Yes, I believe a recent study of the nation agreed, although it was broken down by state, not religion. But Utah was the standout in terms of charitable donations. Re: the perception of disqualifying Romney's contributions on the basis that they were given to his church and not some random non-profit... I don't think it is a good line of attack for his opponents. First, Christians in general are more likely to give to their church first, and this country is full of Christians. Second, Mormons are one of the few "prominent" religions where the local and regional clery is unpaid, and the congregation continuously organizes and volunteers their time to both manage religious functions, and contribute to the community. It is definitely not a one day a week or one day a year religion. Third, like all religions that claim tax exemption they have financial audits each year. Mormons are consistently shown to donate massive financial and labor resources to global humanitarian and charity efforts and they are well known for providing welfare assistance even to families not affiliated with them. I wouldn't touch that argument with a ten foot pole.
OK, I have no desire to argue this with you if your reading comprehension is weak. I'll speak on my behalf. I can separate what people do from what they believe. For example, I think Sean Penn is a great director even though I hate his politics. I think Soros is a great trader. By the argument RCG is making, Soros is guilty of destroying many many people's lives. Way more then Romney. That is the argument RCG is making. I'm not making that argument. What annoys me are these people who condemn someone for trying to make a profit then you turn around and see they are a trader. A profession which arguably offers nothing of value to society except for creating volatility that ultimately destroys people's savings and creates inflation on the middle class. It's the hypocrisy that stinks.
I settled in on being a trader because I realized that capital is the center of the universe. Now, supposing I become one of those Jim Rogers types one fine day. I do not want it said that I made my money on oil, or that I shorted Enron out of existence( even tho they had it coming and a technician would have clearly killed that chart.) There are quite a number of trades that I did not take because I need to sleep well at night. And it has cost me a lot of money. Enuf to be called stupid by the "real" capitalists. Bain knows what companies they can and cannot save. They know when a company is going to fail, regardless of what they try. Is it a sin to tell it's workers the truth, and at least give a month or two before the axe falls? Nah, they are dumb southern hillbillies or fly over country farmers, nobody cares about that. Fuck em. Mittens is Gordon Gekko, and before it is over, they will parody him as such. I say again, Newt knew where Mittens soft underbelly was, and gave fair warning to keep it clean. Mittens threw the first punch.
Damn Mav, I answered this already. Traders can have ETHICS. If you have big bat, and you know what damage can be done if you swing it. DO NOT SWING THE FUKKING BAT! There are dozens of opportunities every single week even every single day, to make money. Have some fukkin MORALS. Unless you are all about profit and profit alone, then, you are candidate for Bain. Go kill off some companies.
I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. LBO outfits left a lot of smoking waste in their wake while waving the flag and beating the capitalism drum. As for accounting 101, they have characteristically overleveraged the companies they then plundered with excessive dividend withdrawals. That's a double no-no when taken to the extreme, which LBOers typically did. They did it not so much because it was the managerially right thing to do but because they could. They cut costs to make the companies appear more profitable, but in many cases it was with too short-term an outlook, and one that had farther reaching consequences - longer-term viability. Leverage is a two-way sword. And they were opportunistic swordsmen. Again, I am not suggesting I know what the net effect was across all the companies that Bain touched. I would very much like to see it laid out so that we can all draw the same objective conclusion. However, I think we both know how LBO firms operated. Therefore, I will remain somewhat biased against the "value" such operations create until I see the evidence in full.
RCG, first of all, you trade FX in an OANDA account. LOL. Your micro lot trades are not going to take down a country. Sorry. LOL. Second, you have NO CLUE how private equity works. First of all, if you think trading is hard, try private equity. More PE firms blow up every year then hedge funds. It's literally one of those businesses where you make 100 bad bets and one good one. It's brutal. Nobody KNOWS which companies are going to make it. Just as YOU don't know where the Euro is going. All you can do is take the information you have and play the probabilities. It's really hard man. All you guys that are lecturing how easy it is, why don't you quit your day job and do it then. Show us how easy it really is. You are not buying companies like GOOG and AAPL, you are buying companies that have been run into the ground, have bloated payrolls, mountains of debt and probably sell a product or service nobody wants or needs. Yeah, sign me up for that. LOL. Seriously, the moral piety on this board is astounding. Absolutely astounding.