Newark, NJ Mayor Cory Booker Slams Obama's Attacks on Bain Capital, Calls Them 'Nauseating'
This past weekend, Cory Booker, Newark, New Jersey's Democratic mayor, appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press." Booker lashed out at President Obama's recent attacks on Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital, saying, "I’m not about to sit here and indict private equity. To me, we’re getting to a ridiculous point in America. Especially, I know I live in a state where pension funds, unions and other people investing in companies like Bain Capital, if you look at the totality of Bain Capital’s record, they’ve done a lot to support businesses, to grow businesses, and this to me, I’m very uncomfortable … This kind of stuff is nauseating to me on both sides. It’s nauseating to the American public. Enough is enough, stop attacking private equity, stop attacking Jeremiah Wright. This stuff has got to stop.”
Kirsten Powers and Justin Sayfie commented on today’s America’s Newsroom.
“This is classic Cory Booker,
” Powers said. “I think he was being very fair in this situation … This was not him saying that he doesn’t support the president, it was just him taking issue with some of the attacks.”
The two political pundits also addressed comments made over the weekend by both Romney and Obama supporters about the state of America's economy.
On Fox News Sunday, Rep. Paul Ryan told Chris Wallace that the Obama administration is stifling the free market system. Ryan said, “It’s not working. The economy is in stagnation right now. For every person who found a job last month, which was not a lot, three people gave up looking for a job last month."
The Obama campaign also tried to poke holes in Romney’s record as governor on Fox News Sunday. Austan Goolsbee, former Council of Economic Advisers chairman, said, “The nation was in a boom. Massachusetts was doing almost the worst of all the states, in terms of job creation. The reason you saw jobs growing is because government jobs were rising six times faster than the national rate in Massachusetts. There is a reason why when Gov. Romney stepped down from office. He had a 36 percent approval rating by the people in his own state, and that was during a boom.”
Powers believes it was important for Goolsbee to point that out, but feels it’s more important to focus on the president's plans for the future.
Sayfie reacted, “As a Republican, I’m happy we’re talking about fiscal policy. I’m happy we’re talking about the economy, that’s the sweet spot for Republican nominee Mitt Romney because the president can’t defend his record on the economy.” He foresees that Obama will not be able to convince the American people that the economy is booming, and that’s why one of his advisers is talking about 'ancient history.'”
Hear the full debate:
