Much is being made of Mittens and his tenure at Bain Capital, and much of it is being spewed by people, who, I hate to say it, have no clue how private enterprise works in this country. Oh, and no, I am not going to educate anyone on how businesses secure capital. Maybe there is a YouTube video on it somewhere. Besides, I only educate when I get paid to do it...mostly.
What I am going to rant, for a moment, about is the perception by some that somehow business/free enterprise is "evil". The Left drives me nuts in this regard, especially when they close their eyes to corruption in their own ranks. Sorry, but I don't think that big union bosses are any more pristine than any other power-brokers in this country. The fact is this: free enterprise works and it is responsible for virtually everything we have in this country, including the money we as a society have to help those who are less fortunate. It is not a perfect system, but it is far more perfect than anything else we have been able to come up with as a species in terms of economic management.
Yes, by the way, I very much do participate in the free enterprise system. I have never worked in the public sector but I do respect everyone who works hard in their chosen profession, be it public or private. I do, however, find it disingenuous that some career public sector folks love to malign the business community when it's our work that pays for their freight. I'm not claiming that all regulation is bad, that capitalism is perfect and that Ayn Rand is some kind of genius. What I am claiming that business is no more or less inherently evil than government.
Anyway, demonizing Mittens for his work at Bain is just simply wrong. Was he "in it" for the money? Of course he was! Did he make a lot of money? Of course he did! Big deal. I know plenty of folks on the Left who enjoy their paychecks. Besides, venture capitalists aren't all Repbulicans, and demonizing the way that businesses secure funding makes no real sense, as it's simply not an ideological issue. I think Bill Clinton touched on this last week, as did Corey Booker a few weeks before.
There are plenty of issues where Mittens can rightfully be criticized. Plenty. However, criticizing the very nature of his work at Bain is, at best, a cheap shot and it only plays into the hands of opponents of the President who want to paint him as anti-business. The Obama campaign and its surrogates can do better.
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