David Cameron to host Mitt Romney in Downing Street

Ask him about his tax returns for a laugh Dave.....

I'm sure they both have plenty to laugh about.

Mitt Romney’s overseas trip next week will take him to the heart of London’s scandal-ridden banking industry, as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee holds two campaign fundraisers hosted by lobbyists and executives from more than two dozen financial institutions.

The hosts of Romney’s high-dollar reception and dinner on July 26 overwhelmingly represent banks, hedge funds and other financial institutions, some of which are embroiled in the Libor rate-fixing scandal.

By appearing at the fundraisers on the eve of the Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies, Romney risks associating his campaign with the unfolding scandal, which focuses on banks that manipulated the London interbank offered rate, a benchmark for mortgages, auto loans and other financial contracts.

One of the event’s co-chairs is Patrick Durkin, a Washington-based lobbyist for Barclays, which agreed last month to pay $450 million to settle allegations that it manipulated Libor before and after the financial crisis. Durkin has helped raise $1.1 million for the Romney campaign, according to U.S. disclosure records.

This month, the Boston Globe reported that Barclays’ chief executive, Bob Diamond, withdrew as a co-host after the bank settled with British and U.S. authorities. He resigned July 3 from Barclays.

The Romney events have sparked anger among some members of the British Parliament, who have called on Barclays executives to halt political fundraising while the scandal plays out.

Executives of at least three other banks under investigation in the Libor scandal — Eric Varvel, chief executive of Credit Suisse; Raj Bhattacharyya, a managing director at Deutsche Bank; and Whitfield Hines, a managing director at HSBC — are co-chairs, according to copies of invitations obtained by The Washington Post.

At least 15 banks are under investigation by British regulators in connection with the Libor manipulations, according to regulatory filings and statements.

Romney is holding two London fundraisers: a $2,500-per-person receptionand a dinner costing $25,000 to $75,000 per person.

A Romney campaign spokeswoman declined to comment.

Romney’s is not the only campaign raising money from Barclays executives. Vice President Biden held a fundraiser this month in Park City, Utah, co-hosted by Mark Gilbert, a Barclays investment banker who is deputy finance director at the Democratic National Committee.

U.S. election law allows candidates to raise money from U.S. citizens overseas, and presidential hopefuls have long sought donations from them. A Post analysis of Federal Election Commission reports shows that President Obama has raised $3.1 million from expatriates, compared with $1.4 million for Romney. Obama’s total includes at least $600,000 from addresses in Britain, $176,000 from Switzerland and $63,000 from China. Romney has drawn at least $311,000 from Britain and $140,000 from Hong Kong. The figures are imprecise because some Americans living overseas maintain U.S. addresses. Only U.S. citizens and legal residents may give to presidential campaigns.

Romney, a former private equity manager, has relied heavily on campaign donations from those in the finance and banking industries, including employees of the firm he co-founded, Bain Capital.

According to the invitations, the hosts of Romney’s events overwhelmingly come from the finance industry, including such major firms as Goldman Sachs, Blackstone, Wells Fargo and Cerberus. There are co-hosts from Bain Capital and Ropes & Gray, the Boston law firm with close ties to Romney.

Also hosting are Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets; Dan Bricken, a managing director at Wells Fargo Securities; Gregg Lemkau, head of European mergers and acquisitions for Goldman Sachs; Dwight Poler, a managing director for Bain Capital Europe; Anthony Diamandakis, a managing director at Credit Suisse; and Calvin Tarlton, a director at Wells Fargo Securities.

In an interview with the right-wing Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayom, Mitt Romney said that the Arab Spring might never have happened had Bush's "freedom agenda" not been prematurely halted by President Barack Obama.

"President [George W.] Bush urged [deposed Egyptian President] Hosni Mubarak to move toward a more democratic posture, but President Obama abandoned the freedom agenda and we are seeing today a whirlwind of tumult in the Middle East in part because these nations did not embrace the reforms that could have changed the course of their history, in a more peaceful manner," Romney said.

Romney argued that with the rise of democratically elected Islamist governments in some of the countries undergoing revolutions -- Egypt and Tunisia in particular -- the Arab Spring has turned out to be less of a boon for Western interests than it initially appeared.

"Clearly we're disappointed in seeing Tunisia and Morocco elect Islamist governments. We're very concerned in seeing the new leader in Egypt as an Islamist leader. It is our hope to move these nations toward a more modern view of the world and to not present a threat to their neighbors and to the other nations of the world," he said.

...

Romney did not elaborate in the interview whether he believes that Bush's strategy, if it had been seen to fruition, would have resulted in the democratic overthrow of Mubarak's government or the preservation of his administration through internal reforms.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

#Romneyshambles

For the party most likely to champion patriotism and leverage parochialism is also the party most likely to be bankrolled by multinationals and champion free trade. A significant portion of the Republican base – white working-class men – have seen their livelihoods threatened by the very neoliberal globalisation that their party seeks to extend. Profit has no intrinsic interest in patriotism, and capital, increasingly, is unfettered by the nation state. The capitalism they vote for and the capitalism they actually experience couldn't be more different.

But in the absence of any real opposition to that trend – Democrats support it too – many Republicans reach for the comfort blankets of hyper patriotism and xenophobia and the more accessible targets of immigrants, foreigners and Muslims.

Open borders for capital and closed minds for culture; classically liberal economics and classically illiberal politics.