Obama's Rubber Chicken

[j-mac]

When Larry Kudlow turns on you, then you have got to be recognizing trouble. Early in Obama's Presidency Kudlow was, if not whole heartedly going along with policies like stimulus, was at least giving Obama the benefit of the doubt on CNBC, to the chagrin of conservatives. His thoughts seem to have changed like many that were allowing this liar n chief to go along transforming America but to what?

Obama needed a filet mignon in the June employment report. Instead he got a rubber chicken.

Only 80,000 new jobs were created last month, way below Wall Street expectations. It’s the fourth consecutive monthly disappointment. For a few months last winter, jobs were rising at an average of 225,000 a month. But that has sloped way down to only 75,000. The unemployment rate continues at 8.2 percent, which is the forty-first straight month above 8 percent. The U6 unemployment rate, which includes discouraged workers, is just under 15 percent.

As voters finalize their election impressions this summer, all of this is bad news for the Chicago incumbent.

At a campaign stop in Ohio on Friday, Obama actually said we’re still “heading in the right direction.” Is he kidding? As a stagnant GDP drops below 2 percent, employment falters, retail sales decline, and the ISM index for manufacturing drops below 50 (signaling contraction)? No objective observer can deny that the economy is headed in the wrong direction.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/304935/obama-s-goose-cooked-larry-kudlow

 

[Rune]

In response to more than 170 impending layoffs at Sensata Technologies, a Bain Capital-owned plant slated to be outsourced, a collection of community, religious, and labor leaders have promised to ban together and fight back to save the Freeport jobs.“When I found out that my job was going to be shipped overseas to China ... at first I was angry, now just five or six months away from unemployment, I’m scared,” said Cheryl Randecker, a Sensata employee who has worked at the plant for 33 years. “As a single mother, I don’t just worry about myself, I actually worry about my daughter."
In early 2011, Sensata, a maker of sensors and controls that are used in aircraft, automobiles, and electric motors, announced it would be relocating the jobs in Freeport to China and closing the local plant. Normal operations have continued following the announcement, but hundreds of jobs are being phased out gradually and final layoffs are set to occur just before the holidays in December.
On a conference call Thursday, Randecker was joined by more than 10 community leaders and activists in a pledge to fight the impending layoffs.

When I found out that I was losing my job I realized I couldn’t support my daughter’s education,” said Randecker on the conference call. “After working hard for so many years and giving so much to my job, I should be able to give my daughter a good education ... I don’t even know how I’m going to make my house payments and pay my bills.”
Randecker and her fellow employees are currently training their Chinese replacements, who have been flown to Illinois by the company, a process she says is “challenging.”
“We know now from a couple decades of experience how fully destructive outsourcing is, it’s creating a race to the bottom, it’s driving out wages and working conditions for workers all over this country, it’s leaving communities absolutely devastated and that’s what’s going to happen here if this proceeds,” said Carl Rosen, president of District 11 of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, on the conference all. “We frankly don’t know what Bain Capital is thinking.”
With a population less than 30,000, Freeport’s unemployment rate, at 10.4 percent in March, is more than the national average of 8.2 percent in May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“When a company like Sensata chooses to lay off workers and put profits over people, it’s inexcusable,” said Katelyn Johnson, executive director of Action Now, on the conference call. “Now more than ever we need good jobs in our communities, if Sensata follows through with it’s plan to lay off more than 170 workers it would devastate not just the families of the laid off workers, but the entire community of Freeport.”


In 1984 former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, presumptive nominee in 2012’s presidential election, helped found Bain Capital, and for nearly 15 years he was actively involved in running the private equity firm that owns Sensata Technologies.
Many of the people supporting Sensata workers have directed their fight to Romney. On Thursday’s conference call, Randecker asked the community leaders and organizations to sign a letter that will be sent to Romney, asking him to help save Illinois’ jobs. On June 18, while Romney was campaigning in Wisconsin, Randecker and more than a dozen of her fellow Sensata employees staged a protest urging Romney to visit Freeport to see firsthand the effects of outsourcing.
“If candidate Romney’s campaign promise is ‘creating jobs first,’ then let’s see if he can walk that talk. Part of creating good jobs in America is keeping the good jobs we already have,” said William McNary co-director of Citizen Action/Illinois, on the conference call. “Citizen Action joins the Sensata workers in calling on candidate Romney to step in and save the jobs of our sisters and brothers in Freeport and stop these good jobs from being shipped overseas to China.”
In addition to targeting Romney, this month’s Sensata rally also saw a petition being passed around, urging Congress to pass the Bring Jobs Home Act, which offers incentives for businesses to stay in the U.S. Randecker said the next rally for Sensata employees will occur on July 8 in Freeport.
Sensata Technologies’ officials were unavailable for comment.

http://progressillinois.com/quick-h...ed-bain-capitol-company-employees-want-romney

 

[Rune]

[h=1]Why Romney's job outsourcing record matters[/h]By Dan Primack June 22, 2012: 11:41 AM ET
[h=2]Mitt Romney opened the door for attacks on Bain Capital's history of outsourcing American jobs.[/h]FORTUNE -- Is Mitt Romney an American job creator, or an American job destroyer?
That's the question posed by a 1,632-word piece in today's Washington Post, which details how Bain Capital invested in several companies that both directly and indirectly encouraged American jobs to be shipped overseas.
For example, the WaPo delves into Bain's 1993 investment in Corporate Software Inc., a provider of outsourced services like call centers for U.S. technology companies like Microsoft (MSFT

outsourced services like call centers for U.S. technology companies like Microsoft (MSFT):

Initially, CSI employed U.S. workers to provide these services but by the mid-1990s was setting up call centers outside the country.
Two years after Bain invested in the firm, CSI merged with another enterprise to form a new company called Stream International Inc. Stream immediately became active in the growing field of overseas calls centers. Bain was initially a minority shareholder in Stream and was active in running the company, providing "general executive and management services," according to SEC filings.
By 1997, Stream was running three tech-support call centers in Europe and was part of a call center joint venture in Japan, an SEC filing show.
​

To be sure, there is nothing surprising about a private equity firm being involved in what is now known as "business process outsourcing." It's big business, with Pitchbook reporting that private equity firms have made 333 BPO investments valued at nearly $27 billion since the beginning of 2001 (although not all of them necessarily involve U.S. jobs being lost, as "outsourcing" is sometimes distinct from "offshoring").
Likewise, Romney's Bain Capital makes sense as one of the earlier adopters. Not only because it was one of the earlier private equity firms to exist, but also because of its strong ties to management consulting firm Bain & Company.


To be sure, there is nothing surprising about a private equity firm being involved in what is now known as "business process outsourcing." It's big business, with Pitchbook reporting that private equity firms have made 333 BPO investments valued at nearly $27 billion since the beginning of 2001 (although not all of them necessarily involve U.S. jobs being lost, as "outsourcing" is sometimes distinct from "offshoring").
Likewise, Romney's Bain Capital makes sense as one of the earlier adopters. Not only because it was one of the earlier private equity firms to exist, but also because of its strong ties to management consulting firm Bain & Company.
Similar lack of shock for WaPo's (fairly lackluster) case that Bain Capital also encouraged its non-BPO portfolio companies to take advantage of outsourcing trends. In fact, one of Romney's former colleagues recently told me: "In the 1980's, private equity made a lot of its money by stripping and flipping. In the 1990's and early 2000's, it was about outsourcing. Since then, it's been about growth." No shame or sense of regret. Just matter-of-fact.
The problem with this history, however, is that it runs counter to Mitt Romney's own narrative. And he only has himself to blame.
On the campaign trail, Romney has a tendency to talk about a job creation record. Specifically, that he helped create 100,000 "net jobs." As we've previously reported, it's a figure that no one, including Romney, can actually calculate. Bain Capital never tracked the number of jobs it created, let alone the number it destroyed or outsourced. Nor did it track any collateral employment damage, such as a mom-and-pop stationary store put out of business by Staples (SPLS).
Had Romney been more honest, he simply would have said that Bain Capital had a singular mission: Make money for its investors. And, if he wanted to make it sound a little less Gordon Gekko, he could have added that many of those investors were nonprofit institutions like universities and charitable foundations. His responsibilities as an elected official, of course, would be different.
But Romney chose to highlight Bain's job creation record, rather than its financial performance. And, by doing so, invited analysis like today's Washington Post story.
It should be interesting to see how the Romney campaign responds, particularly if someone is able to ask the candidate for the number of U.S. jobs that were outsourced by Bain Capital portfolio companies during Romney's tenure. After all, he must have that number if he's so sure about 100,000 jobs being created.

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/tag/outsourcing/

 

[Rune]

[h=2]Romney made huge fortune while workers lost jobs, stockholders and creditors lost money.[/h]Here's just one example:
In 1992, Mitt Romney was running Bain Capital, a private equity firm. Bain Capital bought American Pad & Paper Co. (Ampad) for $5 million.
Over the next several years Romney's firm bled the company dry. Hundreds of workers lost their jobs. Stockholders were left with worthless shares. Creditors and vendors were paid less than 50 cents on the dollar. While they were exploiting the company, Romney's firm charged Ampad millions of dollars in "management fees." In all, Romney and his investors reaped more than $100 million dollars from the deal.
Last summer the Boston Globe published this account of Mitt Romney's acquisition of Ampad while he was running Bain Capital:
[h=2]From "The Making of Mitt Romney,"
Boston Globe, June 26, 2007[/h]In 1992, Bain Capital acquired American Pad & Paper, or Ampad, from Mead Corp., embarking on a ''roll-up strategy'' in which a firm buys up similar companies in the same industry in order to expand revenues and cut costs.
Through Ampad, Bain bought several other office supply makers, borrowing heavily each time. By 1999, Ampad's debt reached nearly $400 million, up from $11 million in 1993, according to government filings.
Sales grew, too - for a while. But by the late 1990s, foreign competition and increased buying power by superstores like Bain-funded Staples sliced Ampad's revenues.
The result: Ampad couldn't pay its debts and plunged into bankruptcy. Workers lost jobs and stockholders were left with worthless shares.
Bain Capital, however, made money - and lots of it. The firm put just $5 million into the deal, but realized big returns in short order. In 1995, several months after shuttering a plant in Indiana and firing roughly 200 workers, Bain Capital borrowed more money to have Ampad buy yet another company, and pay Bain and its investors more than $60 million - in addition to fees for arranging the deal.
Bain Capital took millions more out of Ampad by charging it $2 million a year in management fees, plus additional fees for each Ampad acquisition. In 1995 alone, Ampad paid Bain at least $7 million. The next year, when Ampad began selling shares on public stock exchanges, Bain Capital grabbed another $2 million fee for arranging the initial public offering - on top of the $45 million to $50 million Bain reaped by selling some of its shares.
Bain Capital didn't escape Ampad's eventual bankruptcy unscathed. It held about one-third of Ampad's shares, which became worthless. But while as many as 185 workers near Buffalo lost jobs in a 1999 plant closing, Bain Capital and its investors ultimately made more than $100 million on the deal.


[h=1]Ampad: A controversial deal[/h]Bain Capital put $5 million into its purchase of American Pad & Paper and quickly began charging management and other fees. It also made payments to investors. In all, Bain and its investors reaped more than $100 million even though Ampad went into bankruptcy, workers lost jobs, and stockholders were left with worthless shares. [And creditors got less than 50 cents on the dollar.] A look at the deal:
· 1992: Bain buys American Pad & Paper from Mead Corp. They invest $5 million.
· 1993: After Bain takes control, Ampad pays advisory fees to Bain under a management agreement.
· 1994: Bain acquires plant in Marion, Ind. Workers strike over layoffs and wage benefit cuts. The events become a campaign issue in Romney's challenge to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
· 1995: Bain shuts down the Marion, Ind., plant. Roughly 200 lose jobs. Bain gets at least $2 million in annual fees, plus additional fees for each acquisition Ampad makes. Ampad borrows more to acquire an envelope and stationery maker and uses some of the proceeds, about $60 million, to pay Bain investors.
· 1996: Ampad completes an initial public offering. Bain sells about 3 million shares, reaping about $45 million to $50 million for investors and itself. It also takes $2 million in fees for arranging the IPO, plus other fees.
· 1998: With Ampad struggling, Bain agrees to cut the annual fee $1.5 million a year. It also agrees to start forgoing payment until the company turns around.
· 1999: Revenues continue to slide. Ampad closes a plant near Buffalo, with up to 185 losing jobs.
· 2000: Creditors force Ampad into Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize.
· 2001: Judge puts Ampad into Chapter 7 to liquidate assets and pay creditors. Senior secured lenders get less than 50 cents on the dollar.
STOCK PRICE
July 2, 1996: $15.13 - IPO Price
Jan. 27, 1997: $26.00 - Peak
Sep 16, 1997: $13.13 - Stock loses 42% of its value
Nov 1, 1999: 35 cents - Ampad looks to sell assets to reduce debt
Jan 14, 2000: 15 cents - Ampad forced into bankruptcy

[h=1]Ampad: A controversial deal[/h]Bain Capital put $5 million into its purchase of American Pad & Paper and quickly began charging management and other fees. It also made payments to investors. In all, Bain and its investors reaped more than $100 million even though Ampad went into bankruptcy, workers lost jobs, and stockholders were left with worthless shares. [And creditors got less than 50 cents on the dollar.] A look at the deal:
· 1992: Bain buys American Pad & Paper from Mead Corp. They invest $5 million.
· 1993: After Bain takes control, Ampad pays advisory fees to Bain under a management agreement.
· 1994: Bain acquires plant in Marion, Ind. Workers strike over layoffs and wage benefit cuts. The events become a campaign issue in Romney's challenge to Senator Edward M. Kennedy.
· 1995: Bain shuts down the Marion, Ind., plant. Roughly 200 lose jobs. Bain gets at least $2 million in annual fees, plus additional fees for each acquisition Ampad makes. Ampad borrows more to acquire an envelope and stationery maker and uses some of the proceeds, about $60 million, to pay Bain investors.
· 1996: Ampad completes an initial public offering. Bain sells about 3 million shares, reaping about $45 million to $50 million for investors and itself. It also takes $2 million in fees for arranging the IPO, plus other fees.
· 1998: With Ampad struggling, Bain agrees to cut the annual fee $1.5 million a year. It also agrees to start forgoing payment until the company turns around.
· 1999: Revenues continue to slide. Ampad closes a plant near Buffalo, with up to 185 losing jobs.
· 2000: Creditors force Ampad into Chapter 11 bankruptcy to reorganize.
· 2001: Judge puts Ampad into Chapter 7 to liquidate assets and pay creditors. Senior secured lenders get less than 50 cents on the dollar.
STOCK PRICE
July 2, 1996: $15.13 - IPO Price
Jan. 27, 1997: $26.00 - Peak
Sep 16, 1997: $13.13 - Stock loses 42% of its value
Nov 1, 1999: 35 cents - Ampad looks to sell assets to reduce debt
Jan 14, 2000: 15 cents - Ampad forced into bankruptcy



http://www.massresistance.org/romney/ampad_062607/index.html

 

[Rune]

 

[Cancel 2016.11]

"When Larry Kudlow turns on you, then you have got to be recognizing trouble. "

One of the funniest statements ever posted here.

Oh yeah! Word first ricocheted around the leftist compound like we were a bunch of Sciencetologists just getting wind of what Katie's been up to! We were besides ourselves! Are you effing kidding me, we lost Kudlow? THE Kudlow? Yeah yeah, no it's been confirmed, it's Larry Kudrow, he's crossed over. To the CONS? Yeah yeah, no doubt, we've confirmed it. We've lost the head hippie. OMFG what next, Michael Moore buys a Brooks Brothers' suit and endorses Romney???? Abbie Hoffman comes back from the dead as a TEABAGGER!? (see we were all so agitated we were talking in Superfreak). The Reverend Wright gives a sermon praising Michele FUCKING BACHMAN?!

Oh Lord will save us now?

 

[Cancel 2018. 3]

RDS

why is it rune can never address anything about obama, but must always deflect and talk about romney? romney isn't perfect, but to always derail the thread and try and turn into romney issues shows desperation.

 

[j-mac]

Oh goody, childish dismissals and diversion. Instead of talking about the failure Obama is, let's by all means try to change the subject, and trade tit for tat on who is the worst on jobs in this country....

It's the kind of news that makes you want to reach for something sharp and jab it in your eye. General Electric's Chief Executive, Jeffrey Immelt, is one of President Obama's advisers on… ready? U.S. job creation!

In January, President Obama asked Immelt, a self-described Republican, to head up the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. Tapping Immelt was supposed to provide the Obama administration with a business world perspective on job creation - not in China - here.

The administration also hoped it would give the president a leg up negotiating with the Republican-controlled House on deficit reduction, jobs programs, and health care. And we can all see how that's worked out really well.

Two months after Immelt was named to the council, The New York Times reported that General Electric paid no income taxes last year... thanks to some fancy accounting footwork, even though the company earned $14.2 billion in profits last year - more than $5 billion in the U.S. alone.

Here’s my question to you: General Electric is moving its X-ray business to China. What message does this send Americans?

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2...usiness-to-china-what-message-is-sent-to-u-s/

 

[Onceler]

RDS

why is it rune can never address anything about obama, but must always deflect and talk about romney? romney isn't perfect, but to always derail the thread and try and turn into romney issues shows desperation.

Ironic post is ironic.

 

[Onceler]

Oh goody, childish dismissals and diversion. Instead of talking about the failure Obama is, let's by all means try to change the subject, and trade tit for tat on who is the worst on jobs in this country....

The Kudlow line WAS hilarious.

 

[Cancel 2016.11]

The Kudlow line WAS hilarious.

Look at Onceler playing it cool. Meanwhile, over at Lefty HQ, he was in one of the worst panics. Running around screaming 'KUDLOW DEFECTED KUDLOW DEFECTED" like a chicken with its head cut off. He had to be slapped in the face!

Thank god he finally calmed down.

 

[j-mac]

Look at this data sheet from BLS.

http://data.bls.gov/timeseries/LNS11300000

Freaking pathetic. Seems the only way that Obama and his band of liars can claim job creation is to have people drop out of the work force....

Obama: "We are going to fundamentally transform America..."

 

[j-mac]

Oh looky, a short 9 months ago from Forbes

President Obama may have a buddy-buddy relationship with big labor, but he’s no friend to ordinary workers. Here are four damning pieces of evidence.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/beltway/2011/09/06/obamas-failure-on-jobs-four-damning-charts/

 

[Rune]

Oh goody, childish dismissals and diversion. Instead of talking about the failure Obama is, let's by all means try to change the subject, and trade tit for tat on who is the worst on jobs in this country....

From your OP;
Only 80,000 new jobs were created last month, way below Wall Street expectations. It’s the fourth consecutive monthly disappointment. For a few months last winter, jobs were rising at an average of 225,000 a month. But that has sloped way down to only 75,000. The unemployment rate continues at 8.2 percent, which is the forty-first straight month above 8 percent. The U6 unemployment rate, which includes discouraged workers, is just under 15 percent.

From the first sentence in my response to your OP;

In response to more than 170 impending layoffs at Sensata Technologies, a Bain Capital-owned plant slated to be outsourced

The posts following this one showed the history and continuity of Romney's company outsourcing jobs, in case you tried to say that it was Bain, not Romney who was presently outsourcing the very jobs Mitt is claiming he can bring back. The irony is overwhelming. You are trying to blame Obama for the very thing that Romney's company is causing, yet you somehow think Romney can fix it. Truly hillarious.

 

[j-mac]

Yet another more recent article from Forbes, cheerleading, and trying to coach our current liar n chief...

For months, I have been among those finding it difficult to see how Barack Obama might lose the election to Mitt Romney. Events of the past week have changed my mind. If Obama is not re-elected, the blame should fall on his own failure to lead.

My feeling is not an overreaction to the latest news. Obama’s gaffe about “the private sector is doing fine” was a blunder, but not fatal. Also poorly handled was his Administration’s allegedly leaking of highly classified information about secret technologies designed to stop Iran’s nuclear program, but this will soon be forgotten. The failed Wisconsin recall was repudiation and a big mistake for organized labor, but exit polls showed Obama with a healthy lead there over Romney. Modest job creation in April and May is a bigger problem should it continue, but Obama still could make the case we are better off than at the height of the recession.

However, each of these failures is a symptom of larger recurring behaviors from Obama that allow his opposition to define the debate, and leave his allies discouraged. Obama has been AWOL on his two greatest legislative victories, the economic stimulus and health care reform. From day one, he gave Congress too much latitude in finalizing both bills and has never put up a spirited defense of either.

In my last two trips to Washington, D.C. , I was surprised to hear prominent mainstream Democrats say they “were tired of hearing” Obama’s voice and that his team was “arrogant.” They want Obama to be a leader, and don’t believe he is showing the mettle needed to lead the nation or his party. Those are very strong comments, especially considering the source.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnzog...to-lead-prominent-dems-voice-disappointments/

Hmmmm...Prominent Demo's running from this President...

Kind of reminds me of this:

 

[USFREEDOM911]

RDS

why is it rune can never address anything about obama, but must always deflect and talk about romney? romney isn't perfect, but to always derail the thread and try and turn into romney issues shows desperation.

It's because Rune is scared that Obama is going to lose; because he knows that Obama can't stand on his own record, therefore he has to divert the attention away from Obama.

 

[Rune]

It's because Rune is scared that Obama is going to lose; because he knows that Obama can't stand on his own record, therefore he has to divert the attention away from Obama.

Guess you missed this post?

The posts following this one showed the history and continuity of Romney's company outsourcing jobs, in case you tried to say that it was Bain, not Romney who was presently outsourcing the very jobs Mitt is claiming he can bring back. The irony is overwhelming. You are trying to blame Obama for the very thing that Romney's company is causing, yet you somehow think Romney can fix it. Truly hillarious.

I understand that being a retard, you can't be expected to catch every nuance, but if you are going to speak for me, try to be accurate, please.

 

[Howey]

When Larry Kudlow turns on you, then you have got to be recognizing trouble. Early in Obama's Presidency Kudlow was, if not whole heartedly going along with policies like stimulus, was at least giving Obama the benefit of the doubt on CNBC, to the chagrin of conservatives. His thoughts seem to have changed like many that were allowing this liar n chief to go along transforming America but to what?

RDS

why is it rune can never address anything about obama, but must always deflect and talk about romney? romney isn't perfect, but to always derail the thread and try and turn into romney issues shows desperation.

The Kudlow line WAS hilarious.

Yeah, it was. Especially when lil-mac thinks Kudlow was in bed with Obama at any time. That buffoon hasn't seen a donkey's ass since before Reagan was elected.

Kudlow never supported Obama, never supported the stimulus. He's just another supply-side, trickle down fail. Just like lil-mac.

 

[j-mac]

Yeah, it was. Especially when lil-mac thinks Kudlow was in bed with Obama at any time. That buffoon hasn't seen a donkey's ass since before Reagan was elected.

Kudlow never supported Obama, never supported the stimulus. He's just another supply-side, trickle down fail. Just like lil-mac.

Can you refute anything he is saying? Or just here to call names?

 

[Rune]

Can you refute anything he is saying? Or just here to call names?

Dude, seriously, no bullshit; Calling each other names is what we do here, though we try to leave the ladies out of it. We are talking politics, but we are still gentlemen, if you know what I mean. There are of course exceptions, like that uncouth motherfucker, USAFREAKDUM911. If you really want to post here, but can't stand the ball busting, try the APP forum near the top of the page. That forum is moderated and for serious topics. Otherwise, lighten up and join in. When I got here, the hazing lasted for six months, and some sum of beeches such as Cawacko still ignore me. Well you know what? His fucking loss. Let him stay ignorant. Oh yeah, Yurt is a troll, best to just ignore his lying ass. Most of us do.