On November 1, the UAW and other public interest groups charged Mitt Romney with federal ethics violations for improperly concealing a multi-million dollar windfall he received as a result of the auto industry bailout. As you read this, remember that, in 1994, when Mr. Romney ran unsuccessfully against Ted Kennedy for the U.S. Senate, he was quoted as saying, “The blind trust is an age-old ruse.”
Full article can be read at: http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/17613-uaw-charges-romney-with-profiteering-from-auto-bailout
Excerpts (the underlines are mine):
At a press conference in Toledo, Bob King, President of the United Automobile Workers, (announced) that his union and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) have filed a formal complaint with the US Office of Government Ethics in Washington stating that Gov. Romney improperly hid a profit of $15.3 million to $115.0 million in Ann Romney's so-called "blind" trust.
The Romneys' gigantic windfall was hidden inside an offshore corporation inside a limited partnership inside a trust which both concealed the gain and reduces taxes on it.
According to ethics law expert Dr. Craig Holman of Public Citizen...Ann Romney does not have a federally-approved blind trust. An approved "blind" trust may not be used to hide a major investment which could be affected by Romney if he were to be elected President.
In 2009, Ann Romney partnered with her husband's key donor, billionaire Paul Singer, who secretly bought a controlling interest in Delphi Auto, the former GM auto parts division. (Then) threatened to cut off GM's supply of steering columns unless GM and the government's TARP auto bailout fund provided Delphi with huge payments. While the US treasury complained this was "extortion," the hedge funds received, ultimately, $12.9 billion in taxpayer subsidies.
As a result, the shares Singer and Romney bought for just 67 cents are today worth over $30, a 4,000% gain. Singer's hedge fund made a profit of $1.27 billion and the Romney's tens of millions.
More information, can be found here: http://www.truth-out.org/buzzflash/commentary/item/17617-romney-made-a-fortune-off-of-extorted-delphi-government-ransom-payment-tell-paul-ryan
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