One of the greatest success stories of the first four years of the Obama Administration is the resuscitation of Detroit and the American auto-industry, and this would not have been possible without direct, government intervention.
That intervention was a success, and the entire country is better off because of it.
After selling roughly 11.8 million cars and trucks last year, U.S. vehicle sales to businesses and consumers are expected to hit nearly 12.8 million in 2011…That’s up from 10.6 million at the height of the Great Recession in 2009. Through November, new-vehicle sales had logged six straight months of year-over-year gains. That should continue in December, when 1.2 million vehicles are likely to be sold.
If it weren't for the Obama Administration, Government General Motors would have imploded, and the economy would have lost at least another million jobs as the endless chain of service centers, suppliers, and dealerships that maintained and sold GM vehicles closed their doors.
The auto-industry bailout was not without casualties, as General Motors was forced to discontinue several veteran brands such as Pontiac and Saturn, but the consequences of doing nothing would have been severe and the American auto-industry may have never recovered.
The saving or creating of jobs isn't the only story though. The rest of the story is a renewed relationship between the auto-workers union and the auto-industry, and in the wake if its restructuring, Detroit is giving back to its workers.
Meanwhile, the general consensus among Republicans is that bailing-out the auto-industry was a mistake, and some have even outright called for letting the industry go bankrupt.
The most infamous opinion on the subject is of course Mitt Romney's 2008 op-ed simply titled 'Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.'
Romney would also like to take credit for the bailout, which he claims was modeled after his own plan, even though he called for bankruptcy. Or something. It's difficult to keep track of where he stands on any issue, but 'Let Detroit Go Bankrupt' is pretty clear.
The rest of the Republican candidates, including Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich, and Jon Huntsman have also declared that they would not have bailed out the auto-industry.
Suffice to say it should be crystal clear who is on the side of working-class people and who is not. Because both parties are not the same. Not even close.
You can find a comprehensive list of GOP stances on the auto-industry bailout here.