Friday, July 13, 2012

The Real Problem with Bain Capital


     Residents of the Dallas-Fort Worth area may have noticed that in March of 2012 popular talk radio host Mark Davis was suddenly taken off the air. His contract ended, and rather than attempting to keep one of local radio station WBAP’s most successful personalities Clear Channel Communications, which had shortly before bought WBAP, simply ended his show. WBAP has yet to fill the hole left in their programming by the end of the Mark Davis Show with anything other than a lackluster show known as “WBAP Talk.” The content is as exciting as the name. Further confusing listeners in the DFW area, Laura Ingraham, another highly rated (and better known) talk radio host, was removed from the air around the same time. Neither program was flagging as far as listeners were concerned, and in fact the Mark Davis Show was one of the more popular on WBAP. It would appear that Clear Channel acted against its own best interests—a very odd decision for a profit-driven company. With this in mind, it is worth considering the possibility that something deeper was at play.



      In 2008, during Mitt Romney’s first presidential run, Bain Capital, LLC, the company he led as chief executive up until 2001, together with Thomas H. Lee, L.P., bought Clear Channel Communications. With 850 radio stations, Clear Channel owns more radio stations than anyone else in the United States. On top of that, it owns Premiere, which syndicates Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, and other conservative talk radio hosts. Clear Channel also syndicates other, smaller conservative talk radio personalities outside of Premiere. In short, Bain Capital holds a major interest in the largest player in conservative talk radio. 

     All this would be of merely academic interest—after all, Bain has an interest in quite a number of firms—except that it appears to be influencing Clear Channel’s actions, and through it the actions of the bulk of conservative talk radio. Multiple sources have alleged that Romney still exerts enough influence over his partners at Bain that it would, through Clear Channel, be able to bully conservative talk radio hosts into moderating criticism of Romney. Is this borne out in reality? Mark Davis had vociferously criticized Mitt Romney and was a vocal supporter of Romney’s principle primary opponent, Rick Santorum. In a move that would appear to run contrary to good sense Clear Channel took his popular program off the air without even providing a long term replacement for it. Laura Ingraham, although she did not endorse any of Romney’s primary opponents, was critical of Romney’s lackluster record in politics and his lack of core values. Despite the success of her show both on WBAP and elsewhere Clear Channel replaced her with a less popular show, again acting against its apparent best interests. If conservative talk radio hosts are going off the air in North Texas, one of the most conservative areas in the nation, as a result of Clear Channel’s interference it is almost certain that similar events have unfolded across the country in the other 850 or so radio stations Clear Channel owns. It seems likely, then, that Bain Capital is either being controlled by Romney or, more likely, is still sympathetic enough towards him that it can exert sufficient influence over the actions of Clear Channel Communications to muzzle conservative talk radio. 

     It is possible, even probable, that Mitt Romney has his own personal group of talk radio hosts. Sure, not all of them fall into line perfectly—big name personalities like Rush Limbaugh can afford to stray a little, while smaller personalities like Mark Davis can be taken off the air—but on the whole it works quite well. It is only one more example of Mitt Romney’s attempts to gain power at any cost, regardless of the harm it might cause to conservatism or to the country as a whole, both of which he professes to hold dear. It is up to you, the voter, to decide whether or not his perfidy will be rewarded with electoral success. 

For a new birth of freedom!

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