Will Mitt Romney Do A Leveraged Buyout Of America

Mitt Romney touts his business experience as a basis for his ability to turn around the United States economy. That’s a frightening proposition given that given that Romney’s experience as a venture capitalist involves leveraged buyouts. Wow, imagine the feeding frenzy of a LBO of the United States, what a business windfall.

If someone is using their business background as a basis for becoming President of the United States then you have to examine that business experience and determine how it would be used to reach their goals. Someone like Mitt Romney was involved in making profits from investments in start-ups and struggling companies. Mitt Romney’s firm was not interested in profiting from long term operating profits from the organizations it invested in, but in extracting the largest payout it could within a certain time frame. How would that apply in a government setting?

Don’t think that what would amount to a LBO of the United States is far fetched. Some of the most valued assets we have are being sold off or lease right now. One of the most precious assets the country possesses is its infrastructure.  Many public roads across the nation are being converted to toll roads under long term lease deals. A study  by the U.S. PIRG Education Fund details this growing trend.

Private/public partnerships and small government are the new code words for moving government services over to private for profit generating activities. The federal government is filled with opportunities for profit making transitions if the skids are greased with the President and Congress being of like mind. A nation with the riches of the United States is ripe with opportunities with obvious choices being the transition of Medicare and Social Security into the private account investment market. National parks could be opened for drilling and almost any agency you can think of could be outsourced on a consultant basis.

Some may ask why the scenario above would be a problem since we are running deficits as a country. The problem comes in because the government is based upon a service model and not a for-profit model. Government is here to serve it citizens and not profit off them as customers. When profit comes into the picture someone is not going to be able to afford the price and go wanting.

Mitt Romney is a businessman who is great at making money for himself and his investors, the question is can he deliver services to the citizens of the United States. There may have been a ray of hope given that he delivered a healthcare plan to the citizens of Massachusetts when he was Governor, but he avoids that subject like the plague in order to please his current supporters that are sitting at the table with their forks and knives hoping that a great feast is at hand.