'Balanced between fear and greed'

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Following his daddy's advice to " never get involved in politics if you have to win election to pay a mortgage" Willard Romney knowingly entered the dark, shadowy underworld of financial criminality and "junk" bonds in the mid-80s and never looked back.

Looking for easy money and a big payoff to fuel his insatiable political ambition and greed, Romney decided in 1988 to brush up against one of the most prolific financial criminals, in the middle of an intensive Securities and Exchange investigations.

"What transpired," writes Boston Globe staff, "would become not just one of the most profitable leveraged buyouts of the era, but also one of the most revealing stories of Romney’s Bain Capital career."

Romney's unbridled greed led him to hook his fortunes to now-convicted felon Michael Milken, known in financial circles as "The Junk Bond King."


Now let's be clear: in 1988, when Willard M. Romney took Milken as a partner, no formal charges had been levied against him. He was, however, quite widely infamous at the time for being under investigation by the SEC. Just one year later he would be indicted on 98 counts of racketeering and securities fraud. Milken dodged the racketeering and insider trading charges by pleading guilty to six securities and reporting violations and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

So, was Romney the unwitting dupe of a skilled con man? Absolutely not. In fact, the man who refuses to release his taxes then simply says "You are just going to have to take my word for it," had no qualms putting "the deal" ahead of doing the moral thing.

“We did not say, ‘Oh my goodness, Drexel has been accused of something, not been found guilty,’” Romney told the Globe years later. “Should we basically stop the transaction and blow the whole thing up?

The right answer, Mitt, is "yes." It was also the logical conclusion drawn by most of Bain Capital's clients at the time; so many, in fact, that it cost Romney the deal when it initially fell through. But a conviction and a $650 million fine piled onto the beleaguered firm couldn't deter the money-lustful Willard. In fact, fueled by dirty money from the remaining partners, themselves penalized for their involvement, a deal eventually was struck.

This guy ... this guy, Romney ... stands before an oblivious half of our electorate who buy the pious baloney about his alleged business acumen, yet possesses the moral moorings of Michael Milken himself. And this guy asks that we just take "at his word" that he has nothing to hide. At least half of us aren't that stupid.