END OF MESSAGE

Georgie exploded the Debt..... Obama came right in and exploded the debt even more and has no sustainable plan to fix anything.

Printing up Trillions does nothing in fixing a long term problem. Just look at the Greece debacle for the past two years.

Time for a New President that understands what ROI means.

Quote:

Bush was so incompetent without a teleprompter, they actually had to write for him, "Hi honey, how are you?" for the Republican convention for his re-election.

It was painful to watch.

And Palin can't say 5 words without looking down to read it.

Obama can debate ANY topic and not look at ANY notes.

And RayGun would have folded without his teleprompter.

Of course, you have proof of the "more vacations" than any Prez, right?

And your Nazi KKK site, aka Faux/Breitbart, doesn't count.

Bush and his cronies blamed Clinton until his last day in office.

And RayGun blamed Carter constantly.

As far as your boy Mitt, he was asked about his horrible job numbers as Gov and, of course, he said, "The first year shouldn't count against me because I inherited a horrible economy."

Of course, he counts Obama's first year against him anyway.

Obama has caved to the Righties on virtually EVERY issue there is.

Hell, the Left is more mad at him than the Right.

So to say he is a "Socialist" just proves your stupidity.

Even a President that does a bad job has more expierence than a person who has not been president.

I don't know why Romney (Republican money's) campaign is running on the experience platform.

Boycott the election.

If you are going to trash somebody, at least get what they did in life correct. Venture capitalists are different than private equity, which is what Romney did at Bain. The former provides early stage financing to high risk start-up companies. See any Silicon Valley company. The latter generally invests in broken or orphaned companies. They either fix it or kill it.

I really don't know how you can write the shit you post, especially considering you don't know what he did for a living.

And both are owned by Big Business.

If this could become a reality, we as a nation could put election reform on the ballot. It is the only way I can think of to change the sorry and useless two-party system. (two-party being a bit of a joke)

Now granted there could be some really big issues with this (like the stupid prop 187 in CA becoming a federal initiative, among other awful ideas), but short of anything else, we're in a catch-22. Unless we had a president willing to sacrifice a second term to do the right thing. Which is a pipe dream (unless Kucinich somehow got elected).

Excerpt:
The National Citizens Initiative for Democracy is a proposal which will permit citizens to make laws by ballot initiative.

   -Creates a Legislative Initiative process in all jurisdictions of government, most specifically at the federal level
   -Becomes a new check in our system of checks and balances
   -Does not modify Congress, the Presidency, or the Judiciary
   -Endorsed by highly respected people
   -NCID evolved from an earlier iteration called "National Initiative for Democracy" (NI4D). Updates have been made throughout the site as practicable.

http://ni4d.us/
--------------------------------------------

To learn more about what a quagmire we're in and why we need real change, see this:

THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY?
http://thebestgovernmentmoneycanbuy.com/

Synopsis:
THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY? is the first behind-the-scenes, comprehensive, non-partisan examination of the system of lobbying in Washington, DC.

The cost of election campaigns has spiraled out of control, to the extent that, on average, our representatives spend more than 25% of their time fund-raising.   Even our Presidents regularly interrupt the nation’s work in order to spend time fund-raising!

Raising funds to get elected – that's the key interface between lobbyists and Members of Congress.

The number of registered lobbyists has more than doubled since 2000; their fees have also increased by 100%; and in 2006-7 they spent a staggering $13.5 million per day.  Over the past six years, they have spent more than $13 billion. Would it be naive to conclude that the interests whose money they channel into the political process, expect nothing in return for it?

Veteran documentary film-maker, British-born Francis Megahy, makes a journey of discovery as he tries to answer some questions which puzzle him: who provides the money? What effect does it have? How is it connected to the financing of political campaigns?  And most crucial, is it in the public interest?

Both Barack Obama and John McCain made the issue of lobbyists a central part of the 2008 Presidential Elections. But can any President really change this constitutionally-protected activity? Indeed, can any of us affect this process?

THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY? explores the issue through interviews with real Washington beltway insiders, key participants in the process – who often speak with surprising candor.

It is disturbing that in a democracy, such a powerful, effective and un-elected force, which is able to influence profound legislative changes affecting the lives of all Americans, can be so little known and so little understood by voters.

THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY? hopes that this documentary will go some way towards enlightening our fellow-citizens, by helping them to discover – as we discovered – just what goes on in Washington.

We hope that it will provoke people into thinking afresh about lobbying, and whether or not it should be subject to any form of control by the American people.

THE BEST GOVERNMENT MONEY CAN BUY? will make audiences of all political stripes pause and reconsider their views on lobbying.

VERY WELL STATED.... BIG THUMBS UP.

What most people fail to realize when talking politics is how BLOATED Government has become in the past decade.

Obama wants people to believe that voting for him will return the U.S. to the Clinton years but the reality is that nothing has been done during his term to downsize and make the Federal Government more efficient ---- and spend what they spent during the Clinton years.

Federal Government spending blew up during the Bush years and under Obama, it's gotten even bigger. It seems as if the Libertarians or people like Dr. Ron Paul are the only ones that get it.

Now we are talking about another Stimulus when the last stimulus bill generated the lowest ROI in the history of stimulus bills. Anybody that can support all of the wasted money the Federal Government spends is obviously clueless of what's going on underneath the surface and relying on the lamestream media for their opinions. Damn! We are now paying over 450 Billion dollars a year on just interest payments on all of the public debt that has been racked up. What could all of that money be better used for? Instead.... he wants to tax the people who pay over 80% of all the taxes even more. As if raising another $80 Billion a year is really going to put a dent in anything when the Federal Government is spending $4 Billion dollars A DAY.

In 2004, Obama gave the speech at the DNC convention that it's not a Red America or a Blue America, it's the United States of America that propelled him to rock star fame. Since he took office, the country is much more divided today then I've ever seen it as long as I've been alive.

Sad.... Very Sad.

Obama is clueless when it comes to Economic Matters and right now, we don't need a financially inept President setting agendas that are only making the poor and middle class even poorer.

Slogan of 2012 is "It's a Debt Problem, Stupid."



Quote:

If ever a narcisist was elected President, its this amateur.

Makes a great talk show host, but he is morally bankrupt.
Beholden to economy wrecking unions and crazed, rabid environmentalists he is the most dishonest man to hold office.

His appeal boils down to "Ill steal from the rich and give it to you, so vote for me"

Sure, Bush was beholden to his special own interets and was a terrible President, but dont fall into the two party trap.  This guy is terrible in his own right and is coming to steal your money

I respect your opinion and hope you respect those of us who are Obama supporters.  :p

But, can you prove that, as Mitt claims, that in his work with Bain he created more good jobs that what were lost? Until I see the proof I do not believe his claims that his experience at Bain makes him more qualified as a jobs creator. I'd say that is more the issue.  

P.S. The average job at Staple or some pizza joint don't count in my book!

Many of those clowns STILL think Saddam was behind 9/11.

And study after study after study shows people that watch Faux are CLUELESS on the issues.

And Georgie's people even admitted they faked terror alerts to keep the sheep in line.

well said MDA.
I'l add:  Are you better off today than under Reagan?
under Bush #1?
under Clinton?
under Bush #2?

if you said 'no', then why?

As for a divided country, agree, more dividied than ever in history...that's due in large part to the chief Dem class warfare he's given us....every one hates anybody who makes a buck more than they do.....make the current pretender a one termer!  cannot get any worse.

is because it had too much tax cuts and not enough actual spending.

What he should have done is say, "We're going to spend a trillion dollars to fix our roads, schools, bridges, sewers, etc.  Not a penny for anything else."

It's actually COSTING us money to let them deteriorate.

Many Righties actually think it's a good idea but refuse to support it because they'd rather see the economy fail so Obama gets ZERO credit for ANYTHING.

They are more loyal to their Party than they are to America.

They disgust me.

     First, Bain Capital does have a venture capital subsidiary, Bain Capital Ventures.

     Second, the media has hopelessly confused the two, sometimes using venture capital and private equity as being synonymous, although are they are fundamentally different business approaches as St. Croix points out. So you probably did read various media describing Romney and Bain as venture capitalists.

     Now, as I understand it, Romney did spend most of his time at Bain on the private equity side. But here is why you are effectively correct in referring to him as a VC guy - when he claims he created a 100,000 jobs, he is primarily referring to Staples and the Sports Authority which were venture capital investments of Bain.

First of all, no one put a gun to people's heads making them use their homes as ATMs during Georgie's reign.

So for all of them to blame Obama because their situation is worse is just more victim crap.

And as far as blaming Obama for the country being more divided is one of the dumbest things I've EVER heard.

He has caved to the Righties on almost EVERYTHING.

And yet, they REFUSE to bend.

And what about all the personal attacks from the Right?

Beyond brutal.

And last time I checked, Obama has never said, "If you don;t agree with my policies, you hate America" like Bush and his bootlickers said 24/7.

Holy crap you are dense.  The stimulus was a giant friggen slush fund for Obama and his Democrat buddies and nothing more.

Really?

Yowza.

you gotta be shitting us all.l.
You want MORE handouts to Obama's jockstrap crowd?  
OMG.....WTF happened to the world's greates country?
Socialism, corruptness and ego brought to us by the "we can't wait for Change crowd"......

The traffic reporters were were going to schedule all of it.

And they did!  ::

I flew to Jamaica and back, no worries.  


-- Modified on 6/9/2012 1:55:02 AM

No he didn't! Neither did you! You went to their website and saw Bain Capital Ventures. Did you take the initiative to look at those companies supported by Bain Capital Ventures? You would have come to the conclusion that Bain Capital Ventures is not really a VC in the sense and definition of a VC.

I got a bit tired after about 6 reviews where Bain's Capital Ventures work looked similar to private equity. Bain's engagement included financing help, strategy development, M&A, etc. Interestingly enough, Bain invested in Village Ventures, which is by definition is a pure VC. Just a reminder, Village Ventures is the VC, not Bain.

So just because the media hopelessly confuses its audience about the definition, responsibility, role, whatever, does not dissolve mattradd, or anyone else's responsibility to do their homework.

Can you, mattradd or I readily quantify that Romney/Bain created 100,000 jobs? No! Can mattradd, you or I summarily reject that claim? No! But understanding private equity aka leverage buyouts, and venture capital models, I would have absolutely no problem putting up any bet that the total number of jobs created exceeded 100,000. One only has to look at the companies Bain supports financially, as a result of their private equity role. Look at their clients websites, more specifically the tab called "careers" or "jobs", and one could easily back into a number of 100K or more. And most of these are not $10 an hour jobs at Staples, but jobs that require specific education and skills, which I might exist are in very short supply in this country.

Another way of quantifying jobs created is the tangible benefit of the investment. Did the investment allow for the design, development, implementation, and marketing of a new product and/or service. Did the investment necessitate the addition of specific skills sets? I can go on and on, but I hope you see my point.





-- Modified on 6/8/2012 9:12:13 PM

critiquing my "Rats in California" post, albeit that I think you missed that I was talking about the two legged variety.


   Bain Venture Capital self-describes as being the venture capital arm of Bain and cites "the firms" over 125 venture capital investments in early stage companies:

"Bain Capital Ventures is the venture arm within Bain Capital, which has approximately $60 billion of assets under management worldwide. The firm's history of investing in early stage companies dates back to 1984 with over 125 venture investments since inception. Bain Capital Ventures manages approximately $2 billion of committed capital, has over 70 active portfolio companies, and has offices in Boston, New York, and Palo Alto. The firm has helped steer many ideas to success by working in partnership with management teams, pairing talented and passionate entrepreneurs with industry experts, opening doors to customers, and collaborating on sound long-term strategies."


         That's not good enough for you? Okay let's look at the two specific examples I gave in my post -Staples and Sports Authority.  From the link



"Bain Capital also made venture capital investments from other funds in start-ups and other earlier stage companies that are not included in the performance measure mentioned above. Those venture capital investments included successful investments in Staples, Sports Authority, and Gartner Group.

How many jobs did Romney and Bain Capital create?

While we will probably never be able to measure the true numbers, it seems pretty clear that ‘looting’ is an inaccurate description of what happened with these companies.
There are two ways to look at job creation. The first is to look at jobs created and lost in Bain Capital’s companies at the time Romney left Bain Capital at the beginning of 1999. The second is to look at jobs created and lost in those same companies today. This gives Romney and Bain Capital credit for having invested in those companies when they were young. It is inappropriate to include companies that Bain Capital invested in after Romney left because he did not have any impact on those investments.

While it is difficult, if not impossible, to get employment data on all of Bain Capital’s investments, and not all of the data are perfect, it is possible to look at some of the successes and failures to get a sense of magnitudes.

Among Bain Capital’s investments under Romney, the large job creators are clearly Staples and Sports Authority. Both of these were small, young companies when Bain Capital invested in them. Bain invested in Staples when it had only one store, so there were likely fewer than 200 employees at the time. Bain appears to have invested in the Sports Authority when it had fewer than ten stores. Unfortunately, there are no public data to say how many people were employed at that time. At the end of 1998, Staples had more than 42,000 employees, Sports Authority had almost 14,000, Gartner Group had almost 3,000, and Steel Dynamics had over 500. So at the beginning of 1999, when Romney left Bain Capital, these four companies alone employed almost 60,000 total employees. While some of the job growth at Sports Authority came from acquisitions, there is no doubt that these four companies created tens of thousands of jobs over the period."



  Now it's back to Rats in California for you, St. Croix, LOL.








Related Link: http://www.american.com/archive/2012/january/how-many-jobs-did-romney-create-at-bain