welcome to the ed show, the mitt romney campaign released a commercial bragging about his record at bain capital. i'll show you why he shouldn't be bragging at all. this is the ed show, let's get to work. >>> still is not prepared to release any documents from bain to prove anything. >> newt keeps kitihitting harde the romney response is pathetic. >> whether he created jobs is fair game, do you agree with that? >> you know, with all due respect to mr. gingrich, no. >> just when you thought rick perry couldn't get any dumber, he screws up the third thing again. >> commerce, education and the -- what's the third one? >> the drum beat for romney to release his taxes is building. >> let's get it out there. >> huffington post's sam stein on the chaos in carolina. stephen colbert joke run is exposing the joke that citizens united. bernie sanders is here tonight. >> now that i have the super pac -- can i run as supporting stephen colbert? >> yes, you can as long as you do not coordinate. >> good to have you with us tonight, thanks for watching, republicans and democrats spent the week hammering mitt ro

bain capital is what modern american capitalism looks like. you know, it turns out a lot of voters have issues with modern american capitalism. not just democrats. people that would be voting in the republican primary have issues with the kind of devastation it has wraught. i'm shocked to see this being spouted in the republican primary already. i really am surprised. >> wendy, what is the history of this kind of talk in the presidential debates? in my lifetime i don't believe it's ever come up in the fundamental way. >> questioning the validity of -- >> that free enterprise is being debated. that's a serious subject. a large subject. >> not like this. not at all. because republicans have always been the more credible on the idea of free enterprise, getting government out of business and so the democrats never really wanted the conversation to go in that direction and the republicans would clamp it down. ronald reagan would shut it down when he needed tochlt other candidates like bush shut it down when he needed to. this is sort of unpealing t

forget-rich-quick schemes is not appropriate from my perspective and i happen to think companies like bain capitalme in and helped these companies if they truly were venture capitalists but they're not, they are vulture capital lists. >> the managing partner of of a capital management company, explain, what does it mean when someone is a venture capitalist. >> by the way, governor perry is absolutely factually wrong with everything that he just said. >> rick: before that, i want to talk to you about that but define venture capitalism, for folks who may have heard it and might not fully understand what it means. >> that is what i want to do. let's say you and i, got together and had an idea and wanted to start a business and might go and fund it ourselves, and, eventually go out and get financing from friends. and, we realize our idea is really good and we need additional money, a venture capitalist will give us the money for ownership in the company and, it is a high-risk investment and, only about 1 out of 20 or 1 out of 30 of the best venture capital investments actually succeed and when they do

they're taking advantage of companies, meaning bain capital going through did is stressed times and actually used the term vulture capitalism, again and again, picking the bones of some of the companies and cleaning them. the ethics get thrown out the door, vulture is there. >> and why does it sound to me like this would be the argument that you would anticipate any republican would receive. from democrats, occupy wall street, barack obama. >> i'm not a great fan of bain capital and i'm not a look of people, em a he not clear what it does. it's not like mcdonald's makes hamburgers and apple makes computers. it's not clear what bain capital does to most people. but this is a critique from the left and in a sense they're doing to economic conservatives in gingrich and perry, what ron paul is doing to foreign policy conservatives and they're clobbering it from the left. >> sean: and the one interesting component that always tied the republican party together. social conservatives and libertarian conservatives and everyone agreed on checks. and this is is a time when there's a separation and we'

so there's this focus on bain capital and mitt romney.way at the narrative that he may not be good in terms of economic vision. all playing into the big game, isn't it? >> it is playing into the big game. i've got to say, that poll, the last poll that you said that's a new poll actually was in the field the same day the other two polls were in the field too. so we have some widely divergent polls here. one that shows mitt romney way ahead. that is an outlier because they actually doesn't even line up with romney's team and gingrich's team and perry's team are telling me off the record. that actually this race is much closer than that last poll shows. so no, listen, i think at the end of the day, bain capital's going to be one part of the story. the massachusetts record is going to be one part of the story, the olympics is going to be one part of the story. at the end of the day, mitt romney's going to be judged on his vision forward. where is he going to take america over the next four years if he wins the nomination? and it'll be the sam

shouldn't. >> mitt romney's opponents are stepping up their attacks based on a his taime running bain capitalraider. today the wall street journal reports on romney's time at bain. the journal examines 77 businesses bain invested in while romney ran the company. 22% of those businesses filed for bankruptcy protection or closed their doors. bain was recording 50 to 80% annual gains at the time which is considered high. joining me now wall street journal, jerry. the bottom line is this article points out there are some highlights for mitt romney here but there's a lot of low lights there's enough to really strike hard. >> there's ban lot of back and forth. without a lot of detail research. we decided to step back and look at it in detail. we took 77 companies with the investment this bain made and took a look at the record. there's going to be a bit in what we found for both sides. it was a slightly higher average of bankruptcies. there were also some spectacular successes. the staples, the sports authorities and dominos pizzas. they created a lot of jobs. you can look at this detail study and

he's going after him on bain capital. and i would guess that quote is going to be slipped into these ads. >> we'll see what happens today, but jon huntsman seized the moment on the comment, suggesting it makes mitt romney quote completely unelectable. >> let me say something before we start. and that is, that is it's become abundantly clear over the last couple of days, what differentiates governor romney and me. i will always support my country first, it seems that governor romney believes in putting politics first. governor romney enjoys firing people. i enjoy creating jobs. >> as you know, i was speaking about insurance companies and the need to be able to make a choice. and my comments entirely reflected that discussion. you know, if you think that i should spend my entire campaign carefully choosing how everything i say relates to people, as opposed to saying my own experience and telling my own experience, that would make me a very different person than i am. i'm going to tell people my own experiences in life and i

megyn: he's now taking it on bain capital. with newt gingrich moments ago, he just hit it time and time and time again. i want to play you one sound bite where he went off mitt on bain. take a listen: >> but i'm for some sen of fairness that the entrepreneur and the worker have a joint investment in something succeeding. >> any idea how you would enforce that? >> i think you enforce it partly in the court of public opinion, partly through transparency. that's why i think governor romney is going to have to have a press conference and say here's why we took six times our investment. $180 million, and then the company went broke. was there really nothing they could have done for those workers? i mean -- >> megyn: and so you hear him talking about fairness and how mitt romney essentially was a corporate raider, is what he's arguing, that there was a way of getting money for the investmentors of bain capital and preserving jobs. >> well, really disappointing that the former speaker would make this line of attack, for a number of r

when we get to bain capital, he knows what it's like to worry about a pink slip. that raised a lot of eyebrows. is the press now seizing on every comment and a very perceived bit of awkwardness around these parts to further this narrative in a way that might not be true of a different kind of candidate, with a different background? >> well, i think in some ways they are, and obviously, the democrats are doing that too in the media. we are involved in that too. seizing on some of these comments. i think in part it's that there's this contest where there does seem to be this inevitability surrounding mitt yom hi, right? you know, there is i think a need and a desire to inject some interest, some talking points into the coverage of it, so i do think in some ways he is going to see that. if he is the nominee, which it looks like he will be, this is the kind of reporting that we'll see. i think in talking about this narrative of him being, you know, this sort of corporate elite guy, i think the reason why it's catching on and the reason why the press is also focussing

bain capital was involved in.ut when you look at -- >> are they fair game for a political opponent to raise? >> everything is fair game. >> here's newt gingrich defending his attacks on bain capital. >> there's a big difference between financial manipulation and capitalism. capitalism is what entrepreneurs go out and investors go out. they start something real. they grow something. and it has real impact. >> and you don't feel like that's a class warfare argument? that is what some -- >> i think that's -- >> -- romney defenders are saying here. >> okay. is he allowed to cite his record or not? if he's allowed to cite his record, is somebody else allowed to criticize his record or not? criticizing one businessman for one set of practices is not an assault on capitalism. >> well, chris, i think that this is a preview to the whole election and the general election. this will be an election about do we believe in -- which candidate is better that communicating their experiences in life to the voters. president obama b

mitt romney lands in south carolina, faces another barrage of attacks on his business record at bain capital. and bain is the debate among republicans who see the attacks as an assault on free enterprise this morning. the romney campaign begins to counter attack. president obama tells a hometown crowd that change will come at fundraisers in chicago last night. the trip designed to raise cash and spirits of his supporters. the first big political move since mitt romney has gone 2-0. and what was behind mississippi governor now former governor haley barbour spree of pardons before leaving office? among them 21 convicted murderers. now a judge has issued an injunction. we'll go live to mississippi. it's thursday, january 12th, 2012, how about that? this is the daily rundown. i'm chuck todd. a rare appearance here in our home studio in washington, d.c. get right to my first reads of the morning. south carolina has the reputation for being the brutal state of politics but get ready for a lively ten days. the barrage of criticism about romney's record at bain not letting up. governor romney is try

when you talk to people and ask them what do you think of bain capital, they say, what is bain capitalh. >> or i never thought about bain capital until the last couple of weeks. the big but here is newt gingrich is trying very hard with social conservative voters in that part of the state to distinguish himself from rick santorum and rick perry and coalesce conservatives and looks like it's happening a little bit. one of the reasons is newt gingrich is showing what the bain capital attacks that he is the tough guy, that he can fight hard against mitt romney. i think that is what a appealing down here in south carolina. >> michael, this discussion, you know, the argument here for bain may be falling on deaf ears. if it doesn't change the race for romney in south carolina do you think it's something the democrats run with in the fall or a failed issue? i don't know if you saw that graphic we put up. at this point, 77% of folks there in south carolina saying this would be a problem for them. >> i did see that graphic. i do think that obama will be able to return to this. obviously, he is

they're talking like money and democrats, i mean steve ratner, who say there's nothing wrong with bain capitalney saying that he wasn't a reagan conservative. he wasn't a republican. show him saying that he would fight like hell to defend abortion in massachusetts, saying that he would fight like hell to defend gay marriage. talking about gun control. that's the stupidity of this attack. if you just won those arguments, you take 15 points off of mitt romney in south carolina. >> the best way to -- they weren't esoteric sports authorities. these are companies that americans can relate to. it's nothing that's not voodoo, it's not black magic. >> mitt romney spent part of his time yesterday trying to fend off some of these attacks that thousands of americans at bains lose their jobs. >> i think any time a job is lost is a tragedy, for the family, the individual that loses a job, it's devastates. any time we invested in a business, it was to encourage that business it was to have ongoing life. the idea of making short-term profits really doesn't exist in business because nobody wants to buy stock

by the media were delighted to pile on romney. >> i am president of one of the unions that had bain capitale in and close companies. this president tried to create jobs. >> if you look at what he has done versus romney at b abin capital, the president will win the argument. >> the stratify somewhere some obama allies is anoint romney and get on to the general election battle. republican nomination fight isn't over and the president is still the prime target. >> middle class is slinking, the country is getting pour. >> all we need is leadership and a plan. >> the country has a leader who divides with us the bitter politics ofenvy. >> problem for romney as he charges the president with using class warfare, some of the republican rivals are playing the same game. >> i want a free enterprise system fair to everyone and gives everyone an equal opportunity to pursue happiness. >> as for the president, aides say in coming week he is will unveil tax incentives to get more u.s. companies to grow jobs at home. he is bankrupt about trying to get credit in battleground states. >> shifting production fr

the company was bain capital. more ruthless than wall street. >> pulled the rug out from under our plant. >> everybody was fired. they fire people, they cut benefits, they sell assets. >> mitt romney, them guys, don't care who i am. >> i feel that is the man that destroyed us. >> winning our future is responsible for the content of this message. >> joining the panel, this week, "wall street journal" columnist and deputy editor, dan heading jer, assistant owed tor page editor, james freeman, editorial board member, dorothy ra begrabz and, kim strassel. >> that is well produced smear and, so is the 28 minute film and i think once newt gingrich quits and the pac closes up shop it will be able to sell it to the obama campaign for a large amount of money. >> well, but, is it -- is that what -- a fair description of the public/private equity business. >> it is completely one-sided and the point of private equity is, to spot opportunities to make a profit. how do they make a profit? they see companies under performing an

romney and bain's profits at the expense of 15,000 jobs was described by the boston herald as disgusting. >> i should mention the parent company is the co-owner of the weather capital with bain company. the movie is airing in south carolina in ads. the tea party senator jim demint said romney will probably win the state. but when he gets to south carolina he will be seeing more tv ads attacking him than he has ever seen before. billionaire casino owner sheldon adelson donated to the campaign, also attacking romney's stance on abortion. >> romney appointed a pro abortion judge, expanded access to abortion pills, failed to put the pro life group on the same board. romney signed government-mandated health care with dax taxpayer funded abortion. >> it's getting good. gingrich clarified his position on capitalism to chuck todd, but pulled no punches while portraying romney as a corporate raider. >> i'm middle class, my dad was an army officer. i have middle class values, i find powerful, rich people playing games very distasteful. >> turn on the lights, the party is not over, it's just getting started. you know what? i just cannot get away from this graph, can i? here's

some are saying why woul bain capital. left of a free market and free enterprise. >> i don't think job creation is to the left of anybody. venture capital does a great job, we are trying to lure more venture capitalists into my home state every day. the idea that you have private equity companies that come in and take companies apart so they can make quick profits, and then people lose their job, i don't think that is what americans are looking for, and i hope that's not what the republican party is about. we ought to be about putting policies in place that create jobs and create even environment so the companies can make it. martha: not all the companies that they put money into are going to succeed. when you look at bain's report, and the "wall street journal" did that, they had about a 70% success rate. most new businesses have a 50% failure rate. the romney folks are red dining ads that you'll see in south carolina that have far more examples of people's whose jobs were saved or businesses were grown by bain capital. i

full disclosure, nbc universal and bain capital are co-owners of the weather channel. ain buys out and restructuring struggling companies, in some cases bain did create jobs, but in others bain boosted stock, turned a proof and fired lots of workers, but romney doesn't talk about those. >> when i was at bain capital, we invested in about 100 different companies. >> if you take those places where we were able to add those jobs and subtract those that lost jobs, we added over 100,000. >> are you proud of use you are work at bain capital? >> absolutely. i'm proud of the private sector. >> adding over 100,000 jobs? creates tens of thousands of jobs? a "the washington post" reporter pressed a spokesman to back up that claim and found out, quote, romney is only counting jobs gained at companies restructured at bain during and after his years there, and not factors jobs lost. that's incredible. under this romney rule, 2.3 million jobs were created until president obama. folks, bain was responsible for thousands of layoffs. bain acquired dade international in 1994. the company

we've been covering over the last couple of days, over his tenure at bain capital. over those comments he made on monday saying he liked being able to fire people. of course, he was talking about insurance companies. everybody pounced on it, republicans and democrats. that cost him a little bit. his votes starting to splinter a little bit over those last couple of days. one other important point. independents really came out heavily in new hampshire. >> and depending which kind of independent they are and who they would be inclined to vote for. in the general election. the white house will be watching the independent vote. it was clear that governor romney thinks that this is a -- this is the moment. this is the big moment for him. and tonight, he moved right away to turn and take on president barack obama, as if to say, this is it. yes, we'll go -- >> we got this wrapped up. >> yeah. we got it wrapped up. let's listen. >> president obama wants to fundamentally transform america. we want to restore america to the founding principles that made this country great. he

the bain capital issue, i think, is bogus until democrats start to focus on specific examples. e market capitalism. i'm a liberal and i favor free market capitalism. what we don't favor manipulating companies. >> bill: you would have to prove your case though. you would have to show that he did something wrong and you would have to show it beyond a reasonable doubt. >> therefore, there has not to be specific transparency. did he drive companies into bankruptcy. we have got to get down to facts. >> bill: our people are researching it right now to show that they created 75 million jobs. >> that's a low ball estimate, bill. >> bill: you know how they go. oh my god. davis and crowley. where is colmes? colmes in jail? >> on vacation. >> bill: he is on vacation. >> that's his story anyway. >> bill: colmes vacationing with the occupiers. i think he is in some kind of dingy park somewhere. >> got a sleeping bag. >> bill: doing god knows what. dennis miller will analyze new hampshire. jesse watters talking to the folks once again about american presidents. up ahead. >> bill: factor follo

>>clayton: a big problem is the super pac put up a 28 meant film about bain capital and new there have been quite a few people coming out from the film that said i was inaccurately represented and i didn't actually loss my job. and i was promoted when bain came in to our town and i was only laid off later when another company took over so i should be thanking mitt romney for actually giving me a promotion. >>alisyn: newt gingrich is asking them to take out the inaccuracies, at least four major ones and he is asking them to reed it out but not backing down from attacks or criticism from mitt romney's time at bain and wants mitt romney to explain better what he did there. >> the idea that a candidate can make a claim and yell foul the meant you ask him to prove it is just silly. if he can't stand up today and defend his claim how is he going to stand up to obama in the fall? michael to the governor is simple: the only place he worked was bain. he claims he created 100,000 jobs. release the records. show us the facts. you cannot run for president, have half your campaign be about your gre

a lot has been made over bain capital. i got into this rick perry. he had harsh words, he called it vulture capitalism. ethics were thrown out the door. when i asked him, he doubled down. you seem to pull back. you most recent comment. you are not attacking capitalism. you are attacking romney's judgment. explain the point you want to make on bain, what is it? >> i do think it's absurd there has been a general response, mostly by romney supporters, that to question his record is to be opposed capitalism. romney said he had two criteria for being president, one is record of governor he doesn't want to discuss. other one he claims he created 100,000 jobs. "washington post" gave him three pinocchios. they pointed out in 1994 he claimed to have created 10,000 jobs and he wasn't in bain capital and he couldn't find any evidence that he created 100,000 jobs. working with clinton 11 million jobs. so i had to ask questions let's look at the record. let's see the details. don't just give us the claim. show us what actually happened. that somehow got turned int

that's my disappointment with your position on a lot of these issues, calling bain capital and other private equity funds for example, that they were looters, that they were raiders that, they were greedy corporations. you yourself, you worked for ted forceman at the great private equity fund forsman little and you worked for another firm, i have it down here, j.l.l. partners, a private equity firm, they gave you $40,000, you gave a speech. the guy said you were euphoric about private equity. what has made you run up against private equity firms and work out firms and turn around firms or is it just political expediency and opportunism where you're giving up your principles that i thought you and i shared? >> you know, larry, the idea that to criticize and ask a question about several business deals means you're anti-capitalist is nonsense. the fact is there are several deals that bain did that they took an enormous amount of money out of companies which shortly thereafter went broke, an enormous amount of money. that's a matter of public record. it's never been explained, it's never