Email on Romney seems to check out

[DiverMike 5]

Different, but similiar. I think a corporate raider would do a good job of pruning the US Post Office.

For the same reason I jump off a perfectly good diving board.

[wmw999 2,545]

Short-term profit (which is what they specialize in) doesn't require long-term customer satisfaction; they're interested in a single-point maximization of value.

Businesses like the post office need to maintain customer satisfaction. And, for all its failings, it's pretty reliable -- given the extremely large volume of mail that's sent, the very vast majority of it arrives quickly and accurately. Given how poorly some people address things, that's not bad.

It can undoubtedly be managed better; all you ahve to do is stand in line and see employees moving v e r y s l o w l y to understand that. OTOH, some of those employees are punished for mistakes (made when they try to hurry), and not penalized for slowness. What do you expect from them?

To me, the focus on short-term maximizing of attributes that make businesses look good to investors doesn't always do much for customer service.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[kelpdiver 2]

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Romney's job at Bain was taking companies on the verge of bankrupcy and making them viable, seems to be what this country needs.

A different, and perhaps more accurate description:

take a moderately profitable company with a large pension or cash horde, leverage it substantially to extract capital, and then leave it to fester and die off.

[marks2065 0]

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Romney's job at Bain was taking companies on the verge of bankrupcy and making them viable, seems to be what this country needs.

Incorrect. His job was making a profit from the purchase of these companies... Quite different.

those that could profit moved ahead, those that couldn't got sold of in pieces.

[Shotgun 1]

A slightly different telling of the story, which suggests that some of it may have been exaggerated:
http://www.thedaily.com/page/2012/04/16/041612-news-romney-missing-teen-gay-nestel-1-4/

Of course, it didn't need the exaggerations to convey a positive image of Romney. He put in a lot of effort to help a colleague find his underage daughter, even if she was actually safe and had chosen to run away from home. Either way, I'm sure it was a nightmare for her parents and that they were very grateful for Romney's help (and all the others who helped).