President Needs Lesson in Economics

During a news conference on Monday, President Barack Obama slammed presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney for his business experience, saying that Romney was more interested in making money than creating jobs while at Bain Capital.

There are two major problems with the President's attack on Romney: 1) America is and has always been a capitalistic country driven by profit, and 2) the President's record on creating jobs has been absolutely horrific.

If you're an American, you're living in a capitalistic society.  When you go to work, you either work for someone who is trying to make a profit, or you own your own business and are trying to earn a profit. Profit is not a four-letter word; it's what drives America and it's what has made America great.  If owners of companies were to focus on hiring the most people, instead of earning a profit, very few companies would actually stay in business.  Profit is what drives companies like Apple Computer, Microsoft and even the mom and pop shop down the street to innovate and prosper.  It is also what allows companies to hire more people and expand.

While at Bain Capital, Romney's job was to provide a healthy return to investors.  He and Bain took huge risks, saving dozens of companies near bankruptcy and their workers from the scrap heap, all for the potential of earning a reward for their investment.  Sure, a few companies went bankrupt even after they received an influx of much-needed capital, but 80% of the companies Bain Capital invested in either added or saved jobs.  Thousands of jobs were added by companies supported by Bain Capital, helping more families all across America to put food on the table.  The money raised by Bain Capital was provided by private investors, who risked losing most if not all of their investment if the companies did not show a profit.  Instead, under Romney's strong leadership, they made money and more employees were hired.  This is American capitalism at its best.

In comparison, the President has wasted billions of dollars acting as a venture capitalist -- except he's gambled with OUR MONEY.  A large number of companies supported by the Obama Administration, including Solyndra, have filed for bankruptcy, costing taxpayers billions of dollars.  If those companies had an 80% chance of thriving, then venture capitalists, including Bain Capital, driven by the potential for profit, would have invested long ago. They haven't invested because these alternative energy companies will not be profitable until their technology improves dramatically and the cost of production drops exponentially.  If private equity firms driven by profit won't invest, why should our government?

Perhaps instead of listening closely to those Marxist professors and attending socialist conferences while in college, our President should have taken Economics 101. In this basic class, he would have learned about the law of supply and demand and other basic principles of economics that would guide him as he attempts to lead the world's largest economy out of a deep recession.

Fortunately, this election season, we have a  choice.  Romney already understands and has prospered from the principles of capitalism President Obama clearly never learned.