Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

The willow is too close to the house.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

This fight is for everything.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Peak wingnut was a lie.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

I like you, you’re my kind of trouble.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

John Fetterman: Too Manly for Pennsylvania.  Paid for by the Oz for Senator campaign.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

Wow, you are pre-disappointed. How surprising.

The words do not have to be perfect.

That’s my take and I am available for criticism at this time.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2012 / Rewards for a Job Well Done

Rewards for a Job Well Done

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Say you’re an arrogant asshole who is spectacularly mismanaging an organization. You’re buying an $87,000 area rug while your company goes down in flames, blowing massive holes in innocent bystanders’ life savings and demanding mind-boggling bailouts to keep your astounding incompetence and greed from pauperizing the entire planet forever. That can only mean it’s BONUS time!

The Marquis de Mittens really is bringing this fabled job creator ethos to the political realm: Just as the wingnut lamentations about his campaign’s incompetence reached an earsplitting crescendo, we learn that the consortium of hapless clods who are driving the clown car received bonus checks:

Mitt Romney’s campaign handed out more than $200,000 in bonuses last month to senior staffers, according to new disclosure records filed Thursday.

Keep in mind that the Mittens campaign is all about combatting the “culture of dependency” by separating indolent lay-abouts from le dole. Hahahahaha! The end.

[X-posted at Rumproast]

Reader Interactions

80Comments

  2. 2.

    Villago Delenda Est

    They have no shame at all.

    No one will mourn them as they’re taking their tumbrel rides to their just desserts.

  3. 3.

    Enhanced Mooching Techniques

    Politics is just a new profit center to the Job Creators.

    Oh please don’t go gault us, Mr 1%s. That would just be so awful.

  4. 4.

    Ramiah Ariya

    The economy is weak. What the right wing had hoped was that their candidate would get elected just based on the economy. Then they could turn around, claim a mandate; claim a justification for their bald lies and propaganda about Obama – and implement whatever they want.
    I am glad their plans may come to naught. Diabolical b***rds.

  5. 5.

    MikeJ

    As has been pointed out, that $200k was handed out after the campaign borrowed twenty million dollars because the bucks just aren’t flowing in any more.

  6. 6.

    Teddy's Person

    Is this a common practice or a result of unlimited corporate cash that has to be spent on something?

  7. 7.

    EconWatcher

    Also in the spirit of fairness, do we actually know that these worker bees are incompetent, or could it be that they’re simply hamstrung by a grossly incompetent “CEO” of the campaign?

  8. 8.

    Bloody Peasant

    @Zifnab: I say cheese. Because if the rats start fleeing in great numbers it will say loads about Rmoney’s management style, and undercut his “best” selling point – even more than he already has.

  10. 10.

    Josie

    Thanks for this, Betty. You have an uncanny ability to put your finger on just the right button to demonstrate the irony of things.

  11. 11.

    JR

    I don’t have insider information or anything, but as longtime political staffer I can tell you that this is a good sign.

    The bonuses were almost certainly what’s called “win bonuses.” They’re built into employment contracts for a lot of campaign staffers as an added incentive to keep pushing for victory. The logical date that they would have been triggered would be the date he officially secured the nomination. In other words, they’d kick in around the Convention.

    So why is this a good sign? Because Mitt Romney–who loves right to work laws and SB5 and Scott Walker, who stripped laid off workers of their health coverage, who never met a deal he wouldn’t break–is actually honoring an employment contract!

    Say what you will, that’s progress.

  12. 12.

    joes527

    This story, coupled with the absolute hopelessness of the candidate, has left me wondering if the whole Romney campaign is more about transferring money from dumb R supporters into the pockets of the campaign staff, and not about winning at all. A Republican “jobs program” (for the right kind of people) if you will.

    It fits the facts better than “no, he is really trying to win.”

  14. 14.

    Another Halocene Human

    They’re pathetically small bonuses compared to the financial sector. No wonder he can’t attract top talent.

    /// kidding

  17. 17.

    lamh35

    Welp Ryan ain’t getting the reaction from AARP crowd that they want.

    Unlike low-info voters, this AARP convention attendee pay attention.

    @AlexNBCNews: Loud boos for Ryan at AARP when he says “The first step to a stronger Medicare is to repeal Obamacare”

    @AlexNBCNews
    now audience members at AARP are yelling “you lie” as Ryan tells crowd Medicare is going bankrupt #decision2012

    @mikeviqueira: Paul Ryan is getting loudly and repeatedly booed at AARP as he calls for repealing Obamacare. #Obama #Romney

  18. 18.

    Frankensteinbeck

    The Republican Party right now is a teeming mass of grifters, like a stream filled with frenzied piranhas. Romney is a wounded animal. Thanks to CU the PACs are fat, helpless targets for any con artist. The Republican Party was already a haven for grifters, it’s just suddenly more profitable to grift the system than their constituents. To top that all off, Romney is the poster boy for ‘Gosh, Mr. Romney, you’re a genius!’ ‘I like you, Buddy. Here’s $30,000.’ style managerial cronyism.

  19. 19.

    The Red Pen

    A little off-topic, but the butt-hurt over SNL’s satire about Romney has begun. Meanwhile, Jake Tapper has called Obama a liar for saying that “Fast and Furious” didn’t start with his administration. He does point out that:

    Previous programs involving ATF agents allowing guns to “walk” across the border so as to trace them were run during the Bush presidency, but not this particular “field-initiated program.”

    So remember, gun walking started under Bush, this particular round started in 2009.

    Just like that “as we know it” that you need to add to “end Medicare.”

  22. 22.

    EconWatcher

    Romney should give some of that bonus money to Tim Kaine for signing on to his 47% meme and giving it credibility, while simultaneously committing near suicide in his Senate race.

    OK, OK, I’ve got to get over it, but I’m still in shock.

  23. 23.

    Another Halocene Human

    @Frankensteinbeck: So is grifting from the talibangelical flock played now that Bubba has satellite internet and can tool around on YouTube?

    Terry Jones certainly isn’t getting rich, despite his best, and I do mean very best efforts. (Watching him in person… yes, the #@$*ing cat came back, I don’t think it’s about money alone for him. He looked practically orgasmic watching his brainwashed followers rant like morans. It was very disturbing.)

  25. 25.

    Comrade Mary

    @lamh35: Yep, just came over to dance about over that news. TPM:

    Paul Ryan drew boos speaking to the AARP by attacking Obamacare and pledging to repeal it.
    __
    “The first step to a stronger Medicare is to repeal Obamacare,” he said to a shower of jeers. “I had a feeling there would be mixed reaction, so let me get into it. It weakens medicare for today’s seniors and puts it at risk for the next generation. First, it funnels $716 billion out of Medicare to pay for a new entitlement we didn’t even ask for. Second, it puts 15 unelected bureaucrats in charge of medicare’s future.”
    __
    Ryan was booed repeatedly as he continued to attack the bill, especially after he said the law “turned Medicare into a piggy bank for Obamacare.”
    __
    Ryan has included the same $716 billion savings from Medicare in his own budgets. Repealing the Affordable Care Act would take away current benefits for seniors included in the law, most notably an end to the “donut hole” that used to require seniors to pay more out of pocket for prescription drugs.

  26. 26.

    MattF

    @JR: So, I guess that being morally, intellectually, politically, and managerially bankrupt doesn’t mean you can claim to be financially bankrupt. Yet.

  27. 27.

    Another Halocene Human

    @lamh35: By early tomorrow morning FOX will be telling us how the AARP is and always has been a front for Democrats and unnamed special interests.

  28. 28.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @Zifnab:

    Was that really a “Bonus” or just cheese laid out to keep rats from fleeing a sinking ship?

    __
    More like hush money for them to keep their mouths shut until the election is over. I’m sure the scramble has already begun for the tell-all articles and books that are sure to come out of the Romney campaign, and publishers are thinking about what sort of advances to offer to which insiders. It will rival Titanic survivor literature as a genre.

  29. 29.

    quannlace

    Loud boos for Ryan at AARP when he says “The first step to a stronger Medicare is to repeal Obamacare”

    Let me know when they break out the rotten tomatoes

  30. 30.

    lamh35

    DAMNNNN! Ya’ll thought the NAACP crowd was pissed!

    ‏@AlexNBCNews
    As Ryan says about Obama “He’s put his own job security over your retirement security” lady in crowd yells “NO, Obama cares!” #decision2012

  31. 31.

    ChrisNYC

    “Paul Ryan drew boos speaking to the AARP by attacking Obamacare and pledging to repeal it.” That’s why Romney’s guys get the big $$.

  33. 33.

    LD50

    @Comrade Mary: I’ve always said the MAIN thing that terrifies the GOP about Obamacare is that it will be popular and he will get credit for it. That seems to be starting now.

  34. 34.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @The Red Pen:

    Jake Tapper has called Obama a liar for saying that “Fast and Furious” didn’t start with his administration.

    __
    Forget it China, it’s Jaketown.

  35. 35.

    ChrisNYC

    This has got to end because I CANNOT listen to Paul Ryan speak anymore. “Friends…” Ugh. This speech is a disaster btw.

  37. 37.

    ? Martin

    So, we can expect to hear on Nov 7 how AARP rigged the election through absentee ballot voter fraud.

  38. 38.

    dm

    Wasn’t it here I read how Romney’s been raising money more than he’s been campaigning?

    @Enhanced Mooching Techniques Says: Politics is just a new profit center to the Job Creators.

    Makes me wonder. What happens to the Romney For President money when the campaign is over and the bills paid? Will Mitt be crying all the way to the bank?

  39. 39.

    Another Halocene Human

    @Zifnab: They CALL it Galt’s Gulch, but it’s the same old oppression and exploitation of poor people. So, like I said, a self-serving fantasy for greedballs.

  41. 41.

    dmsilev

    @Another Halocene Human: The’ve been calling AARP a bunch of communists for years now. There’s even some conservative-approved senior organization that was astroturfed into existence purely to counteract the AARP.

  42. 42.

    Forum Transmitted Disease

    audience members at AARP are yelling “you lie” as Ryan tells crowd Medicare is going bankrupt

    @lamh35: I have not led a good enough life, etc.

  43. 43.

    ? Martin

    @dmsilev:

    There’s even some conservative-approved senior organization that was astroturfed into existence purely to counteract the AARP.

    The tea party? Yeah, we’ve heard of them.

  45. 45.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    @LD50:

    I’ve always said the MAIN thing that terrifies the GOP about Obamacare is that it will be popular and he will get credit for it.

    __
    Perhaps repeatedly calling it “Obamacare” wasn’t the best strategic move after all. It will be fun to listen to the Republicans in 2032 claiming to be the protectors and defenders of Obamacare vs. those nasty Dems. It worked for them in 2010 with Medicare, which fortunately for them wasn’t popularly known as LBJcare.

  46. 46.

    Roger Moore

    @JR:

    So why is this a good sign? Because Mitt Romney—who loves right to work laws and SB5 and Scott Walker, who stripped laid off workers of their health coverage, who never met a deal he wouldn’t break—is actually honoring an employment contract!

    I think the MOTU do believe in honoring employment contracts, as long as they’re individual contracts with other 1%ers. It’s only union contracts that can be abrogated for the flimsiest of reasons.

    And, quite frankly, I’m happy to see Mitt handing out big bonuses. I wish he’d hand out millions of dollars in bonuses to every primary staffer for a job well done. Every penny he pays in bonuses now is one penny he can’t be spending on TV ads or GOTV efforts. So please, Mitt, keep handing out massive bonuses to all your top staffers and all your contractors. Give until it hurts, and then keep on giving.

  47. 47.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Another Halocene Human:

    At least under feudalism, the lords had a responsibility to perform military service and render protection to the serfs.

    The Randite maggots can’t be bothered with that sort of menial existence. They are pure parasites…taking, and returning absolutely nothing.

  48. 48.

    Another Halocene Human

    @LD50: And by tying it to Obama, they’ve made Metrosexual Black Abe Lincoln more popular than the vampire-hunting original.

    Hm, just like the gerrymander-overreach, another double down that has the potential to lose big.

    They got nothin’.

  49. 49.

    beltane

    It sounds like the only way this AARP speech could have gone worse for RR is if word got out that it was really Paul Ryan who snatched the marble rye away from the old lady in Seinfeld.

  50. 50.

    dmsilev

    @LD50: And of course, they’ve spent years using the name Obamacare for the ACA. Hence, as Obamacare becomes more popular, Obama and his legacy benefit.

    Well played, lads!

  51. 51.

    Another Halocene Human

    Grannies shouting “you lie!” at the Granny-starver just abounds in delicious irony.

    And the GOP broke the civility barrier in 2009, also, too.

  52. 52.

    Rosalita

    so, bonuses for just getting him the nomination or pay offs for not running out screaming… guess they didn’t give T Paw enough.

  53. 53.

    SatanicPanic

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    The Republican Party was already a haven for grifters, it’s just suddenly more profitable to grift the system than their constituents.

    This really stuck out at the RNC. People noticed many people up there self-promoting but it was like, what do you expect? Their philosophy is self-enrichment, that’s just who they are. They’re only become less good at hiding it.

  54. 54.

    lamh35

    Romney/Ryan made 2 mistakes, first, sending this young buck to tell old people of AARP that they’ve had it too damn easy. I’m just sayin’ but old people don’t seem to like being lectured by whippersnappers.

    Secondly, they made the mistake of assuming the attendees at AARP or like the low info voter crowds of senior they got in FL. Nope, the AARP crowd actually reads the monthlies and pay attention. So yeah you gonna get booed if you attack medicare and such.

  55. 55.

    LD50

    @dmsilev: Yes, and being Republicans, they automatically assumed that a program that assures that everyone in America can afford medical care would be massively unpopular.

  58. 58.

    Fwiffo

    I think it’s probably more about some kind of tax scam (staffers salaries being partly or largely made up of regularly scheduled “bonuses” instead of a regular paycheck.) Kinda like how employers will call their employees “independent contractors” even if it doesn’t make any damn sense – it lets them skip out on paying payroll taxes and gain some deductions.

  59. 59.

    The Red Pen

    @? Martin:

    So, we can expect to hear on Nov 7 how AARP rigged the election through absentee ballot voter fraud.

    I foresee a hidden-camera video featuring James O’Keefe dressed up as an elderly pimp.

  61. 61.

    JGabriel

    Every Romney donor who collected $200,000 in checks just thought to himself or herself, “Well, shit, there goes my contribution.”

  64. 64.

    JGabriel

    __
    __
    Zifnab:

    Was that really a “Bonus” or just cheese laid out to keep rats from fleeing a sinking ship?

    Yep. I imagine Ed Gillespie rubbing his hands together while cackling, “Oooh, sweet. Stay Pay!”

    .

  65. 65.

    PurpleGirl

    @PurpleGirl: There seems to be three groups claiming to be the conservative alternative to AARP:

    Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC)
    American Seniors Association (ASA)
    60 Plus Association

  67. 67.

    LanceThruster

    To paraphrase the Stephen Fry line I learned here, “What do we get if we’re good at our jobs?”

  68. 68.

    WereBear

    @lamh35: You have MADE my afternoon.

    And confirmed our recent joining of AARP. I did not jump in with them because of their behavior during the Bush administration. They had to make up for that :)

  70. 70.

    Another Halocene Human

    @Zifnab: Were they screaming at congressmen, though?

    I was a whippersnapper in ’94 but I seem to recall the incivility consisted of snark on CSPAN, bill of rights cosplay without the tricornered hats (yet), and drudge and other bottom feeders serving up tasty helpings of insinuations and lies to a crowd of ninnies eager to hear it.

  71. 71.

    bemused senior

    @JR: You are right that the bonuses were the result of the primary wins (sorry, can’t remember where I saw that reported this morning), but IMHO it is another example of why 1) short term thinking is disastrous (the Rmoney primary strategy undoubtedly has led to his general election problems, per Ed Kilgore); and 2) money incentives tied to bad metrics don’t lead to good outcomes.

  72. 72.

    Bokonon

    @LD50: A truly competent GOP campaign would now be recording the names of all the people in the audience at the AARP speech that are booing Ryan, and would be quietly adding each of those people to the Terrorist Watch List.

    Don’t get on the wrong side of the GOP, or get placed on their enemies list.

  73. 73.

    Linnaeus

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    At least under feudalism, the lords had a responsibility to perform military service and render protection to the serfs.

    That’s why it’s neofeudalism.

    Though it should be said that even in Ye Olde Middle Ages, the lords often tried to skirt their obligations to the serf class or abrogate their traditional rights. Serfs often had to – and did – fight back in their own ways.

  75. 75.

    Triassic Sands

    In Romney’s world, the deserving few don’t raise a finger unless there is a big huge bonus involved. The undeserving are expected to work for $4/hr or $0.50/day, if only we’d get rid of that unproductive minimum wage. These guys didn’t learn a thing from Henry Ford.

  76. 76.

    JR in WV

    Hey, JR, where ya from?

    I think I was here first, but no matter, plenty of room. Stay Pay, I like that. I can’t help but wish I had attended the AARP meeting. I’m a card carrying member, get a discount rate at hotels every time. And I can BOO as loud as anyone, learned at WVU football games when the refs stiffed the boys.

    Great that Mr Ryan got the welcome he deserved! What a pack of weasels! Willard the head weasel is getting the staff work he deserves, too. Lying liars like Lyin’ Ryan trying to work the old folks, who all know how to read! And do!

    These candidates are monsters, made of equal parts arrogance, greed, hate, and condescension. Glad I get to vote, wish I could do it more than once!

    Who should I call about doing phone work? My phone contract lets me make unlimited calls nation-wide, and I’m retired with a decent speaking voice, so I could spend a lot of time talking to folks who need to be prodded out to vote for their local Democratic candidates, and our President.

  77. 77.

    Juju

    I don’t think Mitt is as good at managing money as he thinks he is. I would have screwed up his campaign for half that much money.

  79. 79.

    Triassic Sands

    @Juju:

    In the race to the bottom, I’ll settle for a third…(Caution: don’t counter with “a quarter,” because Mitt will think you mean $0.25 and hold you to it; after all, in Romney’s world overpaying a peon is the worst imaginable sin).

  80. 80.

    Nutella

    Mitt Romney’s campaign handed out more than $200,000 in bonuses last month to senior staffers

    and Pawlenty jumped ship a nanosecond after his bonus check cleared the bank.

    An excellent investment in employee retention! That’s what you get when you have an experienced businessman running the show.

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