Romney as Job Creator Clashes with his company's Record of Job Cuts

(Bloomberg) Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign misses few opportunities to promote his record creating jobs, including his role in taking Staples Inc. (SPLS) from a start-up to the world’s largest office-supply retailer.

“You’d have a president who has spent his life in business -- small business, big business -- and who knows something about how jobs are created and how we compete around the world,” he said at a campaign stop last month at Buddy Brew Coffee in Tampa, Florida.

What Romney skips is his experience in eliminating jobs. It’s a facet of his career that presents a particular challenge for the Republican primary frontrunner: Tough business decisions don’t necessarily translate into good politics.

As head of private equity firm Bain Capital LLC, Romney was the lead deal-maker, buying and selling companies to make money for investors. Whether companies boomed or filed for bankruptcy, the Boston-based firm found profits for Romney, its other executives and investors. Romney, who spent most of his career at Bain, estimated his wealth in 2007 at as much as $250 million. He has yet to update his financial status for the 2012 presidential campaign. .............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-07-20/romney-as-job-creator-clashes-with-bain-record-of-job-cuts.html