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4 Pinocchios for Obama’s newest anti-Romney ad
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Rahib
Jun 28, 2012, 9:52:20 PM6/28/12
to
�Running for governor, Mitt Romney campaigned as a job creator.
But as a corporate raider, he shipped jobs to China and Mexico.
As governor, he did the same thing: Outsourcing state jobs to
India.�
� Voiceover of new Barack Obama campaign ad
The Obama campaign apparently loves to ding former Massachusetts
governor Mitt Romney with the charge of �outsourcing.� On
several occasions, we have faulted the campaign for its claims,
apparently to little avail.
Now, all of the claims have been combined in one 30-second ad,
with the added incendiary charge that Romney was a �corporate
raider.� Let�s look anew at this material.
The Facts
The phrase �corporate raider� has a particular meaning in the
world of finance. Here�s the definition on Investopedia:
�An investor who buys a large number of shares in a corporation
whose assets appear to be undervalued. The large share purchase
would give the corporate raider significant voting rights, which
could then be used to push changes in the company�s leadership
and management. This would increase share value and thus
generate a massive return for the raider.�
In other words, this is generally an adversarial stance, in
which an investor sees an undervalued asset and forces
management to spin off assets, take the company private or break
it up.
In a previous life, The Fact Checker covered renowned corporate
raiders such as Carl Icahn and his ilk. We also have closely
studied Bain Capital and can find no examples that come close to
this situation; its deals were done in close association with
management. Indeed, Bain generally held onto its investments for
four or five years, in contrast to the quick bust-em-ups of real
corporate raiders. So calling Romney a �corporate raider� is a
real stretch.
So how does the Obama campaign justify this phrase? It cites a
single Reuters story from last August, about a campaign stop in
New Hampshire, written by a stringer, Jason McLure, who was
previously based in Africa. Buried in the article is a reference
to Romney as a �former corporate raider.�
�Reuters typically refers to Romney as a �former private equity
executive� or something along those lines,� said Ros Krasny, the
Boston bureau chief. �Of the hundreds of times we have
referenced Romney over the past year or more, honestly, that
example from Jason must have just slipped through the net � 10
months ago.�
A better source for Romney�s behavior as an investor might be
someone who actually worked on Wall Street, such as former Obama
auto czar Steven Rattner. �Bain Capital is not now, nor has it
ever been, some kind of Gordon Gekko-like, fire-breathing
corporate raider that slashed and burned companies, immolating
jobs wherever they appear in its path,� Rattner wrote in
Politico this year.
Regarding the outsourcing claims, we have frowned on these
before. The Obama campaign rests its case on three examples of
Bain-controlled companies sending jobs overseas. But only one of
the examples � involving Holson Burns Group � took place when
Romney was actively managing Bain Capital.
Regarding the other claims, concerning Canadian electronics
maker SMTC Manufacturing and customer service firm Modus Media,
the Obama campaign tries to take advantage of a gray area in
which Romney had stepped down from Bain � to manage the Salt
Lake City Olympics � but had not sold his shares in the firm. We
had previously given the Obama campaign Three Pinocchios for
such tactics.
The Modus Media case is also not an example of shipping jobs
overseas. The company closed one plant in California and
transferred the jobs to North Carolina, Washington and Utah. At
the same time, it opened an unrelated plant in Mexico. The Obama
campaign once trumpeted the fact that we had dinged a
conservative Super PAC for making the same leap in logic.
The claim that Romney outsourced jobs as governor is equally
overblown.
This concerns Romney�s veto of a bill that would have prohibited
Massachusetts from contracting with companies that outsourced
the state�s work to other countries. Lawmakers were especially
concerned about a $160,000-a-month contract with Citigroup to
operate a system of electronic food-stamp cards that included a
customer phone service center in India.
Both the liberal editorial page of the Boston Globe and
conservative editorial page of the Boston Herald urged Romney to
veto the amendment, saying it would cost the state money. Romney
agreed, saying the measure did not protect state jobs � the call
center might have moved from India to another state � but �had
the potential of costing our citizens a lot more money.� The
Democratic-dominated Massachusetts legislature did not override
his veto, even though it overturned 117 others, suggesting that
there was little real support for the measure.
When the food-stamp contract expired, the Massachusetts
Department of Transitional Assistance insisted that those jobs
be returned to the United States. But they ended up in a call
center based in Utah � just as Romney had predicted.
As we mentioned, we recounted this ancient Massachusetts history
before, giving the campaign Two Pinocchios. So we were very
surprised that the Obama campaign cited that critical Fact
Checker column as a source for the ad in its back-up materials.
The ad also cites as a source a Boston Globe article from last
month that merely reports on an earlier ad making similar
charges. That�s highly circular reasoning � and is not fair play.
Upon hearing this ad was under consideration for a tough rating,
the Obama campaign supplied reams of additional SEC documents
regarding Romney�s ownership in Bain after he left for the
Olympics, most of which we had examined previously when we first
looked at this question. The campaign also supplied SEC
documents showing that two of these companies, Modus and SMTC,
as well as one called Stream International (a predecessor of
Modus), earned money in part by helping other companies
subcontract work overseas. Some of this business predated
Romney�s departure from Bain, but thus far it seems a slim case
for this particular ad.
�Romney can�t run from his record. At Bain and in Massachusetts,
he had the chance to keep jobs in America and sent them overseas
instead,� said Kara Carscaden, deputy press secretary for the
Obama campaign. �Even while he was at the Olympics, Romney owned
and profited from Bain, continues to profit from it today and
cannot ignore what Bain did during that time. Whether it�s
outsourcing public jobs to India or shipping private ones to
Mexico and China, Romney�s record is clear.�
The Pinocchio Test
The Obama campaign fails to make its case. On just about every
level, this ad is misleading, unfair and untrue, from the use of
�corporate raider� to its examples of alleged outsourcing.
Simply repeating the same debunked claims won�t make them any
more correct.
Four Pinocchios
But as a corporate raider, he shipped jobs to China and Mexico.
As governor, he did the same thing: Outsourcing state jobs to
India.�
� Voiceover of new Barack Obama campaign ad
The Obama campaign apparently loves to ding former Massachusetts
governor Mitt Romney with the charge of �outsourcing.� On
several occasions, we have faulted the campaign for its claims,
apparently to little avail.
Now, all of the claims have been combined in one 30-second ad,
with the added incendiary charge that Romney was a �corporate
raider.� Let�s look anew at this material.
The Facts
The phrase �corporate raider� has a particular meaning in the
world of finance. Here�s the definition on Investopedia:
�An investor who buys a large number of shares in a corporation
whose assets appear to be undervalued. The large share purchase
would give the corporate raider significant voting rights, which
could then be used to push changes in the company�s leadership
and management. This would increase share value and thus
generate a massive return for the raider.�
In other words, this is generally an adversarial stance, in
which an investor sees an undervalued asset and forces
management to spin off assets, take the company private or break
it up.
In a previous life, The Fact Checker covered renowned corporate
raiders such as Carl Icahn and his ilk. We also have closely
studied Bain Capital and can find no examples that come close to
this situation; its deals were done in close association with
management. Indeed, Bain generally held onto its investments for
four or five years, in contrast to the quick bust-em-ups of real
corporate raiders. So calling Romney a �corporate raider� is a
real stretch.
So how does the Obama campaign justify this phrase? It cites a
single Reuters story from last August, about a campaign stop in
New Hampshire, written by a stringer, Jason McLure, who was
previously based in Africa. Buried in the article is a reference
to Romney as a �former corporate raider.�
�Reuters typically refers to Romney as a �former private equity
executive� or something along those lines,� said Ros Krasny, the
Boston bureau chief. �Of the hundreds of times we have
referenced Romney over the past year or more, honestly, that
example from Jason must have just slipped through the net � 10
months ago.�
A better source for Romney�s behavior as an investor might be
someone who actually worked on Wall Street, such as former Obama
auto czar Steven Rattner. �Bain Capital is not now, nor has it
ever been, some kind of Gordon Gekko-like, fire-breathing
corporate raider that slashed and burned companies, immolating
jobs wherever they appear in its path,� Rattner wrote in
Politico this year.
Regarding the outsourcing claims, we have frowned on these
before. The Obama campaign rests its case on three examples of
Bain-controlled companies sending jobs overseas. But only one of
the examples � involving Holson Burns Group � took place when
Romney was actively managing Bain Capital.
Regarding the other claims, concerning Canadian electronics
maker SMTC Manufacturing and customer service firm Modus Media,
the Obama campaign tries to take advantage of a gray area in
which Romney had stepped down from Bain � to manage the Salt
Lake City Olympics � but had not sold his shares in the firm. We
had previously given the Obama campaign Three Pinocchios for
such tactics.
The Modus Media case is also not an example of shipping jobs
overseas. The company closed one plant in California and
transferred the jobs to North Carolina, Washington and Utah. At
the same time, it opened an unrelated plant in Mexico. The Obama
campaign once trumpeted the fact that we had dinged a
conservative Super PAC for making the same leap in logic.
The claim that Romney outsourced jobs as governor is equally
overblown.
This concerns Romney�s veto of a bill that would have prohibited
Massachusetts from contracting with companies that outsourced
the state�s work to other countries. Lawmakers were especially
concerned about a $160,000-a-month contract with Citigroup to
operate a system of electronic food-stamp cards that included a
customer phone service center in India.
Both the liberal editorial page of the Boston Globe and
conservative editorial page of the Boston Herald urged Romney to
veto the amendment, saying it would cost the state money. Romney
agreed, saying the measure did not protect state jobs � the call
center might have moved from India to another state � but �had
the potential of costing our citizens a lot more money.� The
Democratic-dominated Massachusetts legislature did not override
his veto, even though it overturned 117 others, suggesting that
there was little real support for the measure.
When the food-stamp contract expired, the Massachusetts
Department of Transitional Assistance insisted that those jobs
be returned to the United States. But they ended up in a call
center based in Utah � just as Romney had predicted.
As we mentioned, we recounted this ancient Massachusetts history
before, giving the campaign Two Pinocchios. So we were very
surprised that the Obama campaign cited that critical Fact
Checker column as a source for the ad in its back-up materials.
The ad also cites as a source a Boston Globe article from last
month that merely reports on an earlier ad making similar
charges. That�s highly circular reasoning � and is not fair play.
Upon hearing this ad was under consideration for a tough rating,
the Obama campaign supplied reams of additional SEC documents
regarding Romney�s ownership in Bain after he left for the
Olympics, most of which we had examined previously when we first
looked at this question. The campaign also supplied SEC
documents showing that two of these companies, Modus and SMTC,
as well as one called Stream International (a predecessor of
Modus), earned money in part by helping other companies
subcontract work overseas. Some of this business predated
Romney�s departure from Bain, but thus far it seems a slim case
for this particular ad.
�Romney can�t run from his record. At Bain and in Massachusetts,
he had the chance to keep jobs in America and sent them overseas
instead,� said Kara Carscaden, deputy press secretary for the
Obama campaign. �Even while he was at the Olympics, Romney owned
and profited from Bain, continues to profit from it today and
cannot ignore what Bain did during that time. Whether it�s
outsourcing public jobs to India or shipping private ones to
Mexico and China, Romney�s record is clear.�
The Pinocchio Test
The Obama campaign fails to make its case. On just about every
level, this ad is misleading, unfair and untrue, from the use of
�corporate raider� to its examples of alleged outsourcing.
Simply repeating the same debunked claims won�t make them any
more correct.
Four Pinocchios
hls
Aug 2, 2012, 11:57:52 AM8/2/12
to
"Rahib" <inv...@not-for-mail.invalid> wrote in message
news:87dd26fa73383eab...@msgid.frell.theremailer.net...
> "Running for governor, Mitt Romney campaigned as a job creator.
> But as a corporate raider, he shipped jobs to China and Mexico.
> As governor, he did the same thing: Outsourcing state jobs to
> India."
>
Obama will say ANYTHING that sounds like it is negative for
> But as a corporate raider, he shipped jobs to China and Mexico.
> As governor, he did the same thing: Outsourcing state jobs to
> India."
>
Romney. A lot of Americans (the last presidential election
might indicate a majority of Americans) are not well read,
and choose their candidates by knee-jerk reactions.
I dont think Romney wears a Superman suit under his business
duds, but he couldnt be any worse than Obama.
Deward
Aug 2, 2012, 12:58:23 PM8/2/12
to
On Aug 2, 11:57 am, "hls" <h...@nospam.nix> wrote:
>
> I dont think Romney wears a Superman suit under his business
> duds, but he couldnt be any worse than Obama.
Oh yes he could. He won't because Americans are smarter than that.
>
> I dont think Romney wears a Superman suit under his business
> duds, but he couldnt be any worse than Obama.
And exactly what does this have to do with any of the five groups to
which it was posted ?
Deward
Bill
Aug 2, 2012, 1:21:44 PM8/2/12
to
On Thu, 2 Aug 2012 10:57:52 -0500, "hls" <h...@nospam.nix> wrote:
>I dont think Romney wears a Superman suit under his business
>duds, but he couldnt be any worse than Obama.
His recent trip here does rather seem to show that he's an idiot where
>I dont think Romney wears a Superman suit under his business
>duds, but he couldnt be any worse than Obama.
foreign policy is concerned.
And, of course, he's being sold to the world as the sophisticated one
who has spent time in Paris and speaks French.
I'd hate to think what the others are like...
Orval Fairbairn
Aug 2, 2012, 1:36:03 PM8/2/12
to
In article
<a696f13b-c4de-4ddf...@fj14g2000vbb.googlegroups.com>,
See what Dick Morris has to say:
http://www.dickmorris.com/you-didnt-build-it-is-big-obama-blunder-dick-mo
rris-tv-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campai
gn=dmreports
<a696f13b-c4de-4ddf...@fj14g2000vbb.googlegroups.com>,
http://www.dickmorris.com/you-didnt-build-it-is-big-obama-blunder-dick-mo
rris-tv-lunch-alert/?utm_source=dmreports&utm_medium=dmreports&utm_campai
gn=dmreports
hls
Aug 2, 2012, 4:49:35 PM8/2/12
to
"Deward" <dewa...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:a696f13b-c4de-4ddf...@fj14g2000vbb.googlegroups.com...
Rahib set the newsgroup list. Ask him.
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