Tornado Alley (PROG)

[BOREALIS]

Paul Ryan blames Obama for GM plant closed in 2008 under Bush

Fri Aug 17, 2012 at 12:30 PM PDT
by Jed Lewison

GM stopped production at its Janesville, Wisconsin production facility in 2008, when George W. Bush was still president, but according to Paul Ryan the person to blame is President Obama.[ http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-slams-obama-for-not-saving-auto-plant----in-2008.php ]

As you can see in the video at the top of the post, Ryan told a crowd in North Canton, Ohio yesterday that the president's energy policies had led to the factory's closure in 2009. Ryan delivered the attack in personal terms, saying he had high school buddies who worked at the factory. "A lot of my high school buddies worked at that GM plant," Ryan said. "One of the reasons that plant got shut down is $4 gasoline. You see, this costs jobs. The president's terrible energy policies are costing us jobs."

But despite Ryan's emotional story, GM announced the plant's closure in June of 2008. In October of 2008, the date was accelerated from 2010 to the end of the year. And on December 23, 2008 the last SUV rolled off the line.

Ryan said the factory closed because gas prices had climbed to $4 per gallon. Gas prices were that high, but that was in June of 2008, when George W. Bush was the president. Gas prices today are lower than they were then, though they do remain high.

Ryan also claimed the President Obama had promised to keep the factory open—but that's not true according to The Detroit News [ http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120817/POLITICS01/208170356/1121/auto01/Ryan%E2%80%99s-hometown-hard-hit-by-GM-plant-closure ] ,
USA Today, [ http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/08/fact-checking-ryans-claim-on-obama-gm-/1#.UC6876M_mCR ]
and TPM. [ http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/paul-ryan-slams-obama-for-not-saving-auto-plant----in-2008.php]

Bottom line: Without the benefit of facts, Ryan's story sounded compelling, but once you learn what really happened, you quickly realize Ryan was telling a tall tale that was just too perfect to be true. And with that kind of thing starting to become a pattern with Ryan, it's no wonder that Mitt Romney likes him so much.

12:37 PM PT (kos): To add—Ryan is INSISTENT that the plant closed because of bad energy policy. Hence, it was George W. Bush's energy policy that closed down that plant. So how is Mitt Romney's energy policy any different?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/17/1121306/-Paul-Ryan-blames-Obama-for-GM-plant-closed-in-2008-under-Bush