It's people like this who love Romney and who are backing him. Of course, this is also the type of work Romney did himself while at Bain. To them, buying another 15,000 sq. foot mansion or renting out another yacht is normal. They hide their money in offshore accounts and dump companies and employees to help fund their next party. Great people, really. They're a real credit to society and add so many minimum wage jobs while they skim off millions. Take away the parties and this is Romney's life except instead of wanting to buy a sports team, he wants to buy the Oval Office. This is one time where I'm going to agree with Rick Perry when he referred to private equity types like Romney and his type as "vulture capitalists."
To his critics, he represents everything that’s wrong with this setup. In recent years, a large number of the companies that Sun Capital has acquired have run into serious trouble, eliminated jobs or both. Since 2008, some 25 of its companies — roughly one of every five it owns — have filed for bankruptcy. Among the losers was Friendly’s, the restaurant chain known for its Jim Dandy sundaes and Fribble shakes. (Sun Capital was accused by a federal agency of pushing Friendly’s into bankruptcy last year to avoid paying pensions to the chain’s employees; Sun disputes that contention.) Another company that sank into bankruptcy was Real Mex, owner of the Chevy’s restaurant chain. In that case, Mr. Leder lost money for his investors not once, but twice. Yet Mr. Leder doesn’t seem to be suffering too much himself. In fact, he is living so large that he can’t avoid the limelight. Last July, he used part of his personal fortune to join a group of investors in buying the Philadelphia 76ers. In December, he was spotted on St. Bart’s with Russell Simmons, of Def Jam and Phat Farm fame, and Rachel Zoe, the celebrity stylist. That again landed him in The New York Post, which dubbed him a “private equity party boy.”So is chewing through companies, skimming fees and handing out minimum wage jobs really the best capitalism can offer? If that's the case it's no wonder so many people question the system. We have to do a lot more than this if we're going to save the middle class. It's wonderful for the playboy class but not so much for everyone else.
