Romney's Latest Auto Bailout Rewrite

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CORE MESSAGE

America remembers what Romney said: "Should they have used the funds to bail out General Motors and Chrysler? NO."

Connect: Taking credit for someone else's achievement is bad enough, but taking credit for the success you tried to block is worse.

Define: Romney's spin on the auto rescue is new, but the facts are the same: he would have denied our automakers the government lifeline they needed, forcing them out of business.

Illustrate: As Romney said at the time about the automakers, "If you write them a check, they're going to go out of business" -- helping them would've been "a mistake." But the funding Obama extended to them is the only thing that kept them from going out of business.

Contrast: Romney was wrong. President Obama made the right call to use government funds to save the auto industry and more than a million jobs. But even after the auto rescue, Romney said, "Should they have used the funds to bail out General Motors and Chrysler? No."

Debunk: Romney's now claiming that he did support government intervention -- guarantees backing private financing that he said our carmakers should get from private bankers. But that financing didn't exist!

Use analogy: It's like how he said that young people who can't afford college should just borrow the money from their parents.

The kicker: Romney isn't just trying to hide his plan to make Detroit fail. He's trying to take credit for a success that he tried to block -- and deceive the American people about it.

ATTACKS AND RESPONSES

ATTACK: "It was President Obama who actually took GM and Chrysler through bankruptcy."
RESPONSE:

• Families who've struggled financially know there are different types of bankruptcy. Romney wanted to force the carmakers into a type of bankruptcy that requires private financing from private bankers that didn't exist then -- or else liquidate and go out of business.
• For a guy running on his corporate experience making money for Wall Street, Romney should know his solution of loan guarantees wouldn't have made a difference -- loan guarantees don't do any good if the banks don't have any money to lend.
• The truth is that nobody other than our government could provide the financing that the automakers needed. Obama made the right call that Romney wouldn't.
• That's what a leader looking out for American workers looks like. President Obama saved the auto industry and it has come roaring back -- selling American-made cars, hiring, and paying back the government funds.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

In Mitt Romney's own words:

• On whether the government should have used bailout funds to help the automakers, Romney said, "Should they have used the funds to bail out General Motors and Chrysler? No."
• He also said, "The bailouts were a mistake" and "What I said was...the auto executives flew to Washington asking for money, don't give them money."
• That's because as Romney explained, "if you write them a check, they're going to go out of business." And "If General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler get the bailout ... You can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye."

Additional resources:

• PolitiFact Ignores Romney Statements On Auto Rescue
• Right-Wing Media Help Romney Hide His Opposition To The Successful Auto Rescue
• Columbus Dispatch Hides Economic Reality To Endorse Mitt Romney
• Rove Ignores The Realities Of The Auto Rescue
• Why The Right Is Wrong About Saving Detroit

 
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