He also keeps saying that the $716 billion are cuts to Medicare services and benefits.
Both statements are flat-out lies.
As I’ve explained over and over and over, the “cuts” to Medicare come from savings, reductions in waste and fraud, and ending taxpayer subsidies to insurance companies. Mitt Romney promises to put the $716 billion back into Medicare, which necessarily means Mitt Romney wants to increase fraud and waste in the Medicare system.
Then again, it is no surprise that Romney favors waste and fraud since he and Bain Capital profited from such waste and fraud: Mitt Romney actually sat on the board of a company that plead guilty to charges of defrauding Medicare and agreed to pay the largest healthcare criminal fraud fine in history at the time – more than $35 million.
From blue aardvark at Daily Kos:
From the delightful gift that is John McCain’s opposition research on Mitt (courtesy of namelessgenxer) comes the sordid tale of Mitt’s tenure on the board of Damon Clinical Laboratories, which plead guilty to charges of defrauding Medicare and agreed to pay what was at the time the largest health care criminal fraud fine in history – $35,300,000. They also agreed to larger civil fines which totaled $83,700,000.
I originally published this back in January, but given the recent focus on Bain it’s worth a revisit. Also, I’m republishing this to The Bain Files to add to that archive of Mitty evildoings.The time line goes as follows.
1988: Damon begins a systemic practice of fraud. The government estimates later that the total cost to taxpayers of this fraud is around $40,000,000 1990: Bain Capital (CEO Mitt Romney) buys a minority stake in Damon. Mitt takes a seat on the board of directors 1990 to 1993: Mitt serves on the board of directors, earning ~$10,000 per year for doing so. He is on the company’s “Strategic Planning” committee 1992: Romney said that [Damon’s then-CEO Robert] Rosen told the board in about 1992 ‘that all current practices at the company were now in conformity with government regulations and that in the past there may have been practices which would not be deemed appropriate. 1993: Damon is taken over by Corning, with Mitt Romney voting in favor of the acquisition 1993: Corning immediately closes Damon’s Massachusetts plant and lays off 115 workers 1993: Corning uncovers the fraud and alerts authorities. The SEC filings made by Damon prior to the acquisition make no mention of any potential earnings write-downs or legal problems 1993: Mitt Romney’s share of Bain’s profit from the Damon investment: $473,000 1993: Bain’s profit from its investment in Damon: $7,400,000, which represented a tripling of the initial investment 1994: Running for Senator, Mitt Romney says:
I’m proud of the small part I played in the growth of Damon,’ Romney said yesterday. ‘It’s something that Ted Kennedy doesn’t have a clue about – creating real jobs in the private sector.2002: While running for governor, Romney claims that he helped uncover the fraud by starting an investigation. This version of events is disputed by Corning and by the Federal Prosecutors. Mitt also says he never alerted the authorities, which no one disputes.
Mitt Romney is a liar and a fraud. Nothing else need be said.
[cross-posted at ABLC]
Litlebritdifrnt
What with this and the revelations from the Daily Telegraph that he has ethics problems from his time as Governor of MA, it is amazing to me that the Republican Party has allowed him to become the nominee, did they not anticipate these problems, was he not VETTED?
R-Jud
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Come on, vetted? Have you seen his hair? And his shoulders, that you could land a 747 on?
gbear
We believed you the first time.
Edit: Besides, a little (well a record-settingly huge) medicare fraud never kept anyone from becoming the republican governor of Florida. What’s a little (well, gargantuanly huge) medicare fraud between conservative compadres?
General Stuck
Mitt doesn’t care, nor do the hordes of wingnuts lining up to defend everything and anything he or Ryan says. Post truth campaign as Cole calls it. Aptly
They have a new formula, that is being tested for victory. Lie about every fucking thing. Spend a gazzilions dollars on making political fog so dense, any truth is cloaked just enough to squeeze by on election day.
You have to hand it to the nutters. They are golden when it comes to functioning like so many gears to animate whatever Frankenstein monster they end up with for candidates/ a monster built in the basement of Karl Rove.
Reading their bilge the past few days, is a mind numbing experience in a factual wasteland, but with a somewhat impressive ability to sell any piece of bullshit they are presented with. And creating a narrative and sense of inevitability of winning, even after jumping feets first into the historical pit of fail for them. That is medicare. I don’t think it will work, but with enough cash, I’m not completely certain of that.
Mark S.
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Did you see the people he was running against for the nomination? I don’t think any of them wanted to win at all; they just wanted Fox News gigs.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Mark S.:
I am still firmly of the belief that they did not want to win this year anyway, otherwise Jeb and Christie would have run. I think they decided, early on, that it was a no hoper, and letting Romney get the nod was a hiding to nothing. Let him do his thing and get the vanity nod and then run someone with real credibility in 2016. I am still of this belief.
Lojasmo
Not content with one link back to her blog, ABL now inserts FOUR links back to her blog.
Libtard butthurt in four, three, two…
JPL
@Litlebritdifrnt: IMO.. Jeb and Christie will never have a chance. The repubs have been taken over by the Koch brothers and Tony Perkins. Although I’m not religious, I pray every night that Ryan and Romney lose and lose big.
mclaren
“Criminal versatility” is one of the 20 points on Dr. Hare’s sociopathy checklist, along with “pathological lying” and “glib and superficially charming” and “lack of empathy.”
As we’ve seen, Willard Romney has considerable criminal versatility. He can make money by tax fraud, by destroying viable businesses and shipping their jobs overseas, by self-dealing, and by asset-stripping of companies, leaving empty shells burdened with unrepayable debt.
Full sociopathy checklist here. See how many traits describe Romney; I get 16 out of 20.
JPL
@Lojasmo: are you jealous? wtf
wipe that green with envy crap off your face
mclaren
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. When GOP elites touted Jeb Bush as a possible presidential contender a couple of years back, the reaction I heard from highly-placed Republican pundits was “Three generations of imbeciles is enough.”
MLRjr
ABL – you are a treasure! Thank you.
wrb
@Litlebritdifrnt:
The toady party does not Vet the rich boy.
Sad for them.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I don’t think there is a “they” anymore, though I do think individual candidates thought back when these things are decided that the economy would be stronger than it is, and Obama is a formidable opponent, and they all have weaknesses as big as Romney’s or Perry’s appeared on paper. And I think Bush, Daniels and that ilk would prefer the Tea Baggers to be a little bit worn out before they run–delusional, IMHO, but I can see them thinking they would let them exhaust themselves with Santorum and Gingrich. But here’s a lot of the ‘they’ who still think this can be won– Shelley Adelson, and via an interesting tidbit from BooMan, the Koch Bros.
Imani Gandy (ABL)
@General Stuck: i think it’s starting to drive me a little crazy. (ok, crazier…)
NancyDarling
@Litlebritdifrnt: I know you are not native born so you can’t be expected to know everything, but these kinds of shenanigans are practically a requirement to get nominated for anything in today’s GOP.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
But I thought Ann-toinette and the 5 little Dauphins were his core advisers.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@NancyDarling: I don’t think it happened how Stone says, I wouldn’t believe him if he told me what time it was, but I’m sure Koch’s influence was a part of the last-minute, panicked decision after Ann Coulter and Limbaugh went ballistic on Our Willard.
Emerald
Why would a little Medicare fraud stop Mitt? Sure didn’t stop Rick Scott in Florida. Teabaggers, particularly elderly ones, luvs ’em some Medicare fraud in their inside-out world.
Emerald
Why would a little Medicare fraud stop Mitt? Sure didn’t stop Rick Scott in Florida. Teabaggers, particularly elderly ones, luvs ’em some Medicare fraud in their inside-out world.
General Stuck
@Imani Gandy (ABL):
We can keep pointing out the lies, and yell at the press to confront them. But in the end, it will be the voters who will make the decision that should be cyrstal clear, the choice, by election day. That is how I try to view it, or it can make you crazy with chronic outrage, that is justified, but not all that healthy except in measured doses.
Patricia Kayden
I don’t think anyone is shocked anymore by Romney’s lies. That’s all he ever does. BJ does a great job in exposing him as the fraud that he is. The Obama campaign needs to make an ad about this medicare fraud.
Bill T.
That $716 billion should be called “cost cuts to protect benefits.”
Repeat the phrase for effect: “Cost Cuts To Protect Benefits.”
A simple message is remembered best:
“Cost Cuts To Protect Benefits.”
Mike G
Teanuts admire white guys who get rich ripping off the eeevuull govmint even as they gnash and moan about the waste of taxpayer dollars out the other side of their mouths. They’ve sure voted for enough of them — Rick Scott, Bill Frist, etc.
mcd410x
I don’t think Mitt cares what you think.
karen marie
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I almost choked on my snack laughing. Jeb Bush will never be elected president. And Chris Christie? Hahahahaha. There is not a Republican alive who has “real credibility.” They’re Republicans. QED.
karen marie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: David Koch had himself made a Romney delegate out of New York and he’s going to attend the convention so that everyone there who matters understands who’s running things.
Waynski
@General Stuck: This, General. And I think a significant portion of Joey B’s debate responses will be dedicated to pointing out these lies to Sad Face Boy and Obama will do a smaller portion in his debates with Romney.
kerFuFFler
@Bill T.:
$716 billion=“Cost Cuts To Protect Benefits.”
Great idea, Bill! People just don’t “get” “savings from prospective expenditures”.
Commenting at Ballon Juice since 1937
You people don’t understand. Mitt was not responsible, in any way, for the bad things companies he was involved with did. He is only responsible for the part where they were successful businesses (i.e. made a lot of money).
El Cid
@Bill T.: I think that it flows a little better if it’s “Cutting Costs to Protect Benefits” than “Cost Cuts” etc.
Bill T.
@El Cid: Keeping the message SIMPLE is all that matters, and that the message ends with “…Protect Benefits.” Smooth it out to your own personal preference.