DAVID SHUSTER: This week, Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney has faced a barrage of attacks over how he made his personal fortune. Rick Perry has accused Romney's company, Bain Capital, of engaging in vulture capitalism and profiting from worker layoffs. Today, the Romney campaign tried to counter the charges by releasing a new television ad. The spot features a few successful companies that Romney's firm was involved in.
(Excerpt from video clip) WOMAN: This is a business Mitt Romney helped start. And this one. And this steel mill. Mitt Romney helped create and ran a company that invested in struggling businesses, grew new ones and rebuilt old ones, creating thousands of jobs. Those are the facts.
SHUSTER: But the ad leaves out other crucial facts. That steel mill mentioned in the commercial, Steel Dynamics? It is true that, in 1994, Romney's Bain Capital invested just over 18 million dollars in the company and sold its stake in Steel Dynamics five years later for $104 million — an $85 million profit. Yes, in 5 years, Romney's company pocketed $85 million.
But here's what else happened during those five years: Steel Dynamics, located in Northeastern Indiana, received a lot of government help.
According to public records, the state of Indiana gave $13.6 million in tax credits, energy grants and road construction. DeKalb County, Indiana — where the first mill was built — gave $23 million in tax credits and finance bonds, and residents in Dekalb county were assessed a new income tax to help pay for the bonds.
In other words, it wasn't just Mitt Romney who helped grow the steel company, it was the state government in Indiana and the local government in DeKalb County. There's nothing wrong with that. Many companies and communities have benefitted from public-private partnerships. Mitt Romney knows that well, given the many occasions he encouraged such partnerships.
The problem is that conservatives refer to such government help as "corporate welfare," or in this case, it would be $37 million in corporate welfare. And wouldn't you know it, in this presidential campaign, Romney has been singing from the conservative hymn book. Hypocrisy? You bet.
And this past week, Romney put it in all caps, when he argued that government involvement creates economic problems:
(Excerpt from video clip) ROMNEY: Fundamentally, what happens in America that creates jobs is not government. It has its role. But, by and large, it gets in the way of creating jobs.
SHUSTER: Yes, the CEO who made $85 million in a deal the government partnered in says government gets in the way of creating jobs. Amazing. Also amazing was a recent Romney attack on President Obama for facilitating public-private partnerships, most notably in rebuilding the auto industry.
(Excerpt from video clip) ROMNEY: This president is a crony capitalist. He's a job killer. And it's going to keep America from creating the jobs we need. We are a merit society. Please don't change America to something we are not.
SHUSTER: Governor Romney, come on. If you really believe that public-private partnerships amount to crony capitalism, and that America is a strictly merit society, the money you made from Steel Dynamics is tainted. So, please give it back and run an ad apologizing for the deal.
Furthermore, if you do want to keep promoting the success of that steel company, at least be honest about what happened. It's easy. Say something like this: "Hi, I'm Mitt Romney. And I want to publicly thank the people of Indiana. I also want to offer gratitude to the citizens of DeKalb county for their higher taxes. Together, the government assistance that went to my steel company helped all of us at Bain Capital make a fortune."
Honesty, Governor. Give it a try sometime.
