Tagg Romney, Mitt Romney’s eldest son, has reason to wax pugnacious against President Obama, and it’s not likely that it’s just Mitt’s honor that Tagg is defending. Apart from defending a campaign strategy he reportedly forged in the last two weeks, Tagg and investors in Tagg Romney’s firm, Solamere Capital, “could hit the jackpot if Mitt Romney wins” the presidency, according to Lee Fang’s report in The Nation’s October 29th edition.
Following in his father’s Bain Capital footsteps, Tagg and Spencer Zwick (called Mitt’s sixth son and trusted adviser for Mitt’s campaigns) are the managing partners and founders of Solamere Capital. Solamere Capital is not just a private equity firm which buys and sells firms in the “Bain” mold, it sells itself as an ultimate fund with unequaled networks, by providing “unique access” to an elite set of private equity firms and hedge funds. Tagg would have ultimate connections if his father becomes president, so his public aggression toward Obama is self-centered as well.
Welcome to the Romney family.
Even Tagg’s – and Solamere’s – network of privileged firms are set to reap the rewards of a Romney presidency. Many of the privileged firms depend on government contracts.
For example, Marc Leder, who held Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” fundraiser, contributed over a half-million dollars to Romney’s campaign and co-hosted a $25,000-per-plate fundraiser in Baca Raton, Florida, owns Sun Capital which had bought a stake in The Scooter Store last year. A Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) report said last year that 80% of Scooter Store’s claims for scooters and power wheelchairs did not meet Medicare requirements, thus estimating that $492 million a year is improperly spent. In fact in 2007 The Scooter Store gave up $13 million in Medicare payments and paid the Justice Department $4 million in settlements.
The Scooter Store’s profit challenges could be mitigated by a Romney presidency. For example, the Affordable Care Act (AFA) has a number of cost-savings provisions, part of the over $700 billion savings in Medicare that Romney and Ryan have distorted as cuts. One involves competitive bidding for authorized motorized wheelchairs. Of course, this would put pressure on Scooter Store’s potential monopoly if Romney does not win the presidency.
Of the many advantages of a Romney presidency to Tagg and his father, some do stand out. Solamere can legally be used to hide investments, shelter income, hide assets, avoid paying taxes, and perhaps participate in a legally-protected blind trust. Assets that found their way into Solamere would never be revealed.
In the second debate Romney made reference to his blind trust’s investments, as though he had little knowledge of its Chinese investments, arrogantly challenging Obama’s investments. One of Romney’s two tax returns, filed by Mitt and Ann Romney last September, revealed Mitt’s Caymen Island’s holdings as well as Tagg’s Solamere connections to a group of Cayman Islands entities that reduced tax liability for the Romney’s as well as taxes for their investors.
Another obvious advantage of using Solamere in a Romney administration involve lobbying efforts that would cement Romney family financial interests apart from Mitt’s household, namely under the guise of Tagg. Three of the noted firms are listed in the Solamere prospectus. Sun Capital Partners, TPG Capital and TA Associates do heavy lobbying under a trade group called the Private Equity Growth Capital Council (PEGCC) which currently seeks to influence a number of tax and regulatory decisions, perhaps making hiding money overseas to avoid taxes unnecessary.
Solamere is also used to skirt a farcical rule made ludicrous on the Colbert Show: Super PACs cannot coordinate with candidate committees. The Nation reported that last June, American Crossroads, which will spend hundreds of millions on Romney’s campaign and which is run by “Dirty Tricks” Karl Rove, sent Rove to a Romney campaign site in Park City, Utah to plan and raise money with Tagg Romney’s Solamere. Though Tagg and Zwick are intimately involved with Mitt’s campaign, federal election law doesn’t see it as direct contact.
Details about Solamere, a firm shrouded in secrecy, were drawn out by The Boston Globe and The Nation. What their report suggests is that Solamere Capital, if Romney prevails, will provide a stealthy conduit for political influence, legislative leverage, and financial benefits, all filtered through Solamere and its many rich friends.
