Mitt Romney's Bain Advantage

[ProSense]

Mitt Romney's Bain Advantage

By Michael Beckel

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Employees of Bain Capital, which Romney co-founded, donated $84,500 to Romney's presidential campaign between January and September of this year, according to an analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. That's more than three times what Bain Capital employees gave to President Barack Obama, who collected $27,500 for his re-election bid in the same time frame.

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Bain Capital employees have donated $123,200 to the coffers of the Democratic National Committee so far this year, according to the Center's research, money the DNC could use to run ads touting the president or criticizing his Republican rivals, or for other activities meant to get Democrats to the polls in November.

While Bain Capital employees have not donated any money to the Republican National Committee in the current election cycle, they've given $1.25 million to a conservative super PAC called Restore Our Future, which is run by former top aides to Romney and is voraciously spending money to help Romney win the GOP nomination.

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A pro-Obama super PAC, Priorities USA Action, has received no donations from Bain employees.

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Bain & Co. employees donated $57,500 to Romney's campaign during the first three quarters of 2011, according to the Center's research. During the same period, they contributed just $3,000 to Obama and haven't given a dollar to the DNC.

All told, Romney has collected about nine times as much money from his two former companies as Obama, including the money donated to the pro-Romney Restore Our Future, according to the Center's research: $1.39 million versus $153,700 to Obama and the DNC.

Of course, employees of the two Bain firms haven't limited their giving to the two presidential candidates and their support structures: They've donated more than $1.9 million to all federal candidates, parties and political committees so far this year, the Center's research shows. Of that sum, 75 percent has benefited Republicans or Republican-supporting groups.

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http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2011/12/mitt-romney-bain-capital-advantage.html

Please don't promote the lies of Democratic Party detractors.

Major Romney Donor, Ex-Bain Exec, Pens Book Defending The 1%
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002631452

Bain execs spent nearly $5 million on Romney’s White House runs, records show
http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/02/07/8087/bain-execs-spent-nearly-5-million-romney-s-white-house-runs-records-show

Wall Street's Huge Bet on Romney
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/03/wall-streets-huge-bet-on-romney.html

OpenSecrets: Obama Campaign Refunding Donations By Federal Lobbyists
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002230824

Must read: Krugman: Extremists and Enablers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002692194

[Arkana]

1. I'm not holding donations from Bain employees against them.

Hell, I worked for a huge insurance company in 2008 and was able to give over $1,200 to Obama in the course of a year--does that make me a big-money donor?

[ProSense]

2. Well

"I'm not holding donations from Bain employees against them."

...the detractors (including the media) like to conflate these things. They don't distinguish employee donations from things like PAC contributions or Cory Booker receiving "a pair of $15,400 contributions from Bain Capital Managing Directors Joshua Bekenstein and Mark Nunnelly."

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/05/21/488002/bain-financial-industy-gave-over-565000-to-newark-mayor-cory-booker-for-2002-campaign/

That's completely different from lower-level employees' donations.

[Arkana]

3. What about this year? I'd like to see the figures for January-April or so.

The article was posted in December of last year.

[ProSense]

4. I know, but

"The article was posted in December of last year."

... I doubt anything has changed over the last four months. This is from March:

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Wealthy executives and corporations in securities and investment have contributed about $16.5 million to Restore Our Future -- more than twice the amount they have sent to his campaign. Such donors are taking advantage of a new political landscape that was reshaped by recent federal court decisions, such as the 2010 Supreme Court-decided Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission, which allows more money from more sources to fund hard-hitting political advertisements.

Since its inception, Restore our Future has taken in more than $36.6 million in such contributions, with about 45 percent coming from securities and investment.

Employees at Bain Capital alone have contributed $2 million, according to the Center's research. They help make Bain, the investment firm that Romney co-founded back in the 1980s, one of Restore Our Future's top donors, along with other Wall Street firms, such as Clarium Capital Management, Goldman Sachs and Tiger Management.

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http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/03/wall-streets-huge-bet-on-romney.html