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Just how much of a role would the government have played in supporting Chrysler and General Motors if Mitt Romney had been president?
As First Read reported yesterday, the former Massachusetts governor has worked to couch his opposition to President Barack Obama's decision to bail out the two car companies -- a decision which Romney, who was raised in Michigan, is being forced to confront heading into the state's Feb. 28 primary.
Democrats and the Obama campaign have made a big issue of Romney's 2008 op-ed in The New York Times entitled, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," especially in light of the signs of encouragement in the auto industry since the bailout. He penned it just weeks after Obama secured the presidency.
Related: Obama touts manufacturing at Wisconsin plant
The piece, published as the automakers were facing a major cash crunch, called for what he dubbed a “managed bankruptcy.” He said the car companies needed to restructure their labor agreements; replace each company's management and rid them of corporate perks; and increase government spending on alternative energy and fuel economy research, which would benefit the industry indirectly.
Of direct government assistance, Romney wrote: "The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk." He stated, declaratively, “Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check.”
Since then, Romney has spoken publicly about the bailout, essentially trying to take ownership for the successes of the auto industry's turnaround while decrying Obama's management of the process. Romney argues that the administration basically ended embracing a variation of the strategy he originally advocated.
"The indisputable good news is that Chrysler and General Motors are still in business," Romney wrote Tuesday in The Detroit News. "The equally indisputable bad news is that all the defects in President Obama's management of the American economy are evident in what he did."
The separation between Romney and Obama on the issue of the bailout stems from two issues. First, Romney argues that interests of the labor unions were unfairly favored over some of GM and Chrysler's private creditors. The government-supervised bankruptcy did this, he argues, by allowing the autoworkers’ retirees program an equity stake in the restructured GM in exchange for providing financial support for the bankruptcy.
Second, Romney appears to differ with the president over the extent to which government itself should have stepped forward with money to help stave off liquidation of GM and Chrysler and provide for the restructuring process. The administration's approach did this in the case of GM by essentially establishing a new, restructured company in which the government became a majority shareholder. (Romney argued Tuesday for the government to divest itself from the company.)
Romney's position in the past has been that the private sector could have stepped forward to finance and more effectively manage the bankruptcy process -- especially in a way that would have treated private stakeholders in the companies more fairly.
The right-leaning editorial page of The Detroit News weighed in Wednesday:
But on the key question of whether the automakers could have managed themselves through a traditional bankruptcy without assistance from the government, Romney is wrong. The loans provided by Bush and then by Obama allowed the domestic auto industry to survive the darkest hour of its history and return to thriving operations today.
Critics also contend that Wall Street might not have been in the position to give that financial assistance to Detroit in 2009, as Lehman Brothers collapsed and global credit tightened.
But Romney appeared to add more uncertainty into his position surrounding the bailouts in an interview Wednesday on Detroit talk radio station WJR. Romney said that the government should have been available to step in and provide financing during a structured bankruptcy by way of a bridge loan -- the initial way in which the Bush administration propped up GM and Chrysler at the end of 2008.
Romney explained:
They needed to go through bankruptcy, and if, as part of that process, they needed financial help to get out of bankruptcy -- a bridge loan, or guarantees on sales of cars and so forth -- I said the government should be there to provide that. But the point was they took the wrong process, they wasted a lot of money, and ended up giving the companies to the UAW.
That doesn't necessarily mean that Romney would have pursued the exact path as the Obama administration for restructuring GM and Chrysler, but it does indicate some willingness for a more expansive role for the government during bankruptcy. Spokesmen for the Romney campaign didn't immediately respond to an inquiry seeking clarification.
But in addressing some of the political flak he's taken over the bailout, Romney added on WJR: "I don't imagine that anyone could think I had any interest other than to see the companies to thrive and survive, and that's why the original op-ed piece I wrote describes what I thought was the best way to get that done."
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You Republicans have lost enough credibility. George Bush drove a stake in your heart. Now this clown wants to set you back another 10 years, so please endorse him. Obama is going to walk away with a landslide.
i think this is going to help Sanctimorum alot. He deserves it because he is such a sane fellow himself. I predict that when the Republicans take back the White House, we can rightfully call it a Sanitorium!
Hey MSNBC, have you figured out why your rating are so low? People don't like "editorialized" news.
CABLE NEWS RACE
NITE OF JAN 13, 2012
FOXNEWS O'REILLY 3,292,000
FOXNEWS HANNITY 2,117,000
FOXNEWS BRET BAIER 1,908,000
CMDY DAILY SHOW 1,811,000
FOXNEWS SHEP SMITH 1,788,000
FOXNEWS THE FIVE 1,744,000
FOXNEWS GRETA 1,632,000
CMDY COLBERT 1,509,000
MSNBC SCHULTZ 944,000
CNN PIERS MORGAN 901,000
MSNBC MADDOW 901,000
MSNBC HARDBALL 861,000
CNN COOPER 825,000
It just proves more dummys watch faux.
Not one of those shows is truly news. They're commentary.
Gee --- lying Bill is #1 So what?? Rush the junkie is #1 in talk radio. Again -- so what?? The way I see it -- this proves you teatards have to be spoon fed your information.
This is going to be an election split right down the middle. Republican's will only vote for the candidate that is still in the race and I don't see any of them that will do anything good for this country. I'd like to see Romney disqualified because he didn't disclose all his assets. Why is it we let people play by their own rules and laws and don't force these idiots to get out of the race when they break them? If we continue on the same track we are on now, I see this country recovering even without Republican help. Keep up the good work people.
I think GM and Chrysler could have achieved the same results through traditional bankruptcy without taxpayer liability. The problem with setting this precedent is that the economy becomes dependent on favoritism from Washington.
I don't understand the argument that GM and Chrysler had to bailed out because they didn't reorganize as quickly as Ford. Why should that be Ford's problem or the taxpayers' problem for that matter? Terrible decision by Obama- they'll just have to be bailed out of the next recession, too.
G.W. Bush started the Bailout and he just said the other day that he would do it all over again. Obama finished the job.
Thinkers aren't Presidents, doer's are...
You don't think someone has been and still is playing with the economy even if you exclude auto bailouts? The banks , Wall Street & other financial institutions who were bailed out? Or how bout congress?
Anyone who buys into the Mitt-sh_t has either an IQ of about 10 or really doesn't give a @!$%# about the facts. This guy is a total Bull sh_tter that needs to get the hell off the pot. What a loser, spelled with a capital "L". Rick Santorum is the only logical choice for the Republican party.
Romney shmamama. Obama shamama. There was a terrible mistake made in auto and banking bail outs. Any business whether a huge industiral production company or a mom and pop pizza shop takes risks. It is wrong that taxpayers have to contribute money for them to avoid bankruptcy if business goes bad. All of these should have gone to bankruptcy like any other business and taken the heat. It will happen anyway, wait until after November. The administration would like to manipulate numbers to fit their campaign needs for November but, the facts are, while manufacturing is going on, retail sales of cars is not. Soon there will be automobiles sitting in car lots like empty homes around the country but corporate execs and union members will have been subsidized and false created statistics will be flaunted over the media.I hand it to Obama, like it or not.....he is the greatest snake oil salesman of all times....lies, damn lies and statistics, in other words, bull@!$%#.
Just because Ford didn't take the bailout money doesn't mean that they didn't receive Federal assistance.
...just say'n.
keep in mind...GOP hates America and American workers....GOP wants the workers to be slaves.
Just look at what the vultures at Bain did to company's, they picked all the meat retirement funds, healthcare programs,fired workers, always paid themselves HUGE fee's and then left, with nothing but the bones left to be fought over. Guess what the President did a good job, just admit it and move on, don't keep digging a bigger hole for yourself. And have you admitted, that saying the President made the economy worse, was not the truth? Romney you want to take the Country back, the President wants to continue forward! Obama 2012
Just a bit of family history regarding Mitt -
Mitt Romney’s father, George was good friends with George W. Mason who became chairman of the manufacturing firm Nash-Kelvinator. In 1948, he invited Romney along "to learn the business from the ground up" as his roving assistant. Mason facilitated the merger of Nash-Kelvinator with Hudson Motor Car in 1954 to become the American Motors Corporation (AMC). It was the largest merger in the history of the industry, and Romney became an executive vice president of the company. In October 1954, Mason suddenly died of acute pancreatitis and pneumonia. Romney was named AMC's president and chairman of the board the same month. Romney did not found American Motors – he inherited the position when Mason died. Romney’s stock in AM made him a multi-millionaire. Wonder where Mitt got his funds?
Romney saw as the twin evils of “big labor” and “big business”, and called on Congress to break up the Big Three. Doesn’t this sound familiar – let GM and Chrysler die.
Presidential historian Theodore H. White wrote that during his campaign Romney gave "the impression of an honest and decent man simply not cut out to be President of the United States." Governor Jim Rhodes of Ohio more memorably said, "Watching George Romney run for the presidency was like watching a duck try to make love to a football. What an apt description of Mitt. The apple does not fall far from the tree.
The Ford-Didn't-Take-a-Bailout argument leaves out ONE main point......
The Big Three automakers depend on and use many of the SAME suppliers. Had GM and Chrysler gone bankrupt so would a chain reaction of auto suppliers and Ford would not have been able to remain in business.
Simple fact: Ford survived because the other two automakers did.
Mitt Romney is not a Man of the People.
He is the Poster Boy for the 1%...
I ask you this, what is the real issue here? This is truly one of many issues to mislead the American people to think that a politician has your best interest at heart. Bush signed into law "The North American Union Prosperity and Security Agreement" He did not inform congress nor did he inform "We the people..." So do you really care what Romney has to say? FYI the latter removes your American sovereignty to include your rights because of the Patriot Act. Lets not forget the recent laws passed under Obama, I mean signed without the public knowing. All factual and easy to prove via the White House website and other forms of official websites, to include the media.
So ask yourself, do you really think he cares about the working person? He has his money and only wants to make more. If you really want to see something that explains how and why we are in the current plight? The I suggest you watch a YouTube movie titled "The Secrets of Oz." After watching the movie I suggest that you watch one more short show on YouTube which is produced for the History channel called "Decoded." Search for Decoded>Fort Knox ( the clip is 43 minutes long) Remember what you learned from the first movie and think outside the box. The greatest illusion is not just a great read...! Enjoy and spread the truth!
"The separation between Romney and Obama on the issue of the bailout stems from two issues. First, Romney argues that interests of the labor unions were unfairly favored over some of GM and Chrysler's private creditors."
Yes, that is just not the BAIN CAPITAL WAY of doing things. The way Romney sees it, the folks who worked all their lives on the assembly line should have their pensions cut in half, so they can retire on nothing, while the bond holders and INVESTORS who speculated on the company get all their money back.
What is it Obama said the other day? That he wanted to return us to a nation of producers, not just financial speculators.
I may not like the UAW or have a lot in common with the blue-collar worker. But I have more in common with them that Billionaires who make no wage income and pay only capital gains tax.
That is what it comes down to. Do you trust Romney to look out for YOUR interests, or that of his Billionare friends on wall street.
Oh yea, they call it "trickle down economics" - I call it getting pissed on. Your call.
"Trickle Down" economics morphed into "Tinkle Down" economics...
So what would be so terrible for Mitter to just say, "Hey I blew it. I now understand that bankrupting the major auto assemblers would have decimated the supply chain by forcing the lightly capitalized suppliers out of business never to return. Korea, Japan and Germany would have picked the cherries out of the debris and the major US auto companies including Ford would have ceased to exist."?
It would be refreshing for Mitter to admit he is human and makes mistakes like everyone else, including President Obama.
I wonder if he'll wear a red power tie?
well... my name says it all this time
Romney should focus on jobs and fiscal responsibility and ignore the noise. His recommendations on the auto industry were good; that was not the time to let the industry fail. Bring the jobs home by taxing companies for the wage differential when they outsource. Raise taxes and freeze or cut spending. Simple.
Running to the right of our right-leaning President (tax cuts, record defense spending, interventionist foreign policy) is a bad idea.
Here we go again! People asking all the wrong questions and electing the WRONG people! Why would Obozo care 2 cents about Detroit and auto makers??? It's all about union bosses for him and money for his campaign! Romney cares about Detroit and they should listen to him so he can protect them from Obozo USING and PLAYING them!!!
this is just more romney lies to try and take credit for what obama was able to do. bohner was on TV today saying the repubs were trying get the dems to approve the extension of the tax breaks for the middleclass. RIGHT! the repubs fought this and the extension of unemployment insurance at every turn, they are liars.
Joe---Smoke and mirrors! Yeah...Obozo got around to it eventually, AFTER reading Romney's plan of bankruptcy! Obozo has NO experience in finance, business,economics, NOTHING! How can you be so stupid? Like Obozo cares at all about Detroit! That scumbag cares about corrupt Chicago politics, union bosses, and who he owes! I wouldn't want to owe who he owes!
A politician will support whatever will deliver him something on the backside, the "take", I would expect any politician would flip their view for political, power or financial advantage. It may not be direct, but either through their legal counsel, an associate, a non-profit, a company, a lobbyist, they will figure out what the correct currency is to work with, $$$, influence, power, control, a project, or media attention, plus a few hundred more. Politicians do not use the same rulebook as citizens, and utilize whatever currency is to their advantage to be popular and in power..... been their done that....it is a very sick world we live in.
This is the world of the "Kagemusha" Japanese for "Shadow Warrior" nothing you see happens is for its true intent.
Romney can't be bought and neither could his father. Google the time mob bosses sent their people to his his father's house...he told them to get lost. Romney doesn't take any pay from anyone for his service to the people. He only wants to help and isn't desperate for the job. Santorum and Gingrich want the job for themselves to prove they're a big man...all the wrong reasons.
Certi-fit auto parts is a business that is own by the Mormon church. However, in order to hold a management position you have to join the church. Although they do provide go-for jobs for the little people. Google the locations retail sale all over United States, manufacturing all over Mexico and South America. This might explain while he made the comment "let the auto industry go broke".
I believe Ronald Reagan said 'Well, There you go again...' when the BS came out, he called it down, in a nice way...
But we all now know where the real serious BS was coming from, don't we? Reagan increased the debt by 189% during his term, more than any other modern president. Remember the BS he spouted during his campaign, that he was AGAINST federal spending? LOL Ah, the beginning of the end for America, wasn't it great!
Ah yes, more tortured logic from Romney..I was against it before I was for it.
And BTW, FORD also fully supported the bailout. They knew the ripple effect of their competitors going belly up would have hit many of their suppliers and effectively collapsed the American automotive market, handing it over to Japan, China, etc. In hindsight, Obama made the right call (as he usually does).