Newt Gingrich vs. Mitt Romney: Former House Speaker Defends Bain Capital Attack

WASHINGTON -- Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said questions he's raising about Mitt Romney's record as a venture capitalist are "not the centerpiece" of his campaign in South Carolina.

"It's legitimate to ask the question -- and this is the whole Wall Street problem -- how come the big boys made a lot of money and [others] went broke?” he said on Fox News, according to Politico. "And that's not an attack on capitalism. That's not an issue about the whole capitalist system. That is a question about a very particular style of activity involving a very particular person."

"I don't have any question about the general process of entrepreneurial conservatism. There are a series of cases that don't look right. I'm saying -- for a guy to run for president, and use his record as the basis for running, and then tell us we're not even allowed to ask about his record?" said Gingrich.

The former House speaker said Romney's record as head of the equity firm Bain Capital is "an important question," however, because he predicated his campaign on the argument that he has the necessary business experience to restore the economy.

Gingrich said, "I'm campaigning as a pro-jobs, Reagan conservative in South Carolina."

The Georgia Republican was asked on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends" about a man's statement at a campaign event Wednesday that Gingrich should lay off questions about whether the former Massachusetts governor benefited from a culture of corporate greed at Bain Capital. Gingrich told the questioner, "I agree with you."

Comments

[jcbollinger]

05:41 PM on 01/12/2012

Newt is another politician that has never been outside in the real world. Sorry Newt but companys like Bain Capital have helped many companies from going under or spun off dead parts that were bring the companies down. What does Newt want to keep these dying companies alive and have the federal government try to bring them back to life. Chrysler is and example it has been saved by the tax dollars twice. If it goes under again will Newt want to give tax money to keep it alive. I guess Newt will support giving Hostess Bakery's money to keep operating like they currently are.
Newt is a joke!

[johndson]

05:28 PM on 01/12/2012

So Newt which is it? Less regulations or continue to allow vultures like Bain Capitol to continue to run roughshod over any distressed company they can pick off. I despise what Bain Capitol did, but what they did was, according to the law, legal and exactly what they are ALLOWED to do. Newtie thinks that they should have made more "moral judgements" in their slimey business deals!! But he preaches against the kind of regulatory scrutiny that could have stopped Bain's outrageous "immoral" behavior by making it illegal in the first place! Is he really that naive? Is he really that conflicted, or is it just another example of talking out of bou\th sides of your mouth at the same time. Hypocrisy your name is Gingrich, it is also named Romney. This is like a bad dream we cannot wake up from.

[Rias10]

05:14 PM on 01/12/2012

Newt is vetting Romney and Romney and his crew do not like it. Romney should also show his income tax statements. Romney feels he is above the law.

[buggeroffyou666]

05:02 PM on 01/12/2012

The attempts that I read on the page to defend Newt or Mitt are both equally funny. Morlocks trying to defend the indefensible.

[therigel]

04:41 PM on 01/12/2012

Newt Gingrich needs to know when to keep his mouth shut. A company becomes vulnerable to takeover when it can no longer generate a profit. On occasion, layoffs will be necessary to avoid shutting the company down and causing everybody to lose their jobs. Because of the high cost of employees, caused in large part by government regulations, employees are expected to be more productive and do more with less. This has happened to me as well, but I am fortunate enough that I was productive enough to allow for my continued employment. The cost of simply providing health insurance for an employee can easily exceed 10K per year and twice as much if family coverage is desired or necessary. Mitt Romney probably saved far more jobs than he lost by his actions. Capitalism may be a flawed system, but socialism is a failed system.

[Nardac]

04:19 PM on 01/12/2012

Newt, Newt... You commited the ultimate sin for Republicans. Questioning aspects of the capitalist system and placing people over profit. That is a complete no-no and Limpaw, guardian of the orthodoxy and Grand Inquisitor, wasted no time pouncing on it. NOTHING, hear me, NOTHING rates higher than profit in the Republican catechism. Not people, not your friends, not even you mother. That is commandment number ONE and you transgressed it. Poor you, it's going to take a lot of grovelling and worshipping at the Grover Norquist altar to overcome that one.

[wvponstick]

04:19 PM on 01/12/2012

Rush is going after Newt now.
Mitty will just lie his way out of it.
Mitty ran an ad in Iowa that completly misquoted Pres. Obama and actually an out and out lie..When a TV reporter questioned Mitt about the lie, Mitty reply was "all fair in love and war".
How is that for integrity!!!!!
Mitty, because he is on such an ego trip, will say anything.

[Garo4321]

05:08 PM on 01/12/2012

Mitt was taken out of context , Newt was fined but charges wouldn't stick

[k9school]

04:18 PM on 01/12/2012

Mith only has a few delegates .. we have hundreds yet to go .. but the media has already annointed him .. hmmmm .. that gives me pause .. I would rather have NEWT .. but hey .. the media and the left will destroy anyone who dares try to oust BHO

[Birddog13]

04:26 PM on 01/12/2012

Yes, I am sure Fox News will be leading the charge to "destroy anyone who dares try to oust BHO", or maybe they would be fighting for the lead with Rush, Sean............

Oh, yeah, that Cain guy has a radio show, too.

[snafu20]

04:11 PM on 01/12/2012

Newt has opened mitt romoney up and thats a good thing. I hope this outing of romoney will keep its legs all the way through the primary and beyound. If the story doesn't keep its legs it will be looked at as old news. Romoneys people will come up with numbers of jobs that where saved and created to counter this attack and will be released at just the right moment. Keep the heat on this raider and never forget how many people where hurt by him. He will raid whats left of our treasure if ever elected. He lies and cheats and has no feelings for the middle class of the poor.

[DickRay Schliep]

04:08 PM on 01/12/2012

I hate to admit it but I agree with Gingrich....... Romneys' life was depicted in the movie Pretty Women and played by Richard Gere. Gere like Romeny was a ruthless jobs destroyer for the sake of millions of dollars being made for for the GROUP he worked for and with.
It was not until Gere found a heart and soul that he saw his wicked ways, destroying thousands of lives and 401ks.

The biggest difference other than the physical, is that Gere developed and conscience and heart. ROMNEY LIKES firing people, not my words but Romneys.

[Garo4321]

05:06 PM on 01/12/2012

Mitt likes firing people is taken out of context, Newt WAS fined but the charges wouldn't stick .

[DickRay Schliep]

05:28 PM on 01/12/2012

I saw the original speach as he stated the fact the he enjoyed having the power to fire people and felt good about it. The gleem in Romneys ' eys was one of pleasure derived from the act of firing. End of story.

[abigtuna]

09:46 PM on 01/12/2012

Pretty Woman? Take that cowboy hat off and put on a beret.Unbelievable.

[DickRay Schliep]

10:14 PM on 01/12/2012

You are a hoot. What is it about my western hat that makes you think that I would not enjoy anyting that Julia Roberts was staring in? Cowboys love great lookin women buckaroo. smile

[tjdwill02]

04:00 PM on 01/12/2012

Capitalism is what it is: resources voluntarily offered by investors (capitalists) in hopes of making profit. Romney's duty was to take the wealth of Bain's investors and make more of it; if that had to be accomplished through firing idle and misallocated labor, then so be it. Contrary to what some venture capitalists may think, labor is simply a factor of production, a neccessary component in the creation of a good or service. Capitalists and entrepreneurs in their actions are no more "good" or "evil" than the consumers who demand and purchase the end product.

[snafu20]

04:15 PM on 01/12/2012

there was no hopes of making profit are you kidding me. it was researched and their format was used to break the company up, fire people and raid the pensions. all premeditated right down to the penny

[tjdwill02]

04:52 PM on 01/12/2012

So, you must be part of Bain Capitals legal team ?

[Birddog13]

04:23 PM on 01/12/2012

I completely agree with your comment on capitalism and think a lot of people would be better off if they understood the basic point you are making. Capitalists are not "job creators" unless it is the financial interest of their investors to create jobs. The job they are expected to do is to enhance the wealth of their investors. There is nothing wrong with this. As you say, it "is what it is".

The question of whether you want someone whose business experience is essentially buying and selling companies to create wealth for his investors and himself to be President based largely on this business experience is a very legitimate issue to debate.

[Sanders McGrillin]

04:00 PM on 01/12/2012

Romney is Mr. 1%
All his buddies are 1%
He has servants to go grocery shopping for him, to cook his meals, to drive him places
The average American however does not have those luxuries.
Since Mitt loves to fire people, & has never worked a real job in his life, how can we expect him to relate to the plight of the average american worker? We can't!
He has never lost his job & had nothing to fall back on, He has never had a health problem & not had insurance to cover it. He has never had to decided whether to buy a $4 gallon of milk for his kids or $4 in gas to go job hunting in a horrible economy. He has never seen his 88 year old grandmother worry about losing her SS & medicade because all she see's on TV are republicans wanting to slash the aid she currently recieves. How can we expect this man, born with a silver spoon in his mouth, to ever be able to relate to the average person who is affected by the failed policies he supports?
Mr. 1% will never understand what its like to struggle, he doesn't care about you or anyone you know who is not as rich as he is. To me, its more important to make sure granny survives instead of giving GE 3 billion in profit from tax breaks & subsidies. I think thats a christian view, compassiona & humanism.

[Dr Michael]

04:06 PM on 01/12/2012

So let me get this right......Mitt Romney has never had a real job???? Are you for real??? What qualifications does this hack obama have? Go read Romney's work history....he became wealthy by going to college and working hard. Something liberals can't seem to understand...liberals wealth envy is disgusting...people like you think your entitled to everything for free...and you also think you have a right to stick your filthy hands in someone else's pocket to get what you want. Grow up moron,,,,,nothing is free, you need to work for it....stop worrying what everyone else has.

[buggeroffyou666]

04:59 PM on 01/12/2012

yes yes working hard on his dads momey. putz

[wisealways]

04:14 PM on 01/12/2012

The people that shop for him, drive for him, work for him, have grannies, too. So he actually contributes to the welfare and care by providing jobs for the things he chooses to not to do himself. Look at it logically for a change.

[Tony Moschetti]

03:59 PM on 01/12/2012

"Gingrich Defends Bain Capital Attack"

Okay, I've figured it out. Newt is manic depressive (that's bi polar for the politically correct out there), and every now and then loses his medication. Next thing you know, he'll show up sitting on a sofa, on a beach, beside Madam Comrade Pelosi, wanting to address man made global warming.

Then he'll get back on the meds and things will be fine for a while. Then, out of the blue, Newt will go into his best Barack Hussien Obama, anti-Capitalist impersonation, and attack, and attack those actually trying to save failing companies, just like the radical that he's impersonating.

Unfortunately, he could relapse again at any time so it would be best not replace the radical free market hater that he's impersonating with someone who become that person at any time without notice!

[Dan Buckles]

03:54 PM on 01/12/2012

There is a difference between a vulture capitalist and a venture capitalist, and Newt and company are just bring it to the attention of the people out there living in denial, called the working class Republicans. After Bain got done with US Steel in KC the government had to come in and bail out the pensions. They hide their money in the Caymans and pretend to be those wonderful capitalists making America a better place. For who??

[rltballer]

03:58 PM on 01/12/2012

They make life better for maybe a handful of people, 5-10 at the expense of thousands. Romney is a complete failure other than his own pockets. he is a successful businessman in his own eyes, but in the eyes of thousands he is a failure and one of the biggest reasons they possibly lost their homes and savings.

[aomwn3]

03:51 PM on 01/12/2012

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.