Automobiles

Democrats might use the cars to paint Romney as out of touch, as they used McCain’s houses in 2008.

The adviser who helped President Obama craft the restructuring of the U.S. auto industry in 2009 criticized Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney on Friday for his opposition to the bailouts that were given to General Motors and Chrysler.

Romney is scheduled to give an economic speech Friday at Detroit's Ford Field stadium, but Steve Rattner, who led the Obama's administration auto task force in early 2009, said the former Massachusetts governor's speech would probably include wrong facts about the auto bailouts.

"When Mitt Romney takes the podium at Ford Field in Detroit today, he’s likely to include yet another sharp denunciation of the government’s rescue of General Motors and Chrysler," Rattner wrote in an op-ed published Friday in The New York Times.

"As a presidential aspirant, Mr. Romney evidently hasn’t felt a need to be consistent or specific as to what should have been done to address the collapse of the auto industry starting in late 2008," he continued. "But the gist is that the government should have stayed on the sidelines and allowed the companies to go through what he calls 'managed bankruptcies,' financed by private capital.' That sounds like a wonderfully sensible approach — except that it’s utter fantasy."

Liberal activist group MoveOn.org released a video Friday criticizing Republican president candidate Mitt Romney for his opposition to the bailout of the U.S. auto industry in 2008 and 2009.

The ad features a woman who says she works for Chrysler "thanks to President Obama's auto industry stimulus."

"During the financial crisis, I just couldn't find full-time work in Detroit," the woman says. "Now I work for Chrysler, just like my granddad did for 42 years.

"My hometown's on its way back," she continued. "Mitt Romney said 'Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.' I'm grateful our country didn't listen. We need a president who'll stand by us all when times are tough. Mitt Romney? He'd let America fail." 

Rick Santorum's presidential campaign accused Mitt Romney of being against Michigan workers in a new ad released Friday.

Democrats on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee applauded the news Thursday that Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was scaling back the measure.

Dems had complained about not having a hand in writing the $260 billion transportation bill, which Boehner indicated he was considering scaling back due to opposition in his own party.

"Now that the Republican Leadership has shifted gears we look forward to their reaching across the aisle and working with us to fashion a true bipartisan surface transportation bill," the ranking Democrat on the Transportation Committee, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.), said in a statement released by his office.

"We will meet them at the intersection of fiscal common sense and good public policy," the long-time West Virginia lawmaker continued.

“Only in politics do people greet bad news so enthusiastically,” Obama said of Republicans.

A new poll shows Democrats and Republicans are sharply divided on the bailout of the U.S. auto industry, which has emerged as a central issue in the upcoming primary in Michigan.

The latest survey from Gallup showed 51 percent of 1,040 respondents said they disapproved of the assistance that was given to General Motors and Chrysler in 2008 and 2009 by the federal government. Among Democrats, 63 percent said they supported the auto bailouts, while just 25 percent of Republicans said they were in favor of the government loans.

Under both presidents Bush and Obama, the federal government gave Chrysler and GM more than $80 billion during the economic panic that began in the final stages of then-Illinois Sen. Barack Obama's successful run for the presidency in 2008.

Although the bailouts began under Bush, Obama has received strong criticism for his handling of the issue from many Republicans. 

Thursday's speech indicates the White House is concerned how rising gas prices could affect Obama's reelection bid.

The ad claims the Republican candidates "turned their back" on auto workers by opposing the bailouts in 2009.

A Republican presidential debate in Arizona turned unexpectedly Wednesday evening to a central issue in the simultaneous campaign in Michigan: the bailouts of the U.S. auto industry.

Republicans Rick Santorum (Pa.) and Ron Paul (Texas) criticized former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for supporting other bailouts besides the assistance he opposed giving to General Motors and Chrysler, such as the Troubled Asset Relief Program that gave loans to Wall Street companies.

"I held the same consistent position…I can say that with respect to Gov. Romney, that was not the case,"  Santorum said in the first hour of Wednesday’s debate.

"He supported the folks on Wall Street and bailed out Wall Street and was all for it, and then when it came to the autoworkers and folks in Detroit, he said no," Santorum continued. "That is not a consistent principled position. I had one, I believe in markets, not just when they're convenient."