Source: Coalition of Immokalee Workers
It has taken a considerable biting of tongue to hold back on commenting on the US presidential election. I’m a very frustrated immigrant, wanting to vote but unable to. Not that I’d find anyone to vote for particularly.
My partner and I went to the Green Presidential debate a couple of weeks back – and while pleased that there are folk who think that electoral politics should be about more than the Coke or Pepsi? model, we were a little appalled at how loopy some of the candidates were (though Cynthia McKinney probably deserves a vote).
In the Democratic party, I was disappointed when Kucinich (with better policies) and Edwards (campaigning with a kind of barnstorming populism that he should have bloody thought about four years ago) dropped out.
All this, by way of full disclosure so you know where the following piece about Mitt Romney comes from.
Mike Huckabee’s finest line in this election campaign is likely to be his observation that Romney looks less like the guy working next to you, and more like the guy who fires you. But what’s it like when Romney hires you?
Well, some of the worst paid farm workers in America know what all too well. The Coalition of Immokalee workers, who pick tomatoes for Burger King, have been waging a protracted struggle for dignity and a living wage.
The link with the former Governor of Massachusetts? Mitt Romney co-founded Bain Capital in 1984. In December 2002, Bain joined with two other buyout firms to purchase Burger King for $1.5 billion. To date, Bain and its partners have nearly tripled their original investment. Bain and its partner firms own roughly 43 percent of Burger King and control six seats on the company’s board.
That last glob of text is courtesy of the AFL-CIO who on their website offer more information, and a petition to sign too.
So what’ll Romney do? I’m wagering “fuck all” but, hey, it’s a presidential year.