Obama Was For Private Equity Before He Was Against It

When he needed money from firms like Bain Capital, private equity was,"the best opportunity for long-term economic vitality" and for "the creation of jobs."

 Of course, as everyone knows today, the best opportunity for long-term economic vitality is government-subsidized green jobs.

Obama's campaign ads dismissively compare Romney's work at Bain to that of a "vampire" draining jobs and money from vulnerable companies and workers. After pushback from a handful of pro-free market Democrats in late May, the President himself publicly defended his campaign's attacks on private equity firms like Bain.

But records from Obama's time as a state senator in Illinois, along with recollections of those who worked with him, present a very different stance. They indicate that Obama worked hard to position himself as a strong supporter of the venture capital industry. Obama attended industry social functions and used his position in the state senate to propose bills consistent with the legislative goals of the venture capital industry in the state. 

"The Barack Obama I knew in Springfield was very pro-private equity, private capital, and high technology" Republican State Senator Kirk Dillard, who served with Obama in the Illinois State Senate, said in a telephone interview with Breitbart News about Obama's record last week. "Mr. Obama clearly had many friends in the private equity business when he was a legislator," Dillard added.