I've noticed a pattern that every week another GOP U.S. Senate candidate for Senator Saxby "Chicken Hawk" Chambliss' (R. GA) Senate seat just exposes how much they suck. And it looks like millionaire David Perdue (R. GA) is the Mitt Romney in the race:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/...
During an appearance at the Fayette County GOP in Georgia early in January, David Perdue, the former CEO of Dollar General who is now running for outgoing Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R), was asked by a woman in the audience about "corporate welfare." The woman asked about Delta Airlines terminating pensions for employees before going on to merge with Northwest Airlines. In response, Perdue argued that some bailouts can be good, like the Wall Street bailout, while others are a bad idea, like the bailout of the Detroit autoworkers.
"I believe in capitalism. I believe when companies fail, there are bankruptcy laws to deal with that. I do not support the bailout of Detroit." Perdue said.
But, Perdue continued, he did oppose certain other government bailout, like the one that saved the auto industry. That bailout, Perdue argued, was "basically a union buyout."
"Now the liquidity that we put into the financial system, we got a return on that," "That money came back to us. Because it was a decent investment and it came back to us." - TPM, 1/16/14
Can't say that I'm surprised Perdue loves Wall Street bailouts considering his background:
http://www.ajc.com/...
He’s known on Wall Street as a turnaround specialist who helps revive brands and reap rewards for investors. But his rivals will try to depict the former Fortune 500 leader as out-of-touch with regular citizens. And he’ll face questions about his business setbacks.
Perdue also will confront the same problem facing Michelle Nunn, the only big-name Democratic contender running for retiring Sen. Saxby Chambliss’ seat: Not since Mack Mattingly’s victory in 1980 has a candidate without public electoral experience won a Senate seat in Georgia.
He’s put together a formidable team of strategists, made up of some people who worked for his famous first cousin, former Gov. Sonny Perdue. But competition looms large from veteran politicians: Reps. Phil Gingrey, Paul Broun and Jack Kingston and former Secretary of State Karen Handel.
Perdue welcomes the scrutiny of his boardroom experience, even his brief leadership of the troubled North Carolina textile firm that went under shortly after he left. He said it’s what will help him plot a course to cut federal spending and spur job growth if elected.
“My experience in business, good and bad, has prepared me to focus on the economic crisis and not the noise around it,” he said.
Perdue, who grew up in Warner Robins as the son of two schoolteachers, built his career as a marketing expert. He established Sara Lee’s first Asian headquarters and, while CEO of Reebok, cleared debt from the company’s balance sheet and revived the brand’s sneaker line.
What he’s most remembered for, though, is negotiating for Reebok a high-stakes contract with the NFL that former Reebok executive Paul Harrington called “revolutionary” for the way it positioned the shoe brand.
Perdue was poached by Pillowtex, a North Carolina textile giant, in July 2002 with the goal of renewing its popular brands. But he soon realized he was in for a stiffer challenge than he imagined.
The company, which had just emerged from bankruptcy, struggled with a $200 million outstanding bank loan and mounting competition from a flood of low-cost imports. After he arrived, he also discovered a festering problem with an underfunded pension plan. - Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 8/8/13
Even the Tea Party folks hated the Wall Street bailout so I'll be interested to see how Perdue will pitch this to them if he wants to win the nominee. But not only does he sound like Romney, he also channels Chambliss:
http://thinkprogress.org/...
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) today announced his opposition to “any additional relief” for the auto industry, a little more than a month after voting for the troubled $700 billion bailout for the financial industry. In an online chat with the readers of the conservative website RedState, Chambliss was asked where he stands on the auto industry bailout. He responded:
The automobile industry has systemic, deep-rooted problems that money will not solve and I will not support funding any additional relief to the auto industry.
Despite the “systemic, deep-rooted problems” in the financial industry “that money will not solve,” Chambliss voted Yea in both of the Senate votes on October 1st for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout package [Vote #212, Vote #213]. The Treasury has since disbursed hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to investment firms and banks, but “few are rushing to make the loans that companies and consumers need to cushion the economic slump.”
It is true that the auto industry needs to be retooled to be a leader in America’s green recovery. But inaction now could mean irrevocable damage to jobs, businesses, and communities that would make industry reform exponentially more difficult. The implosion of the auto industry would be catastrophic for thousands, if not millions, of American families. As Center for American Progress fellows Bracken Hendricks and Dan Weiss, with Ben Goldstein, explain:
The auto industry is a bedrock of the economy, with “one in 10 American jobs related to auto manufacturing.” Its survival is essential for the future of advanced clean vehicle and energy manufacturing. What’s more, this extra help is imperative to preserve jobs.
The implications of a collapse of General Motors, Ford, or Chrysler are beginning to become apparent. On Thursday, “Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service lowered the credit ratings of two big auto suppliers, and put 13 others on watch for possible reductions, because of their ties to car makers.” - Think Progress, 11/14/08
Chambliss' support for the Wall Street bailout pissed off Libertarian conservative voters so much that Chambliss failed to secure over 50% of the vote and had to force him into a runoff election with Jim Martin (D. GA). The Libertarian candidate, Allen Buckley, secured 3.4% of the vote. Chambliss ended up winning the runoff but the Wall Street bailout is one of several reasons Chambliss had to call it quits. Jack Kingston's (R. GA) been Tea Party candidates favorite punching bag in the primary so for. We'll see if Perdue becomes the next Kingston. In the mean time, if you would like to get involved with Michelle Nunn's (D. GA) campaign. You can do so here:
http://www.michellenunn.com/