@MittRomney and the Sensata Surprise | #bain #offshoring

[maxomai]

When you're running on a narrative of creating American jobs better than the incumbent can, this is not the sort of story you need.

When Bain first led a buyout of Sensata, in fact, it laid off hundreds of American workers and sent their jobs offshore. As the Times reported, the Labor Department spent $780,000 retraining some of the laid-off employees.

In addition, Mr. Romney’s generous retirement agreement ensures that he continues to profit from the deals and decisions that Bain makes. He owns about $8 million worth of Bain funds that hold 51 percent of Sensata’s shares. If Sensata saves money by closing the Freeport plant, that could add money to Mr. Romney’s trust accounts, now or after the election.

Many conservatives want Mr. Romney to make a full-throated defense of these practices, and hope he explains to Americans that plant closings and offshoring are a natural part of capitalism and can have long-term positive effects for the economy.

But Mr. Romney clearly feels he can’t do that, because the political effect of defending layoffs would be toxic. That’s especially true because his entire campaign is built around accusing President Obama of not creating enough American jobs.

The much less weighty Salem-News.com puts it another way: "Romney's Company Forces U.S. Flag to Be Lowered in Illinois." Ouch.

Comments

What is good for X isn't good for America

[arkham4269.livejournal.com]

The days where "What is good for GM is good for America" are over if they every existed.

The problem with genuflecting to the concept of capitalism while embracing the flag reveals the true hypocrisy of modern capitalists. They are trans-national and what is good for their bottom line leaves ruined countries in their wake.

I remember reading some cyberpunk type comics where the villains would come in, work a country's people to death, rape the mineral wealth and pollute like crazy and then move on. I remember thinking how silly and over the top that was but we're seeing it right now. All those jobs shipped to India will only stay there as long as costs are down. As Indians want more rights, less hours, etcetera, you'll see those shops get shifted again to some new place.

Why should someone like Romney care about America? He lives a gated life and he can always leave to another gated life somewhere else when things here get too bad.

Right now, government NEED to be a bit tariffy and protectionist to protect their own citizens. It isn't a "Us vs. Them" it is a "Hey corporations, if you want to sell you goods here then you need to play by these rules."

Sadly the GOP and other groups have sold the American public a bunch of bullshit that growing an economy is always good. Well right now the stock market is high and the country suffers because there is more to an economy than making the Koch, Romney's and the Walmartians money.

Re: What is good for X isn't good for America

[maxomai.livejournal.com]

I'm not convinced that we need to be tariff-happy - that's what helped to keep the Great Depression going - but we certainly don't need to encourage outsourcing vis-a-vie tax credits.

Re: What is good for X isn't good for America

[arkham4269.livejournal.com]

In this case, tariffs could be used to help make it less attractive for companies to just ship the jobs overseas while continuing to sell products here.

You want to sell an iPad in the States? Okay well if you build it here you won't get hit by certain tariffs. If you don't, well we'll take on a bit of a tariff to make it less profitable for you to sell them here. Not tax them out of business, only cut down their profit ratio.

Of course I also think that governments together need to work on this offshoring of wealth where trillions are being kept out of the economies of the world.

What good purpose is there to withhold billions of dollars because "Wah! I don't it taxed!" Well la di frickin' da. I don't like getting my pay taxed either. Price of doing business.

Plus as a good socialist I've never bought into the idea that people like Romney should be allowed to accumulate that much money. They aren't 'earning' it like the rest of us. I mean look at how Romney scammed his IRA. If he was you, Mike, you'd be up to Liv's skulls in IRS auditors and you'd be in jail. Romney, OTOH, gets to smirk and refuse to cooperate and withhold info. The rules are different for him and that is class injustice right there.

Of course there is nothing wrong with Romney, the Koch, and the Wal-Martians that some pitchforks, torches and a guillotine couldn't cure.