Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney was the Republican Party's presidential candidate for the 2012 United States presidential race. He was once the Governor of the State of Massachusetts. He has a strong reputation for for being a flip-flopper who often changes positions for different audiences, sometimes changing positions in a matter of hours.

Election 2012
Mitt Romney was the Republican nominee for president. For more detailed information about debates and other events of the campaign, see our Election 2012 page.

Romneycare/Obamacare
President Obama modeled his health reform on the system Mitt Romney set up as Governor of Massachusetts, including the mandate that individuals purchase health insurance. Romney and his aides "strongly defended" the mandate and even proposed publicly shaming companies that provide inadequate insurance. Even though Republicans call Obamacare's mandate a massive tax, one of Romney's own senior advisors insists it not a tax.

Even though Romney says he is against Obamacare, during his summer 2012 overseas trip he praised the socialized Israeli universal health care system. Israeli government influence in their health care system is "very strong" and provides insurance to all its citizens.

Romney can't decide if he what he wants to do with Obamacare when elected. Sometimes he says to repeal and replace the whole act, but other days he says he's not getting rid of it all.

New York Magazine wrote a lengthy description of Romney's many positions and flip-flops on health care.

Bain Capital
Mitt Romney was co-founder and CEO of Bain Capital. Romney claims that after 1999 he had no active participation in Bain Capital, but a series of official SEC filings and his own testimony show this is a lie. Given that Romney wants his business record removed from the campaign, it is possible he has something to hide during his tenure with Bain. Supporting this hypothesis is the fact the New York Attorney General is investigating Bain for tax evasion strategies.

Bain owned a company called Georgetown Steel in Georgetown, South Carolina. The steel mill generated large amounts of pollution, causing the town to look as if it had been hit by a "chemical bomb." Although state officials traced the pollution to the steel mill, Bain Capital made millions of dollars before the mill closed while paying only miniscule cleanup costs.

Bain Capital owned at least one Chinese sweatshop with dorms that had 12 women per room, surrounded by barbed wire. This led to Romney's claim that "95% of life is set up for you if you were born in this country."

Foreign Policy Blunders
During his summer overseas trip, Romney went to London and criticized their security preparations for the London's Summer Olympic games, prompting rebukes from London officials.

Tax Evasion
According to the law, people are allowed to contribute a maximum of $30,000 to an IRA per year. Mitt Romney however, has amassed a $100 million fortune in offshore IRA accounts by using tax loopholes and other questionable methods to get around the law.

In his 2011 return, Romney avoided taking some of the deductions in order to artificially inflate his tax rate. However, because the deductions were charitable, Romney is able to file an amended return in 2012 that allows him to receive a refund for his 2011 return. In 2010, he avoided some taxes by giving money to stock in a company that was closing its Illinois plant and moving it to China.

Mitt Romney was on the Board of Directors of Marriott for 19 years, during which time the company managed to reduce its tax rate by using offshore tax havens in Luxembourg.

The Economy
Mitt Romney famously said "let Detroit go bankrupt," arguing against government loans to help the troubled American auto industry. However, he has also said he'll "take a lot of credit" for the auto industry's recovery, even though he was against the actions that saved it.

Supporters
In April 2012, the pro-Romney super PAC Restore Our Future attracted John Kleinheinz, a $1 million donor wanted for a third degree felony charge.

Out of Touch
Romney is hugely wealthy and owns multiple residences. During the Great Recession, he even doubled the size of his beach house in La Jolla, California. Romney has also praised HP CEO and California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman on the same day HP announced it was cutting 30,000 American jobs despite having healthy profit margins. Romney defines "middle-income" as having an income between $200,000 and $250,000 per year, even though the United States median income is only $50,000 per year, and his father had his own pony growing up.

Swiss Bank Accounts, Offshore Investments
Mitt Romney has a great deal of personal wealth stored in Swiss bank accounts and other offshore investments; he himself does not even know where some of his investments are.

Questionable Morality
Mitt Romney is a Mormon, typically thought of as one of the most conservative branches of Christianity. However, the Romney campaign paid nearly $400 to an exotic strip club and lounge during a meeting in Arizona, calling his religious integrity into question.

As Governor of Massachusetts, Romney proposed a fee for being blind and/or mentally disabled; the fee for being blind was implemented.

Mitt Romney's son Tagg had a contract with a surrogate mother that allowed the Romney family have the final say whether to abort the child or not, meaning the Romneys support abortion even though they say they aren't.

Commenting on Hurricane Sandy, which killed 159 people and caused billions of dollars in damage, Mitt Romney said "the hurricane didn't come at the right time" because it gave Obama "a chance to be presidential."