Timely ethics complaint against Romney
November 1, 2012 7:10 AM Subscribe
As the presidential election seems to have increasingly come down to a race to court factory workers in Ohio, news comes out today that several unions and good-government groups have filed a complaint against Romney alleging that his family's "blind trust", which he often refers to as perfectly above board, is actually not "blind" at all but contains an outsized investment with billionaire hedge fund manager and Republican kingmaker Paul Singer - he of NML Capital, a fund which Romney is also invested in, which buys up defaulted upon debt from developing countries for pennies on the dollar and then thinks of innovative ways to seize state assets in an effort to embarrass those countries into paying full value on the worthless bonds. - bought a controlling interest in the GM auto parts division and then threatened to cut off GM's supply of steering columns unless they were paid an outsized portion of TARP funds. Though the US Treasury complained that this was "extortion", Singer's fund ultimately received $12.9 Billion in tax payers' money and the Romneys made approximately 4000% on their investment. A news conference is scheduled for 2PM in Toledo but the major news outlets have yet to pick up the story.
This post was deleted for the following reason: Can we wait until there is more there there, here? Election season is a terrible PITA and there's a news conference scheduled which will generate news and maybe we can wait and write something a little more "this is what is happening" so the thread won't just be "Romney GRAR"? Please? Thank you. -- jessamyn
<cypher> Surprise asshole! I bet you never saw this comin'! </cypher>
posted by spacewrench at 7:15 AM on November 1, 2012
posted by spacewrench at 7:15 AM on November 1, 2012
Is the timing too late to influence the outcome of the election? Hopefully this will get some traction.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:15 AM on November 1, 2012
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:15 AM on November 1, 2012
I'm convinced that the only reason that the original extreme deficit spender, Ronald Reagan, is culturally deified is because dreamers like Romney see a chance to have the government borrow its way into their full control.
posted by Brian B. at 7:20 AM on November 1, 2012
posted by Brian B. at 7:20 AM on November 1, 2012
So just out of pure morbid curiosity, what happens if this doesn't gain traction until well after November, and Mittens has somehow already gotten himself 270 electoral votes?
Is it possible to impeach a President before he/she's taken office?
Because if we're going to put Martha in jail for this sort of thing then... well, I don't really know what. But I get more and more pissed that this is how the 1% operates, and I've been doing some shopping, trying to find the best deal on pitchforks online.
posted by Blue_Villain at 7:23 AM on November 1, 2012
Is it possible to impeach a President before he/she's taken office?
Because if we're going to put Martha in jail for this sort of thing then... well, I don't really know what. But I get more and more pissed that this is how the 1% operates, and I've been doing some shopping, trying to find the best deal on pitchforks online.
posted by Blue_Villain at 7:23 AM on November 1, 2012
Romney is also continuing to run ads that claim Jeep is sending factory jobs to China despite Chrysler refuting everything he's been saying.
posted by backseatpilot at 7:24 AM on November 1, 2012
posted by backseatpilot at 7:24 AM on November 1, 2012
Here's the original article from The Nation which broke the story.
"But Romney has done a good job of concealing, until now, the fact that he and his wife, Ann, personally gained at least $15.3 million from the bailout—and a few of Romney’s most important Wall Street donors made more than $4 billion. Their gains, and the Romneys’, were astronomical—more than 3,000 percent on their investment."
posted by Mike Mongo at 7:24 AM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
"But Romney has done a good job of concealing, until now, the fact that he and his wife, Ann, personally gained at least $15.3 million from the bailout—and a few of Romney’s most important Wall Street donors made more than $4 billion. Their gains, and the Romneys’, were astronomical—more than 3,000 percent on their investment."
posted by Mike Mongo at 7:24 AM on November 1, 2012 [1 favorite]
Are there any Ohio folks who can provide perspective on the impact of Romney commercials, Chrysler's CEO reply and all of that?
posted by jadepearl at 7:25 AM on November 1, 2012
posted by jadepearl at 7:25 AM on November 1, 2012
Guys, this just proves everything Romney's been saying about the auto bailout. How could we waste money giving it to people like him? Obviously, we need to elect him to make sure that he never steals our money again.
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:25 AM on November 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by Bulgaroktonos at 7:25 AM on November 1, 2012 [3 favorites]
And here is the news from AAW website. BTW it's featured on the front page this AM as there is a press conference at 2pm.
posted by Mike Mongo at 7:26 AM on November 1, 2012
posted by Mike Mongo at 7:26 AM on November 1, 2012
major news outlets have yet to pick up the story
No surprise there; they are afraid of retaliation from the possible king-elect.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 7:26 AM on November 1, 2012
No surprise there; they are afraid of retaliation from the possible king-elect.
posted by Old'n'Busted at 7:26 AM on November 1, 2012
We should not be surprised when business people use the law in creative ways to make money. Corporations (in general) have a duty to earn profit, and will do so in any way that is legally allowed. There is no such thing as a "loophole" or "extortion" with respect to the law - just using the laws in exactly the way the laws were written.
Instead, we should change the law such that the law can't be used in objectionable way.
Criticizing Romney for poorly designed bailout funding is pointless. The real problem is that bailout funding was created in such a way that it (occasionally) ended up where it was needed least.
posted by saeculorum at 7:27 AM on November 1, 2012
Instead, we should change the law such that the law can't be used in objectionable way.
Criticizing Romney for poorly designed bailout funding is pointless. The real problem is that bailout funding was created in such a way that it (occasionally) ended up where it was needed least.
posted by saeculorum at 7:27 AM on November 1, 2012
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posted by magstheaxe at 7:13 AM on November 1, 2012