Obama Camp: Romney's "Economic Wizardry" Claims Fair Game - East Idaho News
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Obama Camp: Romney’s “Economic Wizardry” Claims Fair Game

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Getty 051412 MittRomney?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1337026833661Samir Khan(WASHINGTON) — Deputy Obama campaign manager Stephanie Cutter says the new ad on Romney’s record at Bain Capital is not about “questioning the private equity industry as a whole,” but rather examining the economic “wizardry” Romney claims as a top qualification for president.

“No one is challenging Romney’s right to run the business as he saw fit and no one is questioning the private equity industry as a whole. That is not what this is about,” she told reporters on a conference call.  “This is about the lessons and values Romney drew from his time as a buyout specialist – what those values are, what they tell us about the type of president Mitt Romney would be and whether the voters want that in the Oval Office.”

“Since Romney’s central premise is that he’s an economic wizard who can grow the economy, it’s worth examining what that wizardry is all about,” she said.

Cutter and Democrats have argued that Romney was focused solely on amassing personal profits, while running roughshod over workers and their families through leveraged buyouts and bankruptcies. The Obama campaign plans to highlight several examples of companies shuttered by Bain over the next few weeks.

“The bottom line here is that GST workers really lost out and Romney and his partners did not,” Cutter said. “This was the quintessential case of two sets of rules and that’s not the kind of economy we want. Romney economics aren’t a prescription for a stronger economy and they aren’t a prescription for a stronger country.”  

As for the fact that Romney had left Bain Capital by the time GST Steel was closed, Cutter says the job losses still fall on his shoulders.

“He set this in motion. It was his structure that was put in place. And he was still listed at this time as either CEO or president of the company was still making profits off this deal and continues to profit off of Bain Capital today,” Cutter said. “I do think it’s absolutely on the table as an indication of Romney’s values.”

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