebounded with ads that accused O'Brien of being a failed watchdog for state pension fund losses in the stock market and that associated her husband, a former lobbyist, with the Enron scandal.[149][163] During the election he contributed over $6 million – a state record at the time – to the nearly $10 million raised for his campaign overall.[164][165] Romney was elected governor on November 5, 2002, with 50 percent of the vote to O'Brien's 45 percent.[166] Tenure, 2003–2007Main article: Governorship of Mitt Romney  When Romney was sworn in as the 70th governor of Massachusetts on January 2, 2003,[167] both houses of the Massachusetts state legislature held large Democratic majorities.[168] He picked his cabinet and advisors more on managerial abilities than partisan affiliation.[169] He declined his governor's salary during his term.[170] Upon entering office in the middle of a fiscal year, he faced an immediate $650 million shortfall and a projected $3 billion deficit for the next year.[149] Unexpected revenue of $1.0–1.3 billion from a previously enacted capital gains tax increase and $500 million in unanticipated federal grants decreased the deficit to $1.2–1.5 billion.[171][172] Through a combination of spending cuts, increased fees, and removal of corporate tax loopholes,[171] the state ran surpluses of around $600–700 million for the last two full fiscal years Romney was in office, although it began running deficits again after that.[nb 12] Romney supported raising various fees by more than $300 million, including those for driver's licenses, marriage licenses, and gun licenses.[149][171] He increased a special gasoline retailer fee by two cents per gallon, generating about $60 million per year in additional revenue.[149][171] (Opponents said the reliance on fees sometimes imposed a hardship on those who could least afford them.)[171] Romney also closed tax loopholes, in the interests of both better fairness and revenue increases, that brought in another $181 million from businesses over the next two years and over $300 million for his term.[149][177][178] He did so in the face of conservative and corporate critics that considered them tax increases.[177][178] The state legislature, with the governor's support, also cut spending by $1.6 billion, including $700 million in reductions in state aid to cities and towns.[179] The cuts also included a $140 million reduction in state funding for higher education, which led state-run colleges and universities to increase tuition by 63 percent over four years.[149][171] Romney sought additional cuts in his last year as governor by vetoing nearly 250 items in the state budget, but all were overridden by the heavily Democratic legislature.[180] The cuts in state spending put added pressure on localities to reduce services or raise property taxes, and the share of town and city revenues coming from property taxes rose from 49 to 53 percent.[149][171] The combined state and local tax burden in Massachusetts increased during Romney's governorship but remained below the national average.[149] Romney sought to bring near-universal health insurance coverage to the state. This came after Staples founder Stemberg told him at the start of his term that doing so would be the best way he could help people,[181][182][183] and after the federal government, owing to the rules of Medicaid funding, threatened to cut $385 million in those payments to Massachusetts if the state did not reduce the number of uninsured recipients of health care services.[169][181][184] Although he had not campaigned on the idea of universal health insurance,[183] Romney decided that because people without insurance still received expensive health care, the money spent by the state for such care could be better used to subsidize insurance for the poor.[182][183] After positing that any measure adopted not raise taxes and not resemble the previous decade's failed "Hillarycare" proposal, Romney formed a team of consultants from diverse political backgrounds.[169][181][184] Beginning in late 2004, they came up with a set of proposals more ambitious than an incremental one from the Massachusetts Senate and more acceptable to him than one from the Massachusetts House of Representatives that incorporated a new payroll tax.[169][181][184] In particular, Romney pushed for incorporating an individual mandate at the state level.[22] Past rival Ted Kennedy, who had made universal health coverage his life's work and who, over time, had developed a warm relationship with Romney,[185] gave the plan a positive reception, which encouraged Democratic legislators to cooperate.[181][184] The effort eventually gained the support of all major stakeholders within the state, and Romney helped break a logjam between rival Democratic leaders in the legislature.[181][184] On April 12, 2006, the governor signed the resulting Massachusetts health reform law, commonly called "Romneycare", which requires nearly all Massachusetts residents to buy health insurance coverage or face escalating tax penalties, such as the loss of their personal income tax exemption.[186] The bill also establishes means-tested state subsidies for people who do not have adequate employer insurance and whose income is below a threshold, with funds that were previously used to compensate for the health costs of the uninsured.[187][188][189] He vetoed eight sections of the health care legislation, including a controversial $295-per-employee assessment on businesses that do not offer health insurance and provisions guaranteeing dental benefits to Medicaid recipients.[186][190] The legislature overrode all eight vetoes, but the governor's office said the differences were not essential.[190] The law was the first of its kind in the nation and became the signature achievement of Romney's term in office.[184][nb 13] At the beginning of his governorship, Romney opposed same-sex marriage and civil unions, but advocated tolerance and supported some domestic partnership benefits.[184][192][193] Faced with the dilemma of choosing between same-sex marriage or civil unions after the November 2003 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision legalizing same-sex marriages (Goodridge v. Department of Public Health), Romney reluctantly backed a state constitutional amendment in February 2004 that would have banned same-sex marriage but still allow civil unions, viewing it as the only feasible way to ban same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.[194] In May 2004, the governor instructed town clerks to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but citing a 1913 law that barred out-of-state residents from getting married in Massachusetts if their union would be illegal in their home state, no marriage licenses were to be issued to out-of-state same-sex couples not planning to move to Massachusetts.[192][195] In June 2005, Romney abandoned his support for the compromise amendment, stating that the amendment confused voters who oppose both same-sex marriage and civil unions.[192] Instead, he endorsed a petition effort led by the Coalition for Marriage & Family that would have banned same-sex marriage and made no provisions for civil unions.[192] In 2004 and 2006, he urged the U.S. Senate to vote in favor of the Federal Marriage Amendment.[196][197] In 2005, Romney revealed a change of view regarding abortion, moving from the "unequivocal" pro-choice position expressed during his 2002 campaign to a pro-life one in opposition to Roe v. Wade.[184] He subsequently vetoed a bill on pro-life grounds that would expand access to emergency contraception in hospitals and pharmacies (the veto was overridden by the legislature).[198] Romney generally used the bully pulpit approach towards promoting his agenda, staging well-organized media events to appeal directly to the public rather than pushing his proposals in behind-doors sessions with the state legislature.[184] He dealt with a public crisis of confidence in Boston's Big Dig project – that followed a fatal ceiling collapse in 2006 – by wresting control of the project from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.[184] After two years of negotiating the state's participation in the landmark Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative that instituted a cap and trade arrangement for power plant emissions in the Northeast, Romney pulled Massachusetts out of it shortly before its signing in December 2005, citing a lack of cost limits for industry.[199] During 2004, Romney spent considerable effort trying to bolster the state Republican Party, but it failed to gain any seats in the state legislative elections that year.[149][200] He was given a prime-time appearance at the 2004 Republican National Convention, and was already being discussed as a potential 2008 presidential candidate.[201] Midway through his term, Romney decided that he wanted to stage a full-time run for president,[202] and on December 14, 2005, announced that he would not seek re-election for a second term.[203] As chair of the Republican Governors Association, Romney traveled around the country, meeting prominent Republicans and building a national political network;[202] he spent part or all of more than 200 days out of state during 2006, preparing for his run.[204] The governor had a 61 percent job approval rating in public polls after his initial fiscal actions in 2003, but it began to sink after that.[205] The frequent out-of-state travel contributed to a decline in Romney's approval rating towards the end of his term;[205][206] at 34 percent in November 2006, his rating level ranked 48th of the 50 U.S. governors.[207] Dissatisfaction with Romney's administration and the weak condition of the Republican state party were among several factors that led to Democrat Deval Patrick's lopsided win over Republican Kerry Healey, Romney's Lieutenant Governor, in the 2006 Massachusetts gubernatorial election.[206][208] Romney filed to register a presidential campaign committee with the Federal Election Commission on his penultimate day in office as governor.[209] His term ended January 4, 2007. 2008 presidential campaignMain article: Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2008   Romney formally announced his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination for president on February 13, 2007, in Dearborn, Michigan.[210] Again casting himself as a political outsider,[211] his speech frequently invoked his father and his own family, and stressed experiences in the private, public, and voluntary sectors that had brought him to this point.[210][212] Romney's campaign emphasized his résumé of a highly profitable career in the business world and his stewardship of the Olympics.[202][213][nb 14] He also had political experience as governor, together with a political pedigree courtesy of his father (as well as many biographical parallels with him).[nb 15] Ann Romney, who had become an advocate for those with multiple sclerosis,[217] was in remission and would be an active participant in his campaign,[218] helping to soften his political personality.[219] Moreover, a number of commentators noted that with his square jaw and ample hair graying at the temples, the 6-foot-2-inch (1.88 m)[220] Romney – referred to as handsome in scores of media stories[221] – physically matched one of the common images of what some believed a president should look like.[73][222][223][224] Romney's liabilities included having run for senator and served as governor in one of the nation's most liberal states and having taken some positions there that were opposed by the party's conservative base.[202][213][218] Late during his term as governor, he had shifted positions and emphases to better align with traditional conservatives on social issues.[202][213][218] Skeptics, including some Republicans, charged Romney with opportunism and having a lack of core principles.[184][225][109] As a Mormon, he was also viewed with suspicion and skepticism by some in the Evangelical portion of the party.[225] Romney assembled for his campaign a veteran group of Republican staffers, consultants, and pollsters.[213][226] He was little-known nationally, though, and stayed around the 10 percent range in Republican preference polls for the first half of 2007.[202] He proved the most effective fundraiser of any of the Republican candidates and also partly financed his campaign with his own personal fortune.[227][213] These resources, combined with the mid-year near-collapse of nominal front-runner John McCain's campaign, made Romney a threat to win the nomination and the focus of the other candidates' attacks.[228] Romney's staff suffered from internal strife and the candidate himself was indecisive at times, constantly asking for more data before making a decision.[213][229] During all of his political campaigns, Romney has generally avoided speaking publicly about specific Mormon doctrines, referring to the U.S. Constitution prohibition of religious tests for public office.[230] But persistent questions about the role of religion in Romney's life, as well as Southern Baptist minister and former Governor of Arkansas Mike Huckabee's rise in the polls based upon an explicitly Christian-themed campaign, led to the December 6, 2007, "Faith in America" speech.[231] Romney said that he should neither be elected nor rejected based upon his religion,[232] and echoed Senator John F. Kennedy's famous speech during his 1960 presidential campaign in saying, "I will put no doctrine of any church above the plain duties of the office and the sovereign authority of the law."[231] Instead of discussing the specific tenets of his faith, he said that he would be informed by it and that, "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom. Freedom and religion endure together, or perish alone."[231][232] Academics would later study the role religion had played in the campaign.[nb 16] Romney's strategy was to win the initial two contests, the January 3, 2008, Iowa Republican caucuses and the adjacent-to-his-home-state January 8 New Hampshire primary, and propel himself nationally.[235] But he took second in both, losing Iowa to a vastly outspent Huckabee, who gained much more of the evangelical Christian vote,[236][237] and losing New Hampshire to the resurgent McCain.[236] Both Huckabee and McCain criticized Romney's image as a flip flopper[236] and this label would stick to Romney through the campaign[213] (but was one that Romney rejected as unfair and inaccurate, except for his acknowledged change of mind on abortion).[219][238] Romney seemed to approach the campaign as a management consulting exercise, and showed a lack of personal warmth and political feel; journalist Evan Thomas wrote that Romney "came off as a phony, even when he was perfectly sincere."[219][239] The fervor with which Romney adopted his new stances and attitudes contributed to the perception of inauthenticity which hampered the campaign.[65][240] Romney's staff would conclude that competing as a candidate of social conservatism and ideological purity rather than of pragmatic competence had been a mistake.[219] A win by McCain over Huckabee in South Carolina, and by Romney over McCain in childhood-home Michigan, set up a climactic battle in the Florida primary.[241][242] Romney campaigned intensively on economic issues and the burgeoning subprime mortgage crisis, while McCain attacked Romney regarding Iraq policy and benefited from endorsements from Florida officeholders.[241][242] McCain won a 5 percentage point victory on January 29.[241][242] Although many Republican officials were now lining up behind McCain,[242] Romney persisted through the nationwide Super Tuesday contests on February 5. There he won primaries or caucuses in several states, but McCain won more and larger states.[243] Trailing McCain in delegates by a more than two-to-one margin, Romney announced the end of his campaign on February 7.[243] Altogether, Romney had won 11 primaries and caucuses,[244] received about 4.7 million total votes,[245] and garnered about 280 delegates.[246] He spent $110 million during the campaign, including $45 million of his own money.[247] Romney endorsed McCain for president a week later.[246] He was on the nominee's short list for the vice presidential running mate slot, where his business experience would have balanced one of McCain's weaknesses.[248] McCain, behind in the polls, opted instead for a high-risk, high-reward "game changer", and selected Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.[249] McCain lost the election to Democratic Senator Barack Obama. Activity between presidential campaignsFollowing the election, Romney paved the way for a possible 2012 presidential campaign by using his Free and Strong America political action committee (PAC) to raise money for other Republican candidates and to pay his existing political staff's salaries and consulting fees.[250][251] An informal network of former staff and supporters around the nation were eager for him to run again.[252] He continued to give speeches and raise funds for Republicans,[253] but turned down many potential media appearances, fearing overexposure.[238] He also spoke before business, educational, and motivational groups.[254] He served on the board of directors of Marriott International from 2009 to 2011.[255] (He had earlier served on it from 1993 to 2002,[255] during most of which time he was a member of, and for six years chair of, the board's audit committee.[256] During his time on that committee, Marriott implemented the Son of BOSS tax shelter scheme, which resulted in the company claiming $71 million in losses that federal courts later ruled never existed.[256][257])  In 2009, the Romneys sold their primary residence in Belmont and their ski chalet in Utah, leaving them an estate along Lake Winnipesaukee in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, and an oceanfront home in the La Jolla district of San Diego, California, which they had bought the year before.[238][258][259] The San Diego home was beneficial in location and climate for Ann Romney's multiple sclerosis therapies and for recovering from her late 2008 diagnosis and lumpectomy for mammary ductal carcinoma in situ.[258][260][261] Both it and the New Hampshire location were near some of their grandchildren[258] (who by 2012 numbered eighteen).[262] Romney maintained his voting registration in Massachusetts, however, and bought a smaller condominium in Belmont during 2010.[260][263][nb 17] In February 2010, Romney had a minor altercation with LMFAO member Skyler Gordy, known as Sky Blu, on an airplane flight.[nb 18] Romney's book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, was released in March 2010; an 18-state book tour was undertaken.[270] The book, which debuted atop The New York Times Best Seller list,[271] avoided anecdotes about his personal or political life in favor of a presentation of his economic and geopolitical views.[272][273] Earnings from the book were donated to charity.[93] Immediately following the March 2010 passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Romney attacked the landmark legislation as "an unconscionable abuse of power" and said the act should be repealed.[274] The antipathy Republicans felt for it created a potential problem for the former governor, since the new federal law was in many ways similar to the Massachusetts health care reform passed during Romney's term; as one Associated Press article stated, "Obamacare ... looks a lot like Romneycare."[274] While acknowledging that his plan was an imperfect work in progress, Romney did not back away from it, consistently defending the state-level health insurance mandate that underpinned it and saying it was the right answer to Massachusetts' specific problems at the time.[274][275][276] In nationwide opinion polling for the 2012 Republican Presidential primaries, Romney led or placed in the top three with Palin and Huckabee. A January 2010 National Journal survey of political insiders found that a majority of Republican insiders, and a plurality of Democratic insiders, predicted Romney would be the party's 2012 nominee.[277] Romney campaigned heavily for Republican candidates in the 2010 midterm elections,[278] raising more money than the other prospective 2012 Republican presidential candidates.[279] Beginning in early 2011, Romney presented a more relaxed visual image, including rarely wearing a necktie.[240][280] 2012 presidential campaignMain article: Mitt Romney presidential campaign, 2012 See also: Republican Party presidential primaries, 2012 , Results of the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries, and Republican Party vice presidential candidates, 2012  On April 11, 2011, Romney announced in a video taped outdoors at the University of New Hampshire that he had formed an exploratory committee for a run for the Republican presidential nomination.[281][282] A Quinnipiac University political science professor stated, "We all knew that he was going to run. He's really been running for president ever since the day after the 2008 election."[282] Romney stood to gain from the Republican electorate's tendency to nominate candidates who had previously run for president and appeared to be "next in line" to be chosen.[252][283][284] The early stages of the race found him as the apparent front-runner in a weak field, especially in terms of fundraising prowess and organization.[285][286][287] Perhaps his greatest hurdle in gaining the Republican nomination was party opposition to the Massachusetts health care reform law that he had shepherded five years earlier.[280][282][284] As many potential Republican candidates decided not to run (including Mike Pence, John Thune, Haley Barbour, Mike Huckabee, and Mitch Daniels), Republican party figures searched for plausible alternatives to Romney.[285][287] On June 2, 2011, Romney formally announced the start of his campaign. Speaking on a farm in Stratham, New Hampshire, he focused on the economy and criticized President Obama's handling of it.[288] He said, "In the campaign to come, the American ideals of economic freedom and opportunity need a clear and unapologetic defense, and I intend to make it – because I have lived it."[284]  Romney raised $56 million during 2011, far more than any of his Republican opponents,[289] and refrained from spending any of his own money on his campaign.[290] He initially ran a low-key, low-profile campaign.[291] Michele Bachmann staged a brief surge in polls, then by September 2011, Romney's chief rival in polls was a recent entrant, Texas Governor Rick Perry.[292] Perry and Romney exchanged sharp criticisms of each other during a series of debates among the Republican candidates.[293] The October 2011 decisions of Chris Christie and Sarah Palin not to run finally settled the field.[294][295] Perry faded after poor performances in those debates, while Herman Cain's long-shot bid gained popularity until allegations of sexual misconduct derailed him.[296][297] Romney continued to seek support from a wary Republican electorate; at this point in the race, his poll numbers were relatively flat and at a historically low level for a Republican frontrunner.[294][298][299] After the charges of flip-flopping that marked his 2008 campaign began to accumulate again, Romney declared in November 2011 that "I've been as consistent as human beings can be."[300][301][302] In the final month before voting began, Newt Gingrich enjoyed a major surge, taking a solid lead in national polls and in most of the early caucus and primary states,[303] before settling back into parity or worse with Romney following a barrage of negative ads from Restore Our Future, a pro-Romney Super PAC.[304] In the initial 2012 Iowa caucuses of January 3, Romney was announced as the victor on election night with 25 percent of the vote, edging out a late-gaining Rick Santorum by eight votes (with an also-strong Ron Paul finishing third),[305] but sixteen days later, Santorum was certified as the winner by a 34-vote margin.[306] Romney decidedly won the New Hampshire primary the following week with a total of 39 percent; Paul finished second and Jon Huntsman third.[307] In the run-up to the South Carolina Republican primary, Gingrich launched ads criticizing Romney for causing job losses while at Bain Capital, Perry referred to Romney's role there as "vulture capitalism", and Sarah Palin questioned whether Romney could prove his claim that 100,000 jobs were created during that time.[308][309] Many conservatives rallied in defense of Romney, rejecting what they inferred as criticism of free-market capitalism.[308] During two debates, Romney fumbled questions about releasing his income tax returns, while Gingrich gained support with audience-rousing attacks on the debate moderators.[310][311] Romney's double-digit lead in state polls evaporated and he lost to Gingrich by 13 points in the January 21 primary.[310] Combined with the delayed loss in Iowa, Romney's admitted bad week represented a lost chance to end the race early, and he decided to release two years of his tax returns quickly.[310][312] The race turned to the Florida Republican primary, where in debates, appearances, and advertisements, Romney unleashed a concerted, unrelenting attack on Gingrich's past record and associations and current electability.[313][314] Romney enjoyed a big spending advantage from both his campaign and his aligned Super PAC, and after a record-breaking rate of negative ads from both sides, Romney won Florida on January 31, gaining 46 percent of the vote to Gingrich's 32 percent.[315]  There were several caucuses and primaries during February, and Santorum won three in a single night early in the month, propelling him into the lead in national and some state polls and positioning him as Romney's main rival.[316] Romney won the other five, including a closely fought contest in his home state of Michigan at the end of the month.[317][318] In the Super Tuesday primaries and caucuses of March 6, Romney won six of ten contests, including a narrow victory in Ohio over a greatly outspent Santorum, and although he failed to win decisively enough to end the race, still held a more than two-to-one edge over Santorum in delegates.[319] Romney maintained his delegate margin through subsequent contests,[320] and Santorum suspended his campaign on April 10.[321] Following a sweep of five more contests on April 24, the Republican National Committee put its resources behind Romney as the party's presumptive nominee.[322] Romney clinched a majority of the delegates with a win in the Texas primary on May 29. Polls have shown a generally tight race for the November general election.[323] The campaign has been dominated by negative ads from both sides, with Obama ads proclaiming that Romney shipped jobs overseas while at Bain Capital and has kept his own money in offshore tax havens and Swiss bank accounts.[324] A related issue has been whether Romney was responsible for actions at Bain Capital after taking the Olympics post.[88][90] Romney has faced demands from Democrats to release additional years of his tax returns, an action a number of Republicans also think would be wise, but has been adamant that he will not.[325] In July 2012, Romney undertook a trip to the United Kingdom, Poland, and Israel to meet heads of state to raise his credibility as a world statesman.[326] After a rough start due to what was perceived by the British press as undiplomatic comments about the readiness of the 2012 Summer Olympics,[327][328] Romney gained some positive publicity with public support from Israeli Prime Minister (and former BCG colleague) Benjamin Netanyahu, though he was criticized by some Palestinians for suggesting that Israel's greater economic success was due to "culture".[329] On August 11, 2012, the Romney campaign announced the selection of Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his vice-presidential running mate.[330] Political positionsMain article: Political positions of Mitt Romney Romney has identified himself as "pro-life" since 2005: having previously favored access to abortion during his Massachusetts runs for the U.S. Senate and governorship, he now opposes access to abortion "except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother."[331][332][nb 19] He has promised to nominate Supreme Court justices who would help overturn Roe v. Wade, allowing states to individually decide on the legality of abortion.[335] Romney opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions.[336] He has signed a pledge promising to seek passage of an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to legally define marriage as "the union of one man and one woman."[337] Romney has called for cutting federal government spending to help reduce the national debt.[338] He has proposed changes such as gradually raising the eligibility ages for receipt of Social Security, Medicare, and other entitlement programs benefits.[338] He favors substantial increases in military spending, and has promised to invest more heavily in military weapons programs and to increase the number of active-duty military personnel.[339][340] He has also strongly supported the directions of the federal budget proposed by Paul Ryan in March 2012.[341][342] Romney supported the Bush administration's Troubled Asset Relief Program ("Wall Street bailout") in response to the late-2000s financial crisis, which he has said prevented the U.S. financial system from completely collapsing.[343][344] During the automotive industry crisis of 2008–2010, he opposed a bailout of the American automotive industry in the form of direct government loans, and argued instead that struggling automobile companies should be restructured through managed bankruptcy then seek private-sector loans backed by government loan guarantees.[345] Romney pledges to lead an effort to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") and replace it with a system that give states more control over Medicaid and makes health insurance premiums tax-advantaged for individuals in the same way they are for businesses.[346] He wants to see a repeal of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was passed in response to the financial crisis, and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was enacted to prevent accounting scandals such as had occurred with Enron, with plans to eventually replace them with a "streamlined, modern regulatory framework".[347][348] Romney has said he would seek income tax law reforms that he says would help lower federal deficits and would stimulate economic growth. Among the series of tax changes he has proposed are: reducing individual income tax rates across the board by 20 percent, maintaining the Bush administration-era tax rate of 15 percent on investment income from dividends and capital gains (and eliminating this tax entirely for those with annual incomes less than $200,000), cutting the top tax rate on corporations from 35 to 25 percent, and eliminating the estate tax and the Alternative Minimum Tax.[349][350] He has promised that the loss of government revenue from these tax cuts would be offset by closing loopholes and reining in tax deductions and credits available to taxpayers with the highest incomes, so that his tax plan would not raise federal deficits,[350] but has said that aspect of the plan cannot be evaluated yet due to lack of specific details.[351] Romney opposes mandatory carbon caps known as Cap and Trade to deal with greenhouse gas emissions.[301] After previously saying human activity is contributing to global warming, he now says that it is unknown.[301] He favors increased domestic oil drilling, hydraulic fracturing ("fracking"), and nuclear plant construction, and he would seek to reduce the regulatory authority of the Environmental Protection Agency.[352][353] In his 2010 book, No Apology: The Case for American Greatness, Romney writes of his belief in American exceptionalism.[272] He has stated that Russia is America's "number one geopolitical foe",[354] and that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear capability should be America's "highest national security priority".[355] He plans to label China a currency manipulator and take associated counteractions unless that country changes its trade practices.[356] Romney supports the Patriot Act,[357] indefinite detention of suspected terrorists without trial,[358] and use of enhanced interrogation techniques for interrogation of suspected terrorists.[357] Awards and honors Romney has received five honorary doctorates, including one in business from the University of Utah in 1999,[359] in law from Bentley College in 2002,[360] in public administration from Suffolk University Law School in 2004,[361] in public service from Hillsdale College in 2007,[362] and in humanities from Liberty University in 2012.[363] People magazine included Romney in its 50 Most Beautiful People list for 2002,[364] and in 2004, he received the inaugural Truce Ideal Award for his role in the 2002 Winter Olympics.[365] The Cranbrook School gave him their Distinguished Alumni Award in 2005.[20] In 2008 he shared with his wife Ann, the Canterbury Medal from The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, for "refus[ing] to compromise their principles and faith" during the presidential campaign.[366] In 2012 Romney was named to the Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world.[367] Books
See also
Notes
References
America: Corporate Imperialism Abroad (Sub-Saharan Africa) Blind patriotism has infected the American populace, allowing the corporatocracy the ability to interact with sovereign power in an unhealthy alignment between corporate and political power; thus resulting in a passive citizenry and subservient media that blissfully observe the imposition of business interests in regions such as Sub-Saharan Africa. American Foreign Policy has been Defined by Corporate Interests Under the cover of American exceptionalism, the corporations have purchased governments and legislatures, created its own personal armed enforcers, engaged in systemic fraud of domestic and foreign peoples, plundered national treasuries, and engaged in imperialistic exploitation of foreign lands through paramilitary operations. American exceptionalism refers to the theory that US occupies a special niche among the nations of the world in terms of its national power, historical evolution, political and religious institutions. Along with the phenomenon known as White Man's Burden, the US has justified the impositions of its interests on foreign peoples as merely protecting the causes of freedom, democracy and justice worldwide. With corporate-owned mass media communications denying cases of exceptionalism and imperialism, a systemic strategy of propaganda to manufacture public opinion into a subordinate constituency base, the CIA marauders have infiltrated and undercut popular governments and peoples movement in numerous regions of the world for the sake of protecting American interests. US imperialist policies are the products of the excessive influence of certain sectors of US business and government – the arms industry alliance with political bureaucracies and more often than not other industries such as oil and finance, a combination known as the military-industrial complex. Under the cover of the Cold War and after, the CIA has justified the imposition of its Orwellian oppression on foreign territories in order to protect the big businesses therein invested. This cycle of international manipulation has perpetuated into an intensifying scheme of capitalist monarchism, underscoring the corporate control of American policy. Beginning with the corporate interests in the slave trade, the corporatocracy has fueled American imperialism and materialism in Ethiopia, Congo (Zaire), Niger, Uganda and Somalia. "To join the corporate army for God and country, give up your life. Don't try to figure out what's wrong or right. You never tried to stop, to look, to see that you're exactly what you're told to be." – Anti-Flag, "Their System Doesnt Work for You" As with the post concentrating on corporate influence through operations in the Americas, the imposition of capitalism in Sub-Saharan Africa came through the manipulation of the CIA and the domestic political agenda rallied around anti-communism. Though the US sensationalized the communist threat during the Cold War in order to exploit public fervor around intervention abroad, the same cannot be said about the US in Ethiopia in 1935. Though the public agenda was opposed to the Italian invasion of Ethiopia, the large profit margins earned by the oil corporations in America not only subdued any embargoes or retaliatory actions by the US, but also encouraged Eisenhower to double shipments to Italy. Endorsing the fascist regime in its colonialist expansion and undercutting the concept of democracy was clearly justified by the profits earned by the corporations dependent on natural resources, who also continue to govern this country's foreign practices today. The dependency on natural resources has driven America's expansionist policies throughout the world, ruthlessly intervening in the internal life of dozens of nations to prevent them from choosing the leader they did want, or stop them from ousting one they didn't. The US has been importing raw materials such as cobalt from Zaire and Zambia, chromium from Zimbabwe, uranium from South Africa, Namibia and Niger, bauxit from Guinea, and industrial diamonds from Angola, South Africa and Zaire. Africa's rich mineral resources have tempted and will continue to tempt Western economies in general and the US economy in particular because each of these minerals can add to their power potential. Especially, the uranium from South Africa has been used by the US to build its nuclear potentials. "You've heard it every day, since the first day of your life. But you never stopped to think, what you heard was full of lies. You can't think just for a minute, can't think just for a second. Cause you're nothing but a tool, whose thoughts are tailored and fashioned each night by the evening news." - Anti-Flag, "Until It Happen to You" The American cult of personality is defined by the materialistic ethics, made viable by the privatization of democracy by corporate business owners. The leaders of the corporatocracy have organized a theocracy in which corporate interests reign supreme, managing the government expenditures to finance CIA operations into third world regions for the purpose of undercutting populist regimes to ensure their profit margins are secured for the next quarter. So saying, the shareholders of the government stock are protected by the development of a capitalist monarchy, creating a structured society in which the elites are guaranteed their lifestyles at the expense of others. A clear illustration of this exploitation is seen in blood diamonds and the investment of the American government into the corrupt dictator, Mobutu, to ensure the viability of the countries resources. The popularly supporter Prime Minister of Congo, Lumumba, sought international aid in an endeavor to suppress civil strife by a succession movement in Katanga. The US was the first country from which Lumumba requested help but Lumumba's pan-Africanism and his vision of a united Congo gained him many enemies among the corporate elite in America, all of whom benefited from the civil strife. Therefore, Lumumba sought help from the USSR which further antagonized US anti-communist fervor. Lumumba, for his part, not only denied being a communist, but said he found colonialism and communism to be equally deplorable. Nevertheless, the CIA ordered his assassination but could not complete the job. Instead, the CIA covertly funneled cash to Mobutu's military group, who was then able to capture and execute the former Prime Minister. Thereafter, Mobutu installed one of the most repressive and brutal military dictatorships in Africa with the help of CIA training and US corporate investment. Because of their bilateral ties, US corporations were given access to the Congo's minerals for more than 30 years. "It's the same today as then, as US tax dollars are spent to rid the native insurgence in Mexico and any other US corporate interests. The 3rd world is a modern playground for multinational companies. And the tax dollars we're forced to pay fund these heartless US policies. Their explanation: 'it's national interest, national security.'" - Anti-Flag, "Start and Stripes" Because of the exploitation of resources, Mobutu's regime began to fear reprimand from the people it continually repressed. For these reasons, Mobutu began to limit western exploitation in order to preserve his own wealth and security. In 1998, US military-trained leaders in Rwanda and Uganda invaded the mineral-rich areas of the Congo. The invaders installed illegal colonial-style governments which continue to receive millions of dollars in arms and military training from the US. Their control of mineral rich areas allows western corporations, such as American Mineral Fields (AMF), to illegally rape the soil of its resources. AMF landed exclusive exploration rights to an estimated 1.4 million tons of copper and 270,000 tons of cobalt. San Francisco based engineering firm Bechtel Inc also drew up an inventory of the Congo's mineral resources free of charge. Betchel estimated that the Congo's mineral ores alone are worth $157 billion dollars. Through coltan production, the Rwandans and their allies are bringing in $20 million in revenue a month. Rwanda's diamond exports went from 166 carats in 1998 to 30,500 in 2000. Uganda's diamond exports jumped from approximately 1,500 carats to about 11,300. The final destination for many of these conflict diamonds, is the US. "A government untouchable by the people, run by the corporations of the world. Enslaving mothers, fathers, sons and daughters. Profits put before people." - Anti-Flag, "No Border, No Nations" Resource exploitation in Africa is not new, but the scale of agricultural 'land grabbing' in African nations is unprecedented, becoming the new colonization of the 21 Century. Among the nations being decimated by state violence, funded by foreign corporations, is Nigeria. The Nigerian military has carried out helicopter and gunboat attacks by land, air and sea on the oil-rich Niger Delta; reports have estimated casualty counts as high as in the thousands. Nigerian military have carried out these attacks in an attempt to oust groups protesting decades of environmental exploitation, destruction and human rights violations. As many as 30,000 civilians have been displaced without adequate food or water, and aid agencies have been barred from the region. Major oil firms in the area, Shell and Chevron, have made record profits in recent years. The US, home of the Royal Dutch's subsidiary Shell Oil Company, located in Houston, Texas, imports almost 50% of Nigeria's annual oil production. Evidence has indicated that Shell has fomented civil unrest in Nigeria to protect its access to cheap oil. In October 1990, Nigerian villagers occupied part of a Shell facility demanding compensation for the farm lands which had been destroyed by Shell. A division manager at Shell Petroleum Development Company called the Nigerian military for assistance. The military forces then fired on the villagers, killing some 80 people. "This country's flag flies as a corporate symbol. This country's flag strikes hearts with fear – cold fear! This country's flag represents oil interests. The president wages an endless war so he can justify stealing fucking billions." - Anti-Flag, "Gifts from America: With Love, the USA" The Niger Delta region remains impoverished, with no schools, no health facilities, or basic infrastructure. Most foods in the region is imported due to decades of contamination of the water and oil by the oil and gas companies in the region. Environmental and human rights activists have, for years, documented atrocities on the part of oil companies and the military in the region. As the tactics of resistance groups have shifted from petition and protest to more proactive measures, attacks on pipelines and oil facilities have curtailed the flow of oil leaving the region. Oil companies and the Pentagon. representing the military-industrial complex, are attempting to link these resistance groups to international terror networks in order to legitimize the use of US military to suppress these areas and secure their involvement. The volatility surrounding oil installations in Nigeria, however, has been used by the US security establishment to justify military support in African oil production states, under the guide of helping Africans defend themselves against those who would hinder their engagement in supposed free trade. The December 2006 invasion of Somalia was coordinated using US bases throughout the region. The arrival of AFRICOM effectively reinforced efforts to replace the popular Islamic Courts Union of Somalia with oil-industry friendly Transitional Federal Government. "They try to tell us a free we run this country, but nobody wants to talk about the CIA files, files we can't see. "National security" concerns a whole country but we have no say. Our "security" blamed for our restricted freedom. A game the government plays." - Anti-Flag, What You Don't Know In retrospect, the US Government is supporting atrocities occurring in Africa under the veil of national security, all in an effort to guarantee the investment of businesses and oil companies. The US plays a large hand in the civil unrest happening in countries throughout Africa, a means of internal subversion to ensure the accessibility of minerals and oil. It is a wide misconception that US involvement in the support of brutal regimes is non-existent. It is with the help of the press corpse that the corporate elite are able to devise blanket stories in order to minimize the outcry of these foreign affairs, formally titles 'perception management'. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
US$ 66 billion (2012)
Karibu Jukwaa la www.mwanabidii.com
Pata nafasi mpya za Kazi www.kazibongo.blogspot.com
Blogu ya Habari na Picha www.patahabari.blogspot.com
Kujiondoa Tuma Email kwenda
wanabidii+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com Utapata Email ya kudhibitisha ukishatuma
Disclaimer:
Everyone posting to this Forum bears the sole responsibility for any legal consequences of his or her postings, and hence statements and facts must be presented responsibly. Your continued membership signifies that you agree to this disclaimer and pledge to abide by our Rules and Guidelines.
heatedchaos007 5 hours ago