President Obama’s campaign shops at Staples — which was financed by Mitt Romney’s Bain Capital — but the Staples founder isn’t going to give Obama any assistance this year, beyond good service at the checkout register.
Tom Stemberg, who founded the office supply company, blasted Obama’s handling of the economy in light of today’s jobs report from the Labor Department.
“This morning’s appalling unemployment numbers show that our country is not where it needs to be,” Stemberg said, recalling that the days of a three-percent unemployment rate. “There’s no iron law of economics that is keeping unemployment above 8 percent. The fact that unemployment has been over 8 percent for 43 straight months is the result of President Obama’s economic mismanagement.
In his statement, which was distributed by the Romney team, Stember added that “It’s time that we had a president who understands how our economy creates jobs and how Washington can get out of the way of that process.”
Romney has touted his private sector experience as proof that the economy would grow better under his presidency, prompting Obama to attack Romney over companies that closed under Bain Capital’s leadership.
The Washington Examiner’s Paul Bedard reported that, whatever the Obama campaign’s critiques of Bain, they have not hesitated to shop at the Bain-backed Staples.
“Team Obama turns out to be a big fan, spending $17,963.04 at Staples this year alone, according to Federal Election Commission reports,” Bedard wrote in July.
