Romney Jeep Ad Continues To Provoke Controversy

Desperation of Romney with his misleading ad!

Romney Jeep Ad Continues To Provoke Controversy

Posted: 10/29/2012


WASHINGTON -- The Mitt Romney campaign is defending its controversial ad that misleads viewers into thinking that under President Barack Obama's watch, Chrysler is moving production of Jeeps to China.

The ad, which has sparked a torrent of complaints and fact checking, was initially caught being aired in the Toledo, Ohio, television market, though the Romney campaign had not announced it publicly. The television tracking service TVEyes shows that it is now airing in Youngstown, Ohio, as well.

A Democratic ad buy source, speaking on condition of anonymity to reveal private data, said that the Romney campaign is spending $360,000 on television ads in Toledo between Oct. 27 and Nov. 1, 35 percent of which is being used to air the Jeep ad. It is spending $138,000 in Youngstown over the same time period, 50 percent of which is going to the Jeep ad.

The campaign is doing all of this without mounting a substantive defense of the ad's content. The spot states that Obama took the auto companies through bankruptcy, without acknowledging that that was Romney's plan as well. It says that the Detroit News endorsed Romney, without noting that the endorsement included a criticism of Romney's position on the auto bailout. It states that Romney has a "plan to help the auto industry," though as Politico's Ben White noted, the Romney campaign hasn't offered reporters any such plan. Finally, it cites a debunked report from Bloomberg to suggest that Chrysler will be returning Jeep production to China, without explaining that the company is doing so to cater to a growing Chinese market and isn't moving any U.S. jobs there to accommodate that demand.

"Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy and sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job," the ad says.

And yet, the Romney campaign has refused to back off the ad. At first, aides refused to actually comment on it. By Monday, however, they were a bit more defiant about its content.
"What's in there that's false? Are they building Jeeps in China or not?" an aide asked BuzzFeed. "I think a lot of Ohioans are wondering why we can't make Jeeps here and ship them to China, just like they are wondering why we can't make — insert product here — in this country and export them to China."


This is a defense by technicality. The exact language of the ad may fall within the boundaries of truth, but the message it imparts is fanciful and misleading. The Huffington Post asked the Romney campaign for an explanation beyond the one it provided anonymously to BuzzFeed. The campaign did not respond.

The Obama campaign, in contrast, was more than happy to tee off on the ad, calling it an illustration of weakness from a Romney campaign unable to gain traction in Ohio.

"Romney, of course, is getting desperate," campaign manager Jim Messina told a conference call of reporters. "So what did he do? He released an ad in Toledo that everyone in America knows is flat-out false. It reeks of desperation because that's what it is."

On a conference call a few hours later, Steve Rattner, who oversaw the auto bailout for Obama, added that he had personally been in touch with officials at Chrysler to get an honest sense of the story. The company, he said, was simply increasing production in China to meet a growing demand there.

"It obviously makes sense to manufacture some or all of those cars closer to the customer rather than shipping them across the world," he said.

Obama campaign Press Secretary Ben LaBolt, meanwhile, told reporters on that same conference call that the campaign would be producing a response ad soon.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/29/romney-jeep-ad_n_2039898.html?1351534567&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

"Mitt Romney's Bailout Bonanza"

From Brenda Witt:

Once again the media has failed to report important facts about Romney's hypocrisy. This time it is regarding the huge profits he made on the auto bailout, then campaigning that the auto companies should face bankruptcy.

Please sign and share my petition at:
http://signon.org/sign/media-tell-the-truth?source=s.icn.em.cr&r_by=1308003&mailing_id=6641

Then, see the article in The Nation: "Mitt Romney's Bailout Bonanza"
http://www.thenation.com/article/170644/mitt-romneys-bailout-bonanza

Romney profited from the Auto Bailout

If you haven't read this, you need to before you vote.


From: Greg Palast

“Romney left this out of the debate: three of his biggest donors took $4 billion from the auto bailout funds. And Romney himself pocketed $15.3 million and more through Ann Romney’s 'blind' trust.” – Greg Palast, The Nation.

http://j.mp/Rd7BpM

Are Republican Senators An SNL Script?

I can't wait to watch SNL! No one can be as bizarre as Republican Senators demanding concessions from the UAW after handing bankers Big Taxpayer Bucks with no strings.

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Even the Republican President, with the lowest approval rating in history, who laid the groundwork for this economic fiasco apparently GETS IT !

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NYT --
...the White House statement said, “A precipitous collapse of this industry would have a severe impact on our economy,” and added, “It would be irresponsible to further weaken and destabilize our economy at this time.” [Maybe like all the home foresclosures that you ignored?]
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the Senate fell short of the 60 votes need to bring up the auto rescue plan for consideration. The Senate voted 52 to 35 with 10 Republicans joining 40 Democrats and 2 independents in favor. [Could this be why a 60 vote majority matters? Is this what is called a FILIBUSTER? Naw! Republicans wouldn't do that!]
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This is the House margin:
The rescue plan approved by the House on Wednesday, by a vote of 237 to 170, would have extended $14 billion in loans to the G.M. and Chrysler and required them to submit to broad government oversight directed by a car czar to be named by Mr. Bush.

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And this from Bloomberg that no Republican Senator is asking about --
Fed Refuses to Disclose Recipients of $2 Trillion
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The Federal Reserve refused a request by Bloomberg News to disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from U.S. taxpayers and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral.
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And this from Time that those same Republican Senators are ignoring --
New Tax Rules: The Hidden Corporate Bailout
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in the past few months, experts say, the IRS has been unusually aggressive in doing what it can to lower corporate taxes, going above and beyond what has been allowed in the past. The result is that the IRS has become, in effect, a much less public arm of the federal-bailout machine. "There have been all sorts of Administration announcements that relax the tax law. I don't remember a wave of provisions like this."
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...Jones Day lawyers estimate that the rule change could cost the Federal Government up to $140 billion in revenue during the next few years.
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Nothing sums up the action of a few Republicans in Congress better than Hoover Time --
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There are defining moments in politics. Here Republicans defined themselves.

Maybe It's More Than Just Poor Management and Corporate Jets

Taxpayers for Common Sense had this to say --
The auto industry spent nearly $50 million lobbying Congress in the first nine months of this year.
And people tied to the auto industry gave another $15 million in campaign contributions...

Sen. Carl Levin, ... received $438,304
Rep. Joe Knollenberg received $879,327
Rep. John Dingell got nearly a million

No More Blank Checks

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The dinosaurs of the auto industry fought and delayed every single auto safety feature.

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The dinosaurs of the auto industry fought increased CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards.

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The dinosaurs of the auto industry invest heavily in attorneys to postpone and delay recalling vehicles for product defects by forcing Class Action Lawsuits and court delays.

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By the time a ruling is attained, the majority of the specific vehicle are off the road, frequently due to the defect addressed in the suit or some having killed vehicle occupants in accidents caused by the defect.

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Ford has been at the top of its class in continuing to produce defective engines, seat belts, airbags, police cruisers with explosive gas tanks and much else. And they continue doing so instead of correcting the known manufacturing defects.

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The US Auto Giants focused on the next quarter's profits to the exclusion of long term planning and the need for producing a safe, reliable, fuel efficient or alternative fuel vehicle. And in the Bush/Cheney Administration, they found friends who protected their poor business practices, shoddy products and defended their lobbying efforts. They thwarted efforts to produce more efficient vehicles and behaved like the bullies of the market they are and now want loans because of their own arrogance, incorrect market projections and mismanagement.

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Efforts to increase CAFE were met with not so veiled threats of contentious elections. in spite of widespread knowledge of Peak World Oil and Global Warming.

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The Auto Industry Giants could have chosen to lead the pack, but chose instead to fly their corporate jets, oblivious to the world and future market projections. The case might be made that money invested in lobbyists and attorneys might have funded the technology and engineering to innovate products for the post oil economy.

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The Center for Auto Safety offered (LINK). You can enter your vehicle and find out what complaints have been filed.

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WIRED offered this as an out of touch Administration that failed to address the appropriate issues -

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President Bush and the heads of GM, Ford, and Chrysler pushed ethanol and flex-fuel vehicles as the best way to cut U.S. fuel consumption in a meeting at the White House. Ignoring his own call for higher fuel-efficiency standards, Bush praised the automakers for ramping up production on flex-fuel cars and trucks:
"That's a major technological breakthrough for the country," Bush said. "If you want to reduce gasoline usage like I believe we need to do so for national security reasons as well as for environmental concerns, the consumer has got to be in a position to make a rational choice."

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MSNBC

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At one time, Chevy sold a 3 cylinder Geo Metro that got 60 MPG, but they stopped because they weren't making enough profit on the vehicle that sold for ~ $5,000. The industry marketed, promoted and solely made available gas guzzlers in the US market, even as they made more fuel efficient vehicles overseas.

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And now, in death throes, they need a bailout (in terms of loan guarantees) for their management failures.

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Here and Now offered a discussion - Auto Industry Bailout
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This week, Congress began hearings on the Bailout. Maybe we need to preserve the industry because of the number of jobs it provides in a withering economy, but can we at least attach enough conditions so it doesn't become like Paulson's Piggy Bank? Can we ensure that management needs to change to produce vehicles that make sense?

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DAIMLER OK'D RETENTION PLAN FOR EXECS

Chrysler leaders get millions Automaker defends payouts amid looming bailout talks
As Detroit's crumbling auto industry asks Congress for a bailout, Chrysler is in the awkward position of paying about $30 million in retention bonuses to keep top executives while the company cuts thousands of jobs.

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Chrysler owes the bonuses under its contracts with about 50 executives, based on a retention incentive plan crafted early last year by former German parent DaimlerChrysler, when it was preparing to sell the Chrysler unit. Nancy Rae, Chrysler executive vice president for human resources and communications, said the move made sense at the time to ensure potential buyers that key Chrysler executives would remain in place after a sale. She acknowledged that the bonuses could be seen as controversial now. "We all would be smarter if we knew what we know now back in February of '07," she said. "Probably a lot of different decisions would be made." Chief executives of Chrysler LLC, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. are expected to testify next week before a House committee on a proposal for $25 billion in low-cost government loans to help keep the companies afloat. Any aid is expected to come with limits on executive pay and bonuses. It is unclear whether those conditions would affect existing bonus plans -- Chrysler's was hatched around April 2007 -- or merely limit future bonuses and golden parachutes. Retention bonus plans are fairly common in volatile times and at troubled companies that are straining to attract and retain top talent. But they have been controversial in recent automotive industry bankruptcy cases involving suppliers Delphi Corp. of Troy and Toledo-based Dana Holding Corp. A 2005 change in U.S. bankruptcy laws forbade the payment of retention bonuses to executives just for staying at a company while it's in bankruptcy proceedings. Documents obtained by the Free Press show that at least six Chrysler executives are due to receive bonuses of more than $1 million apiece to stay through August 2009, the two-year anniversary mark of when private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management bought an 80.1% stake in Chrysler. Those promised the largest retention bonuses:

• Frank Ewasyshyn, executive vice president, manufacturing, $1.89 million.

• Frank Klegon, executive vice president, product development, $1.8 million.

• Rae, $1.66 million.

• Simon Boag, president, Mopar/global service and parts, $1.65 million.

• Steven Landry, executive vice president, North American sales, $1.63 million.

• Michael Manley, executive vice president, international sales, marketing and business development, $1.53 million.

The bonus sizes ranged from a high of Ewasyshyn's $1.89 million down to $200,000. The agreements provided for payments of 25% of the bonuses in February 2008 -- which were made on schedule -- and for the remaining 75% to be paid in August 2009. Promise of a smooth transition "Who are they going to work for?" he asked. "My feeling is they've run the companies into the ground."

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U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Congress will push next week to expand the nation's $700-billion bailout of the financial industry, called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, to include automakers. The auto companies would face limits on executive pay and bans on so-called golden parachutes, which enrich departing executives, said Pelosi and U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Mich. "We're very much interested in making sure there is shared effort and shared sacrifice," Levin told the Free Press.

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Since February 2007, the automaker has announced the elimination of 34,000 jobs, including salaried, hourly and contract positions.

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GM Collapse at $200 Billion May Exceed Bailout Plan

(Bloomberg) -- General Motors Corp., seeking a federal bailout as its cash dwindles, would cost the government as much as $200 billion should the biggest U.S. automaker be forced to liquidate, a forecasting firm estimated. A GM collapse would mean ``more aid to specific states like Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, and more money into unemployment and extended benefits,''

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Electric-Powered Future Two Years Away?
RMI/Move
RMI

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Rep. Frank suggested the need for the Auto Giants to return with a PLAN that might include eliminating the Corporate Jets.

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Congress rushed to pass legislation entrusting Treasury Secretary Paulson to follow the direction of Congress in stopping home foreclosures and watched as Paulson followed his own misguided plan that solved nothing.

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One public speaker suggested that if the automakers filed for bankruptcy, the courts would ensure that NEW management was installed and eliminate the excessive bonuses and contract buyouts.