# Romney the Outsourcer/Offshorer and Corporate raider meme **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 9, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708 "2012-07-09T16:29:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/101 "2012-07-16T02:21:29Z")
> [@furt](#): > > The GOP has socially moderate guys who project “competent executive” without looking like someone starched their underwear; none of them ran. If Mitch Daniels had a different wife or Jeb Bush a different brother, they’d have been good candidates. **But they don’t, so it was Romney or one of the freaks.** Let’s go to the quarry and throw stuff down there! It’s funny 'cause it’s true! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/102 "2012-07-16T16:51:34Z")
But it would be so easy! All Mittens has to do is release the details of a deal where he decided to make less money but preserve American jobs, as his patriotic duty. Shirley, he must have done that a bunch of times, all he has to do is show a few of them! Boy, that’ll shut 'em up in a big hurry, huh? Gosh, wonder why he hasn’t? ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/103 "2012-07-16T17:56:35Z")
> [@furt](#): > > He’s a weak candidate, but do you think Rick Santorum would be a better one? I heard this in another thread and had the same thought process, but they could have gone for Huntsman. > [@Evil Captor](#): > > Look at the big picture, people! How _dare_ you question the magnanimous effect of job creators on the economy, especially during a recession where all must suffer austerity? You see, this demonstrates why CEOs cannot be competitive in the pay they receive. Their function is so necessary to the survival of a company, that they need not be involved in any of their decisions and their acumen and aura of Capital and aristocracy will still pervade the company, bringing it **wealth** and **creating jobs**. Why do you hate America? ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/104 "2012-07-16T19:19:46Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > But it would be so easy! All Mittens has to do is release the details of a deal where he decided to make less money but preserve American jobs, as his patriotic duty. Shirley, he must have done that a bunch of times, all he has to do is show a few of them! > > Boy, that’ll shut 'em up in a big hurry, huh? Gosh, wonder why he hasn’t? Lost in the shuffle of the 1999-2002 flareup is that Bain Capital wasn’t obligated to create jobs. Any jobs created or lost as a result were entirely incidental to making a profit for the owners of Bain. That’s simply modern, unfettered capitalism at work. But Romney is telling voters that his experience making a profit for investors at Bain also gives him insight into how to create jobs as president. It just isn’t true. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/105 "2012-07-16T19:31:10Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > I heard this in another thread and had the same thought process, but they could have gone for Huntsman. Huntsman does nothing for conservatives. He never had a chance, any more than Nelson or Boren would have a chance of getting a Democratic nomination. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/106 "2012-07-16T20:01:14Z")
It is too damn bad that Sarbanes-Oxley wasn’t around during this period. Then we would know for sure what was going on there. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/107 "2012-07-16T20:22:33Z")
Its a bit odd, isn’t it? The way patriotism is so commonly accepted in America as a value to be upheld. Except for business, which gets an exemption because its basic purpose is amoral. We are supposed to understand and accept this, as if it were something Written. Suppose, say, Mittens reports to his investors. “Hey, guys, did a good thing today. Could have made us an extra 10 million bucks, but lost a thousand American jobs, or Plan B, which made us five million and kept those jobs. So, I went with “B”, because it was the right thing to do!”. Two bits says his investors heartily congratulate him on his moral quality, and start making plans to move their money into more ruthless hands. Business is business, it is exempt from the rules. Well, the guidelines. Suggestions. Now, here’s an interesting story about Guiness, makers of the black bread that pours. (Your correspondent cautions that this is straight off the internet, and no fact checking of any sort is pretended or implied…) > [@](#): > > …When World War I broke out, Guinness promised every one of its workers who went off to war that he would have his job back when he returned home. While the man was away fighting, Guinness paid his family half of the man’s usual salary. During World War II, Guinness promised every British soldier that he would have a bottle of the famous dark stout for Christmas Day. When the task proved overwhelming because too many Guinness workers were abroad for the factories to produce enough beer, retirees began to show up at the plant. Then, veterans began to show up to help produce beer for boys at war. Finally, other brewing companies sent workers to help Guinness brew the Christmas beer. It was one of the great moments of unity in Irish history… Quite possibly the only moment of unity in Irish history, but no need to drag all that up… ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/108 "2012-07-16T20:41:01Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Its a bit odd, isn’t it? The way patriotism is so commonly accepted in America as a value to be upheld. Except for business, which gets an exemption because its basic purpose is amoral. We are supposed to understand and accept this, as if it were something Written. On the other hand, consider a soldier. “Hey, boss, Russia is offering 3% higher pay for officers at my rank, so I’m going to go join their army. That okay with you?” ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/109 "2012-07-16T21:51:42Z")
Hey, XT, to answer your question about the political strategy not the merit(s) of the argument: Yes, I think it will resonate until a return salvo of some sort is fired by Romney. So far, let me summarize the campaign: Romney Campaign: Obama has done a poor job Obama Campaign: You are a liar/felon/anti-gay/anti pro choice/job killing/rich guy/that’s like Bush/pro-health care reform The danger for Obama is the short attention span of the American public. I have a feeling that the big guns for Romney attack ads have not come out yet, nor can they until he chooses a VP to reinforce them via the talking heads in the media. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/110 "2012-07-16T22:00:49Z")
> [@phxjcc](#): > > Hey, XT, to answer your question about the political strategy not the merit(s) of the argument: Yes, I think it will resonate until a return salvo of some sort is fired by Romney. > > So far, let me summarize the campaign: > > Romney Campaign: Obama has done a poor job > Obama Campaign: You are a liar/felon/anti-gay/anti pro choice/job killing/rich guy/that’s like Bush/pro-health care reform > > The danger for Obama is the short attention span of the American public. I have a feeling that the big guns for Romney attack ads have not come out yet, nor can they until he chooses a VP to reinforce them via the talking heads in the media. The difference is that Obama is a known quantity, having been President for four years already, in a sense having already been vetted in the last election. So while Obama can play the game of “Let’s learn more about this Romney guy, do you really trust him?”, Romney doesn’t have that card nearly as much. He has to play the, “Obama has failed and I am the man who can fix it”. The problem for Romney on that is that Obama’s record as President is an open book, it will be very hard for him to reveal something shocking at this point. Obama can keep hitting Romney, while Romney is kind of at the mercy growing perceptions at this point. ---
**Author:** ![phxjcc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8491ac/32.png) [@phxjcc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phxjcc)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/111 "2012-07-17T00:39:28Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > it will be very hard for him to reveal something shocking at this point. You mean, like…hmmm, let’s see…something like the swift boat issue? :smack: Remember, all one side needs to do is swing a few million voters and that will turn the election. Are they not tied 47/47 now? It’s really just that 6% that is in play. It’s Ohio and Florida…because its ALWAYS Ohio and Florida. Numbers are here [http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2012/07/poll-obama-and-romney-neck-and-neck](http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2012/07/poll-obama-and-romney-neck-and-neck) ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/112 "2012-07-17T03:18:50Z")
Want some fun? Mitt Romney. Fired every person in a company, offered to give them their jobs back for less money. Worked with Michael Milken, was very sad when Milken was arrested for hugely criminal acts. Was in charge of a company that committed the biggest criminal Medicaid fraud in US history. How do I know this? Why, John McCain’s opposition research file. > **[McCain 2008 Oppo File | PDF | Mitt Romney | American Government](https://www.scribd.com/document/78582788/McCain-2008-Oppo-File)** > > Scribd is the world's largest social reading and publishing site. And now you can read it too. Some great stuff in there… and Obama’s used none of it yet. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/113 "2012-07-17T03:31:04Z")
No reason he should, he can just stand there wearing his dignified Presidential face and let the interwebs do their magic. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/114 "2012-07-17T03:44:26Z")
Yes. Neck and neck. In the swing states. Neck and neck. [http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/07/sure-jenn-obama-is-panicking.html](http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/07/sure-jenn-obama-is-panicking.html) Except in Ohio, Virginia, and Florida. And, of course, that’s a Purple Insights poll. > **[Poll: Obama and Romney neck-and-neck in swing states](https://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/polls/119782-poll-obama-and-romney-neck-and-neck-in-swing-states/)** > > President Obama and Mitt Romney are running neck-and-neck in 12 swing states that will be critical in determining the outcome of the 2012 election, according to a Purple Insights poll released on M… They’re not one of the major firms. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/115 "2012-07-17T11:56:12Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Its a bit odd, isn’t it? Raises the same question as with the Ron Paul newsletters. Perhaps he had nothing to do with them. Though he certainly was happy to deprive the racists purchasing them of their money and use that money in order to campaign. What’d he do to deserve their money exactly? Surrender the proprietary rights to his name or persona? Course, the standard answer would be that the labour theory of value is bunkum (Romney doing nothing at Bain was worth 2.5\* as much as the average American job) and we shouldn’t intervene in the terribly complex workings of the market. Leave that to the luminaries and the vagaries will be sorted out by natural selection. After all, evolution and the elite are far smarter than the plebiscite and artificial selection. ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/116 "2012-07-17T15:00:52Z")
Is it any coincidence that the super-villain in the summer blockbuster Dark Knight Rises is … _Bane_? Hmmmm? ---
**Author:** ![tellthetruth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/82dd89/32.png) [@tellthetruth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellthetruth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/117 "2012-07-17T15:23:47Z")
Anyone that thinks Romney will actually lead this nation to prosperity for all is just plain ignorant of the reality surrounding them… ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/118 "2012-07-20T12:27:16Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > **BD** : Do you realize that most economists believe outsourcing is a net plus for the US economy? If we’re arguing facts, than an anti-outsourcer should not be president. Its a net plus for whose economy? We’re not talking about simple free trade, we’re talking about moving competency building industry overseas to the point where our competitive advantage starts to slip and out comparative advantage begins to be limited to supplying capital. > [@John\_Mace](#): > > Is it your contention that outsourcing is bad for the finances of most Americans? > > I doubt anyone says it would be. But people like to buy cheap shit, and it’s rather weak comfort to tell a poor person that they have to pay more for their goods so that someone else doesn’t lose his job. To a point, I would be OK with wage based inflation. > [@](#): > > The rich are an easy target. I’m not going to argue against that. Well, when you argue that all this stuff improves the economy and almost all the improvement is being seen in a very small segment of the population, aren’t you ducking the issue? > [@John\_Mace](#): > > The question isn’t whether or not outsourcing/offshoring eliminates certain jobs-- of course it does. The question is whether a policy preventing outsourcing/offshoring would preserve more jobs than it would destroy. If US companies don’t manufacture in countries with low labor costs, then other countries will be more than happy to step in to do so, and export their cheaper goods to the US. What do we don then? Slap tariffs on those goods, so that the cost of living is even higher? And then what happens to all those high priced goods made in the gold ol’ US of A. Americans might be forced to buy them, since laws make it less attractive to buy imports, but no one else in the world is hampered by that problem. Yeah, so if Apple didn’t manufacture iphone and ipads in China then some OTHER company would do so and then where would we be? > [@](#): > > You can’t eliminate the effects of outsourcing without imposing tariffs on other countries, and we all know how well that works (or we should know). The question isn’t whether or not we are going to have a global economy. The question is whether we are going to participate in it or not. The global economy doesn’t work without us. Are India and China going to sell shit to each other? > [@tellthetruth](#): > > Anyone that thinks Romney will actually lead this nation to prosperity for all is just plain ignorant of the reality surrounding them… Noone is going to lead to prosperity for all but it would be nice to slow the current trend of progressively higher and higher levels of income and wealth concentration. ---
**Author:** ![Untoward\_Parable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Untoward\_Parable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Untoward_Parable)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/119 "2012-07-20T19:18:00Z")
> [@gamerunknown](#): > > Raises the same question as with the Ron Paul newsletters. Perhaps he had nothing to do with them. Though he certainly was happy to deprive the racists purchasing them of their money and use that money in order to campaign. What’d he do to deserve their money exactly? Surrender the proprietary rights to his name or persona? > > Course, the standard answer would be that the labour theory of value is bunkum (Romney doing nothing at Bain was worth 2.5\* as much as the average American job) and we shouldn’t intervene in the terribly complex workings of the market. Leave that to the luminaries and the vagaries will be sorted out by natural selection. After all, evolution and the elite are far smarter than the plebiscite and artificial selection. The 100k number is a red herring, executives often pay themselves similar amounts while taking their real salary in tax evasive manners such as in stock profits so that it’s capital gains instead of salary exempting it from the majority of the taxes they’re supposed to be paying. There are other ways to do it as well but by no means should the numbers given be trusted, this guy plays shell games with money for a living. Also the bit about having no input/control over the company he was heavily invested in is just a lie. Anyone who thinks otherwise is either blind, stupid or both. You don’t make the kind of money Romney has made by earning it, it’s all various kinds of theft that have been written into the tax code and corporate traditions by guys just like him. No one is worth that kind of money. No one. It’s just a hierarchy designed much like royalty systems of olde with new propaganda to justify it. Guy may be clever, handsome and tall but he aint worth 10000 working people all on his own. ---
**Author:** ![Untoward\_Parable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Untoward\_Parable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Untoward_Parable)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708/120 "2012-07-20T19:25:26Z")
In fact he’s probably had a net negative impact on the economy of the nation and humanity in general. He’s a pretty leech that gives you a thrill while he sucks the blood out of you. He doesn’t care if less value exists after he’s done with an industry, just as long a his bank accounts have more numbers in them afterward. To varying degrees most people worth 10 million or more have a similar lack of community responsibility. It’s a very cynical demographic. As far as that kind of thing goes though Mitt is an all out all star, a grotesque example of humanity’s flaws. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-the-outsourcer-offshorer-and-corporate-raider-meme/627708.md?page=5)