The Obama campaign has released a new TV ad in Virginia and other states hammering Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney on outsourcing.
In the 30-second spot, the narrator says “These appliances could have been made here, in America. But a company called Global Tech maximized profits by paying its workers next to nothing under sweatshop conditions in China. When Mitt Romney led Bain, they saw Global Tech as a good investment, even knowing that the firm promoted its practice of exploiting low-wage labor to its investors.”
The Washington Post’s The Fact Checker has looked into claims relating to Romney and outsourcing jobs. Part of its analysis touches on Global-Tech, and the piece notes that “Global-Tech also benefited from outsourcing but as far as we can tell it was a passive investment by a Bain-related hedge fund.”
Factcheck.org has also analyzed outsourcing claims.
The Obama campaign says its ad will air here and in New Hampshire, Florida, Ohio, Iowa, Colorado and Nevada.
UPDATE: Curt Cashour, a spokesman for Romney’s campaign in Virginia, responded to the TV ad: “This is another ‘overboard’ ad from a president who is trying to distract from his failure to stand up to China.
“Four years ago, then candidate Barack Obama promised to take China to the mat, but refused to label China a currency manipulator because he didn’t want them to be embarrassed,” Cashour said. “President Obama’s failure to stand up to China has cost our country jobs and is one more reason that we can’t have four more years like the last four years. Mitt Romney will stand up to China, label them a currency manipulator, protect our intellectual property, and ensure that more jobs stay in America.”
