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Monday, July 2, 2012

Obamacare redux



Breaking:

Romney Invested in Medical-Waste Firm that Disposed
of Aborted Fetuses, Government Records Show

From Mother Jones | Full Story | By David Corn (July 2, 2012) – Earlier this year, Mitt Romney nearly landed in a politically perilous controversy when the Huffington Post reported that in 1999 the GOP presidential candidate had been part of an investment group that invested $75 million in Stericycle, a medical-waste disposal firm that has been attacked by anti-abortion groups for disposing aborted fetuses collected from family planning clinics. Coming during the heat of the GOP primaries, as Romney tried to sell South Carolina Republicans on his pro-life bona fides, the revelation had the potential to damage the candidate's reputation among values voters already suspicious of his shifting position on abortion.

But Bain Capital, the private equity firm Romney founded, tamped down the controversy. The company said Romney left the firm in February 1999 to run the troubled 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and likely had nothing to with the deal. The matter never became a campaign issue. But documents filed by Bain and Stericycle with the Securities and Exchange Commission—and obtained by Mother Jones—list Romney as an active participant in the investment. And this deal helped Stericycle, a company with a poor safety record, grow, while yielding tens of millions of dollars in profits for Romney and his partners. The documents—one of which was signed by Romney—also contradict the official account of Romney's exit from Bain.

Related story:

Over $83,000 in Fines Assessed in Texas
for Illegal Dumping of Aborted Baby Remains

From Operation Rescue – "one of the leading pro-life Christian activist organizations in the nation" | Full Story | Austin Texas (December 1, 2011) – The Texas Commission on Environment Quality has released documents to Operation Rescue that show two Texas abortion clinics and the disposal company Stericycle have been slapped with fines in excess of $83,000 for illegal dumping of aborted baby remains. The fines are the result of complaints filed by Operation Rescue against Whole Woman’s Health of McAllen and Austin after a three-month undercover investigation. The TCEQ then conducted its own investigation and broadened the case to include Stericycle. In June, the TCEQ notified Operation Rescue that the two abortion clinics and Stericycle had all been cited for violations involving the improper disposal of human fetuses.

19 comments:

A conservative soulmate said...

Romney never said he was a Christian, just Mormon.

Anonymous said...

This is a BIG story! Thank you. I hope it gets picked up by media everywhere so people can see what this man who wants to be president of the USofA is really about. Per the definition above I now have a single word--Romney--to describe my worst nightmare.

From here on out, I'll not believe in nor support anything that comes out of a Republican's mouth. What incredible unbelievable blasphemy.

Yearning for a hamburger said...

Rmoney cannot agree with himself, now can he convince anyone else to agree with him?

Rmoney is a liar and a hypocrite whose opinions are like the wind: they blow.

And to make matters worse, the man has been ultra-rich his whole life and has no idea what those of us out here in the world experience at all.

Do you suppose he ever had trouble coming up with the rent or ever rented anything at all? Worried about how to help his parents keep their home or their insurance in their elder years? Had to put back that expensive cheese or meat at the grocery store because he really could not afford it? Not likely.

We do not need an out-of-touch monarch with a silver foot in his mouth, we need a President who has had trouble paying the rent or the bills and maybe even got his lights or gas turned off once or twice.

No wonder he thinks corporations are people. He is a corporate creature, and so are his associates, and he equates his experience with that of ordinary people.

There is REALITY and there is RMONEY.

p.s. Yes, I know I spelled his name Rmoney. Befitting.

Les said...

So why would you buy a USED car or economic policy from this guy?

If the TCEQ was prodded enough to fine this company or any company for any reason, then it was such a violation that even they couldn't or wouldn't ignore it....

If the Mitt can't remember where he came from, it's up to the rest of us to remind him.

Thanks for the story, it's a good one.

Retrocon said...

What is Mother Jones' position on abortion? Are its editors and contributors opposed to abortion?

So what is the story here? That a medical waste disposal company, Stericycle, had improperly disposed of aborted fetus scraps? And that Bain Capital had been an investor in Stericycle? That's quite a tenuous connection to Romney and his stance on abortion.

On the other hand, President Obama is on the record as supporting the practice of abortion, to the point that if a fetus happens to survive an abortion procedure, ie. a "botched" abortion results in a living child outside the womb, Pres. Obama (at least as a state senator in Illinois) believed the child ought to by "allowed to die" so as to not interfere with the original choice by the mother to terminate the pregnancy.

Yet we have commenters here writing about some "incredible blasphemy" and how it is Romney who is "uncaring", etc.

Retroretro said...

Retro is right about the tenuous connection to Romney and his stance on abortion. The story only proves Romney made a sh*t load of money investing in an abortion waste disposal business. Unlike Obama, Romney saw a big opportunity in the abortion racket and made off like a bandit. Shrewd businessman, that Romney. America needs more just like him. God bless the Romneyites.

Les said...

what a great mixture of human waste, TCEQ fines, politics, religion, regulation, money, character, philosophy and general piracy...

Great story and great comments, I still wouldn't buy a used car or economy policy from Mitt....

this story has little to do with the emotional issue of abortion - it's about his character or lack of character.

Vaya con dios said...

Maybe now the religious right and pro-lifers will refocus their righteous indignation on prohibiting the private sector from ever profiting from abortions. They can start by demanding that St. Romney return every detestable penny he's made off the business to charity.

Retrocon said...

Stericycle handled all types of medical waste, and evidently had contracts with Planned Parenthood and similar facilities besides hospitals, clinics, and doctors' offices. If the company had improperly disposed of some of the waste, it was likely to have been down the line, and most assuredly not a policy decision by an investment group.

But with Mother Jones, who certainly is not staffed with pro-life conservatives, this attempt to tarnish Romney is quite a stretch, as are the over-the-top expressions of indignation in many of the comments here.

Simple Simon said...

Retrocon clearly is living in the State of Denial (like so many of his compatriots), his mind robbed of the power of simple deduction.

Take off your Tea Party blinders for just a second and here's what you see: Romney money > abortion waste disposal business > huge profit > principles from Hell

You may now return to your Great State of Denial. Happy Independence Day!

Retrocon said...

Again, referring to Stericycle as an "abortion waste disposal business" is misleading, as Stericycle handled all types of medical waste. I don't know much about the current state of the company, but I know that at one time at least they had a disposal facility in neighboring Caldwell county near Dale. Medical waste disposal is a legitimate and necessary business, and Stericycle has been a leading company in the field, despite the lapse cited by Mother Jones regarding abortion waste.

Be assured I am not encumbered by "Tea-Party blinders." Although I initially supported the Tea Party's distaste of Washington overspending and the need to pare back the power of Washington to be more in line with our Constitution, which prescribes a LIMITED role for the federal government, I have been critical of the way most Tea Party groups have morphed into fronts for ideological social purists looking for a way to push a far-right agenda.

But I do support Gov. Romney over the prospects of four more years of Pres. Obama. The Obama Team has tried to convince us that Pres. Obama is "focused like a laser" on jobs and that the President is focused on the economy "from the moment he wakes up in the morning till he goes to bed at night," but this is little more than empty rhetoric. Pres. Obama's main strategy has been to push blame to others, whether former President Bush or the current Republican House -- hardly a display of true leadership.

With Gov. Romney, however, I see someone with legitimate and proven executive experience who's not a blamer. If you'll recall back to the 2002 Winter Olympics (for those old enough to have been paying attention then) there was much scandal and many resignations at the top of the executive committee. When organizers were looking for someone to come in and at least salvage the Games, did they go looking for some unscrupulous used car salesman to put in charge? Did they seek out some pampered rich kid who couldn't do anything for himself but live off daddy's money? Hardly. They looked for someone with the demonstrated potential to inspire confidence -- and Romney came through. To me that should be Exhibit 1 in countering the lame attempts to portray Romney as nothing more than a double-dealing shyster. Efforts to characterize him as such only demonstrate to me that people will "say anything" to further their own partisan leanings or other biases. So while we're all doing a blinder check, don't forget to check your own headgear.

Just sayin said...

Has anyone taken the time to send a note of thanks to President Obama for bringing down the price of gasoline? It sure is making a difference for me and my budget! Yay! Rethuglicans really ripped into the president when prices were zooming. Now that they're down, don't you think Obama deserves some credit?

Retrocon said...

Regarding gas prices, I'd like to hear President Obama describe what he has done to bring down prices. If it's legit I'll be glad to praise him for his actions. But weren't gas prices around $1.89 per gallon when Obama took office? And it has remained above $3.00 for quite some time now.

Now, during the last year of Pres. Bush gas did shoot up to around $4.00 -- right in the thick of the 2008 Presidential campaign. Remember what the Democrats were saying? The mantra from Speaker Pelosi and Candidate Obama was to pound Oilmen Bush and Cheney for kowtowing to Big Oil interests, essentially letting the oil companies write US energy policy. Remember? Candidate Obama used the occasion to stand in front of a gas station and tell us how when Cheney was formulating energy policy he met with oil company representative 40 times but renewable energy advocates only once, so it was no wonder the oil companies were enjoying such windfall, he said. But if HE were to become President he was going to prevent such price scares in the future by launching into renewable energy sources (eg. Solydra and the like) and get of off foreign oil

How's that working out for us?

You'll remember also that when prices were going up, the Democrats were quick to point out that the President didn't really have much to do with oil prices -- and what he could do was already being done. So what is it that Obama should be getting credit for?

Jasper, come in here right now! said...

The President does not control gas prices, the oil industry does. The lower the prices every summer so we will be encouraged to take vacations and spend MORE money on their product.

Mitt Romney is a liar who thinks that it is his "turn" to be President. He is the most blatant hypocrite I have ever seen run for public office and cannot for the life of him, keep his stories straight.

I am sure Mr. Romney is a perfectly good corporate raider, CEO or man to come in a kick ass in a failing company, but run our country? No way.

Romney's heart is not in the right place and when he pledges allegiance, I suspect it is to the Morman Church, his own family and his numerous bank accounts.

Obama may not be everything I want in a President, but he is smart, honest, thoughtful and willing to learn.

It is up to the American people to change their ways and stop being consumers first and thinking citizens last. We need to guide our culture by being careful what we support and what we buy. If we were unwilling to drive gas cars or eat pesticide-laden food, we would all be healthier and they would quit trying to sell us this junk.

Love my country's Founders said...

@Retrocon: I see you are the argumentative type. If this is all just a game of what goes around comes around with you and yours, I suggest your arguments are counterproductive as well as counter-intuitive. Forget the meaningless blame games. Please rewind and recall the phrase embedded in our Constitution, "the common good."

The words are breathtakingly pure, simple and beautiful. We have lost our way as a nation when we forget our nation's simple yet glorious and powerful birthright--of, by and for the people. Bless you, noble Founders. And a curse to all you modern day hyper partisans so full of horse feathers and greedy practices.

The words and the glory in our Constitution must be restored by the people. The Common Good is where we must take stock and begin to walk again as one nation indivisible. Anything else is a waste of breath and time. And time is a-wastin'.

Anonymous said...

Look at what Romney did to these companies that Bain bought out. First thing was to take over every single employe's retirement fund.Sell all the assets. Then go to the banks and barrow every penny they could against the company, file for bankruptcy. Leaving the Bank with the debt (or should I say the USA Tax payer) and fire all the employe's. This is one of the main reasons for the bank failures of 2008. Can't wait to see how this play's out if Romney get elected. Kick

R Garrison said...

@Anonymous 3:17
That is the most ignorant, misinformed piece of BS I have ever viewed on these boards. Please produce some legitimate (major journalism or government) citations for these accusations.

Anonymous said...

Seems that many who responded here want more of what we've experienced under Obama. Tell me is your life or your relatives better? I guess the devil you know is better than the one you don't.

Anonymous said...

Retrocon is not a Tea Party nut. But he is naive about Romney's political pandering and his economic hypocrisy.

Yet liberals are same way. They talk social responsibility but don't walk the talk.