Ohio Dems criticize Romney, Kasich on auto bailouts

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) tried to steer clear of controversy surrounding Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s opposition to the administration's bailouts for automakers, but Democrats in the state said neither Romney nor Kasich deserved credit for the turnaround of the car companies.

In an interview this week with CNN, Kasich said he was glad the American auto companies were doing well, but said he did not "have any interest in even commenting on" Romney's position on the federal assistance given to Chrysler and General Motors.

Ohio state Rep. Matt Szollosi (D) issued a statement saying that Kasich was not in favor of the bailouts in 2008.

"Today's great news about the American auto industry shows once again that John Kasich and Mitt Romney were dead wrong when they failed to support the investments that led to the auto recovery," Szollosi said. "What is worse, to this day neither John Kasich nor Mitt Romney will even admit that they were wrong for failing to support our autoworkers when their livelihoods and the very economic survival of communities across Ohio were on the line. 

“I have great difficulty with Gov. Kasich and Gov. Romney taking credit for the recovery of Ohio's auto industry even though they did not support President Obama’s efforts to save it. Ohio's autoworkers know who fought for their jobs, and who didn't," he continued.

Democrats have made clear they think Romney's opposition to the bailouts can be used again him in a general election campaign in Midwestern states.

Romney wrote an op-ed in The New York Times in 2008 titled “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” He argued that helping the companies when they were on the verge of going bankrupt would be worse for them in the long run than the consequences of bankruptcy itself.

In an interview with CNN Wednesday during the Republican Governors Association meeting in Orlando, Fla., Kasich he was not interested in rehashing the history of the bailout.

"I think there isn't a single person that I know that didn't want to have a strong auto industry in America," Kasich said. "It's just a matter of how you get there."

"What's done is done," he added. "We have a strengthening auto industry in Ohio, and I am very pleased about it. I am pleased for the families of workers who have jobs."

But Szollosi offered a different view, saying "no candidate who suggested that we let the American automobile industry go bankrupt should step foot in the Buckeye State without giving the men and women of our auto industry an honest explanation as to why their jobs were not worth saving."

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