FACT CHECK: Mitt Romney’s No “Car Guy”
Mitt Romney’s no “car guy” – when the American auto industry and the million jobs it supports were on the brink, he would have just “let Detroit go bankrupt.” And he didn’t just write it in an op-ed, he repeated it personally many times. President Obama bet on the American worker, saving over a million jobs and helping make all three Detroit automakers profitable for the first time in seven years.
ROMNEY WANTED TO “LET DETROIT GO BANKRUPT”
ROMNEY OP-ED HEADLINE: “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt” [Romney Op-Ed, New York Times, 11/19/08]
Romney Said Of The Auto Bailout: “That’s Exactly What I Said. The Headline You Read Which Said ‘Let Detroit Go Bankrupt’ Points Out That Those Companies Needed To Go Through Bankruptcy.” [Early Show, CBS News, 6/3/11]
ROMNEY’S ATTEMPT TO CLAIM CREDIT FOR THE AUTO RESCUE WAS DEEMED “LAUGHABLE” - “OBVIOUSLY A LIE, AND A PRETTY BIG ONE”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Editorial: Romney Claiming Credit For The Auto Industry Rebound Was “Laughable.” “When the history of the 2012 presidential race is written, the absurdity of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney claiming credit for the rebound of the auto industry will warrant an entry, most likely under the heading ‘Laughable.’” [Editorial, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 5/12/12]
Detroit Free Press’ Stephen Henderson: Romney’s Claim That He Deserved Credit For Auto Industry’s Comeback Was “Obviously A Lie, And A Pretty Big One.” “Instead, we’ve heard Romney flim and flam about what he said about the auto industry in 2008. And now, incredulously, he wants to claim credit for the resurgence of General Motors and Chrysler, saying it was his idea to push them through bankruptcy. That’s obviously a lie, and a pretty big one.” [Stephen Henderson, Detroit Free Press, 5/8/12]
Detroit Free Press Editorial Headline: “How Mitt Romney Saved Detroit, If Only In His Dreams” [Editorial, Detroit Free Press, 5/9/12]
Toledo Blade Editorial: Romney “Can't Have It Both Ways – ‘Drop Dead, Detroit’ In 2008 And ‘I Saved You’ In 2012.” [Editorial, Toledo Blade, 5/12/12]
Toledo Blade Editorial: Romney Taking Credit For The Auto Industry Rebound Is Absurd. “When the history of the 2012 presidential campaign is written, the absurdity of presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney taking credit for the rebound of the U.S. auto industry will warrant an entry all its own.” [Editorial, Toledo Blade, 5/12/12]
THE PRIVATE BANKRUPTCY ROMNEY ADVOCATED FOR WAS IMPOSSIBLE DURING THE FINANCIAL CRISIS
AutoNation CEO Mike Jackson: It Is “Pure Fantasy” To Suggest That Private Financing Was Available For Chrysler And GM. LL: “What do you think of Mitt’s assertion that private financing ‘DIP’ was available in fall of ’08 into ’09?” MJ: “That is pure fantasy and you have to ask, what he was doing in ’08 and ’09 that he did not see this.” [CNBC, 2/16/12]
AutoNation Inc. CEO And Romney Supporter, Mike Jackson Called Romney’s Detroit News Op-Ed Defending His Opposition To The Auto Industry Rescue, “Truly Reckless, Detached From Reality, And Dishonest.” Bloomberg wrote of Romney’s 2/14/12 op-ed about the auto industry rescue: “The piece drew criticism from Mike Jackson, chief executive officer of AutoNation Inc. (AN), the largest auto-dealer group in the U.S., who called it ‘truly reckless, detached from reality, and dishonest,’ as well as ‘very bad politics, especially in Michigan.’ Jackson, who has been a Romney advocate, said in an e-mail to Bloomberg News the assertion that private financing should have been used to fund GM and Chrysler bankruptcies was ‘fantasy,’ adding, ‘Everyone knows we were in the midst of the greatest financial meltdown since the 1930s.’” [Bloomberg, 2/16/12]
Former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz Saw Romney Opposition To Federal Government’s Auto Industry Rescue As “A Political Ploy To The Right” And That Romney Was “Playing The Same Song As Rush Limbaugh And Glenn Beck.” “Some Republicans have criticized Mr. Romney’s insistence that federal intervention was wrongheaded as an example of what they see as his willingness to say anything to win over skeptical conservatives. ‘He’s playing the same song as Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck,’ said Bob Lutz, a former vice chairman for General Motors who said he was still so upset with Mr. Romney that he had cast his absentee ballot in Michigan for Rick Santorum. ‘I think all of us in the auto industry who knew what the situation was were profoundly disappointed and, I would say, angry,’ Mr. Lutz said. ‘We all saw it for what it was, which was a political ploy to the right.’” [New York Times, 2/19/12]
Detroit Free Press Fact Check: While Romney Argued Against Using Taxpayer Money In The Auto Rescue, “Private Financing Was All But Nonexistent In The Frozen Credit Markets Of Late 2008 And Early 2009.” “Romney consistently has argued against taxpayer money being used to prop up the firms outside of bankruptcy. He seems to suggest that there could have been some funding after the fact to keep them up and operating until private financing kicked in. But people who were part of the rescue argue that this wouldn't have worked. Private financing was all but nonexistent in the frozen credit markets of late 2008 and early 2009. And both the Republican administration of President George W. Bush and the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama found it necessary -- if distasteful -- to put up billions of dollars to keep the companies open while they sorted out what should be done longer term (i.e., the ‘managed’ bankruptcy Romney suggested), though that took time. To withhold money then, supporters of the rescue have said, would have forced the companies into liquidation. Romney said Thursday he wouldn't have allowed that to happen.” [Fact Check, Detroit Free Press, 2/17/12]
THE AUTO RESCUE SAVED OVER A MILLION JOBS, THE AUTO INDUSTRY HAS CREATED NEARLY A QUARTER OF A MILLION JOBS SINCE, AND THE BIG THREE ARE ALL PROFITABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN YEARS
Center For Automotive Research: The Auto Industry Rescue Saved Over 1.1 Million Jobs In 2009. According to a report on the difference between orderly bankruptcy proceedings assisted by government-provided debtor-in-possession financing versus an uncontrolled bankruptcy for American automakers, the Center for Automotive Research estimates that emergency loans to American automakers saved 1.14 million jobs in 2009. [Center for Automotive Research Report, 11/7/10]
Since Chrysler And GM Retooled In June 2009, The American Auto Industry Has Added Over 246,000 Jobs. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics survey data, motor vehicle and parts manufacturing and motor vehicle and parts retail trade sectors employed 2,252,100 Americans in June 2009. In September 2012, these sectors employed 2,498,400 Americans – an increase of 246,300 jobs. [Bureau Of Labor Statistics Current Employment Statistics Survey Database, Accessed 10/5/12]
2011 Marked The First Time In Seven Years That All The Big Three Automakers Were Profitable. “General Motors reported a record annual profit Thursday, just two years after the nation's largest automaker emerged from bankruptcy with the help of a federal bailout. With rivals Ford Motor (F, Fortune 500) and Chrysler Group having already reported profits for last year, 2011 marked the first time since 2004 that all three major U.S. automakers were profitable at the same time.” [CNN Money, 2/16/12]