Boehner hits Obama on auto bailout pensions

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday criticized President Obama's handling of an auto parts supplier's pensions during the $80 billion bailout of the U.S. auto industry as the issue takes center stage in the presidential campaign in his state.

Obama has increasingly touted the loans that were given to General Motors and Chrysler in his pitch to voters in Ohio, where supporters of the bailout say 1 in 8 jobs are connected to the U.S. auto industry.

But Boehner said Thursday that Obama gave preference to labor groups when his administration used approximately $1 billion in bailout money to pay pensions for union workers at a company called Delphi Automotive despite the parts supplier going bankrupt in 2009.

“Thousands of auto workers in Ohio, Michigan, and elsewhere deserve to know what role the Obama administration played in cutting their pensions while protecting the president’s union allies," Boehner said in a statement released by his office.  

"A report by the nonpartisan GAO made it evident that unions were given preferential treatment during the taxpayer-funded bailout while non-union workers saw their pensions cut by up to 70 percent," Boehner continued. "And new documents that have been uncovered raise even more questions. The administration should stop stonewalling and start turning over all of the information requested by Congress at once.  If the White House is going to boast about its auto bailout, it has an obligation to explain its involvement in the pension scandal to Delphi workers, their families, and taxpayers."

As the presidential race has focused increasingly on Ohio, Obama has hammered Romney for a 2008 op-ed he wrote in the New York Times that was titled "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt."

Romney has pushed back against the attacks by arguing that he was in favor of a "managed bankruptcy" for the auto industries. But Obama has said only the federal government had enough money during the economic panic of 2008 to float the car companies' loans.

Boehner said the debate obscures the point about government's role in the American economy.

“The Delphi pension scandal underscores the danger of government bureaucrats picking winners and losers in the private sector," he said.  "That’s why Republicans have focused on getting our economy moving by getting government out of the way and removing barriers — like the president’s small business tax hike — that make it harder to create jobs. The American people need a president who will do the same.”

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