# Romney 2016? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 26, 2014, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562 "2014-08-26T16:08:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/201 "2015-02-04T04:10:37Z")
Romney’s business record would have been impressive had he actually built a profitable company that created good jobs. Instead, he headed a raiding company existing solely to extract cash from actual businesses, no matter the cost. They left a trail of bankruptcies, layoffs, jobs lost and lives ruined. That “business experience” was supposed to impress people who actually work for a living? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/202 "2015-02-04T10:50:48Z")
Worker are usually not impressed with what it takes to make a business successful, that’s why most union companies are moribund. ---
**Author:** ![CGav8r](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@CGav8r](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CGav8r)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/203 "2015-02-04T11:28:12Z")
Wonder why those dumb workers wouldn’t be impressed with Bain Capital coming in to their company, leveraging all the equity, then leaving the company as a smoking ruin while Bain leaves with bags of cash? Philistines! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/204 "2015-02-04T11:32:02Z")
Those were only a couple of cases. That’s another reason successful businessmen are hated. They always have failures, and so the failures get highlighted. Which is odd, because government fails constantly, yet no one ever holds government officials responsible unless it’s catastrophic like FEMA in Katrina. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/205 "2015-02-04T12:15:11Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Those were only a couple of cases. That’s another reason successful businessmen are hated. They always have failures, and so the failures get highlighted. Which is odd, because government fails constantly, yet no one ever holds government officials responsible unless it’s catastrophic like FEMA in Katrina. Wait, what? Cite that anybody at Bain considered those “failures”. Raid, exploit, extract, and dump was the plan. The business itself failed (or was killed), but Bain made a lot of money. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/206 "2015-02-04T13:04:19Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Worker are usually not impressed with what it takes to make a business successful, that’s why most union companies are moribund. Too broad a generalization. The auto companies have a good relationship with their unions and are doing fine since the bailout. Union companies succeed and fail, non-union companies succeed and fail. Workers are not as dumb as you might suppose, the guy on the factory floor often has a pretty good idea as to why his company is doing well or not. > [@adaher](#): > > Those were only a couple of cases. That’s another reason successful businessmen are hated. They always have failures, and so the failures get highlighted. Which is odd, because government fails constantly, yet no one ever holds government officials responsible unless it’s catastrophic like FEMA in Katrina. Cite for government fails constantly, please. > [@adaher](#): > > Yes. Unsuccessful businessmen usually don’t lay people off or fire ineffective workers. Sure they do. So do successful ones. The point with Bain isn’t that they laid people off. It’s that they bought companies with the express purpose of shutting them down and liquidating their assets. They did the math and if they could make one more dollar by chopping the company to bits and selling it off than they would by keeping it afloat, off to the chopping block it went. The effect that their decisions had on the workers played zero part in the process, they simply did whatever made the most money for Bain. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/207 "2015-02-04T14:14:10Z")
Shit, how many times have I read about Wall Street guys getting a pork-flavored hardon when they read that Throckmorton Industries is getting a new CEO, guy who wants to take it “lean and mean”, to “cut the fat” and “get tough” with the unions? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/208 "2015-02-04T16:24:31Z")
When I hear right-wing apologists defending vulture capitalism, I ask them to review the story of [`Chainsaw’](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_J._Dunlap) Al [Dunlop](http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_42/b3651099.htm). The most illuminating part of Dunlop’s story (besides the fact that he never went to prison) is that it was in the public record that in the mid 1970’s he had engineered a massive accounting fraud as President of Nitec, yet was still hired as CEO by multiple large corporations to commit more massive frauds – he simply took the precaution of omitting Nitec from his resume! Yes, that’s right. The noble Job Creators™ whose collective wisdom exceeds that of all the governments in the world, and who probably require drug tests before hiring a janitor, didn’t bother to check the resume of their incoming CEO. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/209 "2015-02-04T16:27:20Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Cite for government fails constantly, please. In a thread in GD, perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/210 "2015-02-04T16:29:26Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > In a thread in GD, perhaps? Yes, I agree. Let adaher start a thread with the thesis “government constantly fails”. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/211 "2015-02-04T17:13:04Z")
> [@BlankSlate](#): > > Romney’s business record would have been impressive had he actually built a profitable company that created good jobs. Instead, he headed a raiding company existing solely to extract cash from actual businesses, no matter the cost. They left a trail of bankruptcies, layoffs, jobs lost and lives ruined. > > That “business experience” was supposed to impress people who actually work for a living? You forget. When Republicans refer to “business experience”, they’re talking about big corporations that make the rich richer. The bankruptcies, layoffs, and lost jobs are a feature of this experience, not a bug. And the guy ran on it! What an idiot campaigner! If I were him, I’d say “fuck you” to the most extreme portion of the GOP as soon as I got the nomination and run on health care and how he was the one who originally fixed it. We all know that the GOP only opposes Obamacare because Obama did it and gets credit for it. Look back in history, they can actually support it if they think they’ll get credit for it. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/212 "2015-02-06T02:38:46Z")
Shodan, I knew plenty, PLENTY of Romney supporters who voted for him because of the ® after his name and for no other reason. I come from a very conservative family who almost all supported Romney, with extreme reluctance. I work in the offshore oil industry and am surrounded by hardcore conservatives who hated Romney (mostly because he was a Mormon), but hated the nigger Obama even more. I never once met anyone who actually said out loud that Romney would make a good president. They were all voting to get rid of Obama in 2012. That was it. Entirely. In fact, you are the only person I can say that I “know”, other than adaher, who genuinely believed Romney would have made a good president, and would hope he would get another chance. I just find it baffling. I’m a liberal guy, but I know a good republican when I see one (John McCain used to be one). Romney was one of the absolute worst politicians and candidates that I can easily think of. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/213 "2015-02-06T02:49:44Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I just find it baffling. I’m a liberal guy, but I know a good republican when I see one (John McCain used to be one). Romney was one of the absolute worst politicians and candidates that I can easily think of. I think you wouldn’t think this is the political context were different. I think the current climate on the GOP side forces candidates to be extraordinarily etch-a-sketchy, and no one comes out of that looking good. In another era, Romney would have been a run of the mill moderate Republican of normal-to-high competence. I think that’s who he IS. He’s not interesting and he’s not engaging and he’s not incredibly good on his feet, but he’s also not an idiot and not a madman. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2015, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/214 "2015-02-06T03:53:00Z")
The Draft Romney movement is already picking up momentum! Romney! Pale, tired, and ill-prepared! He’s not insane! ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/215 "2015-02-09T20:17:55Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > The Draft Romney movement is already picking up momentum! Romney! Pale, tired, and ill-prepared! He’s not insane! Ha! Thanks a lot… my sides hurt now. Ok but seriously, Romney is in no way a moderate, reasonable republican. He was as conservative as Massachusetts would let him be, and he would have been an insanely plutocratic conservative president if elected. The guy literally would say and do anything for power. That’s as insane or at least psychopathic as it gets. He would have made a terrible, terrible president. I’d rather have had Santorum for president, because at least he stood for something, and didn’t want to have power just for the sake of power. Romney literally frightened me. Santorum just disgusted me. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/216 "2015-02-09T20:29:52Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Shodan, > > I knew plenty, PLENTY of Romney supporters who voted for him because of the (R) after his name and for no other reason. Do you suppose selection perception might have something to do with that? > [@](#): > > I work in the offshore oil industry and am surrounded by hardcore conservatives who hated Romney (mostly because he was a Mormon), but hated the nigger Obama even more. Right, right - we all hate Obama because he is a nigger, blah blah blah. I had more, but you lost my interest. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/217 "2015-02-09T20:45:24Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Right, right - we all hate Obama because he is a nigger, blah blah blah. > > I had more, but you lost my interest. > > Regards, > Shodan Where did he say this? From what I can tell, he was talking about his own experiences working offshore in the oil industry, and not making any judgments about all conservatives or all people who oppose Obama. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562/218 "2015-02-09T21:15:21Z")
Do we know who the Koch brothers are rooting for? Rubio? [They’ve got more money than the GOP!](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/27/us/politics/kochs-plan-to-spend-900-million-on-2016-campaign.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-2016/696562.md?page=10)