Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 08:26 pm
Yes, this is real. Employees of the Sensata plant who had to train their Chinese replacements because Bain is shipping their jobs overseas went to a Romney rally in hopes of finally getting him to hear their pleas. Tom Gaulrapp explained, “(A)s we were being removed, his (Romney’s) supporters are scream—first they start a “U.S.A.” chant. And we’re like, “Yes, we agree.” And then they started calling us communists for trying to keep our jobs from going to China.”
Amy Goodman broadcasted from the tent city of Bainport on September 20 for Democracy Now!. She interviewed Tom Gaulrapp, who has worked at Sensata Technologies for 33 years, about their hopes of getting Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney to help save their jobs:
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TOM GAULRAPP: Yeah, we look at it that these—Bain Capital board has made their decision. The Sensata CEO has made his decision. So we believe that the only person in the world who can stop these jobs from being moved is Mitt Romney, because of his relationship with the Bain board, his financial investment in Bain Capital. And we also believe that if he would come and talk to us and see the impact that this kind of outsourcing has on not only the people who work there but, as the mayor has addressed, the community and the surrounding area, that he would see that this is absolutely the wrong thing to do because of the devastation it brings. But, you know, so far, we continue to receive no response from them. They continue to say they’re unaware of the situation, although at this point we certainly know they are aware of the situation, so…
AMY GOODMAN: So, you went to Iowa to try to talk to Mitt Romney?
TOM GAULRAPP: Yes. We—
AMY GOODMAN: [inaudible]
TOM GAULRAPP: They were having in event in Bettendorf, Iowa. And they—if you went online, you could get these free tickets, so we decided we would go. And I was seven rows from the podium that he stood behind. And I asked him, “Will you please come to Freeport, Illinois, and help Sensata employees save their jobs?” At that point, we were removed. And as we were being removed, his supporters are scream—first they start a “U.S.A.” chant. And we’re like, “Yes, we agree.” And then they started calling us communists for trying to keep our jobs from going to China. And I have never understood that yet.
End transcript.
Is Romney so afraid of confrontation that he can’t manage this kind of conflict without having security eject the American citizens? All they wanted was to meet with Romney.
Romney supporters yelled “Communist” at fellow Americans who are trying to save their jobs from being shipped overseas to China by Mitt Romney’s company. They yelled this as the Romney people have the Americans workers “removed” from a political rally for trying to get Romney’s ear on a pretty important subject.
Mitt Romney’s business practices, with the lack of transparency and top down power structure, are more in line with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) than the workers his supporters were yelling at. The New York Times exposed the fundamental hypocrisy in Romney’s tough China talk when Bain is touting China as a great investment because labor is 85% cheaper.
Tom Gaulrapp of Bainport doesn’t understand that his fellow citizens are being brainwashed by Fox News to turn on him and anyone eles who sticks up for their rights with rabid mob rage.
Perhaps patriotism is best put into practice by being willing to be educated and informed about what’s really going on. It’s just not patriotic to get your “news” from a propaganda outlet like Fox News. Romney supporters calling Americans Communists who are sticking up for keeping jobs in the USA! USA! USA! is proof that the propaganda experiment has gone too far.
Additional source: The Party: The Secret World of China’s Communist Rulers, by Richard McGregor
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