Is This What President Obama’s ‘Change’ Looks Like?

Larry,
 
I don’t comment here anymore but seeing your post I had to weigh in on this.
 
“the tenets of free market capitalism embedded within private equity and venture capital.”
 
You nailed it and what is now going to make this election monumental is the line that has been drawn in the sand by Gingrich and Obama. The attack against Romney and Bain Capital cuts right to the core of what makes this country exceptional and our economy as great as it is.
 
The founding fathers believed in free enterprise and the freedom for anyone to pursue whatever livelihood they wanted. Implied in that was the freedom to succeed or not. That is the heart of innovation and progress. “Risk” is the greatest challenge in business and “wealth” is the motivator.
 
Larry mentioned in a prior post that he invested in 2 companies and it did not work out. That is the risk investors take on any company and that risk is why winners are entitled to make significant profit on their investment. Free market capitalism is the ability for people to make their own decisions, create wealth, and live the American Dream knowing that their efforts might succeed or might  fail – but at least they have the freedom to try.
 
I have worked with over 40 private enterprises – 3 of my own – and there have been winners and losers and when I lost I lost big time relatively speaking (although clearly nowhere on a scale of a 1%er). I have won and helped others win as well. I lost count on the number of private equity and venture capital firms and angel investors I have worked with and met. But I can assure you that there is one fundamental truth in this business and that is NO venture capital firm or investor I have met would bother to get involved in something with the goal of failing and  liquidating the company. That is the exit of last resort if all else fails in trying to build or rebuild the company.
 
A typical private equity and venture capital firm will provide financing to a company that is either in trouble but can prove that it can be turned around, or to a young company that needs next level financing to elevate its growth to a different level. Every plan does have a strategic event for investors (exit strategy) because that is what an investment firm is in business for – a promised return on investment. These firms also typically will only get involved in industries they have knowledge of or will hire experts in that industry.

Brands that you see in stores today would not be there without a vibrant private equity and venture capital investment industry. Even the stores themselves at one time required investment from firms like Bain in order to develop.

What Obama has done is to interfere in the private sector and use government tax money (which we don’t have) to force a winner for political purposes and not just Solyndra. Those efforts fail almost every time. 

The idea that General Motors would have failed if the government had not bailed them out is false. Without the government, GM would have gone into bankruptcy court and come out with a plan that would have been far better than what the government forced on it, and there were a number of scenarios at the time. Instead we have the Volt.

Are there corporate raiders and liquidators? Yes. But Bain was never one of them. In fact Bain success record is extraordinarily good and has one of the finest reputations. The jobs that Gingrich and eventually Obama talk about that Romney lost were lost before Romney and Bain invested and because of their efforts were at least extended.

Conservatives believe in the essential core belief of the founding fathers which was self-reliance and the freedom that comes from that versus government dependence which is what Liberals believe in.

Dependence on the government means one will always be taken care of and never has to worry about a job or security. Self-reliance means that you create your own opportunities and can out-achieve others. The product of self-reliance is innovation and progress while the product of government dependence is status quo.
 
Romney will hopefully do a tremendous job in promoting his years at Bain and in simple terms explaining just how essential private equity venture capital is in our everyday lives. They are the lifeblood of entrepreneurialism. There would be no Staples or Apple. There would be no Vitaminwater or Google. And there are thousands and thousands of small to medium sized companies that are successful only because of their partnership with investment firms like Bain.
 
And concerning Ron Paul, I do hope he stays in the race till the very end. The GOP will need him and his supporters to drive more dynamic changes in domestic policy than we have ever seen and desperately need.
 
And as far as Gingrich, Perry, and now Palin they just got an “F” in free market economics 101 and should just go away.

This election could define whether the electorate chooses to renew the freedom of free enterprise or choose government socialism.

Right. The so called conservatives in the race don`t have a clue about free enterprise. To them it is just about fooling the voters just long enough to get elected.

Well, Obama is countering the “no change in DC” meme with a bid for more power. He wants to “streamline the government”. Basically, he is going to eliminate some departments, like Commerce, and replace them with lumped together subsidiaries of that same dept. Which is weird. Congress gets an up or down vote on the whole mess. Nice of him to leave them in the picture, isn’t it? If this is such a great idea, why didn’t he do it when he had a super-majority Congress which didn’t mind handing over all its prerogatives to the executive branch? Why wait until there is a Republican House which might mind handing over their responsibilities to a person like Barack Obama? Oh,

true dat Harp.

Hokma, Larry Dovie —

This Article Starts With larry Listening To Bloomberg Radio Today — Right??

Take A Look At Bloomberg News Today —- Below  Are Some Tid Bits Just From Today.

I Would Be Interested In Either Or Both Of Your Takes On What’s Going On In Europe Today.

BTW — Just Hours Ago The Hedge Fund Reps Walked Out Of These Very  Negotiations

Here Are The Quotes:

Hedge funds in New York  and London are
trying to profit from trading Greek government bonds as European banks brace for
losses from a debt swap.

They’ve amassed the stakes as the government lobbies investors to accept a swap
that would cause losses of more than 50 percent for bondholders.

For the deal to
avoid triggering credit-default swaps that could cause losses for more of the
region’s banks, the agreement has to be voluntary

The ECB continues to take the view that the so-called private sector involvement
of bondholders accepting losses on Greek debt doesn’t include EU and government
institutions
Hedge funds shouldn’t swap their Greek bonds for new debt as long as the ECB
refuses to do so itself because it’s legally difficult for a sovereign to
default on payments to one holder while providing full payment to another, said
Andreas Koutras,
an analyst at InTouch Capital Markets Ltd. in London.

Greece plans to submit
legislation on so-called collective-action clauses that could force holders of
the nation’s debt to take part in a bond swap.

Nice to see you again on this blog Larry.

Were it not for the thuggery and corruption of the media the Obama Administration would not be able to get away with the things they do and say.

Media is not only complicit they are often instigators of the thuggery. Lucky Obama Administration doesn’t even have to  tell them to attack, they do it automatically. The Chicago Way and the Washington way are now one and the same.

Without a free and unbiased press a democracy cannot stand. We do not have a free and unbiased press.

Most people are used to politicians lying. We even, as a people seem to accept it. Will we as a people also accept the lies and corruption of the media? If so we are well and truly on the path to destruction. Just my cheery opinion.

KM –  I agree with you.  Media have a job to do in our system of government and not only are they not doing it, they are a part of the corruption.  BTW – I so enjoy all the cartoons you post!

“I believe it is a foregone conclusion that the Republican Party will critique the Obama administration for little meaningful “change” in how Washington operates.”

That would be funny. It has been the Republican party and their Tea Party House that has blocked everything (an unprecedented number of filibusters or threats to filibuster and unprecedent blocking of appointees) and has produced no meaningful legislation (where are the jobs Boehner?). They are the ones that have displayed unprecedented partisanship and an unwillingness to compromise. The GOP is entirely responsible for not changing the way Washington works. In fact, they have made things far worse.

***

“In a similar fashion, we already see political interests from both ends of the spectrum attacking Mitt Romney—whom I believe is the presumptive Republican nominee—and the tenets of free market capitalism embedded within private equity and venture capital.”

They are not criticizing “free market capitalism embedded within private equity and venture capital”. That is complete BS. They are attacking both Romney’s and Bain’s job creation record. Romney himself puts it out there that he created “100,000″ jobs while he was at Bain, so it is completely fair game to critique the record he presents and the record of Bain.  It is also fair game to critique private equity in general and how it operates with its profits first mentality. Nothing like doing an LBO of a company then paying yourselves 100s of millions in dividends and then exiting leaving a highly leverage or indebted company to fail and go bankrupt. The WSJ says about 25% of all the companies Romney invested in at Bain went bankrupt. By the way Bain is primarily not in the venture capital business. They are in the LBO business. Very different, as you should know LD. Venture capital builds companies and jobs and LBOs are largely financial engineering jobs to pull or drain profits out of companies.

***

Newsmax?? that bastion of journalism?

Where did you get your big passage that you are quoting from? 

LD, I think you have some experience in credit markets and with banktupcies and restructurings, given your background, so you should know better.

In 2008 the auto sector (both Chrysler and GM) were on the brink of collapse. No investors or banks were willing to step up either pre-bankruptcy or post-bankrutpcy to finance or rescue the companies. The government took the decision to rescue the industry. Without rescuing it we could have had another 1.0 million jobs lost and lost a major part of the industrial base of this country.

It was a four way negotiation between the company, the government, labor unions and creditors. Everyone gave up something. It may have been a tough negotiation (as all bankruptcies and restructurings are; you think no one ever gets threatened in these types of negotiations,. whatever that means). Some distressed or vulture hedge funds were making it difficult to get a deal done, as they were holding out (screw the vulture funds), but in the end a fair deal was made, particularly given the alternative. Many of the creditors may have very well ended up with nothing in a liquidiation. Creditors should be so lucky that the government stepped in, as their returns are higher than what they may have been if the government did not step in. Institutional credit investors made out well versus the alternative. I have heard no major creditors complaining.

This was a one time event and there is no evidence that government has any interest in getting involved like this in the private sector again. This was not something the government wanted to do to start from.

So far the government rescuing the U.S. auto sector has been a great success (the auto sector is currently leading this economy out of the downturn). Steven Rattner did a hell of a good job. I would like to see you argue otherwise. Your argument or lack of one above is not all that convincing.  

Don’t believe me, then read this article from the conservative The Economist magazine:

“Government Motors No More – An apology is due to Barack Obama: his takeover of GM could have gone horribly wrong, but it has not”

http://www.economist.com/node/16846494

There is much analysis out there right now about the U.S. auto sector and how the government bail-out worked. As someone in finance who works on Wall Street are you equally bitching and complaining about Wall Street being bailed-out and financial markets being stabilized.

Mitt Romney co-founded Bain Capital in 1984.  To fund the business, it
took the better part of a year to raise the money, all of which came
entirely from private individuals.  Bain Capital made their money by
applying the “Bain Way” to analyzing companies and identifying companies
with good potential for growth.   At first, success came slowly, and it
wasn’t until two years later, in 1986, that Romney’s first major
success came along.  He invested $2M in a small one-store office supply
company which became known as Staples, a company that now has 2,000
stores, employs 90,000 people, and is worth $27 billion.  By the time
Bain divested itself of its Staples holdings, their $2M investment was
worth $13M.

This ultimately became the business model for Bain Capital – finding
small companies with great potential, funding their expansion through
private financing, investment, or outright acquisition, helping the
company to demonstrate its robust growth to others, and then either
selling to private investors  at a substantial profit or taking it
public in an IPO. Anyone who claims that Romney and Bain made their
money by bankrupting businesses hasn’t done their homework.  For every
company that went bankrupt, a hundred went on to become highly
successful – a success rate that was the envy of the business world. 
That’s one of the reasons Jim Cramer called Mitt Romney “the best businessman in North America.”

Mitt Romney was actively involved in Bain Capital’s management from 1984
to 1999, when he left to run the 2002 Olympics.  Not all of Bain’s
investments were successes. A small percentage (less than 1% overall) of
the companies, such a AmPad (American Pad and Paper), Stage Stores, GS
Industries, and Dynamic Details, went bankrupt between 2001 and 2003,
during a severe recessionary period, and long after Romney left Bain.

In 1998, after 38 years of ownership, Domino’s Pizza founder Tom
Monaghan announced his retirement and sold 93 percent of the company to
Bain Capital for about $1 billion.  At the time, Domino’s had 1000
stores, and employed about 16,000 people.  Today, Domino’s Pizza is a
publicly traded company with a market cap value of $1.5B, has 9,000
stores, and employs 145,000 people.

Solar panel maker Solyndra received a $528 million Energy
Department loan in 2009 – and went bankrupt last year. The
government’s risky investment strategy didn’t stop there, as a CBS News
investigation has uncovered a pattern of cases of the government pouring
your tax dollars into clean energy.
Take Beacon Power — a green energy storage company. We were surprised
to learn exactly what the Energy Department knew before committing $43
million of your tax dollars.
Documents obtained by CBS News show Standard and Poor’s had confidentially given the project a dismal outlook of “CCC-plus.”
Read the documents
Asked whether he’d put his personal money into Beacon, economist Peter Morici replied, “Not on purpose.”
“It’s, it is a junk bond,” Morici said. “But it’s not even a good junk bond. It’s well below investment grade.”
Was the Energy Department investing tax dollars in something that’s not even a good junk bond? Morici says yes.
“This level of bond has about a 70 percent chance of failing in the long term,” he said.
In fact, Beacon did go bankrupt two months ago and it’s unclear
whether taxpayers will get all their money back. And the feds made other
loans when public documents indicate they should have known they could
be throwing good money after bad.
It’s been four months since the FBI raided bankrupt Solyndra. It
received a half-billion in tax dollars and became a political lightning
rod, with Republicans claiming it was a politically motivated
investment.
CBS News counted 12 clean energy companies that are having trouble
after collectively being approved for more than $6.5 billion in federal
assistance. Five have filed for bankruptcy: The junk bond-rated Beacon,
Evergreen Solar, SpectraWatt, AES’ subsidiary Eastern Energy and
Solyndra.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57358484/tax-dollars-backing-some-risky-energy-projects/

The Obama campaign’s under-40 organizing arm, Generation
44, is hosting a dance party on Jan. 18 to raise funds for the
president’s reelection campaign.The party, held at Boston dance club The Goodlife, will charge $20 per ticket and feature local Boston performer DJ MR McNeill.Billed as “A Dance Party for Obama” the event is a 21-and-over event and will run from 7-ll PM.To
RSVP for the event, prospective participants are taken to an Obama
donation page where they are prompted to buy tickets via credit card, or
make a donation without buying a ticket.

Up next: The Obama fundraising kegger.

What is the source?

According to a recent WSJ article:

“Seventeen of the 77 private-equity targets filed bankruptcy petitions, usually Chapter 11 reorganization, or closed their doors by the end of the eighth year after Bain’s investment.”

That is a 22% failure rate. A little different than the numbers you quote from an unnamed source.

“Academic research provides some basis to compare this performance. A study of buyouts by various firms globally found a 5% to 8% bankruptcy rate among target companies that were taken over from 1985 to 1999.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204331304577140850713493694.html

Did you get that? On average private equity has a 5% to 8% bankruptcy rate, but Bain under Romney had a 22% failure rate.

Given all the outsized profits that were taken out of these companies at the time by Bain and Romney, it is highly likely that the actions of Bain drove many of these companies into the grown.

Private equity firms do not create companies and jobs. They take other people’s ideas and invest in them. It is a big stretch that Romney and Bain can claim that they were responsible for the success of a company like Staples. They were just investors. The entrepreneurs that came up with the idea and did the hard work over the years to grow the company are the ones responsible for its success. Not Romney. He created zero jobs.

They also will financial engineer transactions to generate as much profit as they can for themselves while often leaving the companies to languish. All private equity firms do this. There has been a long debate since the 1980s as to whether private equity firms are positive or negative for society. There are good arguments on both sides.

It is far from clear that we want a Wall Street private equity guy to run the company. He has no special ability or knowledge regarding job creation. As one private equity guy recently said; private equity is not about job creation, but about job lay-offs.  

Romney’s record in job creation as Governor of MA was also terrible.

“During his tenure as governor from 2003 to 2007, Massachusetts ranked 47th among states for job creation” and that was out of 50 states.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/276684/mitt-romney-s-job-creation-record-katrina-trinko

I am now convinced that you know absolutely fuck all about creating jobs or the economy in general. You are here to just push Obama`s agenda so piss off fool.

“Academic research provides some basis to compare this performance. A study of buyouts by various firms globally found a 5% to 8% bankruptcy rate among target companies that were taken over from 1985 to 1999.”-  -  -  -  – -
Why stop there? Why didn’t you add the nextn paragraph that dismissed that research as basically apples to oranges.
___________________________________

“It is also fair game to critique private equity in general and how it operates with its profits first mentality”
- – - – - -  – - – - – - –
And what would be the ;primary objective of communist like you? Please let us know what the primary motive of investment is?

If you don;t know the first thing about fundamental free market economics 101 then don;t try weighing in with ignorant comments like yours.

The fact is that biz magazines have already done their research and have found that what Gingrich’s superpac commerical said were without exaggeration a pack of lies and distortions.

The fact is that Bain Capital has had one of the finest reputations in the business and have been know fo successfully building and turning around businesses. A success rate of even 78% is a lot higher than most other firms.

Yep.  I wish I could go to Vegas and have a 78% success rate.

HARP2, I determined a few days ago that PA is nothing but a mindless, programmed OBOT  I thank you very much for your quite intelligent answers to this obot for all of us.

I just can’t make myself answer him/her/it at all.  I with we had a ”go away” button. 

Larry D,

It’s so good to see a post by you again.  However, just once I would like one that cheers me up. 

I know it’s not your fault the subject matter is so depressing, frustrating, maddening, and frightful.  Keep posting.  The world needs to know about the gangster in chief’s tactics.

http://www.senseoncents.com/2009/05/is-barack-obama-going-tony-soprano/

They don’t HAVE to “fool the voters”, when the voters declare themselves “ABO”, and they realize their votes are locked up in advance, and they can get away with anything they want.

Thanks Harp. I am doing some “read-search” on this exact issue.

It is a pay to play / money laundering operation with extortion at the front end and at the backend? One article touts Obama as having “quadrupled renewable energy on public lands”.

What is not stated is the money was all government under-writing of “less than Junk” loan grantees. That is where the RICO action is. The part that is not clear at this point, is where and how the money finds its way into the DNC and Obama’s campaign slush funds.  I know that his “mega-donors” (called 1%’ers in some circles) are the one’s getting these “loans”, but good luck getting the Media to do investigative journalism. On top of which, for a punk like BO to whisper sweet nothings of “transparency”, then drive FOIA under the bus is the action of a con-artist. Hat tip to CBS, they have only scratched the surface of the mother of all Laundery Operations. There will be several more “alternative enery companies” to add to this list in Ca by the 2nd quarter. The cost to the taxpayer is north of 100 billion dollars…no one wants to talk about the Obama crime family. bada bing!

“unprecedented number of filibusters or threats to filibuster and unprecedent blocking of appointees”
 
Sadly, you do not know the difference between the House and Senate or your ass from your elbow. That “four way” negotiation has the creditors last.

You want to go down that partisan road while drinking the kool-aid, good luck. The numbers and facts speak for themselves. Scolding LD, saying he “should know better”, only exposes your willful ignorance. The auto-industry, with the exception of Ford wasn’t rescued, it was made Obama’s bitch. The “government” didn’t make the call to rescue the unions did and the price was the remaining value of thier pensions and the constitutional rights of those creditors first in line.

France, Austria, Italy & Spain Written Down.

And Then There Was This Statement Released Late Tonight:

There has been no agreement on any Greek deal or a specific
‘haircut’,” said Charles Dallara, the head of
the Institute of
International Finance which is representing the banks in EU
negotiations.

“We remain open to a dialogue in search of a voluntary agreement. There is no agreement on any element of a deal.”

With Out A “Voluntary Agreement There Will Be A “Credit Event” ie Default — Triggering Credit Default Swaps.(CDS)

The Banks Holding The CDS Will Have To Pay The Bonds In Full. 

Those Who Bet On This And Bought Greek Debt At .40 Cents On The Dollar ie. MF Global, Will Make A Killing.

Banks That Issued & Hold The CDS Could Fail Including MANY In The United States.

Those Deemed “To Big To Fail” Will Get Bailed Out — AGAIN — By The FED At Taxpayer Expense.

Tim Geithner Has Been Pushing, Chicago Style, The Greek Government To Do What The W.H. & Fed Did As Reported In This Article By Larry Doyle An Bloomberg News Today:

Watch For The Term “Collective Action Clauses” –It Is Heavy Handed – Chicago Style  Obama/Geithner Pushing The Greek government To Pressure The Hedge Funds —

It Has Backfired And — The Hedge Funds Walked Out Of Negotiations Today.

Read The Rest — First Doyle Then Bloomberg.

 From Doyle’s Article Above:

Lauria offers, “I represent one less investor today than I
represented yesterday. One of my clients was directly threatened by the
White House and in essence compelled to withdraw its opposition to the
deal under the threat that the full force of the White House press corps
would destroy its reputation.”Bloomberg News Today:“If the ECB is out, then for sure you should try to free ride on the back of
the ECB,” Koutras said. “You’d be stupid to actually participate if the ECB does
not.”

The first test of that trade is in March, when about 14.4 billion euros of
debt matures.Government Bonds  redeemable on March 20 fell to a 52-week
low of

about 40 cents on the euro on Nov. 29, according to data compiled by
Bloomberg. The bonds rebounded to 49 cents on Dec. 19 and traded at about 44
cents as of yesterday.

Trun-Tin Nguyen, a hedge fund manager at TTN AG in Zurich, said he’s been
buying the bonds, expecting that policy makers will fail to reach an agreement
before March.

“The bet is that either way, they will repay this one,” Nguyen said in an
interview. “Before March, no solution should be achieved, whether it’s a haircut
or a default.” 

Officials may include Collective Actions Clauses in any agreement, which
would blur the voluntary nature of the swap, said a person with direct knowledge
of the negotiations. 

Such a clause would give Greece’s  lenders
the right to impose the exchange on all holders if a majority of holders agree
to it.

Policy makers expect the clause would push more investors, including hedge
funds, to agree to the swap, said the person, who declined to be identified
because the negotiations are private.

Inserting the clause wouldn’t be a credit
event, while a decision by Greece to act on it would probably trigger the CDS,
the person said.

Still, CDS prices show investors are wagering that Greece will default and
that swaps will be triggered. Contracts insuring against a default within the
next five years have more than doubled to 7,819 basis points since October, when
officials announced the debt swap.

KEEP YOUR EYES WIDE  — THIS WHEEL’S STILL IN SPIN!!

Hokma, I missed you & hope you’ll keep commenting, you always have a learned & interesting perspective

” difference between the House and Senate ”

Yes, I am very well aware of the difference. I am not sure what that has to do with anything. It is the GOP that has used the filibuster to block everything. They are the ones being partisan. They will not compromise. Our system of government does not work if you will not compromise. LD claims above that the GOP will critique Obama for not changing how Washington operates, when it is GOP who through their partisanship and extreme positions have prevented any kind of “change”.

“The numbers and facts speak for themselves.”

I am not sure what numbers and facts you are talking about and about what? Care to enlighten us with your wisdom of those numbers and facts?

” it was made Obama’s bitch”

How do you figure? For the most part the government has taken a hands-off approach to its investments in the auto industry. They have not been involved after they provided the funds for these companies to survive and they are trying to sell their ownership as fast as they can. Read The Economist article I reference above. If you can provide any evidence or “numbers and facts” that says the government has made the auto sector their bitch I would love to hear them.

“the unions did and the pricetag of the call was the remaining value of the rank and file’s pensions and the constitutional rights of those creditors first in line, starting with Chysler.”

That is a funny one given that the initial talks to save the auto sector were started under Bush. He had no love for the unions. Bush provided the first $13.4 bn under TARP for the auto sector. Look it up.

It was a negotiation and all stakeholders gave up something. If the government did not step in it was far from clear that the creditors would have gotten anything and could have lost everything. The creditors should be so lucky the government stepped in to finance these companies at that critical time.

“those creditors first in line”

By the way if you know anything regarding bankruptcy and restructuring it is far from clear as you say that the creditors were first in line. The courts have some time put pensions first in line or pari passu with unsecured creditors. Ever case is different and bankrputcy judges have some latitude in deciding ranking and senority of unsecured debt, which the bond debt was.   

” difference between the House and Senate ”

Yes, I am very well aware of the difference. I am not sure what that has to do with anything. It is the GOP that has used the filibuster to block everything. They are the ones being partisan. They will not compromise. Our system of government does not work if you will not compromise. LD claims above that the GOP will critique Obama for not changing how Washington operates, when it is GOP who through their partisanship and extreme positions have prevented any kind of “change”.

“The numbers and facts speak for themselves.”

I am not sure what numbers and facts you are talking about and about what? Care to enlighten us with your wisdom of those numbers and facts?

” it was made Obama’s bitch”

How do you figure? For the most part the government has taken a hands-off approach to its investments in the auto industry. They have not been involved after they provided the funds for these companies to survive and they are trying to sell their ownership as fast as they can. Read The Economist article I reference above. If you can provide any evidence or “numbers and facts” that says the government has made the auto sector their bitch I would love to hear them.

“the unions did and the pricetag of the call was the remaining value of the rank and file’s pensions and the constitutional rights of those creditors first in line, starting with Chysler.”

That is a funny one given that the initial talks to save the auto sector were started under Bush. He had no love for the unions. Bush provided the first $13.4 bn under TARP for the auto sector. Look it up.

It was a negotiation and all stakeholders gave up something. If the government did not step in it was far from clear that the creditors would have gotten anything and could have lost everything. The creditors should be so lucky the government stepped in to finance these companies at that critical time.

“those creditors first in line”

By the way if you know anything regarding bankruptcy and restructuring it is far from clear as you say that the creditors were first in line. The courts have some time put pensions first in line or pari passu with unsecured creditors. Ever case is different and bankrputcy judges have some latitude in deciding ranking and senority of unsecured debt, which the bond debt was.   

” difference between the House and Senate ”

Yes, I am very well aware of the difference. I am not sure what that has to do with anything. It is the GOP that has used the filibuster to block everything. They are the ones being partisan. They will not compromise. Our system of government does not work if you will not compromise. LD claims above that the GOP will critique Obama for not changing how Washington operates, when it is GOP who through their partisanship and extreme positions have prevented any kind of “change”.

“The numbers and facts speak for themselves.”

I am not sure what numbers and facts you are talking about and about what? Care to enlighten us with your wisdom of those numbers and facts?

” it was made Obama’s bitch”

How do you figure? For the most part the government has taken a hands-off approach to its investments in the auto industry. They have not been involved after they provided the funds for these companies to survive and they are trying to sell their ownership as fast as they can. Read The Economist article I reference above. If you can provide any evidence or “numbers and facts” that says the government has made the auto sector their bitch I would love to hear them.

“the unions did and the pricetag of the call was the remaining value of the rank and file’s pensions and the constitutional rights of those creditors first in line, starting with Chysler.”

That is a funny one given that the initial talks to save the auto sector were started under Bush. He had no love for the unions. Bush provided the first $13.4 bn under TARP for the auto sector. Look it up.

It was a negotiation and all stakeholders gave up something. If the government did not step in it was far from clear that the creditors would have gotten anything and could have lost everything. The creditors should be so lucky the government stepped in to finance these companies at that critical time.

“those creditors first in line”

By the way if you know anything regarding bankruptcy and restructuring it is far from clear as you say that the creditors were first in line. The courts have some time put pensions first in line or pari passu with unsecured creditors. Ever case is different and bankrputcy judges have some latitude in deciding ranking and senority of unsecured debt, which the bond debt was.   

Sorry for the threepeat comment above, but your system is having problems this morning.

LD,

So your source is yourself….  that is funny.

Who were these creditors and how exactly were they threatened as you claim?

Where they hedge funds that got involved at the end and wanted to squeeze the government for every penny of taxpayer dollars?

From my understanding the major institutional creditors were very much committed to getting a deal done with the government and made out well given the alternative of a Chapter 11 leading to a Chapter 7. They likely made out much better than if the government did not get involved.

I have not heard of any cases where major institutional creditors (which was the majority of creditors) were “threatened” as you say. There is nothing wrong with the U.S. government protecting the interests of taxpayers, the companies, the industry and the workers against some very greedy hedge funds.

So apples and oranges then why did the WSJ care to bring it up.

The reality is that a large number of companies, like with all private equity, either eventually go bankrupt or is forced to significantly downsize because of the debt burden put on them by the private equity investors. That is the LBO game.

It has always been controversial as to whether LBO and private equity have been a net positive for society since it was created in the 1980s.

“Ever since the LBO craze of the 1980s—led by high-profile corporate raiders who financed takeovers with low-quality debt and then sold off pieces of the acquired companies for their own profit—LBOs have garnered negative publicity. Critics of leveraged buyouts argue that these transactions harm the long-term competitiveness of firms involved. First, these firms are unlikely to have replaced operating assets since their cash flow must be devoted to servicing the LBO-related debt. Thus, the property, plant, and equipment of LBO firms are likely to have aged considerably during the time when the firm is privately held. In addition, expenditures for repair and maintenance may have been curtailed as well. Finally, it is possible that research and development expenditures have also been controlled. As a result, the future growth prospects of these firms may be significantly reduced.

Others argue that LBO transactions have a negative impact on the stakeholders of the firm. In many cases, LBOs lead to downsizing of operations, and employees may lose their jobs. In addition, some of the transactions have negative effects on the communities in which the firms are located.”

http://www.enotes.com/leveraged-buyouts-reference/leveraged-buyouts-178583

There is much analysis and research into the LBO failure rate. It is generally around 4% in good times and much higher in bad times. It is apparent that Romney’s LBO failure rate was much higher. Is that because they were taking too much profit out of these companies a al Gordon Gekko.

http://www.turnaround.org/Publications/Articles.aspx?objectID=1377

I do not think you understand Private Equity and the LBO game.

There is a good chance that their would be no failure of these companies if they were not bought by Bain and private equity. It is the leveraging up of these companies in an LBO that causes them to fail; it is the act of the LBO itself that is the cause of the failure.

Did you bother to read the commentary? 

The lawyer Tom Lauria was quoted on the Frank Beckmann Radio show in Detroit which I reference in the commentary.  

Hokma is sounds like you have some experience. Good.

“You nailed it and what is now going to make this election monumental is the line that has been drawn in the sand by Gingrich and Obama. The attack against Romney and Bain Capital cuts right to the core of what makes this country exceptional and our economy as great as it is.”
It does not cut to the core at all. There is parts of capitalism and free enterprise that is good and parts of it that is bad. There is absolutely nothing wrong with examining or critiquing Romney’s and Bain’s job creation record (particularly as it is Romney himself who trumps it), nothing wrong in critiquing the business practices of Bain and of private equity in general. Private equity is one for of capitalism that has at times been very very destructive and has provided no benefit to society and free enterprise.

“The founding fathers believed in free enterprise and the freedom for anyone to pursue whatever livelihood they wanted. Implied in that was the freedom to succeed or not. That is the heart of innovation and progress. “Risk” is the greatest challenge in business and “wealth” is the motivator.”

You are right. In America you are free to pursue most free enterprise unless it infringes on the rights of others or is fraudaulent. However, there is nothing wrong with critiquing the free enterprise that private equity firms like Bain and Wall Street guys like Romney pursue, particularly if Romney himself is trumpeting his record. No one is saying Romney and Bain do not have the rights to do what they want. What many are pointing out is that Romney’s jobs record is bullshit and that he may be part of a private equity industry that is greed and destructive to society. We have the freedom and right to express our views.

Nobody is questioning the winning and losing of companies and investors. Where did you get that? What is being questioned is whether Romney was just a corporate raider who sucked billions out of companies driving them into the ground and into bankruptcy. Romney is free to do that, but we are also free to judge him on his actions, particularly when he is asking us to judge him, as he parades out his 100,000 jobs created while at Bain.

“But I can assure you that there is one fundamental truth in this business and that is NO venture capital firm or investor I have met would bother to get involved in something with the goal of failing and  liquidating the company. That is the exit of last resort if all else fails in trying to build or rebuild the company.”

I think you are confusing private equity and the LBO game with venture capital. Bain Capital under Romney was primarily in the LBO game and not the venture capital game. I think you need a better understanding of how private equity firms make money through LBOs. They will often take perfectly healthy underleveraged companies and buy them through an LBO with cheap high yield bonds leveraging the company up. The name of the game is to put as little of their own equity or cash in and then to take-out of the company as much cash as quickly  as they can as soon as they can through paying themselves big dividends. Once they have made a big profit and taken a ton of cash out of the company they quite often do no care what happens to the company and these companies are sold off and/or often left to fail or are left in a much weaker position. Private equity is in the quick flip game and the quicker the flip the better. These are not long-term investors that love these companies and want to build them over the decades. Private equity is often very destructive.

“Brands that you see in stores today would not be there without a vibrant private equity and venture capital investment industry.”

That is a stretch. Again, I think you are confusing venture capital with LBO driven Private Equity. Bain was primarily in the LBO Private Equity business. Romney was no Steve Jobs.

“What Obama has done is to interfere in the private sector and use government tax money (which we don’t have) to force a winner for political purposes and not just Solyndra. Those efforts fail almost every time.”

Actually, the government has been giving out loan guarantees to companies like Solyndra in many different industries for many decades with many many successes. So far the government program to give loan guarantees to alternative energy companies has only had a 2% failure rate (look it up). Government supports all businesses, including private equity firms. Without the infrastructure (education, roads, bridges, airports, the post office, etc) businesses would not succeed. Without the education government provided there would have been no Steve Jobs. Without government support there is no way that the alternative energy industry would survive, given the massive government support in China and Germany. The government support for alternative energy is a pail in comparison to the government support the oil and nuclear industries receive.

“The idea that General Motors would have failed if the government had not bailed them out is false. Without the government, GM would have gone into bankruptcy court and come out with a plan that would have been far better than what the government forced on it, and there were a number of scenarios at the time. Instead we have the Volt.”

I think you need to go back and re-read the history. There was no one in 2008/2009 that was willing to step up and finance the auto industry either before or after bankruptcy and without new funds these companies and the industry would have been liquidated. It was also determined that a bankruptcy and all the uncertainty around a bankrutpcy would have been a disaster for the industry as no one was going to buy a car if they did not know whether the warranty would be good, etc. etc. etc.

ABO  2012!

Anybody But Obama is damn right!

The House has sent dozens, if not hundreds of bills to the Senate where they reside in limbo. Reid makes sure that they never see the light of day. Then partisans blame the GOP for not doing anything. Talk about your Catch 22.

“Are there corporate raiders and liquidators? Yes. But Bain was never one of them. In fact Bain success record is extraordinarily good and has one of the finest reputations. The jobs that Gingrich and eventually Obama talk about that Romney lost were lost before Romney and Bain invested and because of their efforts were at least extended.”
 
Bain is no different than any other private equity firm. They will do whatever it takes to make a profit. They are not job creators. There is no proof that Bain’s record of driving companies into the ground is any better or worse than any other private equity firm. Please provide some proof of the source of your comment. All private equity firms are the same. The name of the game is a quick flip for a profit.

“Conservatives believe in the essential core belief of the founding fathers which was self-reliance and the freedom that comes from that versus government dependence which is what Liberals believe in.”

What a bunch of malarky. Conservatives talk a good game, but people like the Koch brothers take some of the biggest government handouts on the planet. Their businesses in energy, agriculture, chemicals and forest products receive some of the biggest government subsidies of any businesses in America. “Conservatives” have no monopoly on capitalism and the free market system. Complete BS. So I guess Warren Buffett the most successful investor of all time is just some crazy liberal.

“ Romney will hopefully do a tremendous job in promoting his years at Bain and in simple terms explaining just how essential private equity venture capital is in our everyday lives. They are the lifeblood of entrepreneurialism. There would be no Staples or Apple. There would be no Vitaminwater or Google. And there are thousands and thousands of small to medium sized companies that are successful only because of their partnership with investment firms like Bain.”

He has done a tremendous job so far. He will not let us talk about his record as Governor of MA and now we cannot talk about his record at Bain, even though he is the one promoting is 100,000 jobs created at Bain. Again, you are confusing venture capital and the LBO private equity game. It is a bit of a reach to suggest that all the successful companies in America owe their success to corporate raiders like Romney. I do not think the entreprenuers that created Staples would be giving Romney the credit in building that company and creating all those jobs. What exactly did Romney do to create those jobs. Big deal he put some money in as an investment, but that is not what made those companies successful. It was just one ingredient, which helped but that is it.

You should pick libertarian Ron Paul as your candidate and then we can have a very clear election with two very different view of America and we can settle this “small government” question once and for all. We will see how many Americans truly support a massive downsizing of government.

I just click on the little minus sign and send them into oblivian from my perspective.

 Avoided many a tedious and boring narrative that way. I have stopped bothering to answer or engage such people. It’s a total waste of time and gives their b.s. more importance that it deserves.

Thank you. I tend to think in pictures, Cartoons so often tell a story that it would take hundreds of words to say.

They can only fool voters who are willfully blind. Just as Obama can. If you bother to learn the facts and ignore attack ads for the disgusting garbage they are you might actually know something about each candidate.

Doesn’t take much investigating to see a POS like Newt is having a temper tantrum that makes him absolutely unfit for the White House.

WSJ brought it up to dispell the reckless distortions and demagoguery going on which you clearly exhibit.

As far as LBO, so what? What is your point and what does it have to do with Bain specifically and specifically with all of their businesses?

You don’t have a more loyal sycophant to Obama than Steve Rattner. This is what he wrote in Politico today:
 
“Most important, Bain Capital is not now, nor has it ever been, some kind of Gordon Gekko-like, fire-breathing corporate raider that slashed and burned companies, immolating jobs wherever they appear in its path.”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71349.html#ixzz1jLtiBvK7
 
End of discussion unless you want to talk specific case studies and would be more than delighted to engage in.

new video out.
if backtrack wins again, shame on us

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FzDUDPncfIE

Friday document dump on Solyndra

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/204149-white-house-sends-house-gop-more-solyndra-documents

lightsquared can not be fixed

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/01/14/advisory-board-lightsquared-cant-be-fixed/

another Friday document dump shows feds had no clue about the ecomony

http://www.verumserum.com/?p=36775

another Friday document dump shows feds had no clue about the ecomony

http://www.verumserum.com/?p=36775

first lawsuit filed against backtrack’s recess apointments

http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/204133-first-court-challenge-filed-against-obamas-recess-appointments

backtrack leaf blower economic theory

http://pjmedia.com/zombie/2012/01/13/the-leaf-blower-paradox-and-the-fundamental-fallacy-of-obamanomics/

with Daley gone, now we will see the real backtrack
It will be a real ugly election

http://finance.townhall.com/columnists/jeffcarter/2012/01/14/now_we_will_see_the_real_obama_and_it_will_get_ugly/page/full/

look at this:  Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins announced this afternoon that the outcome of a meeting this weekend of around 150 prominent conservatives was a consensus to back Rick Santorum, achieved after three rounds of balloting.
 
what happens to newt now?  frankly, i think they’ve just solidified the nomination for romney. i don’t think that santorum can win the nomination and he cerainly cannot beat obama.

That has already been proven to be a lie. Name companies and specific cases instead of broad generalizations that lack any facts at all.

I do think that Santorum can win.

The mystic that Obama is not a flat out dead duck in the waters at this point is not backup by the polls.

The only part of the country where Obama is still above 50% (51%) approval rate is the NorthEast. Everywhere else he is in the 40′s sometimes in the low 40′s.

And that where the problem is coming from. The Rep establisment is basking in an environment where they are in minority and where the Dems still control the message. And they are still looking for a candidate who could somehow draft some of the independants, where that battle is already won everywhere else in the nation.

Any of the Rep candidates can win, and the most contrast one will offer against Obama, the more drastic the victory.

I am not looking at who can win the elections because at this point and from now on with all the s*&^$t coming our way, Obama is a goner.

I am looking at who will have the principles, faith and stamina to be in the WH at one of the most horrible times ever.

For a billion dollars I would not want to be President in a year. This is going to be the worse and most difficult job on the planet.

I`m getting sick and tired of most people on other sites trouncing Mitt and saying he can`t win. Mitt is not my choice by a long shot, but the polls consistently show, of all those running, he stands the best chance of defeating Obama.
 These idiots don`t like Miit, Newt, Perry, or the Mr, Dressup in the sweater.
Honest to God, they sound like spoiled children that never got what they wanted for Christmas.

GROW UP PEOPLE.

Tony Perkins announces evangelical support for Rick Santorum

If the evangelicals think they can take over the Tea Party, then I will have to change my avatar. From now on I will be showing my Golden retriever Molly.

she is beautiful Harp.

maybe that’s the plan like 08

Thanks………..She knows it to.

I couldn’t have said it better Hokma

Listen to Santorum sometime.  He may get better as the campaign goes on but he doesn’t understand the economy and it shows when he talks about it.  He also is too much of a war-monger and the country is tired of war.  He also has alienated homosexuals in ways that others haven’t and his record, after he left office smacks of the same revolving door of congressional crony capitalism (if only to a lesser extent that Gingrich). 

It’s not that I dislike him as I have grown to dislike Newt, I just think he could not withstand the attacks.  Remember he hasn’t been vetted — few negative ads have been thrown at him because he has never really been vying for first as he surged too late in IA and has stayed in the back of the pack since.  I also don’t think that he is as good or as prepared as Romney 

ouch

maybe daley will now secretly back romney or publicly if he’s had his share of politics.  there’s been speculation that the only reason he backed Obama was because he harbored secret plans to run for IL Gov.  But after the governorship jinx in IL and NJ, I would stay away from there if I were Daley.

As you can see that PA spammed this thread posting his response three times. It wants me to educate it. Sad that the bots on NQ threads are killing this blog, no disrespect to those who post at NQ and Larry intented, but PA is but one example in the last few months… all my best to NQ.  

Oy, gevalt…

You did not get my point. Any rep who gets the nomination can win. Santorum like the others.

I strongly suspect the next Prez will have to make decisions of such nature that will require more than knowledge of the bottom line to steer the Nation. I’m thinking using the nuclear bomb at war and sustaining a nuclear attack on the Nation for instance. And at that point if the guy has the principles and the faith to guide him through that, having offended or not the gay minority will be the last of my concern.

Let me make the point one more time. I have worked with venture firms turning companies. There are the good, the bad and the ugly in the VC and LBO arena. Depending on the management style and the MBO, the policy of creative destruction does not always create. Oh yes it might have a return to the LBO but create?  It very much depends on the firm. Bain’s primary function was not venture capital it was leveraged but-outs. No matter how anyone spins this. Most LBO firms rarely create job growth and LBOs do not have to create jobs. VC firms on the other hand focus on creation.

Matter of fact Vanity fair reports that (http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/2012/02/mitt-romney-201202) 38% of Bains but-outs went into bankruptcy. Does that mean Bain lost? Its shareholders lost? Of course not. Has Bain created? Of course it has and it has a record of such. Was there colliteral damage? Of course there was. If someone says no such thing occurs, then Gorden Gekko is their brother… But that is not the point here.

Government and private industry are two difference types of animals. Yes the tenants of free market need to be part of both. But operationally they are night and day different and need to be. Moreover, the fear I have is one word, “deregulation”. LBOs love deregulation. Deregulation was a major part of what got us into the financial mess we are currently in.

So as I say, and continue to say…. Regulatory oversight with enforcement is a evil necessity. That is the job of government….

Evangelicals do not like Mormons….

LD…

Here is the problem with that interview…. I am not saying it did not happen and I am not naive to the Beltway… but…..

“A Perella Weinberg Partners spokesperson told ABC News on Sunday that
“The firm denies Mr. Lauria’s account of events.”* The spokesperson
would not elaborate. ”

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/05/bankruptcy-atto/

Of course this does not help Lauria’s creditability either…

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/thomas-lauria.asp?cycle=10

LD…

Here is the problem with that interview…. I am not saying it did not happen and I am not naive to the Beltway… but…..

“A Perella Weinberg Partners spokesperson told ABC News on Sunday that
“The firm denies Mr. Lauria’s account of events.”* The spokesperson
would not elaborate. ”

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2009/05/bankruptcy-atto/

Of course this does not help Lauria’s creditability either…

http://www.campaignmoney.com/political/contributions/thomas-lauria.asp?cycle=10

Yep the best businessman in America…. That does not mean Mitt would be a great President….
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/ad_mitt_mistakes_jRmd2LHaPIb0bbNn1ZkgaJ

Gosh I wish Huntsman would get serious…..

I agree, sadly, Teak. But for those of us who have remained can do ourselves, and NQ, a favor by ignoring the comments of those who seek only to destroy.

Responding gives them an importance they don’t deserve. It took me a while to learn that. Now I just collapse their drivel and move on.

Even more reason for me to think that exactly this happened.

Plus I know a firm on the Chrysler creditor committee and heard the same from them as well. 

LD,Like I said… I am not naive to DC and its politics. Now if you had first reported your firm hand knowledge I would have accepted that on face value. But  Lauria’s is too close to the RNC. Plus why would counsel do the talking head routine and violate client confidentially if he did not have a political agenda? Lauria was not whistle blowing. He was doing the PR blowing…Paulson and others were indeed playing TARP games. There is no doubt about that. But so were the auto manufacturers. Especially Ford…With TARP there is enough blame to go around starting with Congress, the WH and even the manufacturers….The entire program was just stupid…. I siad this before, anyone who voted for these bailouts should be voted-out…..

Corporations as citizens..Its a problem…

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contrib.php?id=N00000286&cycle=2012

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contrib.php?cycle=2012&id=N00009638

Then there is….
http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contrib.php?cycle=2012&id=N00005906

The question is do we want an LBO king as President?
 
The United States is not a private equity market.

Going back to the old standard of censorship when you do not like an alternative view. Very NQ. I am no more a spammer than you are.

“That has already been proven to be a lie.” ??

Bullshit!

I could list hundreds.

“Bain Capital spent $24.5 million to acquire GS Industries in 1993, according to an investment prospectus for the company that was obtained by the Los Angeles Times and reviewed by McClatchy Newspapers. By the end of that decade, Bain Capital estimated its partners had made $58.4 million off its investment in GS Industries, according to the prospectus.
     Bain Capital’s partners also earned multimillion-dollar dividends from GS Industries and annual management fees of about $900,000. But by the time GS Industries filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001, it owed $553.9 million in debts against assets valued at $395.2 million.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/01/14/3370204/romneys-bain-made-millions-as.html#storylink=cpy

Withouth Bain and Romney taking out those tens of millions from the company and putting all that debt on the company it would likely not have failed.

Stopped showing your flag??

Steve Rattner is a Wall Street hedge fund private investment guy first and foremost. Before his loyalty to Obama.Of course he is going to defend private equity and Bain.

He says nothing about whether private equity is actually good for the economy and whether having a private equity guy in the WH is a positive thing. The United States of America is not a private equity market and nor should it be run like one.

Gingrich and Perry and a very big part of the Republican Party do not think Romney has the best chance to be beat Obama. We will see where the polls are after $1 billion of advertising against Romney. Go ahead and nominate a 1%er out of touch Wall Street guy in this environment who has no particularly good jobs record (he was terrible at creating jobs in MA) and with his only message being the economy, which is improving. This serial flip-flopper creates no enthusiasm among Republicans, which will be needed in 2012. He has deflated the Tea Party. And as a mormon he deflates the Evangelicals.

I don’t like Rattner either but he is a sycophant for Obama and what he said was voiced by other Democrat business people.

PA – The obvious propaganda put out against Romney from the head of the steelworkers union is factless and baseless.

Romney was partially right. By the time they got involved with GS about 30 different steel companies were in bankruptcy. What happened to GS is that they were saved while others went out of business. It was not anything that Bain did – it was the industry itself. There were 2 problems: (1) priced competition from other countries, and (2) legacy costs were killing the industry.

The problem was so severe that the federal government was involved from Clinton to GW Bush.

The fact that GS survived and was able to be sold off to another firm and employment has increased is a result of steps Bain and others had to implement.

I hear you KenoshaMarge, as much as I agree with you and respect Larry Johnson and authors of NQ, it is distressing to see the “No Quarter” trolls given a wide berth. That is not the essence of the concept. There are a lot very intelligent people at NQ, who are a pleasure to learn from and exchange ideas with. Yet at somepoint, PA and blondman and the rest of niche market of kool-aid junkies are intellectual boat anchors and should walk the plank. It would increase the quality of the dialouge. I normally keep my trap shut and don’t take the bots personally. I mean scolding Larry Doyle or from PA I get I’m one kind of “person” and to blondman, I am the opposite. It’s really rather amusing that due to the current political winds the swells sre from several directions. It doesn’t change the course I sail.

Respectfully PA, it is not the alternative view I object to, on the contrary, it is the complete absence of facts on your part. Now piss off.

You rock HelenK, best… This is an a multi faceted sell off /money laundering op in motion and I am glad the  conclusion was unanimous.
That said Philip Falcone will not get left holding the bag, the taxpayer will and that has BO written all over it.

Love this one…. and in the same article too.

The emails show senior White House aides discussing the need to coordinate messaging with the Energy Department and others ahead of Solyndra layoffs that occurred in early November 2010.

and;

“There is no support for the allegations of political favoritism and improper White House interference that were the initial focus of the committee’s concerns…

.

…lets start with “messaging” and finish with a lie.

PA,

This has nothing to do with being a LBO King…. Actually I have no problem with that since Presidents have very limited control over the economy and special interests will always screw things up.

My problem is Romney is not much better than Bush and that is a huge problem for me….

http://www.pegcc.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Whats-Wrong-with-Kosmans-Book-11-25-03-.pdf

So much for your hyperbolic argument.

I don’t have a problem with Rattner. I think he did a hell of a good job in helping to rescue the U.S. auto sector.

I have heard no “Democrats” other than Rattner defending private equity or Bain.

My problem with Romney is that he is a Republican. And  Republicans have proven to be the worst at ruling this country. The GOP’s and Romneys ideas (if you can call them that) are terrible.

In addition, Romney is a terrbile Presidential candidate. There are absolutely zero positives associated with Romney. GOP supporters themselves do not see much positive in Romney other than he is not Obama.

Auto bail out – that’s another issue.

Ed Rendell and you have liberal newspapers debunkung the claims against Romney and Bain.

Where is the loyalty? So quick to jump off your sinking Tea Party ship. Your “movement” was never going to last. Meaningless anger eventually fades.

I present plenty of facts all the time. I see no facts in your comments.

I really liked visiting your site, and it looks great. If you get a chance you should check my blog as well. I hope you have a good day!

Using a industry press release to blow holes in one of my postings?  This from the man who has the supposedly superior intellect? Or is it more like superior ego?

You just love to take selected postings of mine out of context just to fit your own political views.

Lastly, you are the one who answered one of my postings that was not even directed at you using slander. Yes, I called you a Zioncon and Israel Firster after you started the Nazi Jew Hating thing. Your posting show that your very much a Neocon/Ziocon. Israel can do no wrong according to you. Even if its using false flags against the United States a financial supporter and friend…

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/01/13/false_flag?page=0,0

Yes I have problems with this…..You should too..

But I never ever slammed you because you are a Jew nor have I ever said anything disparaging against Jews personally.

As far as your obscene posting about me using gas against you . I am not into physical violence …

I find your gas remark absolutely disgusting and outrageous for someone who thinks he has a superior intellect. No Hokma, if I ever meet you face to face. I would cherish the opportunity to see if you as bad as you are anonymously and take the opportunity to tell you off
Mano-a-mano… personally!

You are part of the problem with this Country…

“You are part of the problem with this Country”

Yeh it’s that same old Jewish problem.

And, no, I don’t have any problem with your “foreign policy” reference. Israel will do what it must do to protect itself and survive because there is overwhelming evidence over the past 50 years and 100 years that the west and the United States cannot be trusted when the lives of Jews are on the line. Jews are used to the bigotry and hatred. Some Jews cave in and end up siding with those who opposed Jews and opposed Israel. But most other Jews will stop at nothing to prevent further genocide of Jews and the permanent preservation of the historical homeland of Jews.

It is a convenient excuse for people like you who have no use for Jews to try and carve out Netanyahu as the problem in the Middle East. The fact is that Netanyahu does not govern in a vaccum and he represents the overwhelming choice of Jews in Israel and around the world. I find it not coincidental that the anti-Zionists like you never have an alternative solution for Israel because the alternative is extermination by the Arabs.

You have a deep hatred for Zionism which is the God given right for Jews to return to their homeland and live in a country of their own. Jews don’t really care what people like you think or how you lie about what they do and why they have to do it.

I just have a fundamental problem with anyone who voices opposition to Israel even if they try and hide their bigotry behind some pathetic political ploy. To me it is simple: a jew hater is a jew hater. I am sure where there is hatred for one group of people there is hatred for others.