posted 07-12-2012 12:37 PM                  

One has to wonder why we are learning more about Romney as a candidate, than we still know about the President. Before any lefties get too excited, Romney is still the lesser of two evils.

Obama Campaign: Romney A Liar, Potential Criminal

Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter suggested that Mitt Romney may be a criminal on a conference call with reporters this morning about a Boston Globe report that shows that Romney stayed at Bain Capital three years past when he said he'd left.

Cutter said that there were two ways to interpret the story. The first: Mitt Romney was "misrepresenting his position" at Bain to the Securities and Exchange Commission, "which is a felony."

Or, he was "misrepresenting his position at Bain to the American people. If that’s the case, if he was lying to the American people, that’s a real character and trust issue," Cutter said.

Cutter called on the Romney campaign to clear up by the issue by releasing the candidate's tax returns.

"If the SEC filings aren’t accurate, then prove it," she said.

Bob Bauer, head lawyer for the Obama campaign and a former White House counsel, also implied that Romney could be in legal trouble. He said that SEC documents are "very carefully scrutinized by lawyers because of the very severe consequences that follow from making statements to the SEC that aren’t correct."

"Of particular consequence would be a misrepresentation that involved a controlling person," Bauer said, and "Romney is the controlling person."

The Obama team's charges against Romney extended all the way to his handling of the Salt Lake City Olympics, which Cutter described as "less than wholesome."

"These aren’t just campaign tactics, this is important information," Cutter said.

Earlier today, Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in a statement that the Boston Globe story was "not accurate." She did not specifically respond to a request for comment regarding the "felony" statement by Cutter.

UPDATE: An Obama campaign spokesman sends over this statement from Bob Bauer:

"Romney and Bain claim that he was not involved with Bain, but Bain and its portfolio companies in their required filings under the Securities Exchange Act continuously certified to the Securities and Exchange Commission say precisely the opposite--asserting without qualification that he was a controlling person, fully in charge of Bain, under the Federal securities law. Under normal circumstances, the question of the truth of this representation would result in an investigation by the SEC into possible criminal, as well as civil, violations of the law."

posted 07-12-2012 02:28 PM                  

From The Fact Checker

Posted by Glenn Kessler at 11:15 AM ET, 07/12/2012 TheWashingtonPost

Why does it matter when Mitt Romney left Bain Capital?

Millions of dollars of attack ads by the Obama campaign are hanging in the balance. If Romney left Bain in February 1999, when he departed to run the Olympics, then a number of business deals that went sour (such as KB Toys) can’t be counted as part of Romney’s tenure. If he actually left in 2002, as the Obama campaign alleges, then those deals are fair game.

We have looked at this issue before, back in January, and thought we had settled it.

But now the Boston Globe has raised the issue again. The story seems to hinge on a quote from a former Securities and Exchange Commission member, which would have more credibility if the Globe had disclosed she was a regular contributor to Democrats. (Interestingly, “The Real Romney,” a book on the former Massachusetts governor, by Boston Globe reporters, states clearly that he left Bain when he went to run the Olympics and details the turmoil that ensued when he suddenly quit, nearly breaking up the partnership)

We’re considering whether to once again take a deeper look at this, though it really feels like Groundhog Day again. There appears to be some confusion about how partnerships are structured and managed, or what SEC documents mean. (Just because you are listed as an owner of shares does not mean you have a managerial role.)

To accept some of the claims, one would have to believe that Romney, with the advice of his lawyers, lied on government documents and committed a criminal offense. Moreover, you would have to assume he willingly gave up his share to a few years of retirement earnings — potentially worth millions of dollars — so he could say his retirement started in 1999.

For interested readers, below is a summary of what we, FactCheck.org and Fortune magazine have concluded.

The Fact Checker, Jan. 18, 2012

A 2002 statement he filed with the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission on his financial interests lists ownership of various Bain entities, some of which appear to intersect with the funds that invested in KB Toys. The document says that Romney is “a passive, limited partner [with] no management capacity” in many of these funds.

In the Massachusetts document, Romney is also listed as 100 percent owner of “Bain Capital Inc.” But there is less than meets the eye here. Bain Capital Inc. was the management firm, which was paid a management fee to run the funds and actually made virtually no profit, since it existed to pay salaries and expenses. After Romney formally left Bain in 2001, a new entity called “Bain Capital LLC” took over the management function.

By virtually all accounts, Romney was focused on the Olympics in the 1999-2002 period. Yet because Romney had not legally separated from Bain, his name is littered across Securities and Exchange Commission filings concerning Bain Capital deals during this period. The crazy quilt of private-equity structures, in some ways, makes his ownership appear even more ominous, as the filings list hundreds of thousands of shares controlled by Romney.

Even so, it is a real stretch to claim that Romney — himself — “closed” these stores. No evidence has emerged that he was involved in the KB Toys transaction. Indeed, when creditors sued over the dividend payment, they named six Bain-controlled entities and three Bain executives who had served on the board of KB Holdings.

Given that the plaintiffs’ lawyers will try to list as many defendants as possible to try to force a settlement, one can be certain Romney would have been named if there had been any hint of his involvement. But he was not named, despite the SEC filings suggesting his control of the shares.

In other words, creditors apparently had determined Romney was only a passive investor.

FactCheck.Org, July 2, 2012

.

If the Obama campaign were correct, Romney would be guilty of a federal felony by certifying on federal financial disclosure forms that he left active management of Bain Capital in February 1999….

And after reviewing evidence cited by the Obama campaign, we reaffirm our conclusion that Romney left the helm of Bain Capital when he took a leave of absence in 1999 to run the Salt Lake City Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics – as he has said repeatedly — and never returned to active management. The Obama campaign’s recent ads thus mislead when they point to investments made by Bain, as well as management decisions made by companies in which Bain invested, after that time.

What does the Obama campaign have in rebuttal? Very little, and none of it convincing in our judgment.

Much of the Obama campaign’s letter is devoted to quoting portions of documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In summary, the letter states there are “at least 63 filings with that agency after March 1, 1999 that list various Bain entities and describe them as ‘wholly owned by W. Mitt Romney.’” That’s true, but not relevant.

We have never disputed that Romney remained the owner of Bain while he was running the Olympics committee. The issue always has been, who was running Bain? Nothing in the SEC documents contradicts what Romney has certified as true.

On that point, the Obama campaign cites snippets of a few news clippings to make a case that Romney was still a part-time manager of Bain after he left to run the Olympics. But a close reading shows these news accounts don’t contradict Romney either.

Fortune Magazine, July 2, 2012

Remember, Romney did not leave Bain Capital as part of a long-term, planned succession process. Instead, his departure was fairly sudden — borne of a desire to help salvage an Olympic Games that was $1.4 billion in the hole and tarred by a massive bribery scandal. The very first reports of Romney being considered for the Salt Lake City job were on Feb. 2, 1999. Just nine days later, he officially took over.

Not surprisingly, Bain Capital hadn’t worked out all the details of Romney’s departure. It eventually would discard the CEO position in favor of a horizontal management committee made up of numerous partners, and provide Romney with a golden parachute that included limited partnership interests in all Bain-related funds raised through 2009 (including the option for Romney to invest additional monies). But none of that was in place when Romney took the Salt Lake City job.

Moreover, unwinding a private equity firm’s ownership structure is extremely complicated. The “firm” itself is largely a legal construct of convenience, since it doesn’t pay salaries, make investments or do much of anything else. Instead, what matters are the individual funds.

In the case of Bain Capital’s funds, it’s reasonable to assume that Romney was considered a “key man,” meaning that each fund’s limited partners could have voted to end the fund’s investment period — or take over fund management themselves — if a super-majority felt it prudent. But that didn’t happen, and Bain saw no reason to expend massive administrative effort to amend existing funds. Instead, it asked Romney to sign documents when necessary, and made the managerial/ownership changes on new funds going forward….

The part about lying to the SEC is absurd, since the SEC doesn’t require an owner to be the operational decision-maker (Romney delegated such responsibilities, as is his right).

posted 07-12-2012 05:10 PM                  

Mitt Romney's campaign manager today accused President Obama's campaign of being "out-of-control" after a top Obama staffer said the former Massachusetts governor either broke the law or lied to voters.

Stephanie Cutter, Mr. Obama's deputy campaign manager, said recent news reports that questioned when Mr. Romney left Bain Capital have put his entire business record under scrutiny, and said he owes voters — or the Securities and Exchange Commission — an explanation.

On a conference call with reporters Ms. Cutter said Mr. Romney "is the most secretive person to run for president since Richard Nixon."

But Matt Rhoades, Mr. Romney's campaign manager, said that charge was so over-the-top that Mr. Obama needs to apologize for his entire campaign operation.

"President Obama's campaign hit a new low today when one of its senior advisers made a reckless and unsubstantiated charge to reporters about Mitt Romney that was so over the top that it calls into question the integrity of their entire campaign," Mr. Rhoades said in a statement. "President Obama ought to apologize for the out-of-control behavior of his staff, which demeans the office he holds. Campaigns are supposed to be hard fought, but statements like those made by Stephanie Cutter belittle the process and the candidate on whose behalf she works."

Ms. Cutter is a long-time political operative who worked for Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, worked for Sen. John Kerry's campaign in 2004 and now works for Mr. Obama.

posted 07-12-2012 05:11 PM                  

Mitt Romney left Bain Capital in February 1999 to run the Olympics and has had absolutely no involvement with the management or investment activities of the firm or with any of its portfolio companies since the day of his departure. Due to the sudden nature of Mr. Romney's departure, he remained the sole stockholder for a time while formal ownership was being documented and transferred to the group of partners who took over management of the firm in 1999. Accordingly, Mr. Romney was reported in various capacities on SEC filings during this period."

posted 07-13-2012 11:37 AM                  

Mitt Romney is one of the wealthiest self-made men in our country but has given more back to its citizens in terms of money, service, and time than most men.

In 2011 Mitt Romney gave over $4 million to charity, almost 19% of his income.... Just for comparison purposes, Obama gave 1% and Joe Biden gave $300 or .0013%.

Mitt Romney is Trustworthy:

He will show us his birth certificate

He will show us his high school and college transcripts.

He will show us his social security card.

He will show us his law degree.

He will show us his draft notice.

He will show us his medical records.

He will show us his income tax records.

He will show us he has nothing to hide.

Can the other candidate?

You decide..................

posted 07-13-2012 12:00 PM                  

quote:

---

Originally posted by ALLEY CAT:

Mitt Romney is Trustworthy:

---

posted 07-13-2012 01:57 PM                  

"Mitt Romney is Trustworthy:" NOTICE, it ends with ( : )**

and the following list of items below that ( : ) shows the items Mitt will show the voters, that the other candidate feels he doesn't need to do.

** > [ a pause in structure ]

I'm sure Mitt has skeletons that would be considered non-Trustworthy (he's a politician),,,,but concerning the items listed, he is willing to expose for the voters.

Is your man willing to do the same? We already know the answer...

I have previously posted that I would like to see BHO's college transcript records, his social security info, and passport records. I don't really care about his medical records, his draft records, his income records, his law degree, or his birth certificate which is meaningless at this point.

The question is WHY can't he produce anything for the American people to see? Explain that please!

posted 07-13-2012 02:26 PM                  

This is like the stupid birther issue...

posted 07-13-2012 02:42 PM                  

quote:

---

Originally posted by Al's Prowler:
All I care about is, will we be better of with him as president...my vote is no.

---

posted 07-14-2012 05:43 PM                  

Sounds like he's quit trying to blame his failures on Bush....Now all of the nations problems were caused by Bain Capital and Mitt Romney.....Way to go, loser