joining us now is randy johnson.sir. >> glad to be here. >> let's go back about two decades. bain buys american pad and paper company. that company performed your factory in indiana and two years later. what happened next? >> what they did, they performed the plant in an asset sale. they turned around and fired everybody and literally brought in guards and walked us out. they said if you want to work for us, you have to fill out an application. they did200 out of 258 people back. when they did, it was at reduced wages and benefits. no longer had a pension plan. we paid more for our health care. it was pretty devastating for the families at that time. >> but many people looking at that kind of an investment in that kind of a company would say that's fairly average and normal for many businesses. that's what happens. companies take over businesses that may be in some jeopardy, they do invest, they reduce the overheads, and the company has some chance of survival. some win, some don't win. >> and i would agree with that

randy johnson, josh, how typical is this experience that randy was through and some of those steel workers, it's pretty typical. there's a company called dave barring and maybe this will hit the core. "new york times" in front of the whole paper story on him not that long ago talking about that bain made a the lo of money, a lot of companies, combined them together. goes bankrupt. then seemen's buys it after bankruptcy. the way the article is written, everything's fine because that's what people who ran the company said. reality is bain cut research and development spending from about 10% to about 6% at this medical device company. that's why it went bankrupt. the debt and lack of r&d spending. after bankruptcy they pumped up r&d spending and the company recovered. my issue is that a lot of bain-owned companies made cuts simply to pay the debt so they could take money out quickly. and then the companies collapsed. it didn't help the business. it's not good for business. it's not just not good for the workers, which i care a lot about. it's not just a worker issue. it also hurt companies. >

he's never produced anything but profits for the rich. >> randy johnson, thanks for your time tonight you. >>> still ahead, while we'll miss michele bachmann. our special "politics nation" tribute is next. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. >>> after nearly seven months, michele bachmann is off the reality show that is the gop race. she quit the race. but while she's gone, she's certainly not forgotten. >> i am michele bachmann. i am running for the president of the united states. >> i don't know how to be a politici politician. i never want to know how to be a politician. >> how many of you love the i.r.s.? i went to the inside to learn how they work. >> i don't consider t

. >> joining me now is randy johnson who lost his job at ampad plant in indiana after bain capital bought was flown into iowa this week by the democratic national committee. thanks for joining me tonight, randy. >> glad to be here. >> i remember that 1994 senate campaign in massachusetts that romney was doing very well until ted kennedy started concentrating on what he had actually done as an investment banker and the way people lost their jobs, not just the number of jobs, but the actual style of it. could you tell your story about how you lost your job once bain took over? >> yeah, quickly, ampad is a subsidiary of bain. they bought my plant in '94. it was called an asset sale. they come in, bought the assets and they did not have anything to do with the employees. if you wanted to work for us, you had to fill out on application. they brought in guards and walked us out of the building. it was a really bad time. >> and the personal communication that some of you got from mitt romney as you were being laid off, wasn't there? >> actually there was a letter sent to me when they decided to

will we see more people like randy johnson who came out, a former employee who mitt romney let go fromike that that the dnc will sponsor and speak out against mitt romney? >> you will see at every opportunity helping iowans and americans understand that mitt romney has very little conviction. dabs why do you think if santorum was the one on the up-swing yesterday, why do they keep going after romney? >> andrea: they think romney is going to be the nominee. >> bobnominee. >> dana: they are like bob. >> andrea: exactly. in their office in washington, d.c., chicago, plotting against mitt romney. they are scared of mitt romney. to your point, they are playing politics at everybody chance. in a g.o.p. primary. >> dana: sure. >> andrea: stay out. it wouldn't hurt the president to back off and not remind people he is there. >> bob: this is a relatively new phenomena, for the last ten years. we show up at primary night with the other party and have people around you, set up the campaign operation. i never thought it was important to do. it is very dangerous. particularly on a night like this,

they do believe that he's the candidate for the past month and now they are holding events with randy johnsonat how johnson characterized romney and his co-workers at bain capital just last week. >> i really believe and i think it's come out over the years since this time, but other bain capital directors, that they had actually had a philosophy, a way of doing business, and it was to make themselves richer. >> and the expense of -- >> of the workers. whatever it takes to make big dollars for investors. in some cases they had both husband and wife lose their jobs. >> is that what bain capital is all about? >> the guy was working for a company whose job it was to make money for its investors. >> mitt romney is a job killer, not a job creator? >> and a benefit cutter as well. >> thank you so much, jennifer. jeff, joanie, it's great to have you, as always. >>> dollars over democracy. you're watching "hardball" in iowa on the eve before the iowa caucus. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool if you took the top down on a crossover? if there were buttons for this? wouldn't it be cool if your car c

yesterday he used randy johnson, the former paper plant worker, whose plant was bought by bain capit, johnson said, quote, i really feel that he didn't care about the workers. is this going to get pretty negative pretty fast? >> well, look, let me just say one thing about that. i mean, we've been focused on romney to a large extent because he's been focused on the president. he has been strutting around like he's the presumed nominee and if he wants to act like that, we're going to treat him that way. this is not about being negative. this is about setting the record straight. mitt romney would have you believe he was doing something in the private sector akin to what his father was dog, making cars. he wasn't. he was buying and selling companies and he was making money no matter what it took. if that meant bankrupting them and that made bain capital money, that was fine f. it meant laying off workers, outsourcing jobs, that was just fine. we want to make sure the american people know what he was dog in the private sector. perfectly fine to do it, it's legal. some people may question

that's the reason you pulled out randy johnson. you were trying to say that he was let go. romney said about your boss. listen to this. >> this is a president that lost more jobs in his tenure since every president since hoover. we created more jobs in massachusetts than this president has created in the entire country so if the president wants to talk about jobs and i hope he does, we'll be comparing my record with his record and he comes up very, very short. >> and our research shows that from 2009 to now, 1.855, we have 1.855 million fewer jobs under president obama than before he took office. so how will you combat that moving forward? >> gretchen, first of all, mitt romney has absolutely no facts and has at every fact check that's been done, he's not corroborated any about what he's said about his job creation. when he was governor of massachusetts, they were 47th out of 50 in the entire country for job creation. so mitt romney isn't being truthful when he's talking about his record on jobs creation vs. the president's. we've had 22 straight months of job growth in the

was trotted out last time you wanted to be the senator of massachusetts against ted ken doors randy johnsonothers. he's angry. listen. >> i look at the candidates that are out there. i understand what his record is. i know what he did to us at ampad. they bought it in '92. they bought my plant in '94. they went public with the ipo in '96. then in 2000, they let it go bankrupt and made $100 million. tell me what's right. there is something wrong with that. >> steve: it sounds like he was trouted out by the dnc. so you're right, they're already coming after you. >> of course they will. i've been able to talk it people across the country about the president's message. he lost more jobs since hoover. 2 million jobs he lost as president and by the way, when he was overseeing general motors and chrysler, how many factories did he close? how many dealerships? how many thousands upon thousands of americans had to be let go in an effort to try and save those businesses? that's what we did in our business and i'm very happy in my former life, we helped create over 100,000 new jobs. by the way, we cre

critics say under romney's watch at bain capital, thousands of americans were laid off, including randy johnsonjob after bain capital bought the company in 1992. >> i really feel he didn't care about the workers then. i mean, go back and look at philosophies. look at the pattern. everything was probably done very legal, done the right way. but it was done around profit over people. >> sponsored by the dnc, the dnc is hammering away at romney in political ads. >> corporations are people, my friend. >> indicator democrats see romney as the man to beat. romney responds this way bp that's capitalism. romney insists bain capital has been a job creator ultimately. >> what i offer is america is that when i was head of that enterprise that invested in a hundred companies, if you take those places where we are able to add jobs and is you tract those that lost jobs, we added over a hundred thousand jobs. a hundred thousand jobs. >> but because bain capital is a private company that doesn't have to disclose details of acquisitions, it is difficult to verify his claims or claims of the democrats. however,

remember, when romney ran in '94 we talked to randy johnson who worked at a plant that was closed. we talked to him last weekend. he and his co-workers drove out to massachusetts and toured around in '49 when they cut these devastating ads against romney. this is not new but you didn't expect to see it here. >> he seemed totally unprepared. his response was you're just jealous because i'm rich. if you must talk about inequality, talk about it in quiet rooms. >> let me play that clip. this is mitt romney. matt lauer asked a good question of mitt romney. doesn't that seem like a genuine issue? >> are there no fair questions about the distribution of wealth without it being seens aenvy, though? >> you know, i think it's fine to talk about those things in quiet rooms and discussions about tax policy and the like but the president has made this part of his campaign rally everywhere he goes we hear him talking about millionaires and billionaires and executives and wall street. it's a very envy-oriented attack, approach, and i think it will fail. >> i love that. the fact that your cousin'

at that time, the democrats lined up some attack ads and they lined up a guy named randy johnson and his company and ran it into the ground. he lost his job because of what mitt romney did. your response? >> you know, again, this is what's going to happen and there is going to be a huge amount of attack. this is again, part of the process. but really if you look at mitt's record, you recognize that what he was always trying to do is create more prosperity and opportunity for more and in business, not every business succeeds and it's heart breaking and as we're going across the country right now, what we're seeing is people that even do have a job are afraid. there are so many people out there that are looking and crying for help right now. and i trust that mitt will always do the right thing, that he'll always try to do what's best to create more jobs and to create an economic environment that will have the confidence and the prosperity of those americans that are worried right now. you can not imagine what the passion is like out here right now. there is this feeling that they want

johnson. sergeant first class, jonathan mccain. gunnery sergeant, ralph earl junior. >> private first class, desiree presley. master public safety officer, edward scott richardson. sergeant randy sharp. chief warrant officer. sergeant first class, and any bitnet junior. private first class, just in time but whitmire. [applause] we will never forget. where teacher at it people, south carolinians. we love our state of another country. we love our men and women who put on that uniform to keep it safe. they are our parents and children, husbands and wives, our mother is from our fathers are siblings, our friends. we are honored to have witnessed the parents of one of his heroes, lance corporal william kyl carpenter from gilbert, who was in afghanistan and is continuing his recovery at walter reid. the prayers of south carolina continue to be with kyl and all of our wounded veterans. mr. and mrs. jim carpenter, thank you for being here. please stand. [applause] tonight there are 766 families across the state with loved ones in the south carolina army and air national guard who are serving overseas far from their home. our family shares a special bond with the military families of s

johnson. sergeant first class, jonathan mccain. gunnery sergeant, ralph earl junior. >> private first class, desiree presley. master public safety officer, edward scott richardson. sergeant randy sharp. chief warrant officer. sergeant first class, and any bitnet junior. private first class, just in time but whitmire. [applause] we will never forget. where teacher at it people, south carolinians. we love our state of another country. we love our men and women who put on that uniform to keep it safe. they are our parents and children, husbands and wives, our mother is from our fathers are siblings, our friends. we are honored to have witnessed the parents of one of his heroes, lance corporal william kyl carpenter from gilbert, who was in afghanistan and is continuing his recovery at walter reid. the prayers of south carolina continue to be with kyl and all of our wounded veterans. mr. and mrs. jim carpenter, thank you for being here. please stand. [applause] tonight there are 766 families across the state with loved ones in the south carolina army and air national guard who are serving overseas far from their home. our family shares a special bond with the military families of s