Romney: "I Like Being Able To Fire People "

[bigtree]

from Emily Goodin at The Hill: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-presidential-primary/203051-romney-i-like-to-be-able-to-fire-people


Romney speak at the Nashua Chamber of Commerce Breakfast in Nashua, N.H., Monday, Jan. 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

01/09/12 10:20 AM ET

NASHUA, N.H. — Mitt Romney, who's under attack for his business record, said Monday that he likes having the option of firing people.

"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," he told business executives from the Nashau Greater Chamber of Commerce, adding if he isn't getting a "good service, I want to say, I'm going to get someone else."

He made the observation while answering a question about what kind of healthcare system he would implement as president. The former governor of Massachusetts did not talk about that state's system — and its individual mandate that infuriates conservatives — but talked about how he'd like to let people buy their own insurance instead of having to go through their companies.

That, he said, would give people the option of firing companies that didn't meet their needs.

His remarks come one day after he told New Hampshire voters he knows what it's like to fear getting a "pink slip" and while he's under attack from both Democrats and his Republican rivals for his record as a business executive — the same record he's made the centerpiece to his argument as to why he should be president.

read: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-presidential-primary/203051-romney-i-like-to-be-able-to-fire-people

[liberal N proud]

1. Probably gets off on firing people

What an ass!

[Rectangle]

24. He got pretty good at it at Bain Capitol! Along with pocketing the $$$$$$$...............n/t

[trueblue2007]

38. ROMNEY .... NEEDS TO FIRE HIMSELF

[subterranean]

2. People can already buy their own insurance instead of going through their companies

if they're willing to pay more for less coverage. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Also, it's not that easy to "fire" a health insurance company. Most people don't have trouble with their insurance company until they get sick and the company denies or stonewalls their claim. Then they have a pre-existing condition, so no other company will take them. "Obamacare" (and Romneycare) fixes that problem, but Romney wants to repeal it.

Just another example of how clueless he is.

[Enrique]

6. also the insurers are exempt from antitrust laws

but he's speaking at the Chamber of Commerce, where they all live in free market la la land.

By the way, what's Romney's position on repealing the health insurance industry's antitrust exemption.

[gratuitous]

8. I was going to say

But there it is in a nutshell: By the time you realize your insurance company is providing poor service, it's far too late to "fire" them, and no other companies are going to beating a path to your door.

As for "clueless," I think Romney knows exactly what he's talking about. He's just hoping nobody else figures it out.

[JDPriestly]

17. Yes.

For example, used to be if you had a pre-existing condition and are already insured, you can, at your own expense purchase the same insurance that you had before you go a new job. I did that. It was a good idea if you were not sure you would stay in the new job.

You might want to buy your own insurance for other reasons now that I believe the rule is that you can't be denied insurance for a pre-existing condition. For example, if you want to go to a doctor who is not listed by your employer's HMO, then you might want to opt out and buy your own insurance.

[Wait Wut]

3. "...knows what it's like to fear getting a "pink slip""

Keep talking, Mitt. I'm sure everyone sees what an all-around, average American you really are.

Idiot.

[BeyondGeography]

4. This is their version of Mr. Electable

Good times.

[FailureToCommunicate]

5. At his private school, did the civics class skip the part how Congress is not

quite like a business, with the Pres as the CEO, where he can hire and fire at whim?

What an empty suit. He's like a combination of Dorothy's companions: no brains, no heart, and certainly no courage.

I (almost) feel bad for Republicans this election year.

[coalition_unwilling]

31. "He's like a combination of Dorothy's companions: no brains, no heart,

and certainly no courage." That's a quip worthy of Oscar Wilde. And I'm sure pairie populist L. Frank Baum would readily agree with you.

[FailureToCommunicate]

36. Thanks.

[Zorra]

7. And I like being able to not hire wealthy, malevolent 1% frat boys for the position of POTUS.

Just sayin'

[WI_DEM]

9. We know you do!

[WingDinger]

10. That is why no level of collectivism is tolerable, he is better than everyone else, and more discern

ing. Same with all the other rich assholes. I want the option for concierge everything.

[Bonhomme Richard]

11. There's a big difference between firing people and changing suppliers Mitt.

That statement gives you a hint about his mindset. Nobody works with him. They only work for him.

[barbtries]

13. excellent point.

thanks for pointing it out.

[JDPriestly]

18. + 1000

[uponit7771]

22. DING DING DING potd

[HughBeaumont]

12. JFW.

Just. Fucking. WOW.

Does Obama's re-election campaign really have to do any work on this?

How does ANYONE earning a paycheck support Romney?

The greatest part about it is that a lot of Romney's self-hanging sound bites, gaffes and inaccurate "facts" are pretty much exempt from the "out of context" canard the Repubs are likely to throw up.

[Rozlee]

14. He's pretty much digging his grave with his own tongue.

His own quotes will provide great sound bites for Obama campaign ads against him. Like one analyst said, a candidate needs to have at least 40% of the Hispanic vote to win. In one recent poll done this week, 68% of Latino voters would back Obama, and that's not even starting out of the gate and he and the other candidates have alienated black voters and those who are sick of the 1% taking their disproportionate piece of the pie. With his comments about vetoing the DREAM Act and his pro-weath cheerleading, I can't wait for the gaffes he's going to make further down the road and mark my words, there will be many. He's making the noose to hang himself with.

[catbyte]

15. WTF? It looks like voters enjoy firing your ass too, Willard.

[Jack Rabbit]

16. Romney-Trump 2012

America, you're fired.

[Honeycombe8]

19. This quote should be front and center in Democratic ads this year. Over and over.

"I like firing people" is a REMARKABLE thing to say, esp in a recession with millions unemployed.

HAVING to fire people, which happens, is very different from LIKING it.

[mwooldri]

20. I like firing people too. Particularly politicians. nt

[KamaAina]

21. He should have gone to Trump's "debate"

[wildeyed]

23. I really don't.

But I see my employees as human beings with feelings so it naturally pains me to cause them pain, even when it is necessary. What a dick he is.

[Jackpine Radical]

25. If there is any justice in the world, this is Mitt's Dean Scream Moment.

You will be able to gauge how he stands with the Puppetmasters by observing how the press treats this clip. If they replay it 603 times in the next 24 hours, the Puppetmasters are done with Mitt.

I keep thinking back to 1992, when I knew the hit order was out for GWHB. The tell was the fact that they kept playing & replaying that vid of him puking into the lap of the person next to him & collapsing onto the floor diring a fancy dinner in Japan.

[progree]

26. I'm furious that the media doesn't mention that Romney's misleading "choice" remark

Last edited Tue Jan 10, 2012, 12:14 AM - Edit history (1)

I listened to MPR, I listened to PBS Newshour, I even listened to Ed Schultz -- they all mentioned Romney's remark that he would implement a healthcare system that gave people a choice of insurance companies, and then went on to the firestorm about the "likes to fire" comment. NOBODY pointed out that the ACA (Obamacare) gives people the choice of insurance companies. It fits right into the right-wing propaganda that Obamacare is government socialized medicine that gives you one choice - the government program or else. (Of course its just the opposite, as anyone who favors Single Payer or, 2nd best, the Public Option knows -- we are stuck with a choice between private insurance companies now and under Obamacare).

What's worse, later on, Romney explained what he meant:

“I don’t want to live in a world where we have Obamacare telling us which insurance we have to have, which doctor we can have, which hospital we go to,” Romney said Monday at his news conference, according to The New York Times.

“I believe in the setting as I described this morning where people are able to choose their own doctor, choose their own insurance company. If they don’t like their insurance company or their provider, they can get rid of it,” Romney said.

It is really grossly misleading to leave Romney's assertions unexamined.

[Art_from_Ark]

27. His boyhood hero was probably Mr. Spacely

"Jetson... You're fired!"

?w=300&h=300

[Skittles]

28. this guys is a fucking idiot

he has no clue what he is talking about - he just makes it up as he goes along

[JI7]

29. Such an Odd, Strange thing to Say but which says a lot about him

most good people HATE to fire others. even if they have good reason for doing it. i use to work somewhere where i had to tell this guy who came by once a week or so to clean some windows that we wont be using his services anymore. and i hated doing that even though i was just letting him know.

[Ganja Ninja]

35. Odd & Strange - That pretty much sums him up.

He's George W Bush without the brain damage. A pious little rich kid that's so out of touch he can't even comprehend how devastating this admission is. Just like he couldn't comprehend how he was devastating the people whose lives he was destroying when he fired them. All the while sitting there in his magic underwear thinking what a good boy am I. It's really sickening.

[coalition_unwilling]

30. I used to worry that Romney would be Obama's toughest opponent. Now I hope

the Repukes have the gall to nominate him. Romney's nomination will only sharpen the lines of the ongoing class war. I can already see and hear the ads that Obama's campaign can run - shades of LBJ\Goldwater '64 starting to manifest.

Obama today was handed his re-election on a silver platter (or was that with a silver spoon?). If Obama's campaign team can't use this footage to run the table, the Dems don't deserve to have power.

We really, REALLY, need to keep this thread kicked and up near the top of GD.

[coalition_unwilling]

32. Emphatic K&R! - n/t

[stockholmer]

33. "would give people the option of firing companies that didn't meet their needs." One problem with

this, Mittens. If you try to individually fire the government, it fires back.

By it's very definition, government can NEVER be a 'free market". Humans are not the sum worth of a cost-benefit analysis. So sick of the business analogies.

[BootinUp]

34. Lets Hand MITT a Pink Slip!!!!!!!!

[Tommy_Carcetti]

37. This reminds me of Gen. Boykin's comment that killing the enemy was "fun"

Yes, sometimes an employer is forced to fire an employee. That doesn't mean they should "like" it. Just like a soldier shouldn't "like" having to kill an enemy troop.