Obama: Do You Agree We've Had Enough of Him? Message Board

To: TideGlider who wrote (132628)	5/15/2012 9:07:18 AM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (9) of 157066

Romney is something of an expert on creative destruction, I guess, having orchestrated a good deal of it while running the private-equity firm Bain Capital. The Obama campaign recently released an ad about one of Bain's less successful acquisitions, a small steel mill in Kansas City called GST Steel. The company, which was more than 100 years old, failed after a decade under Bain's ownership; GST's 750 employees lost their jobs, pensions and health benefits. Bain, however, made money, investing $8 million in the company and taking out $4 million in profits and $4.5 million in management fees. The Romney campaign contends that GST, with its unionized workforce, could not compete with cheap foreign steel being dumped on the market. The Obama campaign alleges that Bain burdened GST with crushing debt while sucking the company's coffers dry. Is this the genius of free markets at work, or is it "vulture capitalism" run amok? Let's have that argument. Please. realclearpolitics.com