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As Ohio has become almost a must-win state for Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, he has sought to blur distinctions between himself and President Barack Obama on the issue of the 2009 auto bailouts.
A new TV ad playing to erroneous fears that Jeep might move its manufacturing from Ohio to China caps a prolonged effort by Romney to recast his opposition to Obama's actions to prop up an industry that employs one in eight of Ohio's voters.
Romney has sought to reframe his criticism of Obama's handling of the 2009 rescue of General Motors and Chrysler in an effort to combat the president's usage of the bailout to court swing voters in the Buckeye State. The GOP nominee has argued it was Obama who took the companies bankrupt, and has argued that he would be a better president for beleaguered autoworkers.
Mitt Romney campaigns in the critical battleground state of Ohio as a poll shows a dead heat between the governor and President Obama. Watch the entire speech.
And a new television ad airing in Toledo and Youngstown, Ohio, the Romney campaign raises the specter of production of Jeeps moving from the U.S. to China, an assertion which Jeep's Italian parent company has said is blatantly false.
Related: Ohio governor says Romney will carry Buckeye State
The GOP candidate's new tack represents an effort to play offense on the issue of auto bailouts in the final eight days of the campaign. Obama has used Romney's opposition to the 2008-09 rescue to great effect in Ohio and other Midwestern states, where the former Massachusetts governor must perform well if he's to have any hope of being elected president.
"You saw in the debates that Barack Obama said a few things that were, as he said, whoppers," Ohio Sen. Rob Portman said at a Romney rally on Monday in Cleveland. "He turned to Mitt Romney and said, 'You wanted to take those companies through bankruptcy and not provide them any federal aid.' Let me tell you, I supported a rescue package for the autos, but what Barack Obama said was simply not true. And by the way, it was Barack Obama who took GM and Chrysler through bankruptcy."
Ohio Gov. John Kasich tells David Gregory that the job creators deserve the credit for helping raise Ohio's economic growth.
Ohio's Republican governor, John Kasich, also suggested Sunday on "Meet the Press" that the bailout hadn't been as great as Obama might suggest.
"We are thrilled that we have a strong auto industry," he argued, "but it doesn't account for the growth of 112,000 jobs in our state."
But it was the Jeep ad in particular that marked the culmination of an effort by Romney over the past 18 months to reframe the auto debate on friendlier terms.
"Obama took GM and Chrylser into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians, who are going to build Jeeps in China," the narrator of the ad says as a clip of a disputed Bloomberg News report appears onscreen, saying Chrysler "plans to return Jeep output to China."
The original Bloomberg report became fodder for conservatives, including Romney, who said last week in Ohio that Jeep "is thinking of moving all production to China." But Jeep's ownership has said it isn't planning to move any U.S. production to China; rather, the automaker is establishing new capacity in China to build vehicles that will be sold in China.
But the ad plays to those ill-founded fears. A fair viewing of the ad might leave that impression with a voter, though the language in the ad is so narrowly tailored that it can't be directly disputed.
That could make a difference in a battleground territory like northwest Ohio, the home to a major Jeep plant that employs thousands of Toledoans and almost left the area in the late 1990s until the city stepped forward to offer hundreds of millions in tax credits.
The Obama campaign responded with a TV ad of its own, accusing the GOP nominee of being "wrong then" and "dishonest now."
"It reeks of desperation, because that's what it is," Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said Monday on a conference call.
But the Jeep ad is just one component of Romney's months-long effort to better couch his opposition to the bailout.
FIRST READ: Romney's chances in Ohio tied to softening bailout stance
Romney, whose father was an auto executive before becoming governor of Michigan, penned an op-ed shortly after the 2008 election, infamously titled, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." The piece for the New York Times opposed the loans for the companies that then-outgoing President George W. Bush and some Republicans (including Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin congressman who would become Romney's vice presidential nominee) had favored, calling instead for a managed bankruptcy for GM and Chrysler with government support for the companies' warranties and for post-bankruptcy financing offered by private lenders.
Obama eventually embarked upon a different course. His administration negotiated a managed bankruptcy with bondholders, autoworkers' unions and the companies' leadership, while occasionally injecting the companies with capital drawn from the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in order to stave off a more drastic bankruptcy, and possible liquidation.
Democrats contend that no private financing was available to the auto companies during the bailout, and the government was the only actor equipped to provide the companies with a lifeline while simultaneously negotiating their bankruptcy, from which GM and Chrysler immediately emerged.
The Daily Rundown's Chuck Todd reports with the latest.
The bailout was unpopular at the time, derided by Republicans as a favor for unions, since autoworkers' pensions — in conservatives' view — were favored over dealers and other secured bondholders. Indeed, the Indiana State Police Pension Fund sued to prevent the deal from going forward, but it was rejected by the Supreme Court.
RELATED: Auto politics haunt Romney in NW Ohio
GM and Chrysler both rebounded in the months following the bailout to improve sales and profits, allowing the companies to pay off their loans from the government more quickly than expected. Their success has been heralded ever since by Democrats as a gutsy and successful example of Obama's leadership at the height of the Great Recession.
And since that time, Romney has — at alternating moments — both embraced and rejected central elements of Obama's decision making.
The Republican nominee has argued that it was his original idea, rather than Obama's, to put the auto companies through bankruptcy, though Romney's proposed process would have differed immensely. (Romney's plan wouldn't have necessarily forced GM and Chrysler into liquidation, nor was that what the governor had advocated — contrary to the president's suggestion during this month's debate.)
Romney was most pointedly forced to confront his opposition to the bailout during the Michigan and Ohio primaries in late February and early March. The Michigan native repeatedly called himself a "car guy" while campaigning near the Motor City, and appeared driving a Chrysler in a TV ad.
And Romney took to the editorial page of the Detroit News, where he accused Obama of "crony capitalism" in the bailout and said the companies would have been better off without Obama's intervention.
"Instead of doing the right thing and standing up to union bosses, Obama rewarded them," Romney wrote.
FLASHBACK: How much support would Romney have given to automakers?
As with a number of other issues since the primary, Romney, the Republican standard-bearer, has tried to soften the edges of some of his harder-charging rhetoric during the primaries.
"I’m a son of Detroit. I was born in Detroit. My dad was head of a car company. I like American cars. And I would do nothing to hurt the U.S. auto industry. My plan to get the industry on its feet when it was in real trouble was not to start writing checks," Romney said at the third and final debate a week ago against Obama.
The GOP nominee's claim prompted the president to accuse Romney of trying to "airbrush history."
Speaking Monday in Youngstown, Ohio, former President Bill Clinton got in on the action. He said Chrysler "put out a statement sayin' it was the biggest load of bull in the world" in reference of the Jeep-to-China rumors.
"He ties himself in more knots than a Boy Scout does in a knot-tying contest," Clinton said of Romney.
Reuters, Getty Images
In the final push in the 2012 presidential election, candidates Mitt Romney and Barack Obama make their last appeals to voters.
Leave a Comment:
Romney is a door to door pitch man. He will say anything to get money for the rich. I feel sorry for this country if Romney wins.
Hard to believe that someone that tells so many lies could be a Bishop in his church. Doesn't say much for Mormonism, does it?
AUTO BAILOUT BOMBSHELL: Fiat Says Chrysler, Jeep Production May Move to Italy
Submitted by Mark Modica on Tue, 10/29/2012 - 10:53
Coming hot on the heels of speculation that some Jeep production may be moved to China comes a bombshell from a Bloomberg report. Fiat is now considering moving Chrysler and Jeep production to Italy.
According to the piece, "To counter the severe slump in European sales, (Fiat CEO Sergio) Marchionne is considering building Chrysler models in Italy, including Jeeps, for export to North America. The Italian government is evaluating tax rebates on export goods to help Fiat. Marchionne may announce details of his plan as soon as Oct. 30, the people said."
So, let's be real clear here, we are talking about vehicles that will be built in Italy and exported to America. The evidence is clear that Fiat is looking at ways to move production of vehicles from the US to elsewhere, whether it be China or Italy, costing American jobs. This is becoming indisputable, despite outcries from certain parties to the contrary.
Mitt Romney has rightfully criticized the Obama Administration for handing over Chrysler to the Italians and now leaving the fate of American workers in the hands of Fiat management. Fiat is not a healthy company and the auto industry is in as great a risk as ever. The insistence that all is well by those with political motivations does not mask the danger. More jobs are at risk of being lost and more taxpayer money may be lost as well.
Let's face it, the auto bailouts were not well thought out. Perhaps General Motors' CEO, Dan Akerson, said it best when he said, "The good thing about our bankruptcy is that it took only 39 days. The bad news is that bankruptcy took only 39 days. If we had been there longer, people would have asked these questions and looked at these things."
The whole auto industry bailout process was rushed through with the wrong primary motivation of protecting the politically powerful UAW's interests. The Obama Administration never considered that giving Chrysler to Fiat was not a great idea and could eventually hurt the same UAW workers it was trying to protect. Manufacturers like Chrysler and GM are at a competitive disadvantage due to UAW obligations that were not properly addressed in the bankruptcy process. The industry is more competitive than ever and the government does not seem to be the best innovators to lead the sector to real health. This truth is very likely to become more apparent when the political season ends.
Mark Modica is an NLPC Associate Fellow.
•
NoMoreTax: hahahahhhahahahaha Well, dude, that's one spin that you can put on it. Why not argue that selling war bonds during WWII was a mistake because it raised the national debt? We didn't need to sell those bonds did we? I mean after all we won the war didn't we, genius?
Gee -- I Believe MB Of Germany Owned Chrysler At One Time!
And Toyota, Honda, BMW All Build Here & Also Ship Here!
We Are Competitive -- They Are Not Short Of Intelligents!
But The China Jeep Conection Is What It Is ( A Flat Out Lie By Romney & His Voting Machine )!
Fiat Nailed It On The Head -- Better Yet -- Fiat Nailed Romney On The Head For His "BS"!
He Even Tried Using Dead / Killed Americans For Votes -- What A Hell Of A Human Being He Is!
How Many Body Bags Did Romney's Twin Bush Fill With Their Republican Wars! 10,000+++ And Counting!
Why not title the ad "Romney lies yet AGAIN"? How many different ways can the media "politely" say that someone is lying. Whether it's his "evolving" positions, or his effort to "recast", this man is simply lying. The question isn't why Romney would do this, the question is why he would believe he can get away with it? The answer is simple, the media simply does not have the spine to call him on his lies. They are all so obsessed with the "close election" narrative that they have given this man absolute free reign to do whatever it takes to complete. I cannot wait until next Wednesday when we no longer have to be exposed to Mitt Romney and his lying, spineless, flip flopping BS.
Here are some flip flops for you
***
"I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program"—Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama, June 2003.
"I have not said that I was a single-payer supporter"—President Obama, August 2009.
***
"Leadership means that the buck stops here. . . . I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit"—Sen. Barack Obama, March 2006.
"It is not acceptable for us not to raise the debt ceiling and to allow the U.S. government to default"—President Obama, July 2011.
***
"I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages"—Obama questionnaire response, 1996, while running for Illinois state Senate.
"I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage"—Sen. Obama, November 2008, while running for president.
"It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married"—President Obama, May 2012.
***
"We have an idea for the trigger. . . . Sequestration"—Obama Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew in 2011, as reported in Bob Woodward's "The Price of Politics."
"First of all, the sequester is not something that I've proposed. It is something that Congress has proposed"—President Obama, October 2012.
***
"If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election"—Sen. Obama, 2007.
"We've made the decision not to participate in the public financing system for the general election"—Sen. Obama, June 2008.
***
"I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign"—Sen. Obama, June 2008.
"The way Bush has done it over the last eight years is . . . [he] added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back. . . . That's irresponsible. It's unpatriotic"—Sen. Obama, July 2008.
"I don't remember what the number was precisely. . . . We don't have to worry about it short term"—President Obama, September 2012, on the debt figure when he took office ($10 trillion) and whether to worry about today's $16 trillion figure.
***
"[Sen. Hillary Clinton believes] that . . . if the government does not force taxpayers to buy health care, that we will penalize them in some fashion. I disagree with that"—Sen. Obama, Jan 2008, opposing the individual mandate for health insurance.
"I'm open to a system where every American bears responsibility for owning health insurance"—President Obama, June 2009, supporting the individual mandate.
***
"Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times when America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive"—President Obama, April 2009, in France.
"We have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms"—President Obama, April 2009, in Trinidad and Tobago.
"Nothing Governor Romney just said is true, starting with this notion of me apologizing"—Barack Obama, October 2012, on whether he went on a global apology tour.
***
"The problem with a spending freeze is you're using a hatchet where you need a scalpel"—Sen. Obama, September 2008.
"Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years"—President Obama, January 2010.
***
"So if somebody wants to build a coal-fired plant, they can, it's just that it will bankrupt them"—Sen. Obama, January 2008, on his plans to financially penalize coal plants.
"Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution"—Sen. Obama, August 2008.
"Here's what I've done since I've been president. We have increased oil production to the highest levels in 16 years. Natural gas production is the highest it's been in decades. We have seen increases in coal production and coal employment"—President Obama, October 2012.
***
"If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition"—President Obama, 2009.
"We've got a long way to go but . . . we've come too far to turn back now. . . . And that's why I'm running for a second term"—President Obama, October 2012.
Monday, October 29, 2012
The race for Ohio’s Electoral College votes remains very close, but now Mitt Romney now has a two-point advantage.
Among all Ohio voters, Romney now has a 12-point lead over the president in voter trust – 53% to 41% - when it comes to the economy. Last week, he had just a seven-point advantage among voters in the state when they were asked which candidate they trusted more to deal with the economy.
Romney’s also trusted more by eight points in the areas of job creation and energy policy but leads Obama by just two when it comes to housing issues.
National security has been an area where the president has typically had an advantage over Romney this year. But, the Republican challenger now has a 52% to 42% advantage on the issue.
Say BYE BYE OBAMA!!!
....
You don't get to cherry pick the polls you like and ignore all of the others (and there are many) that show Obama with the lead. You have to look at the polling averages to get a real sense of where the race is going. Anyone who looks at Ohio objectively can see Romney is down and it is unlikely he will win the race.
Ticked off in Ohio: How damned dumb are you, dude??!!?? Do you just roll over and beg for more BS???!!??? Mittens just keep feeding you more and more BS and you just BEG for more. How do you look at yourself in the mirror when you buy such stuff? If he told you the U.N.'s black helicopters were landing in your front yard, would you grab your squirrel gun and shoot your neighbors??? I NEVER thought the American people could be fed the BS that the GOP has been feeding them over the past four years, but I was dead wrong. There isn't enough self-respect left in the GOP to fill an aspirin tin!
Tjefferson
We'll see in just 7 days who's right...dude.
Anyone that says "Mittens" is a fishy smelling redhead wanna be and that's really PATHETIC!
...
Ticked: My point is "How damned dumb are you? Do you just roll over and beg for more BS?" You and your ilk might put Romney/Ryan in the White House, but that is the easy part. Then what? If you think things are going to get better with your ilk ruling us, I damn near hope you win. I wish only you dumb asses could be hurt by what they promise to do, but they won't just hurt you. The bastards will hurt everyone! You haven't got enough sense to see it coming!
Romney is a lying sack of s**t who will say anything and change any position to get elected. Does he really think Ohio voters are that stupid? Obviously he does.
If Obama can sell this one, then the American people are as ignorant as hammered mud! Only a poorly educated, far right wing, extremist, fanatic is dumb enough to buy Romney's argument on this one. I mean you have to be SO DUMB that you have no self-respect. Watch 'em line up behind Mittens on this one, too. So, what's new??!!??
ahhh...the sweet smell of desperation. He is obviously pandering to the least educated of the party. It's sad that Republicans run on a platform of fear. When all you can do is scare ignorant people into voting for you, that's when you know the end is near.
Funny how these GOP supporters even believe their own lies just like their pathological liar role model Romney.
Yet more blatant and outright lying by the Romney camp.
And in other breaking news, the sun rose in the east today.
Romney is a lying sack of doodoo!
Obama's not?
***
"I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care program"—Illinois state Sen. Barack Obama, June 2003.
"I have not said that I was a single-payer supporter"—President Obama, August 2009.
***
"Leadership means that the buck stops here. . . . I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America's debt limit"—Sen. Barack Obama, March 2006.
"It is not acceptable for us not to raise the debt ceiling and to allow the U.S. government to default"—President Obama, July 2011.
***
"I favor legalizing same-sex marriages, and would fight efforts to prohibit such marriages"—Obama questionnaire response, 1996, while running for Illinois state Senate.
"I believe marriage is between a man and a woman. I am not in favor of gay marriage"—Sen. Obama, November 2008, while running for president.
"It is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married"—President Obama, May 2012.
***
"We have an idea for the trigger. . . . Sequestration"—Obama Office of Management and Budget Director Jack Lew in 2011, as reported in Bob Woodward's "The Price of Politics."
"First of all, the sequester is not something that I've proposed. It is something that Congress has proposed"—President Obama, October 2012.
***
"If I am the Democratic nominee, I will aggressively pursue an agreement with the Republican nominee to preserve a publicly financed general election"—Sen. Obama, 2007.
"We've made the decision not to participate in the public financing system for the general election"—Sen. Obama, June 2008.
***
"I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign"—Sen. Obama, June 2008.
"The way Bush has done it over the last eight years is . . . [he] added $4 trillion by his lonesome, so that we now have over $9 trillion of debt that we are going to have to pay back. . . . That's irresponsible. It's unpatriotic"—Sen. Obama, July 2008.
"I don't remember what the number was precisely. . . . We don't have to worry about it short term"—President Obama, September 2012, on the debt figure when he took office ($10 trillion) and whether to worry about today's $16 trillion figure.
***
"[Sen. Hillary Clinton believes] that . . . if the government does not force taxpayers to buy health care, that we will penalize them in some fashion. I disagree with that"—Sen. Obama, Jan 2008, opposing the individual mandate for health insurance.
"I'm open to a system where every American bears responsibility for owning health insurance"—President Obama, June 2009, supporting the individual mandate.
***
"Instead of celebrating your dynamic union and seeking to partner with you to meet common challenges, there have been times when America has shown arrogance and been dismissive, even derisive"—President Obama, April 2009, in France.
"We have at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms"—President Obama, April 2009, in Trinidad and Tobago.
"Nothing Governor Romney just said is true, starting with this notion of me apologizing"—Barack Obama, October 2012, on whether he went on a global apology tour.
***
"The problem with a spending freeze is you're using a hatchet where you need a scalpel"—Sen. Obama, September 2008.
"Starting in 2011, we are prepared to freeze government spending for three years"—President Obama, January 2010.
***
"So if somebody wants to build a coal-fired plant, they can, it's just that it will bankrupt them"—Sen. Obama, January 2008, on his plans to financially penalize coal plants.
"Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution"—Sen. Obama, August 2008.
"Here's what I've done since I've been president. We have increased oil production to the highest levels in 16 years. Natural gas production is the highest it's been in decades. We have seen increases in coal production and coal employment"—President Obama, October 2012.
***
"If I don't have this done in three years, then there's going to be a one-term proposition"—President Obama, 2009.
"We've got a long way to go but . . . we've come too far to turn back now. . . . And that's why I'm running for a second term"—President Obama, October 2012.
Instead, you would put someone in office who took DELIGHT in "creatively destroying" companies and raiding the pensions of employees, like Delphi. You are going to trust that someone this greedy and unscrupulous is going to HELP the middle class. The only thing Romney is going to help is himself the the pocketbooks of the middle class by lowering taxes for the rich and raising gas prices and prices on everything we buy. Putting Romney in charge is like putting the Fox in charge of the hen house and we all know the hens get ate!
A good copy-and-paste exercise.
Real people do change over the course of years, sometimes even contradicting earlier positions.
Others change every week and contradict themselves minute by minute.
Obama/Biden will STAND DOWN on 1/20/2013
Only to step on the fallen weasels.
So you're openly advocating a revolution after he wins next Tuesday?
That can be dangerous. Hope you're using a proxy server...talk about seditious speech.
Trying to make a point as a citizen is far less horrible than outright lying to get elected for the highest office on the planet.
I think you have Obama confused with Mitt Romney who changes his position as frequently as money changes hands. Your really telling me YOU support the new mainstream Mitt who gave an overwhelming endorsement of Obama's foriegn policy plan? That's that man you want leading your conservative country? Or how about the "I am for Pro-Choice/for Pro-life/for Pro-Choice/for Pro-llife" stand he takes depending on the audience he is listening to?
Listen Romney will tell anybody anything to get what he wants at the time he wants it. Just like he convinced those small businesses to trust him and then he DELIGHTED in crushing them, and stealing the pensions of the workers. How would you feel if he done this to YOUR business or the business you work for!! Just because he is rich doesn't make him a "GOOD" guy in fact the way he has ran his businesses is why I AM NOT VOTING FOR HIM!! Heck, SATAN would be a more trustworthy President than MITT ROMNEY!
But Hey I guess you Cons would put a Fox in charge of your hen houses then wonder why all your chickens are dead!! Do NOT trust a man who has off-shore jobs, crushed small businesses, stolen pensions of the working class, crated 10,000 low paying minimum wage jobs while he sits around getting paid multi-millions, to enrich himself! Your INSANE if you think this snake-oil salesman is out to do anything for anyone accept himself!!
By the way, I know you blame Obama for the oil prices, not sure how you cons come to this, it is "Free Market" and that is just the price we have to pay for the wealthy to squeeze every penny they possibly can from us,but have you even stopped for ONE MOMENT to consider that the Kock Brothers are backing Romney? Have you asked yourself what possible motives they would have to support him? How about he will do NOTHING IN HIS POWER TO BRING DOWN GAS PRICES!!! After all he OWES them! He doesn't owe you squat!
The spot states that Obama took the auto companies through bankruptcy, without acknowledging that that was Romney's plan as well. It says that the Detroit News endorsed Romney, without noting that the endorsement included a criticism of Romney's position on the auto bailout. It states that Romney has a "plan to help the auto industry," though as Politico's Ben White noted, the Romney campaign hasn't offered reporters any such plan. Finally, it cites a debunked report from Bloomberg to suggest that Chrysler will be returning Jeep production to China, without explaining that the company is doing so to cater to a growing Chinese market and isn't moving any U.S. jobs there to accommodate that demand.
"Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job," the ad says. And yet, the Romney campaign has refused to back off the ad.
As usual, this weasel will do anything to get the job, include lie. Excuse me...ESPECIALLY lie.
Mitt Romney vs. Chrysler: Is he lying about Jeep shipping jobs to China?
The GOP candidate is out with a new ad in Ohio that many are describing as wildly misleading
posted on October 29, 2012, at 11:20 AM
In 2008 Mitt Romney checked out the Chrysler Eco-Voyager car: This election cycle, Romney has repeatedly tried to hit President Obama hard with often misleading claims about the auto industry. Photo: Bryan Mitchell/Getty Images SEE ALL 316 PHOTOS
In recent weeks, Mitt Romney has climbed in the national polls, emerging as a narrow frontrunner in most surveys. However, the GOP challenger faces a stubborn roadblock on his electoral path to the presidency: Ohio, which continues to show Obama with a solid and seemingly durable lead. The chances of Romney winning 270 electoral votes without Ohio are slim, and the Buckeye State appears to be rewarding Obama for his decision to provide government aid to General Motors and Chrysler, a move that saved 1 in 8 Ohio jobs. Seeking to chip away at Obama's Ohio firewall, the Romney campaign is up with a new ad suggesting that the bailout resulted in Chrysler's owner, the Italian car maker Fiat, shipping jobs to China to make Chrysler's fleet of Jeeps. (Watch the ad below.) The suggestion is completely misleading, says Sam Stein at The Huffington Post:
The ad accuses Obama of selling "Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China." Again, this is technically true, but only according to a narrow reading of the language. Fiat, the Italian company that now owns Chrysler, is building Jeeps in China. But the company is not moving jobs from America to do it. Instead, Fiat is expanding current production in China for the purposes of catering to a growing Chinese market.
Where the ad goes from misleading to something more nefarious is in the text it shows. At one point, it displays a line from a Bloomberg story stating that Chrysler "plans to return Jeep output to China," the implication being that the company is moving operations there as opposed to expanding operations that are already there. Romney has cited this report on several occasions while campaigning and has been summarily criticized for doing so. Chrysler has denied the report, and multiple news outlets have called out the Romney campaign for using it in on the stump.
The misleading attack is nothing new for Romney, who has tried to change his position on the auto bailouts, says Jonathan Cohn at The New Republic:
Of course, this kind of deception is emblematic of the campaign Romney and his supporters have waged in the last few days. They insist that Romney never thought government should let Chrysler and GM collapse. But Romney's vague and inconsistent rhetoric included statements that he would have opted for a "private sector bailout" — something that was not possible in 2009, because private investors were in no position to make the necessary loans.
[Romney's ad is] remarkably similar to claims that the Obama campaign and the Washington Post promoted this summer when they asserted that Mitt Romney was an "outsourcing pioneer" at Bain, would make an "outsourcer in chief," etc. In every case, the companies involved had opened new overseas operations rather than shifted work from the U.S., usually while also expanding here in the U.S., performing different functions, and often to serve local, foreign markets.
Watch Romney's ad:
Thanks. I said the exact same thing above. Do you think anybody already hypnotized by this pathological liar will read this and finally see what they're rooting for? This has been his process all along, and half the country is falling for it.
Imitation is the greatest from of flattery. Once again Romney is supporting what the President did, so WHY would we elect him instead of keeping Obama? I can't think of any reason to elect Romney!
NO! Obama ignored 200 years of laws and HE personally picked who got money that they were not due.
I find that very corrupt and scary. Please explain why you do not.
Most politicians are challenged when it comes to the truth, but the people saying "You can't trust the liar Obama, vote for Romney" are the equivalent of people saying "Pit bulls are dangerous animals - go and hide in the crocodile pit, you'll surely be safe there".
I've been voting since 1984, when I voted for Ronald Reagan, and I've never seen anyone who oozes with the stench of lies as much as Mitt Romney. If Clinton was "Slick Willie", then Romney is "Oily Mitt".
Chrysler is the only product I know that may improve if made in China.
Obama Lies:
Lies During Forth Year
Libya attack was caused by a video. - All media centers
Lies During Third Year
I will walk on that picket line with you, if workers are denied the right to bargain.
Youtube
In his 2012 State of the Union Address, President Obama said that American oil production is the highest that it’s been in eight years.
www.breitbart.com
I’ve done more for Israel’s security than any President ever
Obama aided Islamic Extremists take over of Egypt/ Libya – Weapons pour into Gaza
Virtually every Senate Republican voted against the tax cut last week
Examiner
“Every idea that we’ve put forward are ones that traditionally have been supported by Democrats and Republicans alike.”
Like Raising taxes?
Obama met highly qualified out of work teacher Robert Baroz
He wasn’t out of work and Obama never met him.
GOP Responsible for Obama Jobs Bill Not Passing
Dems Rejected Jobs Bill
You have 80 percent of the American people who support a balanced approach. Eighty percent of the American people support an approach that includes revenues and includes cuts. So the notion that somehow the American people aren’t sold is not the problem
Gallup Poll: Only 69%
These are obligations that the United States has taken on in the past. Congress has run up the credit card, and we now have an obligation to pay our bills.
Looks like it’s been incurred mostly in the years of Obama
Jobs Bill Paid for
Seems not so much Paid for
Then you’ve got their(GOP)which is dirtier air, dirtier water, less people with health insurance
Barack Obama, campaiging in Asheville, NC, 10/17/11
I cannot guarantee that those checks go out on August 3rd if we haven’t resolved this issue. Because there may simply not be the money in the coffers to do it.
American.com
USA producing more oil than ever before
Petroleum Insights
Fence between US and Mexico is “Practically Complete”
Department of Homeland Security says 5%
Rich doesn’t pay their fair share.
National Taxpayers Union
Mitt Romney would deny gay people the right to adopt children.
Cnn Interview
Lies During Second Year
Obama claimed the SCOTUS decision in Citizens United v. FEC, “open[ed] the floodgates for special interests — including foreign corporations — to spend without limit in our elections.
nationalreview.com
No signing statements to nullify or undermine congressional instructions as enacted into law
Obama Lies to Keep Czars
No “boots” on the ground Libya
Anyone that has worked with the AC-130 gunship can tell you, you need spotters to let aircraft know where the targets are. Usually it is Special Forces, Rangers etc trained for this mission. It’s CIA Agents in Libya on the ground
Reform will also rein in the abuse and excess that nearly brought down our financial system. It will finally bring transparency to the kinds of complex, risky transactions that helped trigger the financial crisis.
Obama Lies About Financial Reform Bill
All Americans WILL BE were, “surprised, disappointed and angry” about lockerbie bomber
Obama Memo
I will not rest until the BP Oil Spill stops
Obama’s Schedule
The health care bill will not increase the deficit by one dime.
Campaign and Presidency
If you like the health care plan you have you can keep it
TownHall
“Under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortions, and federal conscience laws will remain in place.”
U.S. Capitol, Washington, D.C., September 9, 2009.
ObamaCare Fee is not a new tax
Obama denies healthcare is a new tax on all Americans
We have run out of places in the US to drill for oil.
Obama’s oval office speech in June 2010
Now suddenly if you don’t have your papers and you took your kid out to get ice cream, you can be harassed, that’s something that could potentially happen.
Arizona Immigration Law
Doctors choose amputation because they get better compensation. Greedy Doctors taking out tonsils for more money.
Claims never documented
The Health Care Package will pay for itself
Time
Republicans don’t have a single idea that’s different from George Bush’s ideas — not one.
Hmm Immigration?
We shouldn’t Mandate the purchase of health care
Democratic Debate Lies
Obama says he’ll save average family $8,000 in gas
Video Proof
I am immediately instituting PayGo “Pay as you go”
Said during a speech immediately after the Trillion Dollar “Shovel Ready” bill.
I got the Message from Massachusetts
Daily Bail
Lies During First Year
We began by passing a Recovery Act that has already saved or created over 150,000 jobs.” – caught cooking the books and now changed to ‘jobs supported’ versus ‘created/saved’
AP fact Checker
Number one, we inherited a $1.3 trillion deficit. … That wasn’t me.” – Congress, under Democratic control in 2007 and 2008, controlled the purse strings that led to the deficit Obama inherited.Obama supported the emergency bailout package in Bush’s final months — a package Democratic leaders wanted to make bigger.
AP fact Checker
Collective salvation
Obama calls himself a Christian
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
Obama Inauguration. 20 Jan 2009
Cut Deficit in Half by end of first term
Associated Press Video
Health Care deals will be covered on C-span
Obama Lies
As President I will recognize the Armenian Genocide
ABC
Recovery Act will save or create jobs
ABC News
Unemployment rate will be 8.5% without stimulus.
Obama Lies
No Earmarks in the $787 Billion Stimulus
CNN
I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care plan
Specator.Org
We have launched a housing plan that will help responsible families facing the threat of foreclosure lower their monthly payments and refinance their mortgages.
Obama Lies
I am not somebody who promotes same-sex marriage.
NPR
Guantanamo bay to be closed within a year
Council on Foreign Relations.
Won’t Raise taxes on those making less than 250,000 per year.
Businessweek: Obama Agnostic on taxes
List of Tax Promise Violations
2008 Campaign Lies
I will walk the picket line with you, if workers are denied the right to bargain
Youtube
No more wiretapping of citizens
Youtube
Mr. Ayers as “a guy who lives in my neighborhood,” but “not somebody who I exchange ideas from on a regular basis.
News Busters
I had a uncle who was one of the, who was part of the first American troops to go into Auschwitz and liberate the concentration camps
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Obama campaign would accept public funding
ABC
Minimum Wage will increase to $9.50/hr
A Socialist
Ann Dunham spent the months before her death in 1995 fighting with insurance companies that sought to deny her the coverage she needed to pay for treatment.
Mounting Heath Care Lies
Didn’t know Jeremiah Wright was Radical
Dreams of My Father – A radical Socialist.
Would have the most transparent administration in History
Cato Institute
We will go through our federal budget – page by page, line by line – eliminating those programs we don’t need, and insisting that those we do operate in a sensible cost-effective way.
Boston Globe
I have visited all 57 states.
Snopes
I’ll get rid of earmarks
Source: Any bill passed during presidency
When a bill lands on my Desk, The American people will have 5 days to review it before I sign it.
Campaign Speech
My father served in World War II.
The Videos and the Facts
Have troops out of Iraq by March 31, 2009
News Video
Seniors Making less than 50,000 will not have to pay taxes
YouTube
Would not vote for any bill supporting troop funding without a firm withdrawal commitment from the Bush Administration.
He has done nothing but continue the Bush admins strategy and to explain how the “surges total failure” has now become his greatest achievement.
Present Votes Are Common In Illinois
NPR
I Won Michigan
Huffington Post
I won Nevada
The Nation
I don’t Have Lobbyists
US News
My Campaign Had Nothing To Do With The 1984 Ad
Crooks and Liars
I Have Always Been Against Iraq
Washington Post
My Wife Didn’t Mean What She Said About Pride In Country
CNN
Barack was never an ACORN trainer and never worked for ACORN in any other capacity.
Obama Campaign Video
I Barely Know Rezko
Sun Times
My Church Is Like Any Other Christian Church
ABC News
Nice cut and paste job.
Have you ever had an original thought in your life? Just asking....
Hey Spartan....
Really?....Is that all you see is a "cut & paste"?
Have you ever had a thought at all?
...
I think you need some help
I think that you're way off course
Maybe you need a little breather
You should get down off that horse
Romney's policies live on at Bain Capital, where he also owns stock. Sensata, an automobile sensor manufacturer in Freeport, Illinois has just completed the most profitable quarter in the company's history. Bain Caital, the majority stockholder is shutting down the factory, firing the entire 170 person workforce, and moving manufacturing to China. There, workers will work sixteen hour shifts, be housed in flimsy, overcrowded dormitories inside the factory compound, and will receive less than $1 an hour in pay.
Romney says that American workers need to become more competitive (they are already more productive). How does $1 an hour and no benifits sound for starters?
Pray for the 170 families going into the holiday and heating season unemployed, as R/R would say.
The problem is not the companies who play by the rule, but the rules that are in place.
If your competitor is allowed to use China and gets all of your contracts because he is cheaper, you must evolve or die.
Any clearer?
Fire the people that passed the laws, right or left, do not attack the companies that play by them.
Except of course this is 'Merka..
And in 'Merka, it's the companies who hire the lobbyists to influence the politicians who write the laws.. Through in collectively, billions in campaign contributions for future elections,. and you have a system where everybody but the American worker, benefits..
Blaming politicians for corporate offshoring decisions is a bit much....
I am with you on this, but it is the politician that takes the money. If we ban loopholes and subsidies,we kill much of lobbying.
What is even more INFURIATING is that BAIN ordered the American FLAG be taken down in order to raise China's to make them feel welcome!!!
I don't believe for once millisecond that Romney would ban the loopholes and subsidies that most can be tracted back to his companies.
Here is a thought. If elected President Mitt Romney will have to put his assets in a "blind" trust. Does ANYONE here think for one moment Romney would let someone else run his "assets" if there WASN'T a bigger payoff in the future? Romney is a cut throat businessman, he doesn't NOTHING without a reward attached. So how much of this country is he going to sell off (like those small businesses he was suppose to help) to get a payback in the future?
And Mitt also planned the assassination of Bin Laden, we just don't know it........yet. Oh, and that first man on the moon? That wasn't really Neil Armstrong, that was Mitt Romney, too.
Hey Glenn Bin Laden signed his own warrant no matter who was President whether Republican Socialist Communist or whatever.
I was being sarcastic...Mitt Romney had any more to do with Bin Laden's death or Neil Armstrong walking on the moon than he did with his credit for the bailout of Detroit or his lies about Chrysler planning on building Jeeps in China that will be sold in America. He's a pathological liar and not worthy of sitting in the Oval Office, and it's obvious the people he's surrounded himself with are also very dangerous for America.
When people resort to this level of vitriol in a discussion it means they have no facts on which to found their comment.
Also when people argue no one convinces anyone to change their opinion, so why all the hot air?
50 billion to GM still over 16 billion in the hole and on the verge of Bankruptcy yet again.
Yeah Barry didn't fix that!
At an event in Defiance, Ohio Thursday evening, Mitt Romney got his Halloween on early by playing the Grim Reaper of jobs when he told a complete falsehood about Chrysler moving Jeep to China and taking Americans job with them. Chrysler said that a “careful and unbiased” understanding “would have saved unnecessary fantasies and extravagant comments.” That’s our Mitt.
Romney took “a leap that would be difficult even for professional circus acrobats” Thursday when he said, “I saw a story today, that one of the great manufacturers in this state, Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China. I will fight for every good job in America, I’m going to fight to make sure trade is fair, and if it’s fair, America will win.”
Did you catch that? He saw a “story” alright, and just like Fox, he figured he’d “some people” reality by not bothering with it at all.
The truth is that Chrysler is not moving its Jeep production from America to China. As Chrysler said today, “Jeep has no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models out of North America to China.”
President Obama has challenged unfair Chinese tariffs on U.S. auto exports to China, including Jeeps. We all know that Romney would have let the American auto industry and a million jobs go under and he’s all for shipping jobs overseas where men like him can get away with paying workers 88 cents a day and no worries about healthcare or being sued for dangerous working conditions.
Here are the facts from the Chrysler Blog Post. They point out, “A careful and unbiased reading of the Bloomberg take would have saved unnecessary fantasies and extravagant comments.” Ouch.
Politically, it's probably a smart move for Romney's managers to make outrageous claims and lie openly. There are only less than two weeks until the election and it will take time for Obama -- or the press, if they ever get around to it -- to correcting the lies. In other words, the impact of the lie may last through the election. It may be only the difference of a few votes but those few votes will count, this time around.
Can we assume that within the Mormon faith there is no high priority on telling the truth?
Newt Gingrich: "Mitt Romney is a pathological liar!"