Supporters of Mitt Romney enthusiastically tout his private sector success as qualifying him to lead our nation. There is no question that Romney was incredibly successful as a venture capitalist, although admittedly he started a little farther down the road than most people could.
However, one must question if private sector experience really lends itself to running a government. How did that work out in the past? Most folks probably don’t remember Ev Meacham or Fife Symington, two successful business people who ascended to the governorship of Arizona on the basis of their private sector achievements. Meacham turned out to be a nutcase and Symington a dishonest businessman.
Running any level of government “like a business” is folly because they are two different entities with two different sets of rules. Achievement and experience in one does not necessarily translate to success in the other.
I’d rather see Romney speak of new ways to move our country forward rather than the same old Republican mantra of cutting taxes for the wealthy and businesses and reducing social programs for the needy. We’ve seen where that philosophy got us ten years ago — why would we want to experience that disaster again.
Edward F. Murphy
Mesa
Leon Ceniceros posted at 8:31 am on Sun, Jun 3, 2012.
So the Letter writer doesn't want to cut taxes to the wealthy or business = WHO DOES HE THINK CREATES JOBS........FOOD BANKS OR THE GOODWILL OR THE SALVATION ARMY.............IT'S THE WEALTHY AND BUSINESSES WHO USE THEIR OWN MONEY OR BUY STOCK IN OTHER COMPANYS THAT ........GENERATE JOB CREATION.
It doesn't take a ....."rocket scientist"...to figure out that people on WIC...WELFARE....SECTION-8....FOOD STAMPS....HUD = DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO CREATE THE JOBS THAT GENERATE THE INCOME TAXES THAT PAY FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
YOU WANT SOCIALISM...MARXISM...COMMUNISM....THEN VOTE FOR...OBAMA.
IF YOU WANT AMERICA TO STAY A CAPITALIST NATION...THEN VOTE FOR ...MITT ROMNEY.
sockratties posted at 8:40 am on Sun, Jun 3, 2012.
Ed – you are right and wrong. The goals of government and business only converge in some areas. The primary goal of business is to make money. A business may provide benefits to people but that is not its primary goal. An elected government is supposed to benefit the people by providing services that people can’t do as well individually as they can as a group. Public services, infrastructure and security are typical.
Business is supposed to make money. Government is supposed to serve the public. If a business benefits people while making money that is probably good for business. If a government makes money at the expense of the people, or benefits a few at the expense of the many, it is not serving the people.
Good leaders should be able to direct and inspire those who do the work. These skills are valuable in both private and public venues. If business leaders put the benefit of people above the profitability of the business the business will fail. If government leaders put profitability above the benefit of the people, the government will fail to serve the public. Leaders need to be aware of these differences.
chatmandu002 posted at 11:42 am on Sun, Jun 3, 2012.
Ed,
How convenient of you to forget or not mention that Romney has experience in government operations. As governor of MA, Romney was able to work with a democratic controlled legislature and keep MA on a stable course.
I believe that Romney will run the country more like a business rather than the bankrupt welfare state it now run. Our present administration and democratic controlled senate have no ideas, other than tax and spend, to bring our debt, deficit, entitlement reform or tax code under control to get our economy going.
DemocraticDad posted at 2:14 pm on Sun, Jun 3, 2012.
When Romney began his term as Governor of Massachusetts the state was 35th in job creation when ranked among all 50 states. By the time his term ended they were 47th! Even Louisiana ranked higher in job creation, and that was during the Hurricane Katrina period. Also, the last two presidents who were businessmen were Herbert Hoover and George W. Bush. ENOUGH SAID!
truth posted at 2:46 pm on Sun, Jun 3, 2012.
What is wrong with Republicans, do they have a problem with understanding or just a short retention span. The average U.S. corporate tax from 2008 to now is 11.9% from 1976 to 2008 the U.S.average corporate tax was 22%, What should the U.S. corporate tax be 0% with tax refunds in the billions?
chuckles3 posted at 8:44 am on Mon, Jun 4, 2012.
So the best this writer had is 'don't vote for Romney because he was a successful businessman and apparently has no experience as a chief executive? oops, he was Governor of MA. So, with nothing left to boost Obama, he now wants us to not vote for Romney because he is too experienced? Or is he not experienced enough?
By all means, let's keep the incompetent manchild in the office. Maybe if he plays golf more the unemployment rate will drop below 8%.
fae4now posted at 12:18 pm on Mon, Jun 4, 2012.
If Romney is so proud of his public service to the state of MA why does he so seldom speak of it? One would think it would be a significant part of a campaign for public office.
Must admit I'm tired beyond words of the ridiculous notion that the wealthy/ stockholders/ businesses are the job creators. Jobs are created because of increased demand for goods or services. Demand which comes from the consumer, most often the middle class. If the middle class has little/no money to spend demand goes flat.
So here we are.
The LAST thing business/investors want to do is create jobs. Added payroll diminishes profit/ dividends! They would rather CUT jobs, demand more from workers and refuse wage increases. Which would easily explain the spike in American worker productivity, flat wages and chronic unemployment figures.
VofReason posted at 2:19 pm on Mon, Jun 4, 2012.
"Jobs are created because of increased demand for goods or services." This is true, but who do you think it is that fills the supply side of this demand? The people who want the goods? This is economics 101. True, you need demand for a business and jobs to flourish, but you need someone with the knowledge and capital to react to the demand and put together a business and jobs to do so. I wonder if any of the Romney haters above would like to state clearly what Obama Administration has done to intiate job creation in the last 3.5 years. Or for that matter what they will ever do to do so? Spend someone elses money?
truth posted at 2:58 pm on Mon, Jun 4, 2012.
Creating jobs is part of a strong economy, but those jobs have to be in the U.S. not in COMMUNIST CHINA AND INDIA.
samkat posted at 8:20 pm on Mon, Jun 4, 2012.
Those people who hate government the most have never been exposed to it. I worked in Contracting and Acquisition for over 25 years with the Air Force, the Army and the Defense Contract Management Agency. We interfaced with all of the large, medium as well as the Mom and Pop outfits producing everything from clothing to aircraft. Our personnel were specialists in their field and we required certification in our profession. In fact, in many cases, we were better versed than our contractor counterparts. We even helped the smaller contractors as we had a small business contracting specialist whose sole purpose was to make them successful. Not only did we audit the contractors to ensure they were doing the job to contractual specifications but we also frequently uncovered shady practices which we turned over to our criminal investigative department. In effect, we were a business entity as we had contracting specialists, engineers, quality assurance specialists and production management specialists as well as a host of other specialists in other related fields.
We worked on the principle of "right size" which is something even many of our contractors did not practice. Many of the people who complain about lazy government workers would lack the education and professional skills/training to even qualify. It was not uncommon for contractors to attempt to hire our personnel although it was a no no to jump ship since we could not work on government contracts we had been associated with for 5 years. Its too bad our state legislators and many of our federal congressional members and their staff are not required to adhere to.
Now, if we had been dealing with a company like Bain on a government contract, our job would be to make sure they did not short change the government such as downsizing to the point they endangered the contract with the government as our primary mission was to ensure our war fighters received the best we could give them.
TeaPartyPatriot posted at 9:00 pm on Mon, Jun 4, 2012.
I don't hate government or taxes. I do think we do ourselves a great harm to let our government rule us. They are supposed to be the servants. The larger they grow the more dominant they become and the less free we are. American corporate taxes are the highest in the world, and some would say it needs to be higher. 50% of Americans are paying for this huge government so that the other 50% can have a free ride and some say the haves need to pay even more. We have a food stamp president who wants as many people on the dole to collapse the system for the benefit of a few. http://gulagbound.com/30495/the-fox-friends-video-news-corp-doesnt-want-you-to-see/#.T82AuFKuX7M
Abstract01 posted at 11:55 pm on Mon, Jun 4, 2012.
Sockratties, That is a clear description, and I agree with you on this.
Fae4now,
Of course a business owner wants to create jobs! He knows that he has only so many hours at his disposal. If he wishes to make a profit, rather than just pay the bills, he must multiply his efforts. The way to multiply those efforts (and make more efficient use of his tools and facilities) is to have sufficient workers to complete the work in a timely manner.
Stockholders put their money at risk whenever they invest. They provide the funds a business owner needs, but may not have, to meet demand.
I admire those who have vision and tenacity to create commodities that improve your life and mine!
He counts the material and labor costs, and then adds for overhead and a small amount for future growth and machinery replacement. That is where profit comes from--if there is a demand for his products/services.
fae4now posted at 12:52 am on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
Abstract01,
I can appreciate the desire of an entrepreneur to grow his business. I was once a small business owner myself and I understand how demanding it can be- I sold the business when it started owning me!
But on the corporate scale, payroll is the most controllable expense and the drive is to minimize it continuously.
Which might explain why I am currently responsible to manage an area that just 4 years ago was managed by 3 people and with 50% of the staff we had then. Our twice monthly staff meetings are an endless stream of increased demand, higher goals
fae4now posted at 1:11 am on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
Sorry - that post left on it's own!
The point is that though my 'numbers' (sales, profitability, productivity, year over year growth etc) continue to climb, never, ever do i receive more payroll with which to achieve my goals.
Perhaps I am disgruntled. I am definitely tired. Very, very tired. And I really wish the corporate job creators I work for would post the 'now hiring' sign. I could use the help!
Rational Human posted at 8:36 am on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
"I’d rather see Romney speak of new ways to move our country forward rather than the same old Republican mantra of cutting taxes for the wealthy and businesses and reducing social programs for the needy." By needy I guess you mean people who can't afford to the necessities of life AND a cell phone, broadband internet, alcohol to drowned out the shame of having to stand in line to get their welfare checks, and drugs. The so called needy in this country are by far so well off that in most other countries the poor pray to God they can come here and take their places. They are so well off that we have to import people who will actually work for the same luxuries. The poor in this country are a bunch of pampered welfare sucking lazy good for nothings that think the world owes them something. Go to your local social security office and count how many seniors compared with non seniors. You will have a had time finding the seniors in the sea of youth who are collecting disability for some of the most pathetic reasons imaginable. The so called American needy are people who should be cutting their costs and living within their means instead of demanding that hard working people owe them something because they're unable to provide themselves with luxuries. Hard work use to be an American value.
In_God_We_Trust posted at 8:54 am on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
After going to both Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School simultaneously, he passed the Michigan bar, but never worked as an attorney.
As a venture-capitalist, Romney's first major business deal involved investing in a start-up office supply company with one store in Massachusetts that sold office supplies. That company, called Staples, now has over 2,000 stores and employs over 90,000 people.
Romney or his company Bain Capital (using what became known as the "Bain Way") would go on to perform the same kinds of business miracles again and again, with companies like Domino's, Sealy, Brookstone, Weather Channel, Burger King, Warner Music Group, Dollarama, Home Depot Supply, and many others.
Got your calculators handy? Let's recap.
Volunteer campaign worker for his dad's gubernatorial campaign 1 year.
Unpaid intern in Governor's office 8 years.
Mormon missionary in Paris 2 years.
Unpaid bishop and stake president for his church 10 years. No salary as president of the Olympics 3 years.
No salary as MA governor 4 years.
That's a grand total of 28 years of unpaid service to his country, his community and his church. Why? Because that's the kind of man Mitt Romney is.
And you know what? He’ll show you his:
Un-doctored Birth Certificate!
College transcripts!
Law degree!
Isn’t it time for a REAL CHANGE?
A brighter HOPE for America.
Forget downing the opposition raise up the new president-to-be the winner in November, 2012!
Mitt Romney – American by birth!
Cerulean posted at 9:04 am on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
Patriot said, “American corporate taxes are the highest in the world. . . “
Guess what? America’s gross domestic product is the highest in the world. Would you have American corporate taxes be in the same range as Germany, Canada, or the United Kingdom? Guess what, as a percentage of gross domestic product, every developed country in the world pays a higher tax than that of the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_revenue_as_percentage_of_GDP
dustbowl11 posted at 9:06 am on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
Where is the proof of all these ineligible voters supposedly taking part in our elections. Every time I see actual numbers from any state "purging voter rolls" they number in the dozens. And it must be a coincidence that the Republican purges disproportionately affect minority communities right? This same tactic was used in 2000 by Florida Republicans and Bush won by about 600 votes. Another coincidence?
Cerulean posted at 9:17 am on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
Rational Human – I once heard Kareem Abdul-Jabbar say that Americans can afford to feed and pamper their dogs better than the poor who live in Africa. So what would you think appropriate? That the poor in America live like dogs in a third world country?
sockratties posted at 4:34 pm on Tue, Jun 5, 2012.
Ed – you are right and wrong. The goals of government and business only converge in some areas. The primary goal of business is to make money. A business may provide benefits to people but that is not its primary goal. An elected government is supposed to benefit the people by providing services that people can’t do as well individually as they can as a group. Public services, infrastructure and security are typical.
Business is supposed to make money. Government is supposed to serve the public. If a business benefits people while making money that is probably good for business. If a government makes money at the expense of the people, or benefits a few at the expense of the many, it is not serving the people.
Good leaders should be able to direct and inspire those who do the work. These skills are valuable in both private and public venues. If business leaders put the benefit of people above the profitability of the business the business will fail. If government leaders put profitability above the benefit of the people, the government will fail to serve the public. Leaders need to be aware of these differences.
Abstract01 posted at 12:01 am on Wed, Jun 6, 2012.
Editor,
What happened to the comments that sockratties made before I sent in my comment of yesterday?
Last night I mis-clicked the "report" button on his comment. did that take it out of the loop?
Sorry!
VofReason posted at 12:28 pm on Wed, Jun 6, 2012.
RH makes some good points here. I am not willing to paint with such a broad brush, but I do think the "poor" in America have become the entitled lot. Generations of welfare is terrible and point to how handouts become entitlements. Don't dismiss the fact that President Obama was a Community Organizer. This is code for the person who tells the "poor" people that it isn't anything that they did wrong and tries to get more goodies from the government for them. I guess he just got a new title, same job.
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