Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Todd ·
January 10, 2012 at 12:00am
Here is Mitt Romney making a comment about how he likes being able to fire people (and replace them with someone else...)
He should not back down on this. Let's have this argument.
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Comments:
Dec '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Well, there go the millions of independent voters who, mostly through no fault of their own, have been laid off over the past few years.
It may be true, but it didn't need to be said.
Aug '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
.
Dec '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
I've fired over 20,000 people in the course of my career. I hated it every single time.
Guys like Romney, who's never been fired, don't understand what it is for a worker to open his or her front door, walk down the hall into the living room and look into the faces of their family, who say, "What's wrong?"
What an arrogant, out-of-touch man.
Apr '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Romney was talking about people being able to choose their insurance companies..he was not saying that he enjoys firing people.
Dec '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Romney was talking about people being able to choose their insurance companies..he was not saying that he enjoys firing people.
Then why didn't he say that he "likes" being able to choose among companies who provide services? What he said is, "I like being able to fire people..."
What a dunderhead.
Aug '10
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Settle down, people. The quote was taken completely out of context. He was talking about changing insurance companies or other service providers. "Firing" may not have been the most politically correct term he could've used but I thought we weren't PC here on Ricochet.
Apr '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Nobody's Perfect: Romney was talking about people being able to choose their insurance companies..he was not saying that he enjoys firing people.
Then why didn't he say that he "likes" being able to choose among companies who provide services? What he said is, "I like being able to fire people..."
What a dunderhead. · Jan 9 at 1:17pm
Yeah, this could end up being Romney's "I was for it before I was against it" moment. It's too bad...I have otherwise never seen a candidate who explains and defends free market economics as well as Mitt Romney, as Jay Nordlinger points out in his glorious rant.
May '10
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Is there anybody, even one single person, who doesn't like to be able to fire people or companies who provide them bad service? Is there someone out there who would prefer to be forced to keep paying someone for bad service? Anyone?
Apr '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
When I first heard that Mitt was on video saying he "liked firing people," I assumed that it was something back from the Bain days -some film of Mitt laughing and rubbing his hands with glee while some poor laid-off guy with a dying wife and special needs child sobs in the background. When I actually read the whole quote, I couldn't believe this was actually a controversy,
Problem is, most swing voters aren't going to investigate further.
Aug '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
wmartin
Yeah, this could end up being Romney's "I was for it before I was against it" moment.
Or his, "Listen, my friend, corporations are people, too!" moment! (Oh, wait . . . he already owns that one.)
Dec '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
By the way, I doubt Mitt has ever actually fired anyone during the course of his career. Masters of the Universe like Romney just issue the order to lesser minions, who have to deliver the bad news, while he goes home to his mansion and his family, with no blood on his hands and no experience of having destroyed an actual person's life.
I'm the guy who had Kleenex on my desk and so perhaps I take umbrage at the phrase, "I like being able to fire people." No, you don't, Mitt. You like being able to order other people to fire people.
Apr '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Nobody's Perfect: By the way, I doubt Mitt has ever actually fired anyone during the course of his career. Masters of the Universe like Romney just issue the order to lesser minions, who have to deliver the bad news, while he goes home to his mansion and his family, with no blood on his hands and no experience of having destroyed an actual person's life.
I'm the guy who had Kleenex on my desk and so perhaps I take umbrage at the phrase, "I like being able to fire people." No, you don't, Mitt. You like being able to order other people to fire people. · Jan 9 at 1:42pm
Good lord..is this Ricochet, or Mother Jones?
Dec '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Good lord..is this Ricochet, or Mother Jones?
Have you ever fired anybody? Yes, it's a necessary part of capitalism. But to celebrate it is repulsive.
As I noted above, I've fired more than 20,000 people. Excuse me for being sentimental, but I was aware that, for every single one of those people, that there were families, mortgages, hopes and dreams and self-esteem hanging in the balance.
Be as snarky as you wish.
Aug '10
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Nobody's Perfect: By the way, I doubt Mitt has ever actually fired anyone during the course of his career. Masters of the Universe like Romney just issue the order to lesser minions, who have to deliver the bad news, while he goes home to his mansion and his family, with no blood on his hands and no experience of having destroyed an actual person's life.
I'm the guy who had Kleenex on my desk and so perhaps I take umbrage at the phrase, "I like being able to fire people." No, you don't, Mitt. You like being able to order other people to fire people. · Jan 9 at 1:42pm
Despite your moniker you evidently expect Romney to be perfect.
I've been fired several times - some deserved and some not. It was tough to take but in no case did it "destroy my life". In fact, more often that not I got a better job making more money.
You seem to have a personal connection to this issue. I'm sorry if you or a loved one was unjustly fired but it wasn't Mitt's fault - don't take it out on him.
Edited on January 9, 2012 at 11:04pmApr '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Nobody's Perfect: Good lord..is this Ricochet, or Mother Jones?
Have you ever fired anybody? Yes, it's a necessary part of capitalism. But to celebrate it is repulsive.
As I noted above, I've fired more than 20,000 people. Excuse me for being sentimental, but I was aware that, for every single one of those people, that there were families, mortgages, hopes and dreams and self-esteem hanging in the balance.
Be as snarky as you wish. · Jan 9 at 1:57pm
Did you read Romney's actual quote? No, it is not phrased in a particularly felicitous way, but he is absolutely not talking about what you seem to think he is talking about.
Dec '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
You seem to have a personal connection to this issue. I'm sorry if you or a loved one was unjustly fired but it wasn't Mitt's fault - don't take it out on him.
Yes, I have a personal connection to this issue. I'm the guy whose job it was to fire blameless people at the instructions of consultants and takeover artists, who profited handsomely.
And my problem with the Mitt video was his clueless glee. As I said above, I doubt he ever had the guts to do the firing himself. Instead, he just paid guys like me to do his dirty work. You'll never hear those of us who actually had to do it say that we like being able to fire people.
Feb '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Yet another example of Romney's ham-headed ability to turn what should be a non-controversial statement about changing insurance companies into a facepalm moment of political incompetence.
Yeah, he's going to be a disaster.
Aug '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
The first problem is the extreme lack of context in the video clip. The second problem is that much of the voting public won't care about the first problem. All they'll care about is the sound-bite -- which will likely be featured in a DNC ad before the end of the week.
Mar '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
Nobody's Perfect:
Have you ever fired anybody? Yes, it's a necessary part of capitalism. But to celebrate it is repulsive.
Hear, hear.
Regardless of the context of Romney's quote here, this is an issue that free-market conservatives have to start addressing now.
For some reason, our discourse has lost the maturity to explain that yes, capitalism can be cruel and unfair to some people, and yet it is still the most benevolent and just system of wealth generation and distribution man has come up with.
True, many people who are laid off will use the opportunity to improve their career, especially if they are well-educated. But let's not beat around the bush about those who are laid off after age 55 and are practically unemployable.
When we lose our courage and start claiming that everyone wins with capitalism, we just give more fuel to the Occupy crowd. Better to stick with the truth--unfettered markets can be painful, but the rewards for society as a whole will always be greater than with any over-regulated market system.
Dec '11
Re: Mitt, Don't Back Down on This
OK, I get the context. But I also get what a big smile he had on his arrogant mug when he said, "I like being able to fire people."
I take his smile at its word.