Mitt Romney is claiming that when Bain & Co. received a loan forgiveness from FDIC it did not constitute a government bail out. Bain had a $13 million loan reduced to $10 million when the Bank of New England was taken over by the FDIC. 

That is a valid point, because FDIC is not funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars, it is funded with banking proceeds (these come from banking customers, specifically you and me). However, It is a good thing that Mitt Romney brings up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. What is the FDIC?

The FDIC was created as a part of President Roosevelt's New Deal in 1933. The goal of the FDIC was to move in and assume control of banks and prevent them from going insolvent, as so often had been the case during the Great Depression. It was set up to protect "deposits" and not to protect banks or corporations. In the process of protecting deposits, the FDIC could move in and assume control of a bank in case of insolvency. 

So, when Mitt Romney and Bain & Co. were able to convince the FDIC to "cram down" the loan Bain had taken with the Bank of New England (which had become insolvent), they benefited from a program instituted by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, as a part of his (FDR's) New Deal.

If this isn't sinking in to you, and you don't see the very blatant hypocritical stand of Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan...something is terribly wrong with this picture. Is there any doubt who Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan think government should work for? 

Stephen Durham

* * * 

Mr. Durham, well while I admit your post was informative on the FDIC there was a reason that when Vice President Biden back in August tried to spread the same false statement it quickly went away. The fact is not one penny of the reduction had any effect on taxpayers.   

Here is the link that plainly sets the facts straight.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/fact-checking-joe-bidens-bain-bailout-claim/

Dee Layne

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I don't see where Mr. Durham is making the same false claim that Biden made.  In fact, Mr. Durham states in his second paragraph that Mr. Romney had a valid point in saying that it didn't constitute a federal bailout, which is what made Biden's claim false.  

I think the larger issue this raises is that perhaps Romney's vaunted business acumen isn't as great as we've all been lead to believe.  If one looks at the details of this situation, I suppose you could make an argument that his business sense is great, or terrible.  Bain squandered a bunch of money, weren't making ends meet, and continued to pay their partners very large bonuses.  They in essence held the FDIC hostage because of the loan agreement they had entered, crafted by Romney.  It's very easy to find out exactly what happened in this situation, so I challenge others to read on it for themselves.   

One thing that becomes very clear, is that Romney was involved in the same "crony capitalism" that he now claims to be against.  This should already be obvious to anyone paying attention, as Romney has said that the bank bailouts were "The right thing to do".  Bailing out failing, private companies with taxpayer money is about the farthest thing from free-market capitalism one can imagine.  It's an immoral action, with a reverse Robin Hood effect.   

That's where we are in America right now.  We have put ourselves in a position to vote for someone who has been lying for at least the past four years, and will undoubtedly continue to lie, or to vote for someone that has spent his entire political lying.  Both candidates have shown that they're more concerned with the financial well being of private businesses than they are with the financial well being of our nation.   

It is, once again, an election of the elites, by the elites, and for the elites.  Rest assured that whichever candidate is elected, they will continue to do the bidding of those who pay them the most money, which is the banks.  Maybe next time around people will see through the lies and manipulation of the media, and not get pigeon holed into two terrible candidates based on a false narrative.   

I know a lot of people wanted anyone but Obama to be elected, but Romney is about as close to Obama as it got out of all of the other candidates.   

Lewis Baxter
chattbreak1@live.com