President Barack Obama has been in office for almost four years, and during that time he has done more than necessary to help the auto industry out.
People who work at American car companies like General Motors and Chrysler owe their jobs to Obama after he bailed out both companies from a financial meltdown. Obama took money from the Wall Street bailout fund and used it to help both companies, believing it was important for the nation that both companies remain influential in the auto world.
Ironically enough, amongst all topics that the he and republican candidate Mitt Romney have discussed so far, the auto bailout has been the most searched topic on search engines and social media sites like Google and Twitter. It is clear that each candidate's opinion on the state of the auto industry will play a bigger role than it has in previous years.
One has to wonder though what the auto industry would look like right now say Romney was elected in 2008.
In November of 2008, Romney wrote a now famous piece for the The New York Times where he stated "Let Detroit go bankrupt," a line he has not been able to shake since.
"IF General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye," said Romney in the article. "It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed."
Romney believes that Detroit would have been better off in the long run without the bailout money as the auto capital of the nation would have been able to "restructure itself" own its own. He believed then and still believes now that allowing companies to battle amongst one another to help get rid of the "dead weight" will be better for the auto industry and for the country as a whole.
Romney, according to CNN, would have used the money given to General Motors and Chrysler and instead the companies should have been offered "guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing."
Back then though, the bank industry was in worse shape than the auto industry was, so this plan would have been a little unrealistic.
Essentially what Romney wants is for all U.S. auto companies to strive towards putting one another out of business when they should be continuing to focus on making the most advanced and reliable cars. What would happen if each company tried putting one another out of business is you'd have two to four companies left to compete with auto makers from other countries.
It's kind of ironic that his plan actually benefits foreign car companies more than it does the U.S. companies. Especially considering that Romney is also against Obama enforcing sanctions on Chinese tires that received unsuitable export subsides and challenging illegally-subsidized Chinese auto parts to also help sustain American auto companies and their workers.
Romney also cited his business school education and the fact that his fad George Romney briefly ran American Motors in the article as well to justify his opinion on the auto industry.
In the second presidential debate this month, Romney attempted to make Obama's decision to allow $80 billion to go towards bailing out auto companies like General Motors and Chrysler as a sign of weakness. He also tried backing out of his now famous "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt" quote as well.
Romney claimed at the debate that what he meant by that statement was he would force the auto companies that Obama bailed out go bankrupt to help get them back on track the same way Continental Airlines and Macy's did after going bankrupt, yet this time he offered no plan of action.
Since President Barack Obama bailed out Chrysler and GM, both companies have been making a profit and have created thousands of new jobs. Chrysler's sales increased 12 percent meanwhile GM's sales only increased 1.5 percent, but both companies should consider themselves lucky that they are producing cars still at all.
Obama overall helped saved 1 million jobs in the auto industry. If things go Romney's way this coming November however, our auto industry could look a whole lot different four years from now.
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