Two longish reads, for the end of the weekend. Do people still use the expression “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations”?
Noam Scheiber at TNR on “Mitt, Tagg, and the Romney family’s myth of self-reliance“:
THIS WAS SUPPOSED to be the race that Tagg Romney took easy. When his father ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002, Tagg signed on as a full-time staffer and even served as the campaign manager for Mitt’s running mate. Four years later, when Mitt began to run for president, Tagg moved his family back to Boston from Los Angeles so he could man a desk at campaign headquarters…
It didn’t quite work out that way. This summer, staffers noticed Tagg turning up at Romney headquarters. By September, he had mostly put his day job on hold. When David Wright, a longtime family friend, recently asked how he could tend to the firm while scrambling for his dad, Tagg more or less conceded he couldn’t. “I’ve fortunately got great partners,” he said…
The punishing schedule—one friend compares it to “coughing blood”—is especially curious in light of how badly Tagg wants to be seen as more than his father’s son. Indeed, if all families have their own myths, a kind of founding narrative that’s passed down through the generations, for the Romneys it’s about personal initiative. George Romney’s family fled the Mexican revolution destitute when he was five years old, heightening his pride in the wealth and power he attained later in life. Mitt Romney speaks often about giving away his inheritance so that whatever he achieved would be his alone. “Everything that Ann and I have, we earned the old-fashioned way, and that’s by hard work,” he said at the notorious Boca Raton fund-raiser in May. For his part, Tagg “has a high desire to make Solamere a big success,” says one close friend, adding that he’s determined to “create his own name.”
What’s so strange about the Romney myth is that its grip hasn’t weakened even as it has become less true. The affluence Mitt was born into paid for his elite education and financed his first home. The wealth Tagg stands to inherit has given him the freedom to pursue any career and take any professional risk he wants…
Tagg’s biography is littered with similar stories—short cuts he couldn’t have taken without his last name, obstacles that melted away before he was even aware of them. And yet, thanks to the Romney myth, he and his family believe that most of what he has achieved comes from old-fashioned industriousness, not older-fashioned status and wealth…
Of course, Romneys or not, the most successful GOP crime syndicate presidential clan has no intention of leaving the casino:
…Jeb Bush’s shadow campaign began in June on the occasion of a hagiographic HBO documentary about the patriarch, titled 41, when Jeb emerged from a long silence and began publicly lamenting the state of the party by offering his father as the emblem of a once-functional politics gone extreme. It culminated with Jeb Bush—the wonkier and more introverted Bush—on the main stage of the GOP convention, before Mitt Romney’s speech, telling everyone to lay off his brother.
For many in his party and for most of this year, Jeb Bush was the ghost of what might have been. When Romney was spiraling downward, the party was in such dire straits, the thinking went, that the Bush political brand, as battered as it was, looked respectable again. “I believe the Bushes are true north,” says Mark McKinnon, the former aide to the 43rd president, “and we’ve got to get that back.”
For a party with clear fissures, Jeb Bush is an insurance policy against a Romney loss to Barack Obama. Many Republicans believe losing in November would create an epic struggle between the hard right of the party and the moderates who believe that to win, the GOP has to make a credible effort to court Hispanics. Jeb is the obvious leader of the moderate wing. The people in Jeb’s orbit have been supporting Romney, but with significant reservations because of the extreme positions Romney had to take to secure the nomination. One told me that nobody who decides to build an indoor elevator for their car can get elected in America. Even after the first debate, these people remain convinced a Romney loss is considerably more likely than not. “I don’t see how the math works for him right now,” says a close associate of Jeb’s….But the gravitational pull of money and Bush-family Manifest Destiny—and, if Romney loses, party desperation—may be too great. As James A. Baker III, secretary of State under 41, the man who helped propel George H.W. Bush to power 40 years ago, tells me: If he were writing this story, “I would not conclude that we’re not going to ever see another Bush candidate.”…
In response, Jeb sent NYMag a letter insisting “My father and brother served their country with integrity, honor and grace. I am honored to be part of their legacy. Our country owes them a debt of gratitude for their leadership during incredibly difficult times…. “
Yeah, “integrity” and “honor” are certainly words any impartial observer would associate with George H.W. ‘traded my every stated principle to become Reagan’s lapdog’, ‘Iran-Contra scandal — what’s that?’ Bush. Or his offspring, George W. ‘Turdblossom, Daddy’s rich friends & my brother’s Florida cronies bought me the Oval Office’, ‘I can’t believe you rubes fell for our WMD scam’ Bush. As for the “grace” part, while Bush Minor’s tenure produced a steady trickle of pratfalls and pretzel-based injuries, his pater was the one who made ‘pulling a Bush’ a foreign-language neologism when he puked in the Japanese Prime Minister’s lap at a state dinner.
And, gawd help our suffering nation, the clan is already prepping another generation of would-be world leaders:
In truth, Jeb Bush may never return to politics, especially if issues surrounding his wife and daughter remain prohibitive. But there are more Bushes in the wings: Jeb’s own sons, George P. Bush and Jeb Jr., both of whom appeared in Tampa on panels. Jeb Jr. has been floated as a congressional candidate in Florida. And with his father’s guidance, George P., age 36, has been assembling pieces for a political run of his own—in Texas, 2014…
Redshift
Any of us could do that, right?
Baud
There’s no such thing as too much Bush.
cckids
May God & FSM have mercy on our souls.
The Fat Kate Middleton
After reading that, I need to find the nearest Japanese Prime Minister’s lap.
Spaghetti Lee
Which one is Tagg? The starey one or the punchy one?
Geoduck
“Issues surrounding his wife and daughter”? Anyone know what that’s a reference to?
cckids
@Spaghetti Lee: He’s Punchy, I believe. His prominance in the campaign is how/why the radio show was interviewing him in the first place.
cathyx
And anyone of us could just move the family to another well paid job, because we all have no problem getting well paid jobs, one after another if we want them.
Anya
Romneys are more entitled douchebags than the Bush clan. At least the Bush clan doesn’t pretend to be regular Joes who got where they are by hard work and determination.
Chris
One of the things I hate the most about Romney, Palin, and the entire teabagger freak show is that they almost make George W. Bush look sane enough by comparison to erase the memory of what a catastrophic president and horrific human being he was.
Almost.
Hal
@cckids:
I thought he was the Romulan with the death stare, but I can’t keep up with these folks any longer. Is starey and punchy different from the birther?
Villago Delenda Est
Jeb is every bit the shitstain the deserting coward is.
The entire Bush clan is scum.
Mr Stagger Lee
Mike Huckabee VS Jeb Bush, that could be more fun than a match up between Jon Bones Jones and Anderson Silva. Watching Fundie Christians war with the country clubbers, who will Rush support? Who will Glenn Beck support. Wheres my beer wheres my chips?
Spaghetti Lee
Why exactly would Jeb help with Hispanic voters? Because he’s got a Hispanic wife? That’s like a more deluded version of ‘of course women will vote for Sarah Palin.’
And yes, saints preserve us from America’s homegrown aristocracies. I wonder if a law forbidding sons and daughters of presidents from running from preisdent themselves would be worth the trouble.
Anya
@Spaghetti Lee: Josh is the starey one.
@Geoduck: Daughter has addictions issues. I think she has few drug related arrests. But I am not sure about the mother.
Villago Delenda Est
@Geoduck:
His wife is a known sumuggler of goods into the US. His daughter is a crackhead.
Anyone descended from Prescott Bush is irredeemable scum. All of them. Particularly the ones out of the Ma Barker Babs.
Spaghetti Lee
@Villago Delenda Est:
You know, I don’t think we should take up the ‘addiction is a moral failure instead of a disease’ banner, just because the addict is the daughter of someone we don’t like.
Chris
@Villago Delenda Est:
George H. W. Bush was the original Mitt Romney.
And he was the good one.
Think how scary that is.
hilzoy
In my dad’s family, we took four generations to go from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves (but we had one hell of a trajectory in both directions.) I’m generation 5. Watching the lives of some of my older relatives has always informed my absolute devotion to the estate tax: inheriting any sum of money large enough to incur it is just not good for anyone. I am mystified by the fact that anyone supports repealing it.
Chris
@Spaghetti Lee:
I sometimes think a law preventing children from inheriting more than X of their parents’ wealth might be better.
Arguably the worst dynasty in America, the Kochs, never came close to political office, always preferring to be the people pulling the strings rather than the people ruling.
Mark S.
Gallup really loves Romney. Most of the other polls (even Ras) have either a tie or Obama with a slight lead, but ol Gallup has President Romney with a commanding 5-7 point lead. I think something might be off there.
eemom
@Chris:
Worse yet, Romtron has me almost pining for John McCain. I mean I hated that soul-dead old fucktard four years ago, but he looks like Abraham fucking Lincoln compared to this…..thing.
WereBear
There is a kind of shell game going on with the wealthy, where the offspring is expected to make money. George W. Bush was notably bad at it, for instance. How did he keep going back for more? Because these money-making opportunities are set up for them.
They get the finest educations, which lead to influential connections, and they never have to want for food or clothes or medicine. They learn how to conspire, to make deals, how to rig the laws for profit, and how to barter insider knowledge.
And all the time, no matter how they stumble, they have a cushion to land on. W drove business after business into the ground, yet he & Laura could do IVF for the twins; and the twins, in turn, get all the education and clothes and opportunities they could want. To do what they want.
It’s all a screen, so they can think of themselves as self-made. They think it’s exactly like some slum child getting through college and acquiring a profession.
They are so puzzled that so few other people are able to do what they do. The rest of us must be a bunch of schmucks.
Anne Laurie
@Geoduck:
Read the article. Basically, daughter’s got a string of prescription-drug arrests already. More significantly, wife is not enamoured of politics in general and her hubby’s country-club supporters in particular — more power to her — and the fact she still prefers Spanish to English will not please The Base.
weaselone
@Mark S.:
They’re just trying to prove conclusively that their numbers are totally irrelevant once you get within a month of a Presidential election.
mai naem
I read the Shreiber peace on Friday. Then I read the Hospice that Tagg stopped story. I’ll dig up the like later but these mofos are assholes. I keep on going back to the fact that Mittman does not give a flying fuck about this country. All he wants to do is to practice lots more crony capitalism if he gets in. I have no doubt that his kids and his brother will gets lots of government related work or will invest in cos. with government related work. I hate no doubt the post office will be privatized with Mitt’s Bain buddies taking off with the humongous post office pension that’s just sitting there like a big ship full of gold and precious gems.
Also, why does the media keep on about Bill Clinton and Obama not getting along and how the relationship is all business. How come you never hear about GW Bush having problems with Jebbie. Jebbie or GW Bush are never heard of having problems with Cheney or the Neocons who destroyed Dubbya’s presidency. It would be perfectly natural to be pissed off at your brother or/and his advisors if they fvck up your chances to be prez.
PeakVT
Reporters who are speculating about 2016 before 2012 is in the books – and editors who are publishing such drivel – should all be sent to Sibera. Or, barring that, be forced to work for a living.
Anonymous
@Mark S.:
I read that they had a R+14 result last Monday. It’s set to drop off, after which they’ll still have Romney up, but by 1 or 2.
Nina-the-first
The Rom-Men, professional Non-Soldiers from way back, bravely running away at the sound of the bugle. <a href="http://www.bud-meyers.com/romney-family-historySomeone else always has to fight (thought I’d rehash this from the Iran thread).
Go Pats in OT!
Todd
@Chris:
That way, you never have to be responsible for the consequences of your policies.
Todd
@PeakVT:
I’m more in favor of a bloody slaughter of up to three generations of their extended families, just to be certain that the message sinks in.
JPL
@Anonymous: Wow.. you mean Mitt was only ahead in the South with a plus 14 advantage..
suzanne
@Anne Laurie:
She sounds pretty good. If they’re smart, they’d nominate her. Of course, they aren’t smart.
M. Bouffant
@Spaghetti Lee:
That the minimum age for the U.S. presidency is 35 is at least partly because of the two William Pitts. The Elder was British P.M. in the 1760s, & his son (W.P. the Younger) became P.M. at the age of 24 in 1783.
So maybe we should raise the age limit. Or make the estate tax effective enough to destroy pseudo-aristocratic dynasties like the Bushes & Romneys.
Dunno if anyone’s calling daughter Noelle a moral failure, but it must say something about her family life (or genes) that she did become a serious drug abuser.
Anya
@Mark S.: Gallup numbers are weird but alarming. I think we just need to work hard on getting people to the polls.
This GOS diary should reassure anyone freaking out about the polls.
Jay in Oregon
@Chris:
But the “death tax” is eeeeeevil! /wingnut
I mean, it’s almost like the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they pushed for estate taxes, despite dipshits like Christine O’Donnell arguing that an estate tax was a “tenet of Marxism.”
muddy
In the thread about Ann and her pink event, I was putting forth a conspiracy theory in regard to that I didn’t know that she had that familial gene for the breast cancer.
This adds fuel to the fire of my theory that the reason his sons are using surrogates etc is that to remove that particular gene they are breeding back to Mitt, hoping for a more George-like outcome. They are hoping in this way to retain the hairline/brow look they need for their patriarchal look in generations to come.
Anonymous
@JPL:
For that one day, Romney was probably up just about everywhere; the other 6 days in the tracker are not so extreme. But you’re right: even with a +14 in the tracker, Romney’s still not looking good as far as the electoral map is concerned. And once it drops off, things will look much worse for Romney, especially if Obama continues to improve in the more recent Gallap days (or, fingers crossed, if debate 3 is like debate 2).
A moocher
Estate taxes should be high enough to ensure that the total wealth of the heirs after say 50 yrs does not exceed the total wealth of their parents at death, bearing in mind the excess returns that the very wealthy are able to obtain at the expense of the rest of us. Some formula of that sort would inhibit accumulation of dynastic wealth, while allowing rich people’s kids to be left comfortable. If they become rich in turn, they will have earned it.
Some combination of demographics, economic history and portfolio theory could inform the concrete policy details that would achieve this end.
With the proviso that any attempt to lobby for the repeal of such laws is a capital offence.
Jay in Oregon
So, how long before Tagg Romney is running for President?
When Mitt loses in November, then Tagg can outdo both him and his grandfather George by becoming President.
Daddy issues writ large; the modern GOP.
Spaghetti Lee
@M. Bouffant:
I think higher age requirements would be a bad idea. I may be biased, but it seems like entrenchment in the system would be less likely for younger politicians.
Roy G.
Hmmm, just found out Tagg is short for Taggart – nice Randian homage.
Spaghetti Lee
Argh, fuck the Pats.
James E. Powell
@Anya:
At least the Bush clan doesn’t pretend to be regular Joes who got where they are by hard work and determination.
Yes they do. Or what was all that brush clearing about?
George W Bush’s whole message to his base voters was “I’m just as big a dumb-ass as you are.”
Villago Delenda Est
@Spaghetti Lee:
Hey, that’s how the fundies view it. If it were one of Obama’s daughters, they’d never stop talking about it.
The fact of the matter is, that’s a political liability for her father, given the nature of the party he’s a member of.
suzanne
@muddy: I wouldn’t be surprised….LDS family trees don’t do a whole lot of branching. I’ve had, one more tan one occasion, LDS friends start dating and then learn they’re cousins. They really have just a few very large families, and there’s been lots of intermarrying between those.
Nina-the-first
@Nina-the-first: Sorry about the link drop–the Rom-Men are just so excellent at ignoring contradiction. Not a day of wearing the uniform from way back, but they know how to gin things up for war and cash in. Romney Men: Political cowards who speak last and run away first.
Anonymous
@Villago Delenda Est:
Every time I think something like this, IOKIYAR upends my intuitions.
At this point in the campaign, where conservatives smell blood in the water, it’s hard for me to picture what Romney could do that IOKIYAR wouldn’t cover.
GregB
I hope the holy hell that the President’s people will put aside the whole ‘attacking Romney could alienate some swing voters’ meme and have a few right hooks for Obama to metaphorically shove down Romney’s throat.
Romney and the GOP Ministry of Disinformation are in high dudgeon painting Obama as a weakling.
Mr. Fancy Pants Romney needs to get knocked back on his heels.
Baud
@Anonymous:
They are good at rallying around their standard-bearer, aren’t they?
PurpleGirl
@Geoduck: The wife I believe has had problems with bringing in goods coming back from foreign trips and trying not to pay customs fees. The daughter has been a drug user and has done some time in jail, IIRC.
GregB
It will tie the GOP messaging machine in knots if they try to defend Romney by declaring that the weakling Obama was being too much of a Chicago thug of a meany.
PurpleGirl
@Hal: The one with the death stare is Josh. Tagg is the one who wanted to hit Obama for calling Mitt a liar.
M. Bouffant
@Spaghetti Lee:
The younger Bushes & Romneys certainly seem entrenched in the system.
Peter
Anyone else kind of weirded out by the Bush clan’s vaguely masturbatory naming conventions?
SFAW
@GregB:
Sure, because the GOP is always worried about being consistent within its own messages.
JPL
@PurpleGirl: Tagg will someday run for office himself because he’s a successful…..
M. Bouffant
@GregB:
Really? They’ve been sending the “incompetent wimp who will turn this nation into a Marxist paradise by sheer force of will” message for a while now, & it doesn’t bother them in the least.
Cognitive dissonance is a meaningless phrase when there’s no actual cognition at work.
GregB
@SFAW:
Family values icon Newt Gingrich disagrees with your assessment of the GOP.
Geoduck
@James E. Powell:
Bush’s handlers may have thought along those lines, but I suspect Bush himself was using physical exertion as a replacement for drinking.
hep kitty
With some exception to Poppy, I don’t like the Bushes, not one bit. I don’t know how much more of a chunk of this country they can take to satisfy them. Was W a sociopath? Compaired to Mitt, he seems mentally stable. Although recent reports are dubious.
But the Romneys, the whole clan, sound pretty damned pathological and scary. And it’s pretty apparent they’re going to want their rather sizable chunk, win or lose, and will do whatever they think it takes to get what’s rightfully theirs.
I’m trying to imagine a Mitt meltdown (Ann & boys, too, perhaps?) after Mitt loses.
Anonymous
@Peter:
Vaguely?
Mike in NC
Both the Bush and Romney gene pools need to be doused with a cleansing fire.
hep kitty
@mai naem:
As long as the relationship works, and it appears to be working, the media should go fuck themselves. I don’t give a damn how it works just as long as it works.
SiubhanDuinne
@Geoduck:
It’s all in the article. His wife speaks little English, rarely appears with him, and has a history of spending sprees. His daughter was arrested and jailed for prescription drug abuse several years ago.
M. Bouffant
@Peter:
That’s rich people for you. Taggart “Tagg” Romney’s given name comes from this bastard:
Hope you don’t think those wives were married to old GWT at different times.
Spaghetti Lee
@Villago Delenda Est:
Yes they would. But we’re better than them.
@M. Bouffant:
Sure. But all increasing the minimum age for office would do is hurt everyone else in that age group and not make a difference for the Romneys and Bushes. If they really want one of their kids in a certain office and they’re not old enough, they’ll just move the kid among various think tanks or private sector jobs until it’s their turn. Newcomers to politics obviously don’t have that luxury.
SFAW
@Geoduck:
Check your assumptions.
SFAW
@GregB:
Awesome. You refute your own point in 7 replies. (No prob, we still love you and all that.)
Hill Dweller
Apparently, tonight’s NBC News broadcast was nothing but a Romney infomercial. Todd and Gregory were slobbering all over Willard, and talking up the lack of enthusiasm on the Dem side.
kc
“When David Wright, a longtime family friend, recently asked how he could tend to the firm while scrambling for his dad, Tagg more or less conceded he couldn’t. “I’ve fortunately got great partners,” he said”
I’m guessing Tagg never contributed much, besides his name.
M. Bouffant
@Spaghetti Lee:
True, but between Kennedys, Bushes, Romneys, Bayhs & no doubt a few other families, the chances of newcomers getting anywhere seems less & less.
Spaghetti Lee
@M. Bouffant:
The Bayhs would be tickled to be included in that group, I’m sure.
It’s easy to be cynical, of course, but the vast amount of congressmen aren’t sons or daughters of other congressmen. And as far as presidents go, yeah, Bush and Kennedy, but who else? Johnson grew up poor, Nixon’s folks sold cars, Carter’s were farmers. Reagan, Clinton, and Obama weren’t poor, but they weren’t aristocrats either.
Mara Holbrook
My husband’s side of the family has had a fair bit of bad luck and medical issues the past couple months. His 83 year old father had a hip replacement about 6 weeks ago. The surgery and recovery went well, but the aftercare is far more complicated than we were led to believe. Mom passed away several years ago, so he’s all alone in a great big house.
My husband’s sister, who stayed living close to dear old dad, would normally be the one to bear the brunt of handling such things.
But just days before the scheduled hip surgery, her 20 year old son fell feet first from a tree. Shattered one foot and broke his back. It appears he’ll never walk again. Thank goodness his parents were still carrying him on their insurance. But a heck of a tragedy, and a long road ahead.
So three days before Dad is to be released from rehab, Connie calls for help from her two brothers on the east coast. (They’re in the Pacific Northwest.)
My husband is the only one who had enough leave and flexibility to drop everything and fly out. He feels really fortunate that he has worked his way up to a position where this was even possible. He’s been assisting and coordinating care, interviewing nurses and arranging finances ever since he arrived. They have quite a system of social workers these days to help with this kind of thing, and he’s trying to set up as much as he can so he can continue to help once he’s back home, and take some of the weight off his sisters shoulders.
He’d planned a ten day trip, but ended up adding another week. He could easily stay much longer, to be certain his Dad is steady on his feet and that everything has fallen into place, but he simply has to get back to work.
My point of this long tale: we are lucky. My husband has a good job and an understanding boss. We all have insurance. My husband has hustled all his life to attain this small bit of security. Even now when we’re both in our 60’s, we can’t relax. We know it could disappear in a second. And we sure don’t have the luxury to put our jobs on hold for a few months and think they will be there when we return.
These folk who were born with a silver spoon in their mouth who gloat about how “they’ve made it on their own” really gripe me. They really don’t understand the burden and the worry the ordinary person carries all their life.
Nutella
I always heard it as “pushcart to pushcart in four generations”.
Bushes and Romneys do a fine job at one thing: illustrating the corrupting influence of wealth.
Hal
@Mark S.:
I know it’s been mentioned before, but Nate Silver has said that Gallup’s reliability goes down when they are way off from other polls. Also, somewhere someone else mentioned both Romney and Obama internal polling showing Obama in the lead.
My overall impression is that by however much, Obama is going to win, but Republican “leaders” obviously have to keep up the facade until after the election. Then you’ll see a finger pointing war like no other.
Donut
@PeakVT:
This.
It’s fucking failure of the highest order to publish this kind of shite while Romney is still busily, completely and thoroughly, fucking the chicken. A little more time spent shedding light on him and his spectacularly lie-filed campaign and his fucking five point plan is what is needed. The kind of thing Romney is trying to pull off should be put under the light as much as possible. And for the record, I believe the incumbent should also face tough scrutiny.
But instead we get these thoughtful ruminations on the Important Problem of Being Nepotist’s Son. Fucking Tagg Romney has done what with his life that anyone should give a shit about? Jeb can heal the wounds and heel the Teabaggers?
Fucking wastes, all of them.
Nutella
Wow, that article about what rugged individualists and self-made men Mitt and Tagg are includes this about Tagg’s investment company:
Blind trust? BLIND TRUST???
Anne Laurie
@Donut: Think of it as fair warning to the low-info voters: “You think seeing Romney in the Oval Office might be a change of pace? You want his overprivileged spawn all over your media for the next four years, teeing up their own campaigns?”
M. Bouffant
@Spaghetti Lee:
It’s necessary to be cynical.
We could add California’s Browns to the mix.
Granted most Congresspeople aren’t the spawn of previous representatives, but check how much most of them are worth. (Financially.) Few who aren’t invested in the system get anywhere near Washington or the statehouses.
Willie Stark
Christ. CSpan is giving airtime to Tucker Carlson. Speaking of beneficiaries of nepotism who won’t go away.
Anya
@James E. Powell: That was Bush the Lesser pretending to be a tough guy who was one with nature. Had nothing to do with regular guy image. His cowboy” schtick was phony but I don’t think cowboys are considered average joes.
To my knowledge the Bushes do not claim that they’re self made. Of course I could totally be wrong.
Anya
@Nutella: It’s a total coincidence Anne’s Blind Trust invested in her son’s venture.
dance around in your bones
I just cannot – just can’t – think of another Bush in office. The very thought makes me puke. Oh, FSM, please don’t make it so.
SFAW
@Anya:
Yeah, kinda like it’s completely coincidental that Mitt’s lawyer is running Mitt’s “Blind” trust. (Or something to that effect.)
Steeplejack
@Nutella:
Just a little “getting started” gift from Mom. You know, like maybe how your mom bought you sheets and a comforter when you got your first apartment.
JustAnotherBob
The Romney kidlings are protected from the real world by a trust fund worth approximately $100 million.
There is speculation that taxes not paid when setting up the trust contributes to why Mitt won’t show us his tax forms.
Cacti
If Mitt was born on third base, Tagg was born about 3 feet from home plate.
A 42-year old man with a 100 million dollar trust fund, who started “his own business” with 10 million in seed money from his Mommy.
Cacti
@Steeplejack:
Kind of like how Mitt started Bain Capital as just a small business with his friends…
And 36 million in seed money, and a guarantee of getting his old job back if the whole thing went tits up.
nellcote
@Willie Stark:
cspan’s been sucking up to wingnuts for a few years now. They’ve pretty much compleatly ruined the booknotes weekends.
SFAW
Ah, this is all sour grapes from the Class Warfare crowd. Yer all just jealous, because Tagg’s hard work, military valor, pugilistic skill, and all-around-nice-guy-ness has been rewarded. So, instead of trying to do as well as he has done, yourselves, you’d rather try to bring him – a Job Creator of the Nth degree – down to your own level.
It’s takers and moochers like y’all that are trying to turn this great country into another soshulist “paradise” like Albania. Which of you morans is gonna be King Zog?
And if you don’t stop whining about him, Tagg’s gonna come down there and take a swing at y’all. That’ll learn youse.
(The preceding Public Circus Announcement was brought to you by E. Liza Lott, Deputy
Minister of PropagandaPress Secretary for Mr. Romney.)Nina-the-first
@SFAW: That’s right! As long as you’re richer you’ve done the right, brave, and moral thing. QED.
SFAW
@Nina-the-first:
You have learned well, Grasshopper. It is time for you to leave the Temple.
Just don’t forget your Magic Underwear. (Oops! Wrong Temple!)
JustAnotherBob
@Cacti:
Getting his old job back along with all the advances in rank and salary increases he might have earned while away.
That’s not a golden parachute. It’s a golden corporate jet.
Jay in Oregon
@SFAW:
I thought there was an article or video clip somewhere that caught Mitt Romney bragging about how blind trusts aren’t all that “blind” if you know how to work the system.
Which implies that he knows how.
SFAW
@Jay in Oregon:
I think that was from when he ran against Teddy Kennedy, and he was saying it about Teddy’s blind trust.
Except I think Teddy really did have a blind trust. Willard, by virtue of his having a business associate (or friend or whatever the guy is) running his is (theoretically) in violation of whatever rules apply. But, since I ain’t a lawyer, you’d probably need burns or Omnes or one of the other pettifoggers here to comment.
cokane
I think Jeb’s sons are a very real force to be reckoned with in future decades.
sparrow
@Spaghetti Lee: Agree 100%. People with addictions may be assholes or not, but all of them are trying to fill a big void or deep pain. (Yes, all of them). It can happen to anyone.
catclub
@Mike in NC: The word you are looking for is holocaust. (Burn it all up)
stratplayer
@Hal:
Does the “tribble test” work as well for identifying Romulans as it does with Klingons?
Tom
The fact is that they don’t get the finest educations; they merely get legacy admissions to the finest schools where they get by with gentlemen’s “C”s and then go on to legacy jobs where they screw up but are bailed out by legacy friends.
Lawrence
Annother Bush candidate? Seek! Locate! Exterminate! EXTERMINATE!!