"Binders Full Of Women"

The inevitable tumblr on Mitt's creepy "binders full of women" remark:

More here.

Mitt Romney Lied. That Part Is Simple.

That part is simple.  Who (whom?) he lied to is complicated.

From Politico:

Deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter laid out the issue as the Obama team sees it: “Either Mitt Romney, through his own words and his own signature, was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the SEC, which is a felony."

"Or," she said, "he was misrepresenting his position at Bain to the American people to avoid responsibility for some of the consequences of his investments,” including layoffs and the outsourcing of jobs.

Over at Foxnews.com, the story's not about the SEC, Bain Capital, or Mitt Romney's honesty, it's about what each campaign said about the other:

The battle between President Obama and Mitt Romney reached new levels of rancor Thursday, with each campaign accusing the other of lying over Romney's tenure at private-equity firm Bain Capital.

The charges flew at a rapid pace, and by the end of the day the Romney campaign was demanding an apology after a senior Obama campaign official said the Republican presidential candidate may have committed a felony.

Now, that's good, unbiased reporting.  Don't spend much (if any) time ascertaining what's true.  Just let each side tell its own story and you've done your job.

But which side is telling the truth?

Let's go back to the original reporting.  The story that triggered this was published at the Boston Globe.  Here's how it begins:

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.

Why is this a big deal?  The Globe gives an answer:

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.

Whether he was in on any decision is beside the point.  His name is on the SEC filings.  The company was his.  He is responsible for all the decisions Bain Capital made.

So he either lied to the SEC or he's lying to you now.

Mitt Romney Profited From Abortions

Anyone who reads this blog for any length of time knows that I am pro choice. Mitt Romney was pro choice and then he wasn't. The virulently anti choice Republican Party has managed to overlook Romney's flip-flop and will officially nominate him as their presidential candidate this summer. But can they overlook the fact that he personally profited from abortions?

Via Mother Jones:

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. Coming during the heat of the GOP primaries, as Romney tried to sell South Carolina Republicans on his pro-life bona fides, the revelation had the potential to damage the candidate's reputation among values voters already suspicious of his shifting position on abortion.  

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.

First, imagine the furor on the right if such a revelation came out about Obama! Second, if this gets the play in the media it deserves -- and that's a pretty big if -- we will be seeing Republicans twists themselves into pretzels trying to defend Romney. As a bonus, reread the last line of the second quoted paragraph above -- just one more lie from the Land of Mitt Believe.

Also, shouldn't poor Little Ricky Santorum's head be doing one of these at this news?