FACT CHECK: Romney’s Tenure At Bain Was Defined By Layoffs, Bankruptcies, Outsourcing

Mitt Romney told the story about his tenure as a corporate buyout specialist as if he was just a typical small business owner. But Romney balked at the offer to run Bain Capital until he was guaranteed that there “was no professional or financial risk,” and that he would get his old job back with full pay if the company failed. The truth is that his career in the private sector was defined by layoffs, bankruptcies, and outsourcing. That’s anything but typical, and it’s certainly not a credential for the presidency.

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FACT CHECK: Romney’s Policies Wouldn't Create Jobs

While Mitt Romney tonight said that we need “jobs…lots of jobs”, even independent economists have said that his policies would cost jobs and slow down the recovery.

ECONOMISTS SAY ROMNEY’S ECONOMIC POLICY PLANS WOULD “DO MORE HARM IN THE SHORT TERM” AND “PUSH US DEEPER INTO RECESSION AND MAKE THE RECOVERY SLOWER”

Washington Post Headline: “Economists: Romney’s Ideas Wouldn’t Fix Short-Term Crisis, And Could Make Things Worse.”  [Greg Sargent, Washington Post, 6/7/12]

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FACT CHECK: Romney Would End Medicare As We Know it, Turn It Into Vouchers

Mitt Romney just falsely attacked the President – again – on Medicare. Once again, here are the facts:

ROMNEY’S MEDICARE CLAIMS ARE FALSE: THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT EXTENDS MEDICARE SOLVENCY AND STRENGTHENS BENEFITS BY CUTTING WASTE AND ELIMINATING NEEDLESS PAYMENTS TO INSURANCE COMPANIES

New York Times Editorial Board: “$716 Billion Is Not A ‘Cut’ In Benefits But Rather The Savings In Costs That The Congressional Budget Office Projects Over The Next Decade From Wholly Reasonable Provisions In The Reform Law.”  “A Republican attack ad says that the reform law has “cut” $716 billion from Medicare, with the money used to expand coverage to low-income people who are currently uninsured….In reality, the $716 billion is not a ‘cut’ in benefits but rather the savings in costs that the Congressional Budget Office projects over the next decade from wholly reasonable provisions in the reform law.”  [Editorial, New York Times, 8/18/12]

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VIDEO: The Truth About Romney Economics: Jerry from Ampad

During the final night of a Republican convention when Mitt Romney will be extolling his record in the private sector, one group won’t be getting the microphone tonight: the workers who lost their jobs and were devastated by Romney’s singular focus on profit creation for himself and his partners while leading Bain Capital, no matter what the consequences were for the middle class.

To make sure their stories are told, Obama for America will be releasing videos throughout the evening featuring middle-class Americans whose lives took a turn for the worse as Romney and Bain shut down factories, fired thousands of workers, and invested in companies that were pioneers of outsourcing American jobs – while Romney and his investors made millions.

In the fourth video, Jerry, a former Ampad employee, expresses his outrage at Mitt Romney’s corporate buyout strategy. As he describes: “First thing Ampad did was cut our wages, took our benefits… Mitt Romney was taking everything we had worked so hard for. He came in and just wiped us out. Took everything we had and put it in his pocket.”

 

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FACT CHECK: Romney Talks Up The Autos, But Would Have “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt”

Mitt Romney reminisced about the greatness of the American auto industry, but if he had his way we would have “let Detroit go bankrupt.” The President’s auto rescue saved over a million jobs and the big three auto companies are all profitable for the first time in years.

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