Mitt Romney has earned a well-deserved reputation for taking both sides of several dozen issues. As a rule, however, the Republican presidential hopeful tries to take these positions one at a time.
Romney's position on President Obama's rescue of the American automotive industry is a little more complicated. On the one hand, Romney wants to take credit for the policy, since he suggested managed bankruptcy. On the other hand, Romney wants to condemn the same policy, at the same time, since Obama used public funds to keep the industry's head above water during the restructuring process.
The Detroit Free Press' Tom Walsh, who talked to Romney about this the other day, noted the former governor "must be exhausted from trying to twist the facts into a narrative that sounds (a) like he's happy for Detroit auto workers who still have jobs and are sharing in profits; (b) yet also virulently anti-Obama and anti-labor-union."
It's this same twisting that leaves Romney saying strange things.
Romney insisted ... he would have steered the companies into managed bankruptcy -- but with loan and warranty guarantees, not tens of billions of dollars in bailout cash.
And who would have made the big loans that Romney would have federally guaranteed? The private credit markets were frozen in the financial panic of late 2008 and early 2009, leading many experts to conclude that no private lender would have stepped up to finance bankruptcies as huge and risky as those of GM and Chrysler.
When I pressed Romney on this point, he insisted that if the U.S. Treasury issued bonds or guarantees, plenty of private lenders would have surfaced.
No serious person believes this, not even those who used to agree with him on the issue. Does Romney even remember the crash and near collapse of the global financial system? It's why a Chrysler executive responded last year to Romney's position by suggesting he's "smoking illegal material."
On CBS News last night, General Motors Chairman and CEO Daniel Akerson wasn't quite that colorful, but when asked about Romney's argument, Akerson responded, "I think you could have written off this company, this industry, and this country" with such an approach.
Mike Jackson, chairman and CEO of AutoNation, added that Romney's argument is "reckless, detached from reality, and dishonest."
Ouch.
Democrats, meanwhile, now see this as a key vulnerability for Romney -- and not just in Michigan -- which they can continue to exploit this election year. The DNC released this two-minute video yesterday:
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What is it about Republican leadership quipping "get a job" when they are all about letting or wanting to let opportunities for gainful employment of Americans slip by.
They are such the Marie Antoinette Party.
Fake - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fake is a term used to describe or imply that something is not real or that it is
false. Examples and applications include: Willard Mitt Romney . . . ( my insertion and assertion )
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fake
Bankruptcy is a form of bailout, too. It can cost the government more more in terms of lost revenue, unemployment benefits, medicaid, etc. As Romney has proven again and again, it can also be quite profitable for the right investor.
Ah, yes - "the right investor." Like Bain Capital, perhaps.
Are there any middle class American workers who do not yet see where Mitt's true loyalties lie?
There is no other conclusion to be drawn other than Mitt Romney is desperately rooting against America. that a man "from Michigan" and waxing nostalgic about the greatness of that state could stand up and call the rescue of the American auto industry a "failure" and "socialism" is despicable. If Romney had his way, 3 million auto industry jobs would be in Korea and China, and the American manufacturing sector would literally be dead. Mittens to America: "Drop dead!" http://www.sunstateactivist.org
When I pressed Romney on this point, he insisted that if the U.S. Treasury issued bonds or guarantees, plenty of private lenders would have surfaced.
What Romney is saying is that the govt should have taken the loss if it failed, but some private entity should have reaped the profits if it succeeded.
Yet he still would have that "private" money backed by the US people. What kind of sense does that make to anyone besides a republican???
The video is a little clumsy, but man, Obama is one great politician. That last bit just sends chills up your spine. If the economy can somehow continue what it's doing right now (which really isn't all that great), Obama will win easily. And Romney is running around Michigan all but guaranteeing that if he's the GOP nominee, the Obama campaign will have to expend almost no resources to carry that state.
he REALLY is arrogant enough to think that if HE says something often enough, it will suddenly become true, even if it's a damn lie.
Isn't that the definition of Republican? Say it often enough and it will become true, even if it is a lie. It is all propaganda...
"smoking illegal material"? Funny, the idea crossed my mind that we are watching the right go through what they called "a bad trip" in the sixties. (Great minds think alike?)
What I think is funny about this whole thing is that the current Republican governor of MIchigan supported the bailout of the auto industry. And he just endorsed Romney. They seem to have differing views on things, so I have to wonder what kind of backroom deal Romney made for the endorsement in his desperate attempt to hang on to Michigan.....
When I read Tom Walsh's article in the Detroit Free Press yesterday I hoped someone from TRMS would see it. Glad someone followed through.
It's truly painful to view the avalanche of ads and TV commercials in Michigan right now and see how desperately Willard twists and turns himself into a pretzel. I'd almost feel sad for him if I didn't know better. Romney needs to be tied to the roof of a car and driven across country, hosing him down periodically, of course.
If you've not read Glenn Greenwald's piece in today's Salon, do so. It describes the money-man behind Romney's campaign and is truly chilling and nauseating at the same time. I'd post the link but have not quite figured out how to do that here. Perhaps someone else can do it?
That ad is the best i've seen this year from the DNC. I think this will be the issue that sinks Romney in Michigan and, ultimately, everywhere.
The exact thing The Predident needed to say, and he did. American workers turned the industry around. The American Gov't with assertive leadership made that possible.
Romney is a cold-hearted betrayer. He was not merely pro-choice in Massachusetts, he promised Planned Parenthood that he would work pro-actively to promote the pro-choice position within the Republican Party. And yet, in a recent interview, Romney told Mick Huckabee that as Massachusetts Governor, he would have "absolutely" signed an amendment defining life as beginning at conception! Thus, Romney declared that he would gladly go back in time to Massachusetts and utterly betray the robust and far-reaching promise he made to Planned Parenthood, if it would help him to get the Republican nomination in 2012!! Romney has betrayed his home state of Michigan in exactly the same way. As Santorum has trenchantly pointed out, Romney supported the bailout of Wall Street, but opposed the bailout of the auto industry in Michigan! It was politically expedient for Romney to support the bailout for his Wall Street cronies who are now financing his campaign for president. It was also politically expedient for Romney to betray Michigan with the expectation that the auto industry bailout would fail and Romney would later be able to use that to his political advantage against President Obama. It would be perfect poetic justice if Romney's cold-hearted betrayal of his home state were to cost him the nomination.
I don't put much stock in the endorsement of our governor (Michigan). This guy is the one is in favor of taking over local governments that he (or someone) decides are failing and negating anything and everything the local people want, or have already done, or negotiated, in favor of some appointed city manager. That is not a real popular position here.