Obama for America TV Ad: "Firms"

An unrelenting President Barack Obama jabbed at Mitt Romney's record with a private equity firm in an ad Saturday that aimed to keep his rival on the defensive just as the Republican challenger's campaign hoped to take advantage of poor economic data to gain an edge on the incumbent.
Obama met Romney's plea for an apology for the attacks with a mocking ad that charged that the firm shipped American jobs to China and Mexico, that Romney has personal wealth in investments in Switzerland, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands, and that as Massachusetts governor, he sent state jobs to India.
"Mitt Romney's not the solution. He's the problem," the ads says as Romney is heard singing "America the Beautiful."
Pressure was building on Romney from within his own party to be more forthcoming with his finances, a day after he declared he would not release past income tax returns beyond his 2010 tax records and, before the November election, his 2011 taxes.Obama said the questions raised in numerous media reports and highlighted by his own campaign aides were a legitimate part of the race for the White House.

"Ultimately, I think, Mr. Romney is going to have to answer those questions because if he aspires to being president, one of the things you learn is you're ultimately responsible for the conduct of your operations," Obama said in an interview with the District of Columbia's WJLA-TV.

Romney called that "Chicago-style politics at its worst" and accused the president, who's from Chicago, and his campaign of trying to shift attention from the economy and unemployment situation.

In trying to put the matter behind him and return the campaign to his economic arguments, Romney declared he had "no role whatsoever in the management" of the company after he left to take over the Salt Lake City Olympic Games in early 1999.

Romney acknowledged that he would have benefited financially from Bain's operations even after he left management of the firm to others. That could open him up to criticism that he gained from investment in companies that sent jobs overseas.

"All of the investors participate in the success or failure of various investments, just like you do as a shareholder of an enterprise," Romney told CBS.

Bain Capital said in a statement that Romney "remained the sole stockholder for a time while formal ownership was being documented and transferred to the group of partners who took over management of the firm in 1999."