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.
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