Mitt Romney’s Business Philosophy

CHICAGO, IL — Obama for America announced today a new ad, video and website that take a look at Mitt Romney’s business philosophy and what it would mean for the American economy.

Kansas City’s GST Steel had been making steel rods for 105 years when Romney and his partners took control in 1993. They cut corners and extracted profit from the business at every turn, placing it deeply in debt. When the company eventually declared bankruptcy, workers not only lost their jobs but were denied their full pensions and health insurance, and the government was forced to step in and provide a bailout.

The campaign released a six-minute video featuring the story of GST Steel, which was purchased by Bain Capital and subsequently shuttered after more than 100 years of business. After purchasing the company, Mitt Romney and his partners loaded it with debt, closed the Kansas City plant and walked away with a healthy profit, leaving hundreds of employees out of work with their pensions in jeopardy. The campaign is also releasing a two-minute ad featuring the story of GST Steel that will run in select battleground states.

The video is featured on RomneyEconomics.com, a new website that allows the American people to learn the real story of Mitt Romney’s business record. The website includes case studies of other companies that suffered under Mitt Romney’s management, as well as a breakdown of the questionable business practices used by Mitt Romney and his partners.

Mitt Romney has repeatedly cited his business experience as his chief qualification to be President, claiming he would use it to boost the economy, create jobs, and reduce the deficit. RomneyEconomics.com examines what kind of businessman Mitt Romney actually was — and what that would mean for our economy. Romney’s business strategy wasn’t about strengthening companies and creating jobs for long-term economic growth. It wasn’t about investors and workers playing by the same set of rules, and it certainly wasn’t about creating an economy built to last by rewarding hard work and responsibility and strengthening the security of middle-class families.

In a career of buying and selling companies, Romney’s pattern was to reap quick profits for himself and his investors at the expense of workers and communities. Sometimes it meant sending American jobs overseas. Other times, it meant cutting wages and benefits. In Romney’s economic philosophy, CEOs and wealthy investors prosper by any means necessary, even when it meant companies failed and workers were left behind. Romney believes in two sets of rules – one for people like him, another for everyone else.

RomneyEconomics.com examines a simple question – are the lessons and values Mitt Romney drew from his time in business the lessons and values America wants in our President?

While Mitt Romney wants to go back to the philosophy that created the economic crisis, President Obama is moving America forward – to an economy built to last, where hard work pays off, responsibility is rewarded, and everyone has a fair shot, does their fair share, and plays by the same rules.