Previewing the Michigan primary, ABC’s David Muir found three Chrysler
workers to boast of how the Obama administration’s auto bailout “worked”
and “it would have been devastating” if Mitt Romney had his way and it
didn’t occur. Muir cued up the workers to confirm “all of you had your jobs saved?”
Muir did note that “Romney says it’s the billions in government bailout
money that came with it that was a sweetheart deal for the unions,” but
countered with a sympathetic “Michigan mother” who declared: “It
worked. The results show for themselves. We are on our way back. We are
being profitable again.” Muir proceeded to a man who, he relayed, “says it wasn’t just his job saved, it was the police officer, the teacher...”
When
the mother contended the bailout worked, Muir at least challenged her
on the method: “There is an argument, that it shouldn't have been the
government. It should have been a private entity.” But he gave also her
time to retort: “Yes, but who? Who has the money? What private entity
would have saved an industry? Oprah? Where are we going to get that
money from?”
From the Wednesday, February 15 ABC World News:
DAVID MUIR: ....Michigan was once considered hallowed ground for Romney, it’s where he grew up, where his father George was President of American Motors in the 1950s and later Governor...Tonight, Romney is hoping voters remember those roots. But many blue-collar voters here remember something else, what Mitt Romney said about the auto bailout, writing this op-ed, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” arguing: “If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout, you can kiss the American automotive industry good-bye.”
MUIR: You’re all from Michigan?
GROUP: Yes.
MUIR: All of you had your jobs saved?
GROUP: Yes.
MUIR: For Romney it’s now a tricky argument after the bailout helped GM and Chrysler turn their fortunes around. Romney says he always backed the automakers going through a managed bankruptcy, which is what President Obama did. But Romney says it’s the billions in government bailout money that came with it that was a sweetheart deal for the unions. This Michigan mother was out of work 14 months. Today, she’s back on the job as an electrician on the assembly line.
STACIE STEWARD, CHRYSLER ELECTRICIAN: It worked. The results show for themselves. We are on our way back. We are being profitable again.
MUIR: But there is an argument, that it shouldn't have been the government. It should have been a private entity.
STEWARD: Yes, but who? Who has the money? What private entity would have saved an industry? Oprah? Where are we going to get that money from?
MUIR: Raising a family, Jeff Klayo says it wasn’t just his job saved, it was the police officer, the teacher, the ripple effect connected to every worker on the assembly line.
JEFF KLAYO, CHRYSLER ELECTRICIAN: For me, three other people would have been effected by it. It would have been devastating.