Things That Make Me Ill
(Editorial cartoon by Kevin Siers / Charlotte Observer (May 25, 2012) and featured at McClatchy DC. Click on image to enlarge and then return.)
Sometimes I wonder why we even bother. Here we are in the middle of a presidential campaign at a time when our economy is almost as shaky as it was during the last presidential campaign and "our" candidate is consorting with the enemy. Oh, he may be bashing the vulture capitalists at Bain, but that's all for show.
From OpenSecrets:
If President Obama's attacks on Mitt Romney's long career at Bain Capital are a liability, as some Democrats now worry, they don't seem to bother some of Romney's old colleagues: Employees of Bain Capital and Bain & Company have given more than $152,000 to Obama's campaign and the joint fundraising operation he runs with the Democratic National Committee. The analysis accounts for those donors giving $200 or more.
Yesterday [May 21,2012], Obama attacked Romney for his time at Bain, telling reporters that being successful at making money as the head of a firm that takes over other companies -- often dismantling them or laying off workers to return them to profitability -- is different than creating jobs. But OpenSecrets.org data indicates there are at least a handful of Bain Capital employees (and their families) who seem more impressed with the president than he is with their employer: they have given $41,278 to his campaign, and OpenSecrets.org identified at least three who have given a total of $96,400 to a joint fundraising committee operated by the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
Obama has also collected $16,000 from employees of Bain & Company, the consulting firm that started Romney's career and helped spawn Bain Capital.
Yes, that's a drop in the bucket compared to what those folks have given Mitt Romney, but it's still a tidy chunk of change, and I'm not referring to the kind of change I thought we were promised in Obama's first campaign.
Silly me.
I guess that's just our Wall Street Overlords hedging their bets. Sometimes they're real good at that.
Labels: Change, Election 2012, Our Owners
posted by Diane at 3:00 AM
2 Comments:
I think you might want to parse that data carefully.
Looking at the 2010-12 election cycle, I find only 14 Bain Capital Donors with about $25K given. In 2008, $53K was given. I assume the rest was given for Senator Obama's run, but haven't checked.
In 2010-12, Romney received $119,000 from Bain Capital. So, the comparison they choose to make is on its face not persuasive.
But a lot of money has been flowing through SuperPacs. Romney's is Restore our Future, Citizens for a Working America, and several others. In Restore America's Future, one finds Paul Edgerly ($500K), John Connaughton ($250K), Stephen Zides ($250K x 2) and others. I haven't checked Obama's Superpac but would be very surprised to find even $1 from Bain Capital or Bain & Company.
So I think the comparison is a little misleading. And Bain is a minor player. Romney's top six contributors are investment banks. Obama's are Google, Microsoft, universities, and some big law firms.
Wall Street bought Obama's election in 2008, Charles.
This year, they're going with, "Thanks for all the money and protection you've given us, Obama, but Rmoney is offering an even better deal."
Heads they win, tails they still win. And the rest of us lose, again.
~
Post a Comment
<< Home