Obama and Romney Trade Campaign Barbs

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright July 15, 2012
All Rights Reserved.                                         

                President Barack Obama and GOP presidential nominee former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney lashed out at each other, signaling the gloves have come off between now and Election Day.  Romney blasted Obama for distorting his record while a venture capitalist at Bain Capital.  Calling on Barack to apologize, Romney rejects any suggestions that his leveraged buyout activities at Bain capital involved shipping U.S. jobs overseas.  Mitt resents suggestions that he parks his investments in Swiss and offshore accounts yet so far only agreed to release his 2010 income taxes.  “No, we won’t be apologizing,” said Obama, in response to Romney’s demands due to discrepancies when he finished his CEO job at Bain Capital in 1999.  Securities and Exchange Commission records show that Mitt was CEO through 2001, prompting Obama campaign officials to cry foul.

            Since Romney announced his campaign for president June 2, 2011 in Stratham, New Hampshire, he’s relentlessly criticized Obama for everything but the kitchen sink.  Even when Obama rolled the dice and got Osama bin Laden May 1, 2011, Romney had nothing good to say, only that he could manage the U.S. economy better than Barack.  When the Dow Jones Industrials hit 13,000 under Obama’s watch Feb. 21, a whopping 70% increase from the day he took office Jan. 20, 2009, Romney yawned.  “Mr. Romney claims that he’s Mr. Fix-it for the economy because of his business experience.  And so I think voters entirely legitimately want to know, well what exactly was that business experience,” said Obama, in response to Romney’s endless attacks on the U.S. economy.  Romney talks about adding private sector jobs but has no answer other than repeating Reagan-style tax cuts.

            Romney knows that marginal tax rates are already so low that the Federal Treasury can’t generate enough money to pay current government salary, health care and pension obligations without running deficits.  Mitt doesn’t pat Barack on the back when the Office of Management and Budget announced that federal budget deficits would shrink to under $1 trillion in 2012, only 6% of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.  Without laying out his economic plan, Romney has stated he wants to shrink the size of the federal government.  That means a federal hiring freeze and widespread layoffs.  Subscribing to the GOP party boss Grover Norquist’s “no tax pledge,” Romney can only balance the budget on the backs of federal workers.  He has no way of generating tax revenue other that increasing employment.  It doesn’t increase employment or reduce unemployment by laying-off federal workers.

            Insisting Barack apologize for asking Mitt to explain his role at Bain Capital doesn’t add up.  “Stop whining,” said 52-year-old former White House chief of staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.  “If you want to claim Bain Capital as your calling card to the White House, then defend what happened at Bain Capital.”  When Obama or his minions attack Romney, the GOP cries Chicago gangland politics.  When Romney attacks Obama, it’s considered acceptable protocol.  Romney argues that his Wall Street background would have enabled him to jumpstart the U.S. economy faster than Obama.  He doesn’t answer former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan’s analysis that the 2007-08 economic meltdown was comparable to the Financial Panic of 1906 and would take years to correct.  Romney acts like the Great Recession happened under Obama’s watch.

            Romney can’t have it both ways:  Claiming, on the one hand, economic expertise from his days at Bain Capital, then, on the other hand, he’s not responsible for what happened at Bain after he left in 1999.  “He actually retired retroactively at that point.  He ended up not going back to the firm after his time in Salt Lake City,” said Romney senior advisor Ed Gillespie on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”  If outsourcing took place on or after Romney’s stint at Bain, it’s no excuse for typical leverage buyout practices of laying-off workers to make companies more profitable.  While there’s nothing wrong with turnaround strategies involving corporate layoffs, there’s something very wrong with doing the same thing to the federal government.  Extrapolating from his work at Bain, it’s reasonable to infer that Romney would begin massive federal layoffs—a practice performed routinely in the private sector.

                 Already throwing mud, the 2012 promises to be dirty business between now and the election.  With both candidates running neck-and-neck, political attacks will continue at a furious pace with uncensored TV ads.  “The president can talk all he wants about this, but it’s the economy and jobs that are going to address this election,” said Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH.) on ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos, forgetting that before Obama took office the country was losing over 200,000 jobs a month.  While not enough, the Labor Department reported that 80,000 jobs were added in June, holding the unemployment rate at 8.2%.  “This is not the candidate of hope and change, this is a candidate who is hoping to change the subject,” said Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” ignoring how former President George W. Bush left the country in economic ruins.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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