Was the auto bailout Mitt Romney's idea?
Was the auto bailout Mitt Romney鈥檚 idea? He and his campaign in recent days have insisted that they get at least some credit for suggesting a plan to save GM and Chrysler that the Obama administration later followed.
In 2008, former Massachusetts Governor Romney published an in The New York Times titled 鈥淟et Detroit Go Bankrupt.鈥� It outlined a process whereby the Tottering Two would go through a managed bankruptcy process with a government guarantee of post-Chapter 11 financing, allowing them to cut costs by shedding dealers and renegotiating labor contracts.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what happened,鈥� pointed out Romney in a Friday interview on the CBS "Early Show."
Yes, yes it is. Romney probably would object to being linked to the word 鈥渂ailout,鈥� however. He鈥檇 use that to describe the billions shoveled into the firms by the Bush and Obama administrations prior to the auto firm鈥檚 entrance into bankruptcy court in early 2009 鈥� subsidies he opposed.
Plus, President Obama probably did not clip his piece from the NYT鈥檚 dead tree edition and route it to his economic team with a note that said, 鈥淭his sounds great! Do it!鈥� A managed bankruptcy for the Detroit behemoths was an option many experts talked a lot about at the time.
And Romney鈥檚 tone in regards to Detroit鈥檚 situation at the time was a bit bracing as far as Michiganders were concerned. After all, the Romneys are to the Mitten State what the Kennedys are to Massachusetts and the Bushes are to Maine and Texas and wherever else they have houses 鈥� political royalty. Mitt鈥檚 dad George saved American Motors and then became a beloved Michigan governor. So they hurt along Woodward Avenue when Mitt said in 2009 that the US investment in GM was 鈥渁 very, very sad circumstance for this country.鈥�
For these and other reasons, top Democrats have pushed back against Romney鈥檚 assertions, saying that if it was up to him we鈥檇 all be driving foreign cars. Romney is 鈥渢rying to run away鈥� from his previous stand on helping the auto industry, said Democratic National Committee chairman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) of Florida at a breakfast sponsored by 海角大神 last week.
Why the tussle over GMC Tahoes? It鈥檚 a bit early in the 2012 cycle for interparty squabbles over such a specific issue, isn鈥檛 it? Yes 鈥� but we can think of a number of reasons why this is in the news now.
Michigan could be key to the GOP race. Under current state law Michigan is set to hold its primary on Feb. 28, 2012. That鈥檚 early (earlier than the Republican National Committee wants it to be, in fact). If the date holds, Michigan could be a key player in deciding whether front-runner Romney builds early momentum.
Democrats want to ding Romney on economics. This time around, Romney is making economic competence the core of his campaign. That was clear from his official announcement that he鈥檚 entering the race. 鈥淚 believe I can get our economy going again,鈥� he said on Thursday.
Challenging Romney on the auto issue might be a way for Dems to tarnish his executive image.
Autos equal America. The firms that used to be called the Big Three have long been an image of US strength and ingenuity, the Ford Pinto and the Olds Starfire notwithstanding. In political terms, arguing over who saved Detroit might be a proxy battle for which candidate is more truly attuned to American values.
Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz last week at the Monitor breakfast said of some GOP candidates: 鈥淚鈥檓 concerned about their commitment to American exceptionalism.鈥� Republicans say the same thing about Mr. Obama. On Friday, for example, Romney ridiculed the president for his 鈥渁wfully European鈥� economic policies.
