Saturday, October 20, 2012

Madoff Only Stole Billions Not A Whole Country

Bernie Madoff stole Billions but he didn't steal a Country and possibly TRILLIONS. Through a closely held equity fund called Solamere, Mitt Romney, his wife, son Tagg and brother G. Scott Romney are major investors in an investment firm called H.I.G. Capital. H.I.G. in turn holds a majority share and three out of five board members in Hart Intercivic, a company that owns the notoriously faulty electronic voting machines that will count the ballots in swing state Ohio November 7. Hart machines will also be used elsewhere in the United States. This could be the biggest crime in history.

Please sign our petition here at WhiteHouse.gov to call on AG Holder to investigate the connection between the Romneys and Hart Intercivic.

In Lee Fang's article in The Nation, he explains in detail how Solamere and its partners are inextricably tied to a Mitt Romney’s victory.
Here are some excerpts:
The Scooter Store
Marc Leder, a wealthy investor, played host to Mitt Romney last May (where the secret video tape was recorded) at a private fundraiser at his $4 million home in Boca Raton. Leder, whose Sun Capital firm bought a stake in the Scooter Store last year. The company, known for its ubiquitous television ads promising seemingly free motorized wheelchairs for Medicare beneficiaries, has struggled as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that governs the programs, implements rules to curb rampant billing fraud. As a CMS report noted last year, 80 percent of the claims for scooters and power wheelchairs did not meet Medicare requirements, meaning that $492 million a year is being improperly spent.

A Romney administration, for example, would have a role in the fate of a recently launched pilot program ensuring that patients see a doctor face to face to determine if a Medicare scooter is medically necessary—a program that has reportedly already reduced billings to the Scooter Store. Another challenge for the company is Section 3136 of the Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act. If Romney wins and repeals significant portions of the ACA, would he retain this provision, which compels Medicare to have a competitive bidding process for motorized wheelchairs?

Solamere
Solamere, a firm predicated on its founders’ relationship with Romney, presents a channel for powerful investors to influence the White House if he wins. Private equity executives looking to lobby a Romney administration may very well have a leg up if they are already doing business with the firm that the president created for his son, Tagg.
The looming conflicts range from general matters that affect all private equity firms—such as tax changes or the new rules mandated by the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill—to more specific concerns relating to businesses owned or controlled by Solamere’s partner firms. Many of these businesses, in fact, depend on government contracts; indeed, some have been accused of fleecing taxpayers (which is ironic given that many private equity titans claim to support Romney for his unabashed belief in small government and free enterprise). A Romney administration could directly affect the profitability of these companies—and, by extension, potentially the success of Tagg’s venture.
“It’s absolutely a conflict of interest,” says Adam Smith, the communications director for the group Public Campaign, which works on issues concerning money in politics. “Romney can’t un-know that his son’s investment company could benefit financially from his policies. And the other investors—many of whom are likely Romney campaign donors—will have extra access and influence in a Romney administration.”
Private Equity Owned Dental Firms
Meanwhile, HIG Capital—one of the largest Solamere partners, with nearly $10 billion of equity capital—owns a number of other firms that are closely monitoring the federal government. One area where private equity firms have made lucrative investments is the new industry of dental management companies that bill Medicaid. In November 2011, Senators Chuck Grassley of Iowa and Max Baucus of Montana opened an investigation in response to allegations that these corporate-controlled dentists have abused children. As PBS’s Frontline reported, several private equity–owned dental management firms have illegally coerced dentists to perform unnecessary and expensive procedures on low-income children, because Medicaid will reimburse such work. The scandal has provoked a flurry of congressional activity, as well as legislative reforms at the state level. In North Carolina, for example, the legislature debated a highly contentious bill that sought to curtail the ownership of dentists’ offices by private equity firms.
HIG Capital, betting that it could beat the controversy, purchased the dental management firm InterDent for an undisclosed sum in August of this year. InterDent hasn’t been named in the current fraud investigation, but the company has been implicated in other ethics problems in the past. In 2008, InterDent signed a corporate integrity agreement after it was caught overbilling the government at some of its offices in California. This year, the company provided $50,000 for an effort to lobby legislators against the dental management reform bill in North Carolina.
Making Billions off Taxpayers and Veterans
It’s already clear how the Solamere nexus of influence would work to advance such companies under a Romney administration. Romney has voiced his support, for example, for expanding federal aid to proprietary colleges, which have been cited for waste, fraud and abuse, not to mention rising levels of student debt—and the for-profit college he has singled out for praise on several occasions is directly linked to Solamere.
Asked about the rising cost of colleges at a town hall event in New Hampshire in December 2011, Romney said that students should take a look at for-profit colleges like Full Sail University, a career college for the entertainment and production industry. Weeks later, in an interview with the Ames Tribune, Romney hailed the “advent of for-profit institutions of higher learning” for providing competition with public and private universities. He again volunteered Full Sail University as a good example of how students can “hold down the cost of their education.”
What Romney neglected to mention is that Full Sail University—in fact the third most expensive college in the United States—is owned by TA Associates. Indeed, TA Associates has viewed the for-profit college industry—a $40 billion market where 85 percent of the funds are supplied by taxpayers—as an excellent opportunity for growth. The firm has invested in other for-profit colleges, including the Rocky Mountain School of Design, the Los Angeles Film School and Vatterott Educational Centers Inc. Like most profit-driven colleges, which account for only 10 percent of all students but about half of all loan defaults, TA Associates’ schools do not boast a stellar track record. Leaked documents for Vatterott show that recruiters were instructed to use “pain” when targeting students—who, the recruiters are told, decide on college “based more on emotion than logic.” Within three years of dropping out or graduating, 26.6 percent of Vatterott students default on their loans.
Romney would have the ultimate power, through his Education Department, to decide if the current loopholes in federal lending policy continue to benefit for-profit colleges regardless of their track record. The Romney campaign’s education policy outline already makes clear that he would roll back the few regulations requiring for-profit colleges to demonstrate that a percentage of their students are able to find jobs after graduation as a basis for receiving aid.
He would also have the power to rescind President Obama’s recent executive order limiting for-profit college recruitment at military bases. Summit Partners, a Solamere private equity fund, owns Trident University, a for-profit college that targets veterans. “The fact that Mitt Romney praised an overpriced, underperforming college that is owned by his son’s investment partners, and whose owners have contributed a quarter-million dollars to his campaign and Super PAC, shows how he embodies the corrupting influence of money on politics,” asserts David Halperin, a college affordability advocate and attorney who has covered the for-profit industry for years. “It shows how his administration could, as a matter of course, allow special interests—the interests of his rich friends—to skew important policy decisions and harm the public interest.”
Possible Tax Evasion
It seems that Tagg has taken after his father, whose former firm Bain Capital also uses these offshore structures. Most of the offshore entities do not have to file a tax return in the US or anywhere else in the world, making them an ideal shelter for Solamere’s investors, says Wilkins. “To me, the most egregious part of this is that they’re facilitating tax evasion.”


Saturday, October 13, 2012

Me, My Brother's Keeper? No Way! says Mitt Romney on Secret Video

In his own words once again, Presidential Candidate Romney's comments reveal an insight into his soul. This is about character. The more you get to know about the candidate, the more you realize that there is something off-putting about his character and/or core beliefs. It's ok to criticize your opponent’s views, policies and plans. Yet in this country, all Presidents accept Christian principles about our need to help our Brethren. Stating privately that you would not sacrifice for your own brother's college education is a jaw-dropping revelation to some. This statement isn’t inconsistent with the proposed policies of the Romney Ryan ticket.
They want to kill Medicare, slash Medicaid by 1/3, cut Food Stamps for poor, take away a women's control over her body, repeal ObamaCare, and lower taxes on the top 1% of income earners. As Americans we have a clear choice to make in this election. There is no more pretense of what the GOP wants to do for themselves and theirs donors. If you believe you are one who will benefit from Romney's plans and policies, think about what happens if you are wrong. Remember, he wants you to trust him with your house, job, retirement, healthcare, and your children's future. Romney has invested only about $50,000 of his own money in this campaign. His estimated personal net worth is over $250 million dollars. He is the richest Presidential candidate ever. So rich, that he is twice as rich as the past 8 presidents combined. But he pays about 14% in taxes. He has about $100 in his retirement fund. His 5 sons each have a $100 million trust fund set up. They have nothing to worry about financially.
Going back to the old tried and failed “trickle down” policies of the Bush administration, we are at risk of repeating history.  If the economy crashes again, the Romneys will be OK. Most of their money is off-shore, or overseas in foreign banks. It would seem as though Romney doesn’t believe in America. Further, if would seem he doesn’t even believe in himself too much. Gov. Romney has so little “skin in the game” as compared to you.  You know that you won’t let your family down, but can you say the same for Mr. Romney. Do you trust him with your future? What does your gut tell you about his character? What are you willing to wager? Your job? Your house? Your health? Your Retirement? Or  your kids’ future? Choose wisely because the choice you make will follow you the rest of your life.

Friday, October 12, 2012

True Cost of the Romney Ryan Budget

Republican Vice-Presidential Nominee, Congressman Paul Ryan is a WONK. A 'wonk' is a person who looks into all the technical details of implementing a political policy; a nerd, a bookworm, a number cruncher, or a politically connected, know-it-all. He is the type of guy who actually reads those hundred- paged bills voted on in Congress. Yes, that Congress, aka the Do-Nothing-Congress. The GOP Tea Party led Congress which voted to repeal ObamaCare also known as The Affordable Care Act some 33 times costing taxpayers $30 million each time. The insanity of that fruitless endeavor is that they knew full well they would not get it passed the Democratic led Senate or the President of these United States, Barack Obama. Remember, he DOES care. No way would he repeal a piece of history that was 100 years in the making. But I digress.

Mr. Ryan. Oh yes. If you want to know how much something will cost taxpayers, he's the guy to ask. (Whether or not he will tell you, depends on who you are.)   He is not only on the Budget Committee; he is the Chairman. He wrote the Path to Prosperity aka The Ryan Budget. It was voted for twice by almost all Republican members in the House of Representatives with again, no chance of becoming law. By choosing to adopt Ryan and his Plan, GOP Presidential Candidate Willard Mitt Romney is hoping that they can sneak into the Whitehouse by confusing the American People. One Big Problem we have a wonk too. 

Former Congressmen, Tom Perriello of Virginia is also a "Wonk." The difference is he explains, rather than confuse you with the numbers. There are a lot of numbers but you can take your time and pause it to digest it in small doses. Use this video to compare and contrast the gobbledygook coming from Mr. Paul Ryan in his debate.

Round One Goes to Romney

Gov. Romney did win the so called debate on style. He was assertive, confident, knowledgeable, and well-prepared. Congratulations on the win. Good for him. The problem is what is good for him is not good for us. Remember this is about your kids’ future. Let’s see what we know now about him.

· He is the first presidential candidate with off shore accounts --with 137 investments in the Cayman Islands alone. Only showed 2 years of his tax returns (another first.) Paid 14% of his income in taxes (which he said is fair because he is a job creator.) Has over $100 million dollars in his IRA (the maximum yearly input is $6000.) He is 2 times richer than all 8 previous presidents combined. Being rich is no problem, but he hides his wealth in at least 8 different countries. Probably doesn’t believe in America or our banks.

· At BAIN, he accumulated his wealth by outsourcing jobs and offshoring profits to reap huge tax savings. Claimed to have created 100,000 jobs with Bain capital. Most of these jobs were in other countries. The companies in the U.S. that have generated jobs — Duane Reade, Staples and Dominos, for example — also share a common factor: the majority of the jobs in those companies are low-wage jobs in the service sector, the types of jobs that frequently put workers in Romney's derided 47 percent of "entitled" Americans. Staples is closing many of its stores as we speak. But success for Bain was about one thing: Making money for shareholders. Whether the companies Bain was involved in succeeded or failed made little difference to those profiting off Bain's investments. When he and Bain closed companies they loaded them with debt; fired workers; shipped jobs overseas and/or made the company file for bankruptcy. They left thousands of people without health care, pensions or jobs. And subsequently dependent on government for help. Nonetheless Bain got paid. So did Mitt, during the 2 years he “left to go save the Olympics;” yet he remained the sole Managing director, CEO, President and Owner of Bain Capital and collected a salary of at least $100,000 for doing “nothing.”

· What about his term as Governor, you ask? During the campaign for the governorship in 2002, Romney proposed a plan that he said would balance the Massachusetts budget without raising taxes (sound familiar.) He said that he would be able to save $1 billion (out of a $23 billion budget) by reducing waste, fraud, and mismanagement. Upon entering office, his initial emergency budget proposal for fy 2003 called for $343 million in immediate funding cuts, necessitating layoffs of state employees and cuts in aid to cities and towns for public safety and education. He also proposed cuts in state expenditures for Medicaid, the government program providing health care for seniors and the poorest residents. Some 36,000 Massachusetts residents lost their Medicaid eligibility. Romney’s austerity budget for fy 2004 included even more substantial cuts in state funding for cities and towns by as much as 20 percent. Already struggling communities across the state were forced to cut services and hike fees, while laying off teachers, police officers, and other municipal workers. To compensate for lost revenue from the state, communities raised local property tax rates, helping drive up the average residential property tax bill by 22 percent over the course of Romney’s tenure. In addition to proposing reductions in payments to hospitals and nursing homes for care of Medicaid patients, and restrictions on Medicaid patients' access to prescription drugs and eligibility for nursing homes admission, Romney proposed that the low-income Medicaid patients be charged monthly fees for participation in the program, along with co-payments for visits to doctors' offices. Public colleges and universities responded to funding cuts during Romney's tenure by raising tuition fees 63 percent. Romney proposed 33 new fees along with increases in 57 existing fees, resulting in higher costs for birth certificates, new car purchases, driver’s learning permits, firearms permits, professional licenses, and billboards advertising, as well as for many state services. Critics, including some conservatives, complained that Romney was using these fees increases as a tax increase in disguise after having promised he would not raise taxes. See a pattern here? Saying he won’t raise taxes, doesn’t mean the middle class won’t pay more. BTW, Massachusetts was 47th of the 50 states in new job creation over the course of Romney’s term. So much for a job creator. Maybe that explains a 40 pt deficit to Obama in Mass. now. They know him.

· Last night in the debates, Romney told some whoppers of lies. He has been campaigning for 18 months saying he would cut taxes 20% across the board. According to the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) the best they can figure because of lack of specific details from Romney, which amounts to a $5 Trillion budget increase. Add $2 trillion in additional Defense Spending (which they did not ask for) and extend the Bush tax cuts which is another Trillion, you got a bill of $8 Trillion dollars. You’re a smart guy. Getting rid of PBS aint gonna come close. BTW, be gentle when you tell your kids that Big Bird is getting fired by the nice guy. The only way he can even begin to make a dent is to get rid of your mortgage deduction you now enjoy. It’s not a tax but it will surely feel like one. He can also take away your earned income tax deduction, child credit or charitable deductions. What happens if people stop giving to churches and other non-profits?

It’s not a tax but it will surely feel like one to a lot of people. Come on, you’re smart. Try to keep up. This is serious.

· Let’s talk about ObamaCare. Let’s make this simple. It’s the exact same plan Romney instituted in Mass. Written by the exact same people. The $716 Billion Obama “takes” from Medicare is the same amount in the Ryan Budget. The main difference is Obama takes the savings from providers not seniors and uses the savings to extend the life of the program by 8 years. If Romney repeals the program it will go broke by 2016. Romney-Ryan’s plan doesn’t get started until 2023. OK. Let’s say it together. It will end the program before he fixes it. You’re getting it.

· It’s hard to beat a guy in a debate when he keeps shape-shifting. It’s like trying to nail Jell-O to the wall. (Even your kids can understand that.) So enjoy his victory but remember what’s good for him is not necessarily good for you or your kids. Be smart. Do your own research or follow me on twitter @tomthunkit.

PS As a Mormon Pastor, Romney has a callous disregard for the poor, weak and disabled. Remember, Matthew 25:45 He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ Go figure. Maybe we worship a different God.