Did The Romneys’ Auto Bailout Bonanza Violate Federal Ethics Law?
November 2nd, 2012 12:35 am Greg Palast
Toledo, OHIO – Mitt Romney may “celebrate success” in earning a $15.3 million profit from the auto industry rescue, but by failing to reveal the windfall in his federal Candidate Disclosure Form, he may also have violated the law.So says a formal complaint filed on Thursday with the federal Office of Government Ethics by the United Auto Workers (UAW), Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and a host of other labor and nonpartisan watchdog groups.
In Toledo, UAW President Bob King brought union activists in a packed hall to their feet with the complaint’s demand: “Divulge or divest!”
King’s remarks cited the recent exposé in The Nation magazine that revealed how Mitt and Ann Romney had earned between $15 million and $115 million from the bailout — all subsidized by taxpayers in payments to the Delphi auto parts company, with the payday hidden in Ann Romney’s so-called blind trust.
As this writer reported in The Nation, Ann Romney made a 4,000% profit on her secret interest in Delphi through a limited partnership with a hedge fund operated by billionaire Paul Singer. Identified by Forbes as one of Romney’s key campaign donors, Singer has given more than $1 million to the Romney SuperPAC known as Restore Our Future.
According to lawyers for Public Citizen, People for the American Way, the Service Employees International Union and other signatories to the ethics complaint, Ann Romney’ so-called “blind” trust was, in fact, a ruse. The Romneys knew the details of their holdings, including their multimillion dollar profit from US Treasury funds. In the complaint to the federal ethics office, lawyers for CREW write: “Romney has not even attempted to meet the requirements for a federal blind trust with respect to his substantial equity holdings [in Delphi].”
The Ethics in Government Act, according to the Nov. 1 complaint, “requires candidates for federal office to disclose their financial holdings so that the public can identify potential conflicts of interest and personal economic priorities of federal officials and candidates.”
The UAW’s King said he was especially incensed because “Romney’s hedge fund partners threatened to shut down General Motors” by withholding key parts made by Delphi. Both U.S. Treasury and Delphi executives have said that in 2009, negotiators for Delphi’s hedge fund owners said they could force GM to close by withholding steering columns and other essential parts. Ultimately, the taxpayers provided the hedge funds with $12.9 billion in subsidies which pumped up the value of Romney’s Delphi stock from 67 cents a share to $30.
“Romney made a huge profit off this extortion,” said King, “and the public has the right to know about it.”
After King spoke, Ohio’s Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown stopped by the UAW hall to rally get-out-the-vote troops for his and Obama’s reelection campaign. Brown told The National Memo that Romney and his hedge-fund partners “would extort everything if they had a chance.”
Heath Lindsey, who hired on at Delphi Ohio 12 years ago, said that the company initially continued to pay his full wages even after filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2005. But then the so-called “vulture funds,” which included Romney’s partner Singer, took control of the company. In 2007, they cut his wages in half, slashed insurance coverage—and simply abolished his vested pension.
Lindsey, a father of two, said, “It destroyed me. I lost my home to foreclosure. I have medical claims I can’t pay. I’m just struggling to get by.”
And Lindsey is among the luckier Delphi employees because GM purchased his plant and three more from Delphi. But the speculator group led by Singer eventually closed 24 US plants. The company’s filings with the Securities Exchange Commission proudly state that Delphi has not a single UAW union employee left on its payroll, having eliminated all 25,000 jobs.
Continue Reading >> 1 2
-
bcarreiro
-
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork
-
foolsdance
-
Mimi2kool
-
1bythebrooks2
-
Germansmith
-
foolsdance
-
http://www.facebook.com/diana.marsh.1123 Diana Marsh
-
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joan-Maurer/100000910841619 Joan Maurer
-
grammyjill
-
Germansmith
-
grammyjill
-
Germansmith
-
grammyjill
-
nobsartist
-
http://www.facebook.com/jodie.c.sr Jodie C. Hall Sr
-
http://www.facebook.com/people/Kenneth-Heffley/100002250740914 Kenneth Heffley
-
gregscope
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/RGOUPZ3JYNMPBVOHLZRCRVRD6Q ivory69690
-
http://www.facebook.com/robert.blankenship.779 Robert Blankenship
-
jarheadgene
-
Johnny Thomas
-
Germansmith
-
http://www.facebook.com/ann.carnes Ann Carnes
-
JulieZ77
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/EOOP2CLTD4BKLDVZT6QW7PDOCI Robert M
-
ryueire
-
ijac234
-
Sandra
-
latebloomingrandma
-
nobsartist
-
ObozoMustGo
-
puzzled21
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_IXEQ4IX7PJF2EXCEE7MVUHCWGI ladyj
-
WhutHeSaid
-
DukeDacat
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/HFYZP2APYPP7H6PWS2ZDQRWFEQ Hillbilly
-
DukeDacat
-
northroader1775
-
neeceoooo
-
Mimi2kool
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/GGHNYPK4GNCRYZLXWVZ447WHJM Plznnn
-
http://www.facebook.com/people/Colleen-Klemp/100002683878543 Colleen Klemp
-
William Deutschlander
-
Lovefacts
-
neece00
-
AdamMos
-
a80a
-
a80a
-
http://twitter.com/ChocChipsMusic The Chocolate Chips
-
1standlastword
-
Skyline43
-
1standlastword
-
http://twitter.com/libboomer Jim Eaton
-
marelbert
-
Gary Fischer
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/PPHJQFXFPE564LFJPGF3SLP57M orangeman65
-
http://www.facebook.com/schirmerdon Donald Schirmer
-
jarheadgene
-
http://www.facebook.com/schirmerdon Donald Schirmer
-
grammyjill
-
http://www.facebook.com/carol.mattern.50 Carol Mattern
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/L73VK265V5YRY63UVHIQOD7VJA John
-
jarheadgene
-
northroader1775
-
jarheadgene
-
AdamMos
-
grammyjill
-
http://www.facebook.com/shirley.f.jones Shirley Farris Jones
-
DukeDacat
-
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_KOPKDFAUQPIIRAFI3HEXNMSHLQ Ed
-
onedonewong
-
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1118543425 Robin O’Brien
-
Michael Ben-Yehuda
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/QQG4F4YAPOPZVR2F3KSBJPHJSE KKK4Romney
-
ijac234
-
Tex
-
http://www.facebook.com/tbrown.pap Tim Brown
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/FTUINN2U6LFCMUEX7Y5YCN5EWA WILLIAM W
-
http://profile.yahoo.com/QZNUPH5YGH43VSR54MQWIMMGKQ KEVIN

