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Business

No Bainer: Obama’s New Budget Chief Worked for a Bain Company, Too

Jan. 18, 2012 7:44am Jonathon M. Seidl

WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — President Barack Obama on Tuesday named Jeffrey Zients as his acting budget chief but held off on nominating him for the permanent job, avoiding a tough election-year battle with Senate Republicans. It’s an appointment, however, that will likely be criticized given Zients’s past.

Zients becomes acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, the department in charge of developing Obama’s budget proposal, overseeing agency performance and ensuring that the executive branch is putting in place Obama’s policies. He takes over leadership of the prominent agency just weeks ahead of Obama’s new budget request to Congress.

Zients had been the office’s deputy director for management and has already served one stint as acting director, too.

He takes over for Jack Lew, named by Obama as White House chief of staff to replace the departing William Daley.

But what some might be interested to know is that Zients actually worked at ~~the much-maligned company Bain Capital~~ Bain & Company — which is different from Bain Capital, but still one of the same companies Mitt Romney once ran~~, and which has been the topic of several attacks by both Republicans and Democrats~~.* The Washington Times has more:

Romney worked at Bain & Company, first from 1977-1984, and then again from 1991 and 1992, when he was the Bain & Company chief executive officer.

[...]

Bain & Company says that Zients worked there from August 1988 to June 1990. Romney apparently returned to Bain & Company from Bain Capital in January 1991, so they missed each other by six months.

President Obama’s top campaign strategist, David Axelrod, criticized Romney for having a “Bain mentality,” just as some of Romney’s Republican presidential election rivals have blamed him for layoffs that took place at companies that Bain Capital financed.

No Senate confirmation is required for an acting director. Zients was confirmed by the Senate for the deputy job, but any major Obama nomination in this election year is likely to face a fight from Republicans. The White House said Obama has made no decision on a permanent director.

*UPDATE:

Wes writes The Blaze:

Your article from today is inaccurate in its headline and content when it states that Jeffrey Zients worked for Bain Capital (the Private Equity firm — http://www.baincapital.com). He worked for Bain & Company (the consulting firm — http://www.bain.com). The Washington Times article does make this distinction, though poorly. While Mitt Romney worked at both firms, and he and the other Bain Capital founders were formerly Bain & Company consultants, they are different firms that do different work. Bain & Company provides consulting services to client companies. Bain Capital raises private capital to make investments in companies, often through leveraged buyouts – some of the practices associated with the private equity business model are those which have has been the subject of ridicule for Mitt Romney. As a former employee of Bain & Company, this is an important distinction. It’s bad enough that one business is being villainized without complete understanding; it’s even more frustrating that a separate business (and its alumni) are being inaccurately lumped in.

Good point, Wes. We’ve updated the article to reflect that.

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Comments (32)

RejectFalseIcons
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 2:29pm
Know who else works for a Bain Company? Glenn Beck. That’s who.

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CrashGordon
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 1:11pm
Swing and a miss. Zients worked for Bain and Company, not Bain Capital. Romney also worked for Bain and Company, but it is his time at Bain Capital that’s being highlighted. From the Bain and Company website,
“Bain Capital was formed as a separate entity by former Bain consultants to further leverage Bain’s results creation capability. Bain Capital is a venture capital company; it is not a sister company nor a division of Bain.”

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- Ebbertron
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 1:55pm
  Romney returned to Bain & Company AFTER this guy and others had tanked it. He returned, took a $1 a year salary for his efforts and turned it around….again…after this joker was in there. This is a positive for Mitt and goes to further show that Obama surrounds himself with incompetent fools.
  
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- JRook
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 2:28pm
  One of many swing, misses and stretches. Venture capital firms and consulting firms are not even close in terms of what they do. Although during the 1990′s and into early 2000′s you had many venture capital firms writing bogus company analysis to drive up the price of the stock. Part of their slash, burn and steal approach.
  
  Report this comment
- CrashGordon
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 3:02pm
  But that’s not the intent of the article. The article was trying to tie Zients to the same company that Romney is now taking heat for. Honestly, I have nothing against Bain Capital–it did what it did because that was the business. But Zients was never part of Bain Capital. The problem is that the author of this article was either lazy and didn’t bother to get it right, or he was dishonest and intentionally tried to pass this off as fact. In his attempt to say, “See, Obama and his people are just as bad,” he hurt his own argument by being wrong.
  
  Report this comment
- CrashGordon
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 3:03pm
  The above post was a response to Ebbertron. JRook, you posted while I was replying.
  
  Report this comment
liberalsarealiens
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 12:23pm
With the MSM and all saying Romney all but has the primary in hand we are doomed to another 4 years of BO. Why would an Indipendant vote for anoyone but BO when he will be running on the right’s issues, be running against a Moderate Romney, with the economy (however slightly) improving? I believe the writings on the wall unless we get a real fighter to run against BO. God help this country is all this comes to pass!

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- db321
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 1:16pm
  That’s all we need to see – this Administration telling Conservative who to vote for in the Primaries. Believe me when this come to light – Romney will be the only other person that
  this Administration believes can walk on water and keep up with Obama. As stupid as Conservatives are they will fall for it – vote in Romney in the Primaries and then watch the claws come out in this Administration with attack on Romney once he is chosen as our Republican Candidate.
  
  We have other Candidates – let the process work – vote for a Conservative and you will be please with the outcome. Most Conservative would have never have voted for Reagan until he became the front runner late in the primaries.
  
  I am not speaking to Paul voters – most supporters of Paul in the polls are Democrats trying to spoil the process and Paul’s die hard supporters are a bunch of pot smoking crack heads wanting legalized Drugs so they can destroy themselves while Paul’s destroys the Country even more with his wacky policies.
  
  Report this comment
- West Coast Patriot
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 2:04pm
  Keep kidding yourself DB, we Paul supporters will spoil your plans. If you do not get Paul supporters, your candidate cannot win. We think that the split in the vote will fall on Pauls side. Sorry, just stating the facts.
  
  Report this comment
elefant hide us
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 12:06pm
He is trying to cater to the right. The, “Look, I have someone on my team that worked in the free enterprise market… I am trying to fix things.” It is amusing though, he more than likely will not get along with the administration as a whole. We shall see.

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pwatkins
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 11:37am
Shocked…not.

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your sensei
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 10:17am
You say that like it’s a bad thing.

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- db321
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 11:05am
  I guess Obama thinks the Republican Candidate will be Romney and Jeffrey Zients is going to give Obama the ammunition he needs to destroy Romney in the Election. Newsweek maybe Correct “Obama’s critics are Dumb. They will vote for Romney and he will be destroyed by Romney and give Obama a 2nd term.
  
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- woodyb
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 11:59am
  Apparently, Axlerod did when talking about Romney!!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  Report this comment
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 10:16am
.
Being a Hand Puppet for Obama, has to be one of, if not the world’s worse job…….

I hate to think how the personnel fitting goes………..

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jrcess
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 10:05am
First person in his administration that is worth a damn.

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Secret Squirrel
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:57am
.
I can’t wait to hear Debbie Wasserman-Shultz spin this
I’m sure she’ll do it with a straight face.
“Mitt was the bad Bain, Zietz is the good Bain. Yeah, that’s clearly it.”

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- READRIGHTHERE
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:23pm
  And don’t forget that evil Mitt had to swoop in and destroy all the good that Zietz had accomplished and returned Bain and Company to its evil profitable ways.
  
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- READRIGHTHERE
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:24pm
  or Zients or whatever his name is.
  
  Report this comment
Roaran
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 9:35am
Isn’t also interesting that the #1 funders of both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney is Goldman Sachs.

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- pamela kay
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 2:31pm
  ROARAN, Is is yet another connection between Romney and Obama that makes wonder……just sayin
  
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TomFerrari
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 8:39am
That should be a cushy job!
All he has to do is tell Congress that obama wants a blank check, as any other ruler has.
They don’t read the bills anyway.
Blank check obama!
Crank up the printing presses!
The ‘man’ has votes to buy, y’all !!!

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TEARS FOR AMERICA
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 8:31am
SpandaMonkey-deporting the elderly to make room for illegal immigrants? You are right! That will come in the form of Obamacare if our Supreme Court does not step up for this nation…after 70 you are toast and will receive comfort care (euthansia basically) in stead of medical intervention and will become a “unit”. And you elderly will vote for Obama? Insane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wsnHGI5K-E

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starman70
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 8:08am
HMMMMMM!!! Birds of a feather flock together. Will we really get a different government direction if Romney is the Republican candidate or will we just see more croney capitalism with a different cloak and mask?

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- CIAtroll
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 8:25am
  they all work for the same Reptilian Demons
  
  look at Joe Lieberman saying he thinks our internet should be like China’s
  CNN’s Candy Crowley asks Senator Joe Lieberman about his proposed Internet ‘kill switch’ bill
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNSxuipta40&feature=player_embedded#!
  
  Report this comment
- CIAtroll
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 8:29am
  Hank Paulson and Tim Gietner are clones of each other
  the left right paradigm gets us to think we will make a change
  but nothing ever changes
  http://www.silver-investor.com/blog/silver-market-update/bernanke-secretly-gives-away-sixteen-trillion-dollars/
  
  Report this comment
SpankDaMonkey
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 8:06am
.
Does it really matter who’s in there? We’re screwed no matter what……..

I under stand under the new Immigration rules, they will start deporting the Elderly to make room for Pedro…..

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MiCurmudgeon
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 7:53am
And how many lost their jobs when Obama closed 1100 GM and 780 Chrysler dealerships during the “BANKRUPTCTY” of the two corporations? Is this a case of the black calling the kettle black ?

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- AOL_REFUGEE
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 8:09am
  Oh, but IT’S OK when the Nimrod in Chief does it.
  
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- BLACKDIAMONDSKIER
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 8:22am
  What? How could this happen? They look so long and hard at the speck that is Romney’s eye that they fail to see the plank that is in their own eye? Any guesses as to what the plank refers to in this analogy? It’s the same plank that has destroyed countries for centuries.
  
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Gonzo
Posted on January 18, 2012 at 7:49am
Budget Chief ? When has Obama ever had a budget? He hasn’t so, what’s this guy do?

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- joe conservative
  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 7:54am
  I was thinking the same thing. This administration has not even put one single budget out. Amazing how these Obama people have the same backgrounds as the very people they have been demonizing for the last 3 years. Check out this short video on the Clinton surplus myth. We’ll surely be hearing about this heading into the election. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BVPyIXZzRg
  
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