Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) claimed during his convention speech Wednesday that President Obama is responsible for the closure of a GM plant in Janesville, Wisconsin. However, as many media outlets have noted, GM announced plans to close the plant in June ’08 — long before Obama was even elected — and it ceased major operations in December of that year.
For proof, just ask one of the more prominent supporters of the Janesville plant shutdown — the George W. Bush Administration. After all, the closure was part of a broader GM restructuring initiative that the then-President supported. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino even praised it as evidence of GM “adapting well:”
See Also: Paul Ryan: I Wasn't Blaming Obama For GM Plant Closure
The White House called the announcement a sign that the auto giant was “adapting well” to market shifts.
“It’s a sign that Detroit continues to adapt and evolve and address the change in consumer tastes and attitudes. And I think that they’re adapting well,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
“And they’ll make these changes, and hopefully be able to pull themselves up out of what has been a rough several years,” she said. …
GM plans to shutter production at its Toluca, Mexico, pickup truck at the end of the year and its Oshawa, Canada plant will be closed in 2009.Plants in Moraine, Ohio and Janesville, Wisconsin, are slated for closure in 2010 “or sooner if market demand dictates,” GM said.
In keeping with the rest of the night’s theme of ignoring and whitewashing the Bush Administration’s disastrous record, Ryan failed to mention this inconvenient history.
For proof, just ask one of the more prominent supporters of the Janesville plant shutdown — the George W. Bush Administration. After all, the closure was part of a broader GM restructuring initiative that the then-President supported. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino even praised it as evidence of GM “adapting well:”
See Also: Paul Ryan: I Wasn't Blaming Obama For GM Plant Closure
The White House called the announcement a sign that the auto giant was “adapting well” to market shifts.
“It’s a sign that Detroit continues to adapt and evolve and address the change in consumer tastes and attitudes. And I think that they’re adapting well,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said.
“And they’ll make these changes, and hopefully be able to pull themselves up out of what has been a rough several years,” she said. …
GM plans to shutter production at its Toluca, Mexico, pickup truck at the end of the year and its Oshawa, Canada plant will be closed in 2009.Plants in Moraine, Ohio and Janesville, Wisconsin, are slated for closure in 2010 “or sooner if market demand dictates,” GM said.
In keeping with the rest of the night’s theme of ignoring and whitewashing the Bush Administration’s disastrous record, Ryan failed to mention this inconvenient history.
Wow, I have checked out everything he discussed in his speech and they are half truth and out right lies. This is very wrong, the American people want to hear the truth!!! I am scared of Paul Ryan he is power hungry and that is dangerous for us all! Get elected anyway you can even with lies! This is very wrong.
ReplyDeleteKind of like the lies of Obama when he addressed the Janesville GM plant employees. February 2008 campaign speech then-Sen. Obama gave at the Janesville plant:
Delete"And I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years. The question is not whether a clean energy economy is in our future, it’s where it will thrive. I want it to thrive right here in the United States of America; right here in Wisconsin; and that’s the future I’ll fight for as your president."
Before you opine, at least check the facts. The plant was scheduled to close when he made these remarks but Obama said what everyone wanted to hear in Janesville and it worked. He won the state and he was elected. This is just another example of dirt politics. Ryan's statement / argument was more about Obama's failed promises than him closing the GM plant himself.
Wake up and look past the fog of deception.
All politicians lie, especially when at their conventions.
ReplyDeleteI saw your post come through... I am going to watch both conventions on my computer since there are no commentators so I can form my on opinions. I am a history buff so I do my own research on the candidates and so I found this when I was doing research on Ryan's comments. I didn't know him so I have been doing a lot of research. Here is what I found.
ReplyDeleteThese are not my thoughts...resource from papers at end of article.
Here’s what GazetteXtra.com, a Janesville paper, reported on Feb 2, 2009:
Full-size sport utility vehicle production has ended at the local General Motors plant, but medium-duty truck production is continuing—not starting—in Janesville.
And it likely will continue into May, when the lights finally go off in the facility that has been producing vehicles since 1923.
When GM officials announced last June that SUV production would cease in Janesville, they also said that medium-duty truck production would conclude by the end of 2009, or sooner if market conditions dictate.
What’s more, the administration actually did consider keeping the Janesville plant alive after it nationalized GM by commandeering the bankruptcy process. According to Shepardson’s story:
In June 2009, GM considered three sites to locate a small car: its Orion plant in Michigan; Janesville, Wis.; and a Spring Hill, Tenn., plant slated to close in November. GM picked Orion and later reopened Spring Hill.
Now why would Obama choose to close the only plant he had actively “suggested” he’d keep open? Could it possibly have something to do with the fact that it was in Ryan’s hometown? Just askin…
I believe the retrofit costs would have been higher in Janesville, which is why the plant wasn’t chosen — but it’s clear that the plant wasn’t closed under Bush, and that Obama had an opportunity to make good on his promise.
Update III: BuzzFeed’s Andrew Kaczynski finds this promise from Barack Obama in June 2008, after the notice went out that the plant would shut down over the next several months, emphasis mine:
“Reports that the GM plant I visited in Janesville may shut down sooner than expected are a painful reminder of the tough economic times facing working families across this country. This news is also a reminder that Washington needs to finally live up to its promise to help our automakers compete in our global economy. As president, I will lead an effort to retool plants like the GM facility in Janesville so we can build the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow and create good-paying jobs in Wisconsin and all across America.” Source: media.gazettextra.com / via:uppermichiganssource.com
Sounds like a promise — and it certainly did to the people of Janesville. Will the “fact” checkers fact-check themselves now?
History Buff?
DeleteHistory Buff; like you I check my facts and Google it up, it stated that GM made the decision to close the plant in June 2008 and it did not close completely until January of 2009. I also take notes and will be doing the same next week to see who will be lying and telling half truth at the Democrat Convention and again I will research their comments as well. This is important to me, I just don't take their word because it is too important decision I must make in November. I am neither Rep. or Dem. I am Ind.I really liked Rubio speak and wish he was the Romney V.P. very sharp young man! Thank you for your comment.His father worked hard so that he would have a better life, so he would understand the middle class and how hard it has been, he did not come from wealth.
ReplyDeleteWell, It's good to have opinions from all sides. Everyone is welcome, but the June 2008 to being completely close statement was sort of like saying if bush and obama were in a foot race, even if bush looked as if he won, the camera says President Obama won by a nose.....lol.
DeleteStill, everyone's opinion is welcome.
Please come again.