I Was There -- Why Romney Is Still Wrong on Michigan's Auto Industry

[SunsetDreams]

by Gary Peters U.S. Representative (D) for Michigan's 9th District

When I hear Mitt Romney revising history to criticize President Obama for taking action to ensure the survival of the American auto industry, I find it incredibly frustrating and disingenuous. Mitt Romney was wrong then and he's wrong now -- I know because I was there when President Obama stood up for our auto workers, our auto manufacturers and our families here in Southeast Michigan. Today, because of President Obama's commitment to Michigan, Detroit's auto industry is leading America's economic recovery, but this never would have happened if Mitt Romney had his way. Here's the truth about what actually happened.

In November 2008, at the height of the economic crisis that paralyzed our financial system, Mitt Romney published an opinion piece in the New York Times titled, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." In it he stated that if the government intervened to save the auto industry you could "kiss the American automotive industry goodbye," and argued that GM and Chrysler should go through the traditional bankruptcy process in order to restructure their debts. This made almost no sense in 2008, and given the undeniable turnaround in the American auto industry over the last three years it makes even less sense now. Yet, earlier today, Romney published another piece in the Detroit News arguing that he was right all along. While it is almost shocking that Romney would still cling to the notion that somehow he was right and Presidents Bush and Obama were wrong, by now I think most Americans understand that Mitt Romney is someone who will say anything to win an election.

In a traditional bankruptcy, a company has two options: it can either find an investor willing to loan it the money needed to restructure its debts and reorganize its business so that it can be profitable, or it can liquidate its assets and pay off its creditors. In late 2008 and early 2009 there were quite simply no private sector investors that would be willing to provide billions of dollars of what is known as "debtor in possession" financing to GM and Chrysler. In fact, in early 2009 I met with Bob Nardelli, who was at the time the Chairman and CEO of Chrysler, and he told me that if the government did not act as the "lender of last resort" the company was three weeks away from liquidation. General Motors, which was losing $1 billion per month as car sales plummeted at the height of the recession, ended up needing a $50 billion investment in order to restructure -- an inconceivable amount of money for anyone other than the government at that time. Liquidation of even one of the Big 3 automakers would have begun a chain reaction of job losses that would have put millions out of work.

...

Mitt Romney touts his private sector experience, but he is willfully ignorant of the facts when it comes to the auto rescue. Rather than admit he was wrong in 2008 when he argued that our country should let Detroit go bankrupt, he is doubling down on his mistake and trying to convince people in Michigan to disbelieve what they are seeing with their own eyes. Mitt Romney may have grown up drinking Vernors, but clearly he forgot where he came from.

Well worth the read, much more here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gary-peters/romney-wrong-auto-industry-bailout_b_1276664.html

[MarkCharles]

1. I hope this gets copied from Huff to a Detroit paper

and to one in Ann Arbor, and other places were voters can reject the Rmoney man!

[uponit7771]

2. If Romney doesn't win Michigan by double digits without spending miliions then this is goign to be a

....long road for the GOP to haul

[Scurrilous]

3. K & R