Will A Machine Owned By One Of Mitt Romney’s Top Fundraisers Be Counting Your Vote?

I believe this is what’s known in high-minded political science circles as “a massive conflict of interest.” 



Obviously, people should avoid jumping to conclusions or crying “fraud!” until a more thorough investigation has been conducted. Considering the documented history of security flaws that comes with electronic voting machines, however, this seems like something that’s worth keeping an eye on. Here’s some more details on the known ties between H.I.G. Capital and Bain & Co., courtesy of The Daily Dolt:

  • H.I.G. was founded by Tony Tamer, a former Bain employee and bundler for Mitt Romney’s campaign.
  • Of H.I.G.’s 22 American directors, 21 donated to Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign. One person made no political donations at all; one person donated to both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama; the remaining 20 directors donated exclusively to Mitt Romney in 2012. (See below for links to donations.)
  • Of these 22 American directors, seven of them (nearly one-third) are former Bain employees. Now, we should note (as a reader helpfully pointed out), this is Bain & Co., which Mitt Romney left in order to start the affiliated Bain Capital. The connection is therefore a little more tenuous, but we still find H.I.G.’s overwhelming allegiance and financial support of the Romney campaign surprising (not that it’s surprising that a private equity company would lean Republican, but this level of support is pretty unusual).
  • Four of H.I.G.’s directors, Tony Tamer, John Bolduc, Douglas Berman, and Brian D. Schwartz, are Romney bundlers along with former Bain and H.I.G. manager Brian Shortsleeve. Two of H.I.G.’s managing directors, Douglas Berman and Brian D. Schwartz, were present at the $50,000-per-plate fundraiser where Mitt Romney made his notorious “47%” comments.
  • H.I.G. employees currently make up the majority of Hart InterCivic’s five-member board of directors. Two of these three directors of the voting machine company, Neil Tuch and Jeff Bohl, have donated directly to Mitt Romney’s campaign.
Pop Culture

Brendan Fraser saw a fan struggling to take a photo. He patiently gave him a whole tutorial.

Making Sense of Science

If you see a person and two dogs in this photo, look again. It’s an optical illusion.

Nature

Wildlife researchers discover tigers doing something we previously thought went against their very nature

Science

Simple ’30-second rule’ can help you win every conversation, even if you’re a little awkward