Romney Profitted from Tax Breaks, Subsidies (for 1/13/12)

During Mitt Romney's tenure, Bain Capital invested in Steel Dynamics to help its steel mill grow to over 6,000 jobs now in Indiana's DeKalb County. He has not told the public how Indiana and DeKalb County provided Bain with very favorable tax breaks and subsidies. Bain made a June 1994 investment of $18.2 million in Steel Dynamics and reaped $104 million off it five years later. Bain received $37 million in subsidies for the mill and despite citizen opposition, DeKalb County raised income taxes for infrastructure upgrades to benefit Bain, which also received $23.4 million in property tax relief from the County. State tax credits of $4.4 million also went to Bain. GS Industries, another Bain Investment, was based in Kansas City and went broke in 2001. Bain reaped huge dividends from GS Industries while taking away paychecks, health insurance, and some retirement benefits from 700 workers. Bain wanted the U.S. Government to back $50 million on this investment. Stories like these will drive the public to demand real tax reform that gets rid of subsidies that benefit corporations, investors, and the wealthy. The Cato Institute, a free-market think tank, has even decried these as example of "corporate welfare." http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bain-subsidies-20120113,0,1268299.story