Speaking Tuesday on Hardball With Chris Matthews, former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour suggested that Americans should be grateful to private equity firms like Mitt Romney's Bain Capital because they left most of the workforce intact when they took over companies. "There were a lot of companies in my states and other states that were failing," the former Republican governor said. "Someone came in and infused capital in there, and maybe they did have to reduce the workforce 10% or 20%, but the other 80% are still there working. And we're grateful for it."
Barbour also falsely said that President Obama proposed to Congress "the largest tax increase in American history." The non-partisan site Politifact found that claim to be false when it was made by half-term Governor Sarah Palin in August of 2010, and it remains untrue today. In April, the site once again found the claim that Obama has proposed the largest tax increase in U.S. history to be simply incorrect. "[I]f you’re asking the question, would it be the largest tax increase ever?, the answer is no," Howard Gleckman of the Tax Policy Center told Politifact.