OK, as other posters noted, the Romney camp claimed credit for the auto bailout today. The new claim is that Romney is secretly giving economic advice to President Obama, and the economy is doing so well because President Obama listened to them. It is quite a bizarre delusion, given that Romney was intensely critical of the auto bailout and almost everything else that our President did to save the economy. Romney's previous statements were simply to disguise the fact that he really has a Bat Phone connected directly to the White House.
Anybody who finds this argument credible must take the next step and conclude that everything that is wrong with the economy today is neither Bush's nor Obama's fault, but Romney's.
But, wait, it gets more bizarre.
They are now trying to sell the story that what Obama did in Detroit was a managed bankruptcy, which is what really Romney had been asking for all along. You can nod your head in agreement, except that way back in February of THIS YEAR Romney said exactly the opposite -- the problem with the bailout is that it was not a managed bankruptcy. It really makes my head spin.
Links below the fold.
Today, Romney's line is that Obama was in lock step with Romney on the auto bailout.
http://thehill.com/...
"[Romney's] position on the bailout was exactly what President Obama followed. I know it infuriates them to hear that," Eric Fehrnstrom, senior adviser to the Romney campaign, said.
"The only economic success that President Obama has had is because he followed Mitt Romney's advice... The reason they shed those costs and have got their employee labor contracts less expensive is because they went through that managed bankruptcy process. It is exactly what Mitt Romney told them to do.
OK, the auto bailout was a success because they went through a managed bankruptcy and they did
exactly what Mitt Romney told them to using the Bat Phone.
Turn back the RomneyTron all the way back to ten weeks ago.
The president tells us that without his intervention things in Detroit would be worse,” Romney wrote. “I believe that without his intervention things there would be better.”...
Romney argued that Obama should have let the free market work and allowed GM and Chrysler to go through a managed bankruptcy. Instead, he wrote, Obama rewarded union bosses and gave the “secured creditors” of Chyrsler the short shrift.
http://thehill.com/...
OK, so the auto bailout was not as successful as it could have been because the President rashly ignored his advice to let GM and Chrysler to go through a managed bankruptcy. The President didn't pick up the Bat Phone and the country didn't get the full benefits of saving the auto industry. Ok, the jobs were saved but they could have been more saved.
Here is the article in question that secretly told Obama to do exactly what he did and save the auto industry: http://www.nytimes.com/...
On the surface it looks like 2008 Romney disagrees with both 2012 (Feb) and 2012 (Apr) Romney. Bailing out the auto industry will kill it.
2008 Romney:
IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye.
...But don’t ask Washington to give shareholders and bondholders a free pass — they bet on management and they lost.
OK, Old Romney says "screw the bondholders ("secured creditors"), they bet and lost".
2012 (Feb) Romney:
Romney argued that Obama should have let the free market work and allowed GM and Chrysler to go through a managed bankruptcy. Instead, he wrote, Obama rewarded union bosses and gave the “secured creditors” of Chyrsler the short shrift.
Note that a bankruptcy
by definition gives creditors the short shrift which is what 2008 Romney said to do, 2012 (Feb) Romney says is "crony captialism" and 2012 (Apr) Romney says is his idea.
2012 (Apr) Romney:
"[Romney's] position on the bailout was exactly what President Obama followed. I know it infuriates them to hear that... they went through that managed bankruptcy process."
Yeah, I guess I'm infuriated because Romney will say anything except what he needs to say:
Sorry, I was wrong about that. Thank you, Mr. President for having the courage to do the right thing.