In his latest ad, “Believe in our future,” Mitt Romney heralds his record as a corporate buyout specialist, as the head of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, and as governor of Massachusetts as proof of his ability to balance a budget and create jobs. He states, “I want to use those experiences to help Americans have a better future.”
Here’s a breakdown of his record across each of those experiences and what his leadership actually meant for Americans affected by his career:
Corporate buyout specialist
“As Bain’s founder, [Romney] established its business model, which is to wring the maximum efficiency from a company for the benefit of Bain’s investors, even if that means closing plants, shipping jobs to China, and laying off American workers.”—New York Times’ David Firestone.
Job loss: Under Romney, Bain Capital’s investments led to thousands of laid off workers.
Bankruptcies: Under Romney, “Bain structured deals so that it was difficult for the firm and its executives to ever really lose,” even if companies took on more and more debt and eventually went bankrupt. Romney and his investors made $400 million from four companies that went bankrupt after taking on debt in part “to repay Bain investors or to carry out a Bain-led acquisition strategy.”
Outsourcing: Bain Capital “knowingly and far-sightedly made strategic investments, with Romney at the helm” in outsourcing firms that “grew into some of the largest outsourcing and offshoring companies in the world.”
Olympic lobbyist
“You’ve got well over $1 billion that’s just a rip-off of the taxpayers, and, you know, is really a national disgrace … Actually, there should be a federal investigation.”—Sen. John McCain.
Record-breaking expense: Under Romney’s leadership, the Salt Lake Olympics got more federal cash than any previous U.S. Olympics, and cost U.S. taxpayers $1.3 billion.
Pet projects: Romney used the unprecedented amount of taxpayer money on unnecessary projects, including $30 million for parking lots, $2 million for sewer systems, $500,000 for planting trees, and $4.7 million on upgrades to post offices.
Massachusetts Governor
“The most powerful statistic may be that under Mr. Romney, Massachusetts was 47th out of 50 states in job creation, down from 36th when he took office.”—The Wall Street Journal.
Poor job creation: Under Romney, Massachusetts fell to 47th out of 50 states in job creation, down from 36th when he took office. Net job growth was “far slower” than the national average over the entirety of Romney’s term.
Outsourcing: Romney vetoed a bill that would have prohibited sending state work overseas, and even outsourced jobs to a call center in India.
Debt: By the time Romney left office, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation in net tax supported debt per capita.
More taxes and fees: Romney created or raised more than 1,000 taxes and fees on middle-class families and businesses in Massachusetts that amounted to $750 million a year.
In both the public and private sector, Mitt Romney boasts a record of outsourcing, poor job creation, and unnecessary spending. Now he’s promising to bring that same experience to the White House. Those policies did not work over his career, and they won’t work now.