"Behind Your Back: a Documentary About Bainport" Will You See It?

Thanks for posting this. O. of the things that cracks me up about Romney's supporters is that they tend to have NO IDEA how Bain makes money. The idea that Romney knows how to CREATE jobs when he worked in an industry that is the leading expert in reducing workforces to create profit in the companies they "invest" in is just amusing. I have a bit of an understanding of how Bain works. Some of my firm's clients have been acquired by Bain with interesting results. Some of my former colleagues work there. They are all doing quite well - much better than the manu unemployed former employees of companies acquired by Bain.

Romney knows how to make money for investors. He is a very successful INVESTOR. He does not know how to create jobs.

I read your what happened and I wonder do you actually know or understand what a leveraged buyout is? I mean seriously, it doesn't sound like you know and it sounds like you are banking on other people not knowing to either scare them or think you are knowledgeable.

Leveraging is borrowing money, nothing more nothing less. All a leveraged buyout is is buying enough shares of a company to take control with borrowed money. So the mom and pop who bought the restaurant down the street from another mom and pop made a leveraged buyout. Oh the horror!!

I get that most of the time when I am reading liberal nonsense I am scratching my head because I don't understand why people are so repulsed by business. Thank you for explaining to me why. You all just like taking innocent terms, not defining them and adding the oh the horror to it.

Perhaps in the future I will just respond with defining the unusual words and let everyone else figure out on their own how stupid liberal statements are. :) A lot less typing.

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Amy, I get the feeling you don't understand people do not hate Obama, they hate what he is doing to this country, HUGE! difference.

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So looking at your link "Bainport" is not a real town but a stupid name giving to Freeport to try to drag Romney into the nonsense that is going on there. Have you actually looked at the numbers for how many companies are fleeing Illinois at the moment? A lot, the only ones that are staying are the chosen few that were either too big to lose or paid to get special deals from the Democratic governor.

So how about you guys stop distorting the role Democratically controlled governments play in causing jobs to go overseas? Maybe, perhaps, just for laughs, how about the Dems own their part in this instead of putting it all on businesses that just want to stay in business.

Oh, I am sorry, I forgot to say thank you for illustrating the role of government in driving jobs out of specific states and our country in general. I love when you guys make our point.

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Denise I am not going to play. If you want to alter your question and then quote O. of many scenarios that falls under leveraged buyout, knock yourself out.

O. reason I do not like Obama is that he tries to scare people into hating, you are doing the same. Rest on the facts if you can.

The only reason corporations take jobs overseas is that the government has made the price of doing business here too expensive.

Nobody who hates Obama is going to watch anything that besmirches Romney. Just like I have NOT watched that 'Obama is Muslim' "documentary" STILL SHOWING (for like the millionth week) at my local redneck mall. It's literally the only documentary that theater has ever shown too. It's not exactly a high brow theater. "ENRON: The Smartest Guys in the Room"? Woopsy, never showed there.

Let us not forget that before all the other winners fell out of the Republican pool, no O. even liked Romney, but now he's the new Messiah (do your homework if you think his Bain ties are so very severed-not to mention massive remaining Chinese interests despite his "China is the Devil" shpeels). I don't mind his savvy overseas business practices as much as his lying and hiding (hello? a few more tax returns?)

I love people who think Romney will "Save us". He such a cardboard chameleon liar pants and Ryan's voting record speaks for itself. But whatever. People only want to hear what they want to hear. I'm amazed at Cheryl's enraged Fox rant still trying to act like PRESIDENT OBAMA has no experience that would lend itself to being in the white house on his resume. And the 18 (and probably counting) supporters of it? Really people?

Republicans have had the presidency for 20 of the last 30 years, and no O. can say Clinton left the place in shambles and that Obama's "slow growth" (that even little baby I-voted-contrarily-to-all-the-things-I'm-espousing-now-Ryan acknowledges) is still not growth after the biggest collapse of EVERYTHING in modern times. Yet Repubs are howling like wounded animals and proclaiming the end of America as a democracy if Obama gets a second term after W had the place for 8 years? More damage than any other president before him? Wow. Grow up and read some history books.

@Angie, what do you mean "you believe it's straight from Obama's mouth and books." have you read the books? Then why wasn't everyone enraged when they were published? Seeing a O.-sided film is not research. Big businesses have been scamming employees by keeping their hours under ft for many years to work our corrupt health care system. If you haven't lived it yourself like I have, then read Nickle and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich published in 2001 and you'll see this is not Obama's doing.
***____@____.com, no, I have not read ANY of those books or watched ANY of those movies. If I had time to, I would read them all and watch them all from both sides. And I DO look at both sides. I've seen enough movies and read enough books in my day to know that the person writing the book or making the movie is going to use their own angle in a very effective way. I'm rarely in the mood for it anymore which is why I go to outside sources for analysis on policies for BOTH SIDES and do not go right to candidates websites or watch far leaning news sources in either direction. No Fox, no Msnbc, no wacky lefty or righty internet posts. If you stick to credible sources, it saves a lot of time, because there aren't many. I did not say all Romney followers are rednecks, I said my local mall is a redneck mall. It's just the location and the primary shopping base of that particular mall. There literally was a black teenager beaten to a pulp there a couple of years ago. I'm aware that Romney's biggest voters are corporate moguls and middle class citizens who want to be in Romney's tax bracket O. day.

I don't read the bible to inform my voting choices-but it could be spun against either party (hello camel through eye of needle Romney).

Depending on which news source you watch, Obama has an impressive list of difficult accomplishments for America and rocks the military, or he has done nothing at all and has only hurt us. I guess you're referring to latter sources. I'm am not voting for men who are lying about their wealthy taxation goals (which is apparent by the broad difference in what they're SAYING vs what they've always been DOING) and want to rip all health care progress out at the roots and return it to the nightmare it has been for my entire adult life (even though they're SAYING they want to keep all the good parts of Obamacare). Actually there is nothing on their ticket I agree with. I hate seeing people blame long term problems like treatment of workers by big companies on Obama which is why I recommended Nickle and Dimed. What ELSE did the President do? DRIVE O. of the planes into the Twin Towers? There are those on this site who probably think so.

He's not a sinister radical communist, he's a Democrat. Romney is not a monster, he's a moderate Republican (and pretty darn "flexible"). If Romney wins, I actually don't think America will immediately explode, I just think progress will be lost, rich people will get paid, the deficit will keep skyrocketing, Roe vs Wade may be in jeopardy, and a Democrat will win the next election. But apparently both sides and all of our lovely new media outlets have done a fine job at making us all hate each others guts as WELL as cast our votes.

****Update to those who say ask a Dr or Nurse how they feel about Obamacare**** I guess you missed the clear statement that I AM a Nurse... there is a huge support of Physicians and Nurses for Obama - and you can tell what kind of medical professional you have on how they feel on the ACA. If they support it, knowing they may not be getting hefty raises or be able to completely overcharge for services (which Nurses don't haven't been getting decent raises for over a decade already!), then you have chosen a Medical Professional who was called to their career - who truly care about the health and well being of their patients. Those who oppose or threaten to quit or move to another country to practice - well you can see who chose their career based on potential salary, job security and ability to take advantage of the sick and dying.**************

I doubt Romney will ever be held accountable - either to himself or to the American people - about what occurred in Bainport. I know the Republican party is trying to drown out any nay saying about his tried and true horrible policies because they think that yelling reassuring lies will make people feel contented and less likely to look at the more depressing and not as loudly spoken truths.

Funny how Republicans hate the Affordable Care Act and then stand behind Romney - because Obama and those who worked in the ACA actually did much of the modeling of the program that Romney had going on as Gov of MA.

I hope all these Mothers and women who are against Obama do not have the experience of being the Mother, Grandmother or Aunt of a child born with a chronic, progressive or debilitating illness - - because their faith in Romney will be the death of that child. As a Nurse and Mother and friends to many Mothers... I know close up on more than O. level how hard, intensive, expensive, depressing and life altering having a child who needs daily medications, therapies and hospital stays is. It would bankrupt even the upper crust middle class who has great insurance, because they insurance would drop their medically needy child like the plague or increase their co-pays so much that life sustaining medication and therapies would be unavailable to them.

Everything Cheryl said. Never heard of it and no I won't watch it. Romney and Ryan have my vote. It's imperative that they save this country! Lord help us!!!
A.

P.S. I believe 2016 is based from Obama's books Dreams from my Father and Audacity of Hope. So pretty much right from Obama's mouth. Not conspiracy theories.
Edit: Obamacare is a flawed law! Have you talked to your current doctors and nurses about what they think? Most of them will just stop working. They didn't add any new doctors/nurses to the bill just a bunch of government jobs to micromanage it all. Big businesses like Olive Garden are cutting most of their full-time people to parttime to get around having to pay for it. So not only is the healthcare coverage going to be shotty, people will still be cut back on the full-time jobs they have now. Someone still has to pay for all of this, so looking at it as free coverage for all is a bunch of MALARKEY!!!
@Amy J...I haven't read the books in full and I have not seen 2016, but my question is..have you? I think people are enraged by these books, but what is even more frightening is people are willing to dismiss the warnings. You claim that nobody that hates Obama will ever watch something negatively about Romney. Talk about O.-sided research! I think that claim goes both ways. You go onto categorize all Romney supporters as a bunch of rednecks. Nice stereotype there. Perhaps if we are going to have a discussion about these movies we should all watch both films and read books about each candidate and then have another discussion. We are all Americans after all and that is what makes this country so great, but we need to be willing to look at all sides objectively. I was a democrat. I voted for the Clintons, and Gore and Kerry because I did not like Bush at all. I thought he was a war monger, was responsible for getting us into our financial woes, but lets call a spade a spade here. Obama did inherit a mess, but instead of cleaning up or at least getting the country's financial situation back on track he has spent another outrageous amount added to the debt. I wasn't a fan of Bush, but I am not going to blame that on him! Ridiculous!
I could not bring myself to vote for Obama in 2008 because there was just something about him that didn't sit right with me. So I wrote in my vote for Hillary Clinton. I was a Democrat through and through! However, after watching Obama's performance over the last four years firmly confirms my beliefs that he is either very underqualified to be POTUS or he has another agenda of his own. I keep going back to the Holy Bible to form my decision on this election and then watch to see which candidate aligns himself mostly with it. Obama said Egypt is neither friend or foe, but Matthew 12:30 certainly holds an answer. In regards to redistributing the wealth check out Genesis 47 to see how that worked out for Pharaoh and his people until God stepped in. Zechariah 12 holds a harsh warning for those that ignore God's chosen land, Israel. And finally, Biden's bullying behavior at the debate the other night reminds me of Proverb 29:9 If a wise man argues with a fool, the fool only rages and laughs and there is no rest. I absolutely cannot vote for someone that contradicts the Bible and God so much.

@Amy J. Umm...I don't hate your guts. I realize the media is biased, but they haven't made me hate anyone. I just turn that foolishness off at that point because I am above that kind of immaturity. I think you should vote for Obama because it is obvious nobody can sway your opinion of him, no more than you can sway my decision to vote for Romney. You can't believe everything you read in the paper and you can't believe everything on tv, but I can believe everything that is in the Holy Bible though and when I look at this election through that lense, the decision is very clear for me. I have no idea what your camel through eye of the needle comment means.
The beauty of our country are our rights. Our right to have these discussions on Mamapedia and vote as we see fit, among others. I think Romney will preserve those rights a heck of a lot better than Obama will.

@Pamela...I don't think it is a fair statement to say those health professionals that may choose to quit their profession is based solely on how much money they may lose and not being passionate about their chosen field. I think this law is flawed because it is setting up the medical profession to take on a huge influx of people without added medical personnel and will lead to burn-out and watered down care, much like the teaching field that I am a part of. I think NCLB is a terrible law that has changed the face of how teachers are able to do their jobs and I can see Obamacare going down that same path. I think any time our own Congress exempts themselves from a law is a major red flag. What's good for the goose should be good for the gander, right? I do think healthcare coverage and insurance companies do need to be regulated better, but Obamacare is not a good law IMO.

I completely understand. Just because I don't agree with you doesn't mean I'm not informed, it means I am.

I do not like the current administration. I will not vote for them. I believe they are part of the reason this economy is still on the downside. Is there enough blame to go around for everyone? You bet! Any informed citizen would. However, any informed citizen would understand that we cannot sustain this. There aren't enough "rich" people. Even if you taxed them at 100% you STILL wouldn't have enough.

Disgusting profits? Really? Hmmm, then I guess you work for a non profit, live in a shack and eat off the land. When someone invests, you invest to MAKE MONEY. Unless, you are the federal government.

I will watch this, if you will watch 2016. You want to be informed, right?

I am literally laughing at this question. Really, Denise? Isn't it time to move on to something more substantial?

Maybe check some of the numbers on FactCheck.org and see how badly YOUR pick for president is screwing up our country. Sorry, but I have hope for my kids that this socialist won't completely screw up their future.

Are you kidding me? So a company that he hasn't worked for in YEARS, but continues to have investments with, in a blind trust, 2 years ago acquired an IL manufacturing company, which was already struggling, and they are in the process of leaving IL (join the manufacturers' club) for China, and this is somehow going to be blamed on Mr. Romney?

Investment banking firms, like Bain, amongst others, make their money by identifying and researching firms that are struggling, raising capital amongst their investors to take a BIG risk, buying out the company and then trying to make it into a profitable enterprise. Sensata was/is not some thriving company that Bain took over and is destroying. It was/is a struggling firm that was barely staying afloat. Yes, its factories in the US are being closed down and the jobs outsourced to China. Yes, it sucks, but unfortunately the way we interact with the global economy makes it nearly impossible for them to stay in the US, pay the wages and benefits that our unions require, and to keep the cost of goods low enough to be competitive in the world market. If it wasn't Bain taking it over, it'd just be some other investment banking firm.

I find it much more important to view the success rates of Bain Capital, especially during Mr. Romeny's 15 years at its helm. The following article might be informative for many: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020433130457... (I know that this is a deep article, but if you'd like a fair reporting, I'd encourage you to bear with it and read it in its entirety.)

and: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020487900457...

God puts people in power and he takes them out when the nation needs a wake up call or when a nation needs to heal. When you vote, whomever is destined to win for that term will win whether you like it or not, so get the facts straight, and stop tearing the person in power down, pray for the nation and the right person to take office, cause they are human and they both will fail, republican or democrat. Bush failed and Obama failed and probably both did things "Behind Your Back", so what the concern should be is praying the right O. gets in or either way your goose is cooked.

LBOs can be good or bad for a company...I found the following by googling and it made the most sense to me on how it works and who benefits...

http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/08/...

Leveraged Buyouts (LBOs) have probably had more bad publicity than good because they make great stories for the press. While the stories surrounding LBOs are exciting, the concept of the process is quite simple, and, if used correctly, can lead to a successful future for a company that may be in crisis. Read on to find out how.

Leveraged Buyouts
The media would like the average investor to believe that a buyout, whether leveraged or not, is ruthless in nature, leads to massive restructuring and layoffs, rips off the common man and eventually bankrupts the company as the fat cats get rich. LBOs remind many people of the movie "Barbarians at the Gate" (1993), based (some say loosely) on the true story of when then-CEO Ross Johnson made plans to buy out the rest of the R.J.R. Nabisco company after seeing the results of the failure of Premier, the company's smokeless cigarette. The drama unfolds as Johnson's character initially discusses doing the LBO with Henry Kravis and his company, but attempts to use Shearson Lehman Hutton instead. In this case, a certain level of pride and greed was involved and the drama ended with an inflated buyout price and an incredible debt load.

LBO is the generic term for the use of leverage to buy out a company. The buyer can be the current management, the employees or a private equity firm known as outsiders. Some leveraged buyouts occur in companies experiencing hard times and potentially facing bankruptcy, or they may be part of an overall plan. Not all LBOs are regarded as predatory.

Common Buyout Scenarios and Positive and Negative Effects of LBOs
Leveraged buyouts can have positive and negative effects, depending on which side of the deal you are on. There are many scenarios driving a buyout, but four examples are the repackaging plan, the split-up, the portfolio plan and the savior plan.

The Repackaging Plan
The repackaging plan usually involves a private equity company using leveraged loans from the outside to take a currently public company private by buying all of its outstanding stock. The buying firm's goal is to repackage the company and return it to the marketplace in an initial public offering (IPO).

The acquiring firm holds the company for a few years to avoid the watchful eyes of shareholders. This allows the acquiring company to repackage the company behind closed doors, making adjustments here and there and dressing it up. When this is done on a large scale, private firms can buy many companies at once in an attempt to diversify their risk among various industries. Once the acquired company is dressed up, it is offered back to the market as an IPO with some fanfare.

Those who stand to benefit from a deal like this are the original shareholders (if the offer price is greater than the market price), the company's employees (if the deal saves the company from failure) and the private equity firm that generates fees from the day the buyout process starts and holds a portion of the stock until it goes public again. Unfortunately, if no major changes are made to the company, it's a zero-sum game and the new shareholders get the same financials the old company had.

The Split-Up
The split-up is considered to be predatory by many and goes by several names, including "slash and burn" and "cut and run." The underlying premise in this plan is that the company, as it stands, is worth more when broken up or with its parts valued separately. This is fairly common with conglomerates that have acquired various businesses in relatively unrelated industries over many years. The buyer is an outsider and may use aggressive tactics. If successful, the company is dismantled after it is bought out and the parts are sold off to the highest bidder.

This method is the most feared by employees and management, as they know their jobs are just numbers on a page in this situation. These deals usually involve massive layoffs as part of the restructuring process. While it may seem like the equity firm is the only party to benefit from this type of deal, the pieces off of the company that are sold off have the potential to grow on their own and may have been stymied before by the chains of the corporate structure. There will ultimately be two sides of the story, but the thought that any company could be taken out like this should inspire all levels of management to keep their companies as healthy as possible.

The Portfolio Plan
The portfolio plan has the potential to benefit all participants, including the buyer, the management and the employees. Another name for this method is the leveraged build-up, and the concept is both defensive and aggressive in nature. In a competitive marketplace, a company may use leverage to acquire O. of its competitors (or any company where it could achieve synergies from the acquisition). The plan is risky: the company needs to make sure the return on its invested capital exceeds its cost to acquire, or the plan can backfire. If successful, all parties can benefit: the shareholders may receive a good price on their stock, current management can be retained and the company may prosper in its new, larger form.

The Savior Plan
The savior plan is often drawn up with good intentions, but frequently arrives too late. This scenario typically involves a plan involving management and employees to borrow money to save a failing company. The term "employee owned" often comes to mind after O. of these deals goes through. While the concept is commendable, if the same management and tactics stay in place, the likelihood of success is low. On the other hand, if the company turns around after the buyout, everyone benefits.

The Bottom Line
LBOs carry negative connotations to most people because they are presented to us as predatory by the media and by Hollywood. They are perceived as complex deals requiring teams of analysts and experts, but in reality, they just use borrowed money to buy companies. While there are forms of LBOs that lead to massive layoffs and asset selloffs, some LBOs can be part of a long-term plan to save a company through leveraged acquisitions. Regardless of what they are called or how they are portrayed, they will always be a part of an economy as long as there are companies, potential buyers and money to lend.

Read more: http://www.investopedia.com/articles/financial-theory/08/...