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Subscribe to RSSTROY, MI -- Mitt Romney sought to explain his opposition to the 2009 auto industry bailouts before an audience in his native Michigan, a state where the industry looms large.
A day after a debate in nearby Rochester, where he was forced to defend his consistency on the bailout, Romney renewed his defense.
"What's happening tears at my heart," Romney said. "I know what that city can be."
Romney, who had opposed bailouts for General Motors and Chrysler in 2009 and had favored a managed bankruptcy process instead, also turned around the old phrase: As goes GM, so goes the nation.
"I sure hope that's not the case," Romney said. "Because General Motors went bankrupt, and I don't want to see the nation follow down the same path Detroit went down, but the same policies you're seeing, that were so misapplied here in Detroit, will take the country in that kind of direction."
Romney, who spent most of the speech waxing nostalgic about his childhood in suburban Detroit and campaigning for his father, who served as governor in the 1960s.
His talk of autos was a more serious moment in a campaign stop more full of Romney waxing nostalgic about things well-remembered: swimming in Michigan's great lakes, campaigning with his father in years gone by and his favorite lines from the poem "Men to Match My Mountains," Mitt Romney was asked to weigh in on things forgotten.
In this case, the former Massachusetts governor was put on the spot about the third agency slated for cuts forgotten by Texas Governor Rick Perry at last night's debate.
But Romney, whose sparring with Perry headlined the last debate three weeks ago, was cordial toward his campaign rival.
"I wish him the very best," Romney told reporters.
Asked how he felt about last night's CNBC debate, here in Michigan, where he was raised, Romney said he was satisfied with his performance.
"I was very pleased with the debate," Romney said. "I thought I got most of my points across pretty well."
But how did he feel about Perry, Romney was asked?
"I've got worry more about me than about anybody else," Romney responded.
Romney's speech at a Polish-American cultural center to a rally of some 150 supporters and a handful of family members was a warm one. He toned down much of his usual criticism of President Obama, although did not drop it entirely, and offered none for his GOP rivals, preferring instead to connect with the crowd using shared memories of Michigan. Romney even asked the high school band in attendance if they could play the University of Michigan fight song." To the approval of a handful of Michigan State fans in attendance, the band leader said they could not.
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THAT'S NOT A WORRY the way Obama and the Democrats want to spend spend spend ,MONEY they do not have America following GM is soon to be REALITY ,%37 increase in government spending under Obama , most of it when the Democrats controlled both the House and the senate , ONLY when The Republicans took control of the House did they put the brakes on , Almost 6 trillion dollars in new debt since Obama took office ,H--- if the Republicans had not have put the brakes on the way the Obama and the democrats want to spend the debt would be double or even more ,
TELL YOU what why don't all you folks who support this kind of spending just donate half your pay checks , so they can keep spending ,then when when they got that spent , donate half of the half you got left , ETC.
Blame Bush Blame Bush THE DEMOCRATS had control , THIS IS DOCUMENTED FACT , Democrats had control of the money , the Democrats spent it , PRESIDENTS DON'T CONTROL THE MONEY , the house and senate control THE MONEY , Democrats had control
NOW blame who
But only a President can pull the trigger on a budget, and Congress had been 100% repub from 1994 through 2006.
THIS IS DOCUMENTED FACT.
So if Romney had won in 2008, GM would be dead and we'd have 2 million more unemployed.
Sounds like the guy we need in 2012 to finish cleaning up Bush's mess.
Give Mitt another 20 seconds and he will change his mind -- about 10 times.
GM most certainly will not go the same way as the country.
At least GM doesn't have a collection of fascist morons filibustering their every move.
Herman Cain has a problem. He is guilty of serial disrespect -- in the least -- towards women and of a disturbing tone deafness. What is most disturbing about this scandal is how Mr. Cain, his campaign, his supporters, the Republican Party and conservatives in the media have downplayed the serious nature of Cain's behavior. Sexual harassment is serious business, and for the supposed "family values" political party to make light of such anti-family crimes committed by Herman Cain is wrong and totally offensive. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
Gotta love ole mitt. I remember the 2008 republican debates when McCain made him look like a dope.
I'm no McCain fan, but the current crop of clowns the republicans are running can't compare with who they lost with, in 2008.
Hey... Maybe Dan Quayle is available...
I saw the debate. You haven't even got that....
Good luck though...
Dennis, you underestimate the American people's code of acceptable ethics for presidency- Cain is already out of the game, trust me. Maybe you would accept anything at this point because you're feeling impuissant due to your present choice of candidates. But in spite of your desperation neither Cain nor Romney would make anything better than how it is now.
Romney thinks he can save the US from going bankrupt like GM? Perhaps he learned how from his father who put AMC (American Motors Corporation) out of business. The Pacer really saved AMC... does Romney have a Pacer planned for the US economy?
His father's term as governer of Michigan was marked by some of the worst race rioting in the 1960's, and the decline of the Auto industry as a whole. And by his own admission, Mitt was right there with him, learning at the feet of the master. Stop taking this guy seriously. He will destroy us like his father did...
The country will not go bankrupt and here's why: GM has to SELL a product to raise enough revenue to stay afloat. The government will raise the revenue necessary to operate through taxes and ensure our ability to sustain operation through spending cuts.
Americans and especially corporations are greedy. Greed will create growth, jobs, income and revenue. Unlike the automotive industry, there is no real competition to greed.
So Romney, how many flip flops are we up to now? Oh, 9-9-9
Mitt Romney's comment in 2008 calling for GM to fail was made on emotion and now common sense, 2010
GM volume beats Toyota after five years
Mitt isn't his Father and it shows everytime he opens his mouth, big he is still trying to use his Father's success for himself. Notice how all the weak rich boys live off their Father's name because they have done nothing on their own.
Obummer nixed the Canadian pipeline so the retard environmentalists will vote for him in'12, never mind that this damages our energy independence prospects, the Governmint bailed out GM so that they could ram electricars down your throats, you Lefties don't know what's coming, with 90% unemployment, there won't be any jerks to pay for your Governmint handouts, the trillions of worthless dollars they will print will buy NOTHING! look out for the New GrItAmerIrelaSpaPorturetard grouping to emerge and move to take over a small part of Siberia which Russia offerred as an act of Charity. I saw an old lady in St Petersburg, Russia selling one shoe!, that's what we are coming to!
GOP has no plans for the economy other than the old Hoover plans... "let them eat cake".... while he sits on his $250 million.... give me a break. Bring back the pre Bush Tax rates and get it over with....
The reason that GM went downhill was mismanagement and a lack of support from our government earlier which allowed the Japanese to push out American products. Japan as China now ,had political influence to dump their products in the U.S. because they are buying our government bonds and are our banker. The empty heads ( making over $1 M a year ) running GM decided that it was wiser to play financial games ( they thought it was more profitable ) than to produce good cars for Americans and even the world. So their downfall was financial manipulation combined with Washington's sell out to a foreign competitor. In Japan such sell out would have been considered TREASON.
Our country's downfall, Romney has no clue, is because we shipped our economy and capital to China, allowed the U.S. to become a dumping ground for slave labor products, kept open borders and visa programs to lower wages , but above all ,we spent out fine men and treasure on ENDLESS WARS so that we are at the point of bankrupcy and are forced to borrow. The interest alone on our debt is equal to what we spend on our military. Romney represents the 1% and he will do nothing to get us back on our feet. Ron Paul is pointing us in the right direction and Dennis Kucinich-the only ones so far, at least they are asking the right questions.
Mr Flip Flop doesn't have a clue how to turn the economy around, he's just running around the country saying ..... please....please can I be president ....... I'll do or say anything you want me too .... just let me be president one time, that's all I want from you. This coming from a republitard that when he was at Bain Corp. did nothing but by up companies, then break them up and lay offs thousands of employee's. Now he wants to cut all the wages of government employee's in half so they can live in a state of poverty like the people doing the same job in the private sector. Oh and let's not forget his idea about solving the mortgage crisis .......... don't help these people out with their mortgages, just let them all lose their homes then the rich can come along and buy them all up and rent them back to the peasants.
"As goes GM, so goes the nation.
"I sure hope that's not the case," Romney said. "Because General Motors went bankrupt, and I don't want to see the nation follow down the same path Detroit went down, but the same policies you're seeing, that were so misapplied here in Detroit, will take the country in that kind of direction."
What is Romney saying here? It makes NO sense. How far out of touch is this person? This is a typical FEAR Tactics approach that Karl Rove and his band of conservatives without consciences put into million dollar ads through Crossroads and Crossroads GPS. I guess this is Mitt's way of playing to the Tea Party. Millions of jobs were saved and the auto makers will be paying just about all of the bailout monies back. Was Romney OK will bailing out the banks? That is exactly why the OWS protesters are still out in the streets throughout the US and many 99ers support them.
Pardon my lanquage guys, but insisted this guy really an A-hole?? I have never heard such a lieing, flip flopping politician in my lifetime and I'm getting old!
It would be better for Romney and our country if he would stop worrying about the bailout Obama initiated with the automobile industry to save the entire automobile industry from collapse., including its suppliers. Which it did! It would be far wiser if he would get behind Obama's initiatives instead of longing for the good old days or offering the same old Republican agenda that got us into this mess. It's not the bailouts to the automobile industry which is stifling our growth. It is the obstructionist behavior of his party in Congress plus the fact corporations, which made nearly record profits off the Great Recession, are not now creating jobs when they could.
Unfortunately, today's entrepreneurs are always looking for certainty or subsidies before they act unlike the real entrepreneurs of yesterday who were risk takers. Today's entrepreneurs have revised the meaning of the word entrepreneur. And all this, as you know, when there are only two things that are certain in life: death and taxes.
White Collar Auto.........The money given to GM while Bush was president will never be paid back. Those were in effect gifts, wiped out by the bankruptcy. There is no expectation of any attempt or intent to pay those monies back and they are not carried on the books of the new GM as loans, that money is gone. The money given to fund the bankruptcy once the new administratio took over was paid back by some accounting tricks ( cashless payback ) and much of it actually was paid back by way of the GM stock sold by the U.S. Government. About half the original stock is still held by government and will in fact eventually be sold and funds will pay off the debt on the books.
GM's balance sheet looks way better than Ford's, because Ford carries all of their debt on the books as they actually pay it off in cash out of earnings, GM wiped theirs out with bankruptcy and subsequent stock issue.
Romney is a flip flopping corporate raider.
If elected, just watch. He and his cronies will infiltrate the government to line their own pockets.
Wait, that's what happens now.
ZOMG.
What now, voters?
p.s. Props to GM for turning it around - so far.
So if the US goes the way of GM...
...who will bail US out?
China?
LOL.
All I know about GM is they really should listen to their dealers to get a idea of the market. Doesn't happen, though. Right now they want dealers to spend mega bucks dressing up their premises to fit brand image. GM had no problem letting dealers go during the bailout, so I have sort of lost any loyalty I might have had to them. All in all, this is a company that has no sense of getting the best return on their money, in my opinion only. As for Mitt, I can imagine he will go all over the country cutting jobs as he goes. That is what he did for the companies he worked for, and I can't imagine it would change.
If the US continues with useless GOP economic/trade policies it will go the way of dinosaur
Romney is not worth a "Mitt".
Romney is against a successful restructuring of GM?
Didn't Romney do that for a living?
He is probably upset that millions jobs were saved, unlike the thousands of jobs lost in his wake of destruction.
I think President Romney will do very well. I believe he will actually be able to govern, not always point fingers,not purposely divide the country and truly LEAD.
Don't you mean "Governor Romney"? He ran for President twice & was shown the door both times.... He is the lessor of the right wing "Evils" though.
As far as the US going down the same road as GM does,,, The 1st thing Romney needs to understand is that the US builds the roads for the GM cars to operate on! --- What's his view on infrastructure spending? He doesn't have one that conservatives will agree with.
Secondly, as a businessman goes, Romney sucks if he doesn't know the difference between a private company & the federal government! --- He's the candidate for many idiots with opposing views & conservatives are stuck!
I agree Kelly........He was a GOP Governor in one of the most Democratic states in the country.....MA is 85% DNC. He has proof he can work with BOTH parties.......not just hot air and finger pointing like Obama.