Illustration by Alexander Hunter for The Washington Times more >As Democrats convene in Charlotte, N.C., on Monday, they likely will double down on their claim that Bain Capital is really the Bain Crime Family. They will accuse Republican nominee Mitt Romney and Bain’s other “greedy” co-founders of stealing their winnings, evading taxes and lighting cigars with $100 bills on their yachts. Democrats will ignore this inconvenient truth: Bain’s private-equity executives have enriched dozens of organizations and millions of individuals in the Democratic base — including some who scream most loudly for President Obama’s re-election.
Government-worker pension funds are the chief beneficiaries of Bain Capital’s economic stewardship. New York-based Preqin uses public documents, news accounts and Freedom of Information requests to track private-equity holdings. Since 2000, Preqin reports, the following funds have entrusted some $1.56 billion to Bain:
Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund ($2.2 million).
Indiana Public Retirement System ($39.3 million).
Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System ($177.1 million).
Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension System ($19.5 million).
Maryland State Retirement and Pension System ($117.5 million).
Public Employees’ Retirement System of Nevada ($20.3 million).
State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio ($767.3 million).
Pennsylvania State Employees Retirement System ($231.5 million).
Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island ($25.0 million).
San Diego County Employees Retirement Association ($23.5 million).
Teacher Retirement System of Texas ($122.5 million).
Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System ($15.0 million).
These pension funds aggregate the savings of millions of unionized teachers, social workers, public-health personnel and first responders. Many of them would be startled to learn that their nest eggs, or even their current pensions, are incubated by the company Mr. Romney launched and the financiers he hired.
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