2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forum"I had people who wanted to retire with dignity. That was their dream. He stole that"
VP Biden attacks Romney's jobs record
By Josh Lederman - 05/16/12 02:54 PM ET
snip//
At Biden's side was former Gov. Ted Strickland (D-Ohio), who recalled how Bain Capital the private-equity firm Romney co-founded dealt with a struggling paper company that it took over in the 1990s.
They laid off workers, cut wages of those who remained, sliced the healthcare benefits and eliminated the retirement plan for the retirees, he said.
Eventually, Strickland said, Bain shuttered the plant, and employees were out of a job.
One of those employees, Randy Johnson, teared up as he recalled hearing Romney speak a few months back about how he dreamed of being president and how Romneys father sought the same office.
All I could think was and it hits me I had people who wanted to retire with dignity. That was their dream. He stole that, Johnson said. His philosophy and the way he does business, his economics stole that.
The comments by Biden and his allies continue a line of attack first employed by some of Romney's rivals during the heated Republican primary most notably Newt Gingrich and later adopted by Obamas campaign. Earlier this week Team Obama launched a new ad accusing Romney of engaging in "questionable business practices" and of personally profiting by closing American businesses.
more...
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/227817-biden-hammers-romney-gop-doesnt-get-us
Lugnut
(9,791 posts)one_voice
(20,043 posts)CBHagman
(16,984 posts)...is the degree to which the American dream has been ravaged, the extent to which workers are simply used and discarded, and that remarkable wealth is created for the few.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)phantom power
(25,966 posts)And that would be partisan and icky, and how could we achieve our Centrist Utopia? And Tom Friedman would cry.
high density
(13,397 posts)Chapter after chapter it's the same blatant shit at company after company. And it's all about making the people who are already unimaginably incredibly well off be even more unimaginably incredibly well off.
CBHagman
(16,984 posts)During the 1990s I remember Jack Welch appearing on one of the NBC shows (and a show openly sponsored by GE, if we needed reminding) and being duly lauded for his efforts. You perhaps remember the moniker "Neutron Jack," as in someone who, when he was done, left empty buildings but no people.
I also remember reading that his own retirement package included things such a country club membership and fresh flowers. Fresh flowers. Meanwhile, people who'd earned their pensions lost them, covenant broken.
JHB
(37,158 posts)They were Philadelphia Enquirer reporters who dug into the effects that all the deregulation and Wall Street wheeler-dealing had on regular workers.
http://americawhatwentwrong.org/Barlett-and-Steele/
http://www.barlettandsteele.com/books/index.php
Excerpt from America: What Went Wrong (1992):
http://americawhatwentwrong.org/stories/excerpt-america-what-went-wrong/
As it turned out, Interco failed to be a textbook model for the wonders of corporate debt. Instead of encouraging efficiency, it compelled management to make short-term decisions that harmed the long-run interests of the corporation and its employees. Within two weeks of taking on the debt, Interco closed two Florsheim shoe plants-and sold the real estate. Interco announced that the shutdowns would save more than $2 million. That was just enough to pay the interest on the company's new mountain of debt for five days.
***
It was a model of stability for the town and one of the manufacturing jewels of the International Shoe Company, later Interco, its owner. Because of the factory's efficient work force, whenever Florsheim wanted to experiment with new technology or develop a new shoe, it did so at Hermann. The plant had a long history of good labor relations. And it operated at a profit. So why, then, did Interco choose to close the factory? Listen to Perry D. Lovett, who was city administrator of Hermann when the plant shut down and who discussed the closing with Interco officials: "We talked to the senior vice president who was selling the property and he told me this was a profitable plant and they were pleased with it. The only thing was, this plant and the one in Kentucky they actually owned. The other plants they had, they had leased. The only place they could generate cash was from the plant in Hermann and the one in Kentucky.
"He said it was just a matter that this was one piece of property in which they could generate revenue to pay off the debt. And that was it. That brought it down." In short, a profitable and efficient plant was closed because Interco actually owned-rather than leased-the building and real estate. And the company needed the cash from the sale of the property to help pay down the debt incurred in the restructuring that was supposed to make the company more efficient.