Stewart: Romney used ‘the world’s financial dialysis machine’ against Italy

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After briefly discussing Harry Reid’s accusations of tax-dodging against Mitt Romney, Jon Stewart took a closer look Tuesday night at the financial deal that made Romney persona non grata in Italy involving what he called “a country that exists solely as the world’s financial dialysis machine.”

About 12 years ago, Romney’s company, Bain Capital, bought a phone-directory company from the Italian government and made $1 billion when it sold the company two years later, making a profit of 25 times the original sale.

But what earned Bain – and Romney – all the derision was the company’s move to funnel the profits through subsidiary companies in Luxembourg, a move one of the directory company’s shareholders called “the beginning of the destruction of Italian industry.”

For Romney’s dealings to be considered shady in Italy is something else, according to Stewart, considering that the country’s former prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi was also “the head of the country’s largest media conglomerate, and the host of their finest bunga-bunga parties.”

Watch Stewart’s monologue from The Daily Show, aired Tuesday night, below: