Romney the Capitalist is the American Way
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
January 11, 2012
In order to make a tasty omelet, you’ve got to crack some eggs.
Full disclosure: I have supported Herman Cain before he withdrew from the GOP nominating process; I have supported Michele Bachmann prior to her departure from the GOP cavalcade of candidates; and currently I support Newt Gingrich to be the GOP standard bearer this year in the most important fight for the White House this nation has seen perhaps since 1860.
One name not on my list has been Mitt Romney. Twice, once in 2007 and again in 2011, I have written columns defending Romney the Mormon when he was attacked for not being a Christian and when Mormonism was called a cult by a supporter of Texas Governor Rick Perry. Full disclosure II: I am not a Christian, but as a religious minority, such attacks could easily be levied upon me and my fellow religionists.
But I am a capitalist and a patriot who, once again, feels compelled to support the former Massachusetts governor against the slings and arrows of both Perry and former House Speaker Gingrich.
While I still hope Gingrich will be the GOP nominee for president, and have the utmost confidence in his ability to dismantle Obama in a debate leaving the apologizer in chief whimpering in a corner wondering from where the stains in his pants emerged, he and Perry are violating Ronald Reagan’s vaunted 11th Commandment – thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican.
Truth, yes; but soiling a reputation in a scorched earth scenario that will leave the potential nominee too battered and bloodied to take on the real opponent, Obama, serves no one’s interest save for Obama’s himself.
With the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in the rear view mirror and in Romney’s pocket, South Carolina’s January 21 primary looms large for Gingrich and Perry if either candidate is to cling to any hope of resurrecting their floundering campaigns. (Finishing third after practically becoming a Live Free or Die state resident, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman is finished; Ron Paul will NEVER get the GOP nod and Rick Santorum, while mostly above the fray, does not have the organization to sustain a Super Tuesday campaign.)
Eventually, there will need to be a coalescing around the GOP nominee, whoever it is. Yet, before that, the continued advertising that look like they could have come from the Obama machine will only weaken the party as a whole, if Romney is the nominee.
Romney was a businessman prior to entering the political arena, and a darned successful one at that. As CEO of Bain Capital, he had the arduous responsibility of answering to shareholders and board members pertaining to the company’s bottom line. Part of Bain and Romney’s job was to determine the feasibility of salvaging some companies versus letting others meet their inevitable demise.
These are business decisions, not personal decisions. Yes, the decisions are made by a person, and yes, they affect many people, but that is the nature of business. Decisions are necessitated based upon the greater good, and in order to make a good omelet, some eggs have to be cracked.
Business is about risks. Perhaps the companies that Romney had to let die would have died under someone else’s auspices. Perhaps the businesses that Romney was able to rescue would also have died under someone else’s control. That too, is the nature of business.
As capitalist and free market supporters, both Gingrich and Perry should not only understand this, but embrace it, for to do otherwise is akin to joining the “Occupy” movement full of people who want government to control everything and make everything fair and right according to their own socialist beliefs – much like Obama said to Joe the Plumber in 2008 about the importance of spreading the wealth around.
That is neither capitalist nor American – and Gingrich and Perry know this. They just need to be reminded of it before it is too late.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.
My Dear Friend.
ReplyDeleteYou have shot the 8ball corner pocket on this like always as they are scrambling to fine nothing but empty corner pockets going after each other O did they forget what Regan said about their fellow Republican I guess they have.Maybe you should Call or text them and you give them the rudeness they dissever maybe they will wake up and smell the roses. we can only hope.
As a business owner I can say first hand that its not personal I am here to make my company bigger and better and more profit,So yes you do have to crack some eggs to get what you need and there is no tears of cry here its just business.
Oops darn computer (Reagan) is what i meant to say
ReplyDelete