Jeff Naylor, a friend and former co-blogger back when I was writing at Hoosier Illuminati, linked a Jonah Goldberg article at NRO on Facebook this morning, observing in part, "To 'create jobs,' SOMEBODY has to make money. Sorry libs, but it's true." In particular he pointed out this gem from the article:
When the 2002 games were in utter disarray, [Romney] swooped in, cut out all the self-dealing nonsense by consultants and contractors, made the fat cats and moochers pay for their own meals, and got things back on track.It’s an impressive record, but it doesn’t prove he knows how to "create jobs." Investors and businessmen don’t search out ways to create jobs. They search out ways to create wealth.*
To this someone responded in comments:
I doubt the thousands of workers who lost their jobs, homes, and savings because of Bain Capital would agree. He's an opportunist, not a capitalist. Capitalists understand that they can't exist without workers.
To which Jeff responded:
Did they lose because of Bain Capital, or did they lose because of the mismanagement or market pressures of the companies Bain became involved with? Bain Capital is in the business of making money for Bain Capital and its customers. Sometimes bad businesses fail. It's tragic for anyone to lose a job, but you can't just keep paying people to work in companies that are losing money. Healthy companies never see anyone from Bain.
And this is why attempts both left and right (I'm talking to you, Newt) to tar Romney with the Bain brush are probably going to fail. As noted, companies don't sell out to venture capital companies like Bain unless they are in trouble. Which means the company was probably going to go down the tubes and take ALL of its employees with it, regardless. I'm guessing Bain may actually have salvaged more jobs in the long run than it ever destroyed, by the simple expedient of stop-loss policies that weeded out the dead wood and kept the doors open.
Now, why in hell, exactly, can't we do the same thing with our FedGov?
(PS: Still not a Romney fan. But the truth is the truth, no matter who it benefits.)
* My emphasis.
These morons are almost -- almost -- making me a Romney fan.
Capitalism is a funny thing, if you don't work you don't eat. If you don't eat and you're hungry get a job and feed yourself. My responsibilities don't include caring for lazy turds on my tax dollars. Thank you Nathan for illuminating the point.
While working for a profit making enterprise isn't always the greatest thing, it beats the heck out of unemployment or working for an unprofitable enterprise. Also consider just for a moment how much worse off we'd be if the 1% weren't paying their current share of the tax burden.