The company he keeps

The former CEO and the current lobbyist for a big, crooked foreign bank and the owner - in partnership with the Chinese Communist dictatorship - of a casino-cum-brothel. That’s where Mitt Romney’s campaign and superPAC are getting their money.

Robert Diamond, the disgraced former Chairman of Barclay’s who probably won’t go to prison in the multi-billion-dollar LIBOR-rigging scandal only because the Brits don’t send such high-toned people away (the government keeps the Serious Fraud Office - not to be confused with the Comical Fraud Office - on a short budget leash to ensure that Her Majesty’s prisons aren’t cluttered up with Eton grads), has withdrawn as co-host of a London fundraiser for Mitt Romney.

But don’t worry: foreign corporations aren’t allowed to donate to Presidential campaigns. Of course it’s a completely different thing for the lobbist of a foreign corporation whose officers may face federal criminal charges to raise nearly a million dollars for a Presidential campaign. Nothing corrupt there, no siree. Now move along.

I’d like to thank Mitt Romney for showing us the sort of people he likes to take money from, and the Supreme Court’s Citizens United majority for selling the Republic to foreign interests.

At least Romney wasn’t getting major money from someone who’s basically a business partner of the Chinese Communist dictatorship in a casino-cum-brothel.

Oh, wait …

Author: Mark Kleiman

Professor of Public Policy at the NYU Marron Institute for Urban Management and editor of the Journal of Drug Policy Analysis. Teaches about the methods of policy analysis about drug abuse control and crime control policy, working out the implications of two principles: that swift and certain sanctions don't have to be severe to be effective, and that well-designed threats usually don't have to be carried out. Books: Drugs and Drug Policy: What Everyone Needs to Know (with Jonathan Caulkins and Angela Hawken) When Brute Force Fails: How to Have Less Crime and Less Punishment (Princeton, 2009; named one of the "books of the year" by The Economist Against Excess: Drug Policy for Results (Basic, 1993) Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control (Greenwood, 1989) UCLA Homepage Curriculum Vitae Contact: Markarkleiman-at-gmail.com

11 thoughts on “The company he keeps”

  1. Naturally I don’t know if this one guy is guilty of this, but, just in general, if you were an extremist libertarian (as opposed to normal democratic people, who just have a big libbie streak…) and believed in nothing except “freedom” and money, why wouldn’t you own a brothel? What could possibly be wrong with it? This is one of those basic differences that hide from us most of the time. It’s what makes talking to them so maddening and often, such a waste of time.

  2. foreign corporations aren’t allowed to donate to Presidential campaigns.

    To what specific definition of “foreign corporation” does this prohibition apply?

      2. H, you may not be familiar with the Byomtov tag. Bernie is one of the frequent participants here on SameFacts who is neither evil nor lazy, nor is he naive about these types of topics. His question was a rhetorical irony, pointing out that the law is essentially toothless.

  5. If Romney were convicted of murder there are those who would say, “Big deal, Obama once got a parking ticket.”

    1. Romney? Murder? That reminds me of that David Corn piece where he follows the paperwork regarding Romney’s claim that he left Bain before they did a deal with that fetus flushing corporation:

      Romney Invested in Medical-Waste Firm That Disposed of Aborted Fetuses, Government Documents Show | Mother Jones
      http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/07/romney-bain-abortion-stericycle-sec

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
      In response to questions from Mother Jones, a spokeswoman for Bain maintained that Romney was not involved in the Stericycle deal in 1999, saying that he had “resigned” months before the stock purchase was negotiated. The spokeswoman noted that following his resignation Romney remained only “a signatory on certain documents,” until his separation agreement with Bain was finalized in 2002. And Bain issued this statement: “Mitt Romney retired from Bain Capital in February 1999. He has had no involvement in the management or investment activities of Bain Capital, or with any of its portfolio companies since that time.” (The Romney presidential campaign did not respond to requests for comment.)

      But the document Romney signed related to the Stericycle deal did identify him as a participant in that particular deal and the person in charge of several Bain entities. (Did Bain and Romney file a document with the SEC that was not accurate?) Moreover, in 1999, Bain and Romney both described his departure from Bain not as a resignation and far from absolute. On February 12, 1999, the Boston Herald reported, “Romney said he will stay on as a part-timer with Bain, providing input on investment and key personnel decisions.” And a Bain press release issued on July 19, 1999, noted that Romney was “currently on a part-time leave of absence”—and quoted Romney speaking for Bain Capital. In 2001 and 2002, Romney filed Massachusetts state disclosure forms noting he was the 100 percent owner of Bain Capital NY, Inc.—a Bain outfit that was incorporated in Delaware on April 13, 1999—two months after Romney’s supposed retirement from the firm. A May 2001 filing with the SEC identified Romney as “a member of the Management Committee” of two Bain entities. And in 2007, the Washington Post reported that R. Bradford Malt, a Bain lawyer, said Romney took a “leave of absence” when he assumed the Olympics post and retained sole ownership of the firm for two more years.

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      Looks like Corn has caught out our flimflam WallStreet bishop with his moneyed hands on a fetal flush and trying to pretend someone else yanked the cord.
      Fair enough, after all, you should be able to do anything for profits when you worship at the Mammon Temple.

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