The automotive industry is once again involved in politics and more specifically, this year’s presidential elections. This time it’s Republican candidate former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney, who attacked President Barack Obama’s handling of the 2009 bailout.
In an op-ed published today at the Detroit News, Romney criticizes Obama of “instead of doing the right thing and standing up to union bosses, he rewarded them”.
Romney stated that the companies should have entered and then exited bankruptcy, but that “by the spring of 2009, instead of the free market doing what it does best, we got a major taste of crony capitalism, Obama-style.”
This is a free country and everyone is entitled to his opinion. However, calling yourself “a son of Detroit” who “grew up drinking Vernors and watching ballgames at Michigan & Trumbull” right before Michigan’s primary elections that will take place on February 29, is more of a matter of timing than just protesting about how the U.S. taxpayers’ money are spent.
Moreover, it comes only four days after former (Republican, lest we forget) President's George W. Bush, who initiated the bailout, said that he'd do it again if he had to.
In all fairness, it's not the first time that Romney has openly said that a managed bankruptcy was the right course of action for GM and Chrysler. He said the same thing three years ago in another op-ed, for the New York Times, arguing “in a managed bankruptcy, the federal government would propel newly competitive and viable automakers rather than seal their fate with a bailout check.”
Democratic Lansing political analyst Mark Grebner responded by accusing Romney that his message isn’t genuine: “Now he’s from Michigan? He has, what, four home states?” asked Grebner. “He just gets to be anybody he wants to be. Now he’s the great captain of industry explaining how capitalism works.”
Grebner added that he is not surprised by the attack as in the presidential primaries, the gloves are off. If he is nominated, though, he expects Romney to adopt a more lenient stance towards the unions.
7 Comments:
What Mittens is really saying: "I'll tell you what you want to hear (Mom! Baseball! Apple Pie! Chevrolet! God Bless America!) so I can get your vote, then I'll waffle and flip-flop like every other politician once I'm elected".
Huntsman described Mitt best: a well-oiled, weather vane.
Who cares, he's just pissing into the wind.
His comment will get Pope Brown's vote, he loves Japanese cars and hates American cars.
That's pretty funny to read. Especially since Bush Jr set up the bail outs and Obama signed off on them. Regardless of who was/is in office, the bailouts were happening anyway. They HAD to happen!
I have some sympathy for independant conservatives in the US right now. I've read pages of their concerns of such people who feel that movements within the Republican party is fragmenting the party into ideologies that they simply cannot support. Loads of them support the bailout of GM and Chrysler because it saved a slew of jobs. Same deal with Volt as being something that lessens their demand on oil.
They don't feel the need to swing left, and you can't fault them for sticking to their principles. There is nothing cast in stone that says you have to stick to the party line, and it's then when it's genuinley best to go it alone.
Mitt Romney made his millions at an investment banking co. Bain Capital. The M.O. of Bain was to send American jobs to China en masse. The trick of buying the assets of a co. allowed Bain to kill off the American labor union in the co., avoid all obligations of the target co., and send the jobs to Communist China. Romney was rewarded with millions by being a traitor to America and its way of life. The target co was just flipped, with all of its intrinsic value and market value taken by Romney and Bain Capital.
Romney cites Delphi as a model of how the auto industry should have been worked out. Delphi was tiny in comparison to GM and Chrysler, and it took 4 years and $400 million in lawyer fees to go through Bankruptcy. All salaried non union retired and currently employed workers pretty much lost all future and earned and vested benefits with only the Govt PBGC picking up the obligation for a much reduced pension obligation, which taxpayers footing the bill. The Union made out better, mainly because GM "topped up' the pension fund in addition to the PBGC picking up the base taxpayer paid base pension.
Obama's plan for the "quick rinse" bankruptcy backed by Gov't guaranteed loans ( Bailout ) avoided probably billions in legal fees, decades in Bankruptcy Court. and prevented financial speculator' like Romney from skimming off all the value of GM and Chrysler. Delphi ended up Chinese owned.
I hope to God this guy doesn't become our next President! He supports out-sourcing jobs! Even Bush Jr. - a fellow Republican - agreed to the bailouts and said that he'd do it again if given the chance. This guy is an embarassement to the Republican Party and moreover, the American race!!! This guy even points to Delphi as a prime example of how the GM and Chrysler debacle should have gone down. Delphi is now Communist, er -Chinese-owned. What a fool!
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