Mitt Romney Pontificates Prematurely

I know this much about job creation.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney wrote an op-ed column in yesterday’s USA Today in which he criticized President Barack Obama over job creation. He went so far as to say that the president has made the recession worse and that high unempoyment will persist for years to come. He wrote,

“President Obama didn’t cause the recession, but he made it worse and caused it to last longer. From the outset, he inaugurated the most anti-investment, anti-business, anti-jobs policies we have seen since Jimmy Carter.”

Unfortunately for the Mitt(wit), he spoke a day too soon. Today the Labor Department released its jobs report for March 2011. It revealed that the job market improved once again last month as the result of strong business hiring which dropped the unemployment rate to its lowest level in two years. More specifically the report showed that the economy gained 216,000 jobs last month which was more than the 180,000 that was predicted and was also more than the 194,000 added in February. Additionally, the unemployment rate has dropped to 8.8% which is the lowest level since March of 2009. The rate has also dropped by a full percentage point over the last four months.

The official numbers also revealed that the unexpected job growth took place primarily within the private sector. Private businesses added 230,000 jobs. In fact, the private sector has added 1.8 million jobs since last year and a third of those were created in the last three months. In contrast, the public sector which Romney considers to be a bloated payroll which wastes taxpayer dollars lost 14,000 jobs last month. So let’s see, continued private sector job growth and continued taxpayer funded public payroll reduction seems to represent what Romney and other Republicans have been clamoring for all along.

These job figures by the way, are in sharp contrast to the numbers produced by the Mit(wit). You might recall that while running for Governor of Massachusetts, Romney promised Bay State voters that he would use his business savvy to create many new jobs. Did he fulfill his promise? Not exactly. During his full term in office, Massachusetts ranked 47th in the nation in terms of job creation according to the U.S. Labor Department. The only states that created fewer jobs were Ohio, Michigan and Louisiana. Also, when you examine Romney’s job creation ranking during the first two years of his administration (the period that Obama has now been in office), you will discover that Massachusetts ranked 50th. What makes those figures even worse is the fact that Romney governed during a time of national economic prosperity.

Romney’s job creation performance was not any better while he was in the private sector. Romney of course, was a primary partner of Bain Capital, which bought, sold, and merged dozens of companies. In the process, Romney slashed thousands of jobs and shipped thousands more oversees. The New York Post also revealed the following companies which Bain purchased and then led into bankruptcy:

* Bain in 1988 put $5 million down to buy Stage Stores, and in the mid-’90s took it public, collecting $100 million from stock offerings. Stage filed for bankruptcy in 2000.

* Bain in 1992 bought American Pad & Paper (AMPAD), investing $5 million, and collected $100 million from dividends. The business filed for bankruptcy in 2000.

* Bain in 1993 invested $60 million when buying GS Industries, and received $65 million from dividends. GS filed for bankruptcy in 2001.

* Bain in 1997 invested $46 million when buying Details, and made $93 million from stock offerings. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2003.

Those pesky little facts sure can get in the way of a good dose of Romney misinformation. The Democratic National Committee responded best to Romney’s misplaced criticism of the Obama administration by saying,

“Perhaps before attacking the President’s record – which has seen an increase of more than 1.5 million private sector jobs over 12 consecutive months – Romney should examine his own record, which the Boston Globe called ‘one of the worst in the country.'”

Should he decide to run for the presidency in 2012, Mitt Romney will be forced to defend his job creation numbers in the primary debates. His Republican opponents will surely enjoy watching him sweat as he tries to defend his poor performance. They might even enjoy it as much as they will revel in pointing to the fact that his RomneyCare was the blueprint for ObamaCare. I personally cannot wait to step into my favorite pair of flip-flops while watching the Mit(wit) contradict himself and change policy positions time and again during the televised debates.

Please remember to click on the song link below to familiarize yourselves with the tune and to have more singing along with today’s topical, song parody. Please enjoy!

The Great Pretender song link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1oJuwkXr0E

MITT IS THE GREAT PRETENDER

(sung to The Platters song “The Great Pretender”)

Oh yes, Mitt’s the great pretender
Pretending that he is so swell
His needs are such; he pretends too much
The truth he simply cannot tell

Oh yes, Mitt’s the great pretender
Romney’s true beliefs are unknown
Mitt plays the game; flip-flops without shame
With no firm beliefs of his own

He was pro-choice he had us all believe
But when he faced strife, he switched up to pro-life

Oh yes, Mitt’s the great pretender
His opinion changes by town
Mitt claims to be what he’s not; you see
He wears his deceit like a crown
Romney is a flip-flopping clown

In Mass., health reform was what he achieved
He now says he feels health reform needs repeal

Yes, Mitt’s the great pretender
Just switching positions around
Ol’ Mitt Romney is not what you see
He wears his deceit like a crown
Romney is a flip-flopping clown