David Corn: EXCLUSIVE: Romney Invested Millions in Chinese Firm That Profited on US Outsourcing

[kentuck]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/bain-capital-mitt-romney-outsourcing-china-global-tech

<snip>
On April 17, 1998, Brookside Capital Partners Fund, a Bain Capital affiliate, filed a report with the Securities and Exchange Commission noting that it had acquired 6.13 percent of Hong Kong-based Global-Tech Appliances, which manufactured household appliances in a production facility in the industrial city of Dongguan, China. That August, according to another SEC filing, Brookside upped its interest in Global-Tech to 10.3 percent. Both SEC filings identified Romney as the person in control of this investment: "Mr. W. Mitt Romney is the sole shareholder, sole director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Brookside Inc. and thus is the controlling person of Brookside Inc." Each of these documents was signed by Domenic Ferrante, a managing director of Brookside and Bain.

<snip>
Sankaty is a story in itself. It was recently the focus of an Associated Press investigation that reported that Sankaty "is among several Romney holdings that have not been fully disclosed" and that there is a "mystery surrounding" Sankaty. Reporting on this Romney entity, Vanity Fair noted that "investments in tax havens such as Bermuda raise many questions, because they are in 'jurisdictions where there is virtually no tax and virtually no compliance,' as one Miami-based offshore lawyer put it." With Sankaty, Romney was using a mysterious Bermuda-based entity to invest in a Chinese firm that thrived on US outsourcing.

In early 1999, Romney's investment in Global-Tech expanded again. An SEC report filed on March 25, 1999, stated that Brookside and Sankaty at this stage owned 9.11 percent of the firm's stock. Romney was still listed as the sole shareholder and president of both Brookside and Sankaty.

<snip>
Romney's Global-Tech deal adds a new dimension to the debate over Romney and outsourcing. Whether or not he was at the helm when Bain invested in US firms that did or did not ship jobs overseas, Romney was in command when a company he owned and controlled bought a large stake in a Chinese venture that counted on American companies sending manufacturing—and that means jobs—to China. These days, Romney rails against China for swiping American jobs and proclaims, "For me, it's all about good jobs for the American people." But when there was money to be made by acquiring a chunk of a Chinese company that aimed to displace American manufacturers (and American workers), Romney's patriotism did not interfere with the potential for profit.

[HughBeaumont]

1. We've already given several dozen reasons not to vote for this phony . .. .

. . . to REPUBLICANS.

Mitt's just plain and simple a giant idiot who expects everything to be handed to him without making an effort.

[MaeScott]

2. Mitt is just bad for America, period. nt

[tclambert]

3. Yes, but now he SAYS he's FOR American workers. Don't pay any attention to his actions.

You're supposed to trust what he says. If you look at his actions as a guide to his "true" beliefs (if any) . . . well, this is why he never talks about his record as governor of Massachusetts.

[Motown_Johnny]

4. Drip..... Drip......Drip......

Closing businesses here in America

Not releasing tax returns

Swiss bank account

A blind trust that isn't blind

Caymen Island accounts

Outsourcing

etc

etc

etc

[MichiganVote]

5. So no tax form releases, no to just about everything in place for the last 100 years,

no substantive comments to questions by voters or the press, no proof of investments in the US economy, no experience at the Federal level, no experience with the military, no VP pick and no proof of job creation in the US.

In today's job market, the applicant wouldn't make it past the first level.

[malaise]

6. As Corn said yesterday

This chest wound is going open up big time.

This is huge.

[Zalatix]

7. I remember when protectionism was a curse word.

LOL, not any fucking more. This is one of the few ways in which America is waking up to reality.