Featured Stories
That Pesky Oppo Book
July 4, 2012
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Posted by Bob Lord Earlier today, BlogForArizona reported on Mitt's investment in Stericycle, a firm that handles the disposal of aborted fetuses. http://www.blogforarizona.com/blog/2012/07/romney-stericycle-and-aborted-fetuses.html#more So continues the drip, drip, drip of unsavory snippets from Mitt's past. You could see this coming a mile away. Mitt has not been careful with his activities and statements, financial and … Read more
Refuting the “positive economic impact” of Rosemont mine
July 4, 2012
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by David Safier A commenter on my post this morning about Rosemont Mine's problems brought up the "Rosemont will create jobs" meme. "Tucson Native" tore the jobs argument to shreds in the next comment, which you can read below. If Rosemont gets approved the only positive economic impact will be for the company headquartered in … Read more
Willard ‘Mittens’ Romney is a captive of the radical Tea-Publican base
July 4, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: "Large and in charge" Willard "Mittens" Romney is not. He has no convictions or courage. "Mittens" is a captive of the radical Tea-Publican base. His senior adviser said earlier this week that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee believed the "ObamneyCare" mandate was a penalty and not a tax (even though Mittens has previously admitted … Read more
Mitt’s mystery money in Bermuda
July 4, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
On Tuesday, Vanity Fair visited Mitt''s money in the Cayman Islands in this report by Nicholas Shaxson. Investigation: Mitt Romney’s Offshore Accounts, Tax Loopholes, and Mysterious I.R.A. | Vanity Fair.
On Wednesday, the AP in the Washington Post visits Mitt's mystery money in Bermuda. Mystery Bermuda-based company and other undisclosed Romney assets hint at larger wealth:
For nearly 15 years, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s financial portfolio has included an offshore company that remained invisible to voters as his political star rose.
Based in Bermuda, Sankaty High Yield Asset Investors Ltd. was not listed on any of Romney’s state or federal financial reports. The company is among several Romney holdings that have not been fully disclosed, including one that recently posted a $1.9 million earning — suggesting he could be wealthier than the nearly $250 million estimated by his campaign.
The omissions were permitted by state and federal authorities overseeing Romney’s ethics filings, and he has never been cited for failing to disclose information about his money. But Romney’s limited disclosures deprive the public of an accurate depiction of his wealth and a clear understanding of how his assets are handled and taxed, according to experts in private equity, tax and campaign finance law.
Sankaty was transferred to a trust owned by Romney’s wife, Ann, one day before he was sworn in as Massachusetts governor in 2003, according to Bermuda records obtained by The Associated Press. The Romneys’ ownership of the offshore firm did not appear on any state or federal financial reports during Romney’s two presidential campaigns. Only the Romneys’ 2010 tax records, released under political pressure earlier this year, confirmed their continuing control of the company.
The mystery surrounding Sankaty reinforces Romney’s history of keeping a tight rein on his public dealings, already documented by his use of private email and computer purges as Massachusetts governor and his refusal to disclose his top fundraisers. The Bermuda company had almost no assets, according to Romney’s 2010 tax returns. But such partnership stakes could still provide significant income for years to come, said tax experts, who added that the lack of disclosure makes it impossible to know for certain.
Rosemont Mine prospects continue to look shakier
July 4, 2012
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by David Safier The push by Augusta Resource Corporation to build the Rosemont Mine has been running into all kinds of problems lately. Environmental decisions haven't been favorable. The corporation is running out of money and having trouble digging up new funds. And now this. Augusta Resource Corporation CEO Gil Clausen submitted his resignation from … Read more
Happy Independence Day!
July 4, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie: Baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and … fireworks! Happy birthday, America.
Expanded Medicaid is too good a deal to refuse
July 3, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Neoconfederate "states' rights" Tenthers who are Tea-Publican Governors and legislators, like we have here in Arizona, are threatening not to participate in the "expanded Medicaid" provisions of the Affordable Care Act on ideological grounds. "We hate Obama! We hate the federal guvmint!"
They also object to covering more people under expanded Medicaid on the ground that it will cost taxpayers too much money. This is code for access to medical care is a privilege, not a right, and should be rationed according to the ability to pay. Medical care is only for those who can afford it. If you can't afford it, the GOP healthcare plan is simple: "Let them die!" How this comports with their alleged Christianity, I don't have a clue.
The first three years of expanded Medicaid is 100% covered by the federal government. Thereafter, the state share would gradually increase to around 10%. Suzy Khimm at Ezra Klein's WonkBlog has this important factoid. The truth about Medicaid’s cost to states, in three charts:
What would happen to state budgets if all states went ahead with the Medicaid expansion? The Congressional Budget Office says that it would increase state spending on the program by $73 billion by 2022—the equivalent of a “2.8 percent increase in what states would have spent on Medicaid from 2014 to 2022 in the absence of health reform,” the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities explained.
That said, this is an aggregate look at the expansion: the budgetary impact on states will vary considerably, depending on how far a state has gone already to cover its low-income residents. The Urban Institute has a state-by-state breakdown of the impact, available here. (.pdf).
Romney, Stericycle and aborted fetuses
July 3, 2012
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Earlier this year, Mitt Romney nearly landed in a politically perilous controversy when the Huffington Post reported that in 1999 the GOP presidential candidate had been part of an investment group that invested $75 million in Stericycle, a medical-waste disposal firm that has been attacked by anti-abortion groups for disposing aborted fetuses collected from family planning clinics.
Ruh-Roh, Romney.
David Corn writing for Mother Jones picks up the cold trail of the Huffington Post story in Romney Invested in Medical-Waste Firm That Disposed of Aborted Fetuses, Government Documents Show:
But Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney founded, tamped down the controversy. The company said Romney left the firm in February 1999 to run the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and likely had nothing to with the deal. The matter never became a campaign issue. But documents filed by Bain and Stericycle with the Securities and Exchange Commission—and obtained by Mother Jones—list Romney as an active participant in the investment. And this deal helped Stericycle, a company with a poor safety record, grow, while yielding tens of millions of dollars in profits for Romney and his partners. The documents—one of which was signed by Romney—also contradict the official account of Romney's exit from Bain.
The Stericycle deal—the abortion connection aside—is relevant because of questions regarding the timing of Romney's departure from the private equity firm he founded. Responding to a recent Washington Post story reporting that Bain-acquired companies outsourced jobs, the Romney campaign insisted that Romney exited Bain in February 1999, a month or more before Bain took over two of the companies named in the Post's article. The SEC documents undercut that defense, indicating that Romney still played a role in Bain investments until at least the end of 1999.
