Overstaying Your Welcome

The Boston Globe drops this semi-well known secret into the political arena:  Mitt Romney's been lying for months now when he said he left Bain Capital in 1999 and "wasn't involved" in the company's profiting from outsourcing American jobs to China and other foreign countries.  He was actually there until 2002.

Government documents filed by Mitt Romney and Bain Capital say Romney remained chief executive and chairman of the firm three years beyond the date he said he ceded control, even creating five new investment partnerships during that time.

Romney has said he left Bain in 1999 to lead the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, ending his role in the company. But public Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed later by Bain Capital state he remained the firm’s “sole stockholder, chairman of the board, chief executive officer, and president.”

Also, a Massachusetts financial disclosure form Romney filed in 2003 states that he still owned 100 percent of Bain Capital in 2002. And Romney’s state financial disclosure forms indicate he earned at least $100,000 as a Bain “executive” in 2001 and 2002, separate from investment earnings.

The timing of Romney’s departure from Bain is a key point of contention because he has said his resignation in February 1999 meant he was not responsible for Bain Capital companies that went bankrupt or laid off workers after that date. 

Which means surprise!  Mitt Romney is an inveterate liar.  He's been lying about this for months and months now on the campaign trail, and he's got a lot of ugly questions he needs to answer now.  Most of all, this means the Obama campaign is now fully on the offensive, and even Gallup is showing now that Mitt's money is costing him with voters.

The Obama campaign has targeted Romney's wealth in recent weeks, stressing his net worth and how he earned it as head of Bain Capital, where he has invested it, and the fact that he has not released all of his tax returns from the last decade. Obama's campaign is apparently using Romney's wealth in its efforts to convince voters that Romney is not as well-equipped as Obama to understand the problems and needs of middle- and lower-class Americans. The Romney campaign has pushed back, stressing that voters are more interested in fixing the economy than in the candidates' personal financial situations.

Gallup's July 9-10 results show that most Americans say Romney's wealth does not matter. Those who say it does make a difference tilt five to one toward saying it makes them less likely, rather than more likely, to vote for him for president.

And as more and more Americans find out how he got that money, it will cost him even more with the voters.   Team Mittens is bleeding out now, and it's getting worse.