"Bainport"

The sad thing about all of this is "outsourcing" to China and other low-wage countries has been going on for years, but only now is anybody talking about it. That's because a presidential candidate who has made "his" fortune off of the misfortune of others is involved.

People like Romney never would have gotten filthy rich if Congress hadn't allowed it to happen.

But, in the midst of the 2012 presidential election, Freeport is different. For Sensata is majority-owned by Bain Capital, the private equity firm once led by Mitt Romney, that has become a hugely controversial symbol of how the modern globalised American economy works. Indeed, Romney still owns millions of dollars of shares in the Bain funds that own Sensata.

So as Sensata strips out costs by sacking American workers in favour of Chinese ones, the value of Romney's own investments could rise, putting money into the pockets of a Republican challenger who has placed job creation in America at the heart of his bid for the White House.

It actually disqualifies him from public office, for there is an inherent conflict of interest. It would be as if Mitt had dual citizenship in both China and the United States.

Obama's Illinois pension has investments in Sensata, but that is hardly the same thing at all. Obama has no control over how that money is invested, unlike Mitt and his (former) company.