Joe Biden faults the ‘Bain way’ but administration has tapped Bain & Co. for talent
In his speech at the Democratic Convention Thursday night, vice president Joe Biden threw a jab at Mitt Romney and his former employer when he said, the “Bain way’’ is not the way to lead the country.
Biden was referring to Romney’s criticism of the auto bailout. But Biden may have forgotten for a moment that the Obama administration has tapped some talent from Bain & Co., the Boston consulting firm that created the analytical, deep-dive method for advising businesses, on which Romney cut his teeth. It’s a method Romney would later apply to investing at Bain Capital.
Two Obama appointees are Bain & Co. alumni — Jeff Zients, head of Office of Management and Budget, and Boris Bershteyn, head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. At OMB, it’s Zients’s job to advise the president on the budget; OIRA is charged with reviewing federal regulations, reducing paperwork burdens among other things.
It‘s classic, deep-in-the-weeds Bain kind of fodder.
Biden, in his speech, said of Romney, “I just don’t think he understood what saving the automobile industry meant to all of America. I think he saw it in the Bain way. Balance sheets. Write-offs.’’ He added, “Folks, the Bain way may bring your firm the highest profit. But it’s not the way to lead your country from its highest office.’’
The Obama campaign had no immediate comment on Biden’s remark.
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