Romney dogged by auto bailout opposition
DETROIT – As Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney returned today to the state where he grew up, he was dogged throughout by opposition to his stance on the 2008 bailout for an auto industry that drives the economy here.
In Livonia, a nearby suburb, about 75 protesters – many of them auto union workers — greeted Romney with angry chants and signs as the former Massachusetts governor entered a diner to shake hands with voters.
One man got in a heated argument with Romney, with the candidate continuing to approach the man to argue another point, between signing autographs and taking photos with supporters.
“You were wrong! You were wrong!’’ said the man, David Holtz, a 61-year-old executive director Progress Michigan, a left-leaning communications firm in Lansing, Mich.
“I know there are some people who believe in bailouts,’’ Romney responded. “I believe in following the process of the law, which is bankruptcy.’’
“But you were wrong!’’ Holtz replied. “It worked!’’
About an hour later at a press conference in Detroit – after meeting with a group of aspiring small business owners — he faced several questions about the auto bailout. It got testy at times.
“You get to ask the questions you like,’’ he said to a television reporter. “I get to give the answers I like.’’ He continued trying to differentiate between his opposition to giving the industry government funds – and his support for a managed bankruptcy.
Obama in early 2009 steered billions in tax dollars to General Motors and Chrysler, expanding the bailouts that had started under President Bush. Now, General Motors is again making money and adding jobs, and Chrysler announced recently that it was repaying the US and Canadian governments about $7.5 billion in loans.
But rather than providing the auto companies with government funds, Romney wanted them to go through bankruptcy to restructure themselves.
Romney – whose father, George, ran American Motors before serving as the state’s governor – outlined his position a New York Times opinion column in November 2008 with the headline, “Let Detroit go Bankrupt.’’
“My background is in this state,’’ Romney, who was driven around during his trip in a black Chrysler 300, said at the press conference. “I love the auto industry, I love American cars.’’
“I laid out a plan to get America’s industry on its feet again, and that’s happened,’’ he added. “I said go through bankruptcy reorganization, and that’s in part what got the industry back on its feet. Don’t forget it.’’
He wouldn’t directly answer a question about whether GM and Chrysler would have rebounded, had it not been for the federal infusion of funds that Romney opposes.
Romney also wouldn’t say whether auto executives should take a paycut, but said executives asking employees to sacrifice should do the same.
“When executives feather their nests and when employees are being laid off or having really difficult times, that’s a real challenge for that enterprise and the executives ought to rethink their own plans,’’ he said.
Michigan is likely to be a critical battleground, not only in the Republican primary but in the general election. When asked whether he had any chance of wooing Democrats in a general election campaign here, given his position on the auto bailout, Romney was optimistic.
“Any Democrat who understands my stance on the auto industry will say, ‘Boy he was right on,’’’ he said.
Romney also continued to focus his attention on President Obama’s handling of the economy, trying to make the case that he would be a better steward.
“The economy overall has been terribly managed by the president,’’ Romney told reporters in Detroit, after touring Bizdom U, which helps coach aspiring entrepreneurs. “I don’t think there’s any way he can defend his economic record.’’
Romney started his day at the Senate Coney Island Restaurant, paying in cash and ordering up potatoes, multi-grain toast, and eggs (“I want my eggs any way you do ‘em,’’ he said to the cook, before settling on scrambled and later dousing them with ketchup).
He worked the room, signing baseball gloves, photographs, and baseballs (“They go on eBay for $100, so I know what you’re doing,’’ he said to one autograph seeker. Signed baseballs are actually going for as much as $500 right now).
Romney also sat for several minutes with Helen Hall, a 77-year-old retired woman who presented Romney with an invitation she received in 1965 to have tea with Romney’s mother, who was the state’s first lady at the time. For the tea, an 18-year-old Mitt Romney parked the woman’s Buick, she said.
“Oh gosh, is that right?’’ asked Romney. “Did I ding it or anything.’’
“Oh, no,’’ Hall said. “You were super.’’
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