New Romney ad blames auto bailout for job loss

(CBS News) A new television advertisement released by Mitt Romney's campaign says President Obama's 2009 auto bailout of General Motors and Chrysler led to job loss as car dealers had to close their dealerships.

Ohio car dealership owner Al Zarzour is featured in the ad, saying he had been selling cars since 1972 until he received a letter from General Motors notifying him they were suspending his credit line.

"In 2009, under the Obama Administration's bailout of General Motors, Ohio dealerships were forced to close," Zarzour said.

The ad is released on the heels of a new Quinnipiac/CBS News/New York Times poll, which shows President Obama with a 6 percent lead in the battleground state of Ohio, the focus of the ad. The ad is risky as the auto bailout has proven popular in the state that ranks second in auto industry workers.

Obama for America spokesperson Frank Benenati called the ad a "new low."

"While the President was busy saving the US auto industry - which has 1 in 8 Ohio jobs tied to it - Mitt Romney was busy arguing that we should turn our backs on an iconic industry and the workers in Ohio," Benanati wrote in a statement.

As the ad says, loans became difficult to obtain from both Wall Street financial institutions and the lending arm of General Motors. Some dealerships struggled to stay afloat or were forced to close due to the larger financial crisis and as the government takeover and subsequent structured bankruptcy led to less access to cash, according to the Center for Automotive Research (CAR).

And jobs were lost during the bailout, but only a fraction of the number that would have been lost without it. The structured bankruptcy, however, was estimated to have led to the loss of 365,000 jobs compared an estimated 1.8 million jobs if the federal government did not intervene, according to a 2010 study by CAR.

Ohio is home to Sen. Rob Portman, who is considered to be on Romney's short list for vice president. His office has not responded to requests for comment about the Romney ad, but Governor Kasich John Kasich spokesperson Rob Nichols said, "We're thrilled the auto industry is still in here Ohio." He would not, however, comment on if the ad will work there

[wildfowlhunter]

Hey Rom - How about sharing some of those mushrooms with the rest of us !

[TimeToEvolve]

This is just so Karl Rovian. I mean this is yet another disaster for the anti-American worker RobMe. So just run it around and your brainless, mindless, brainwashed followers will nod their heads in agreement.

[wdrussell1]

Romney and the rancid right won't be happy until every auto job is in China.

[nygurl1]

But WE are getting Toyotas built here so it evens out!

[Brat60]

I have worked in automotive for 20 years, my family has worked automotive for over 70 years, the jobs going over seas is an on-going battle every year that I can remember, and my family before me. If all our jobs go to China it surly is not the doing of one man.

Personally I think both candidates suck!

[smartalecq]

I can't believe how incompetent his campaign is. Maybe there is a secret Democrat working on his campaign. Trying to sabotage him.

Hey Romney! Is there is a guy named Stephen Colbert working for you?

[smartalecq]

He has his foot in his mouth again. The audacity of Romney trying to put a spin on this issue. Is he trying to sink his own campaign, or is he just that dense.

Maybe all that foot cannibalism is affecting his brain.

[nygurl1]

Maybe the keepers have realized just how big a mess they made and don't want to try fixing it? Maybe that's why they picked a puppet on a stick to start with!

Maybe they figure they'll keep Obama and keep stopping him from doing anything and meanwhile they will try to find a 'real' candidate.

Good reason to vote in dems for everything!

[Skipper-Sam]

So tell us Mittens

How would have letting all of GM go bankrupt have saved this GM dealer

[nygurl1]

Around here a lot of dealers shut down as soon as stories started circulating about a bust.

Haven't seen any of them in an ad. And most of them are doing fine after a little reorganizing. The ones that haven't come back were the ones who retired or were doing lousy business to start with anyway.

[nearl451]

I know that this is a bad word to say..but are the people running Romney's campaign that ignorant or just plain retarded?

-againstthebailout
-well thebailout was in the end what I rcommended anyway
-shoring up the money lending system ruined the money lending system

Honestly, I just can't figure out where they're going with all of this.

[nearl451]

jgg. you have never been right about this. Withoutthestimulus we would STILL be losing jobs.

The only problem with the stimulus, other than it was NOT big enough, was that it was not focused on true infrastructure and balanced Keynesian with trickle down tenets.

Your pure lack of ability to reason is amazing.

[dj_chi]

And the fact that jgg is far from an economic expert. The people who don't just pretend to know what they're talking about have said there was measurable improvement from the stimulus. Including the fact that there were tax cuts in there - which the GOP always says leads to growth. So now jgg says no it doesn't! I'm sure the experts will be excited to know some hack on the internet knows better than them.

[smartalecq]

Blaming the loss of jobs to an act of saving jobs.
Romney's campaign is devoid of logic and mildly insane.

[Lindag20]

I agree. Makes ZERO sense that it would have been better to lose 1.6 million jobs and destroy the US auto companies. And he's running the ad in Ohio? Strange as they are doing better since the car companies have made a come back.

[bolafson]

"mildly"? I would suggest they have gone all the way to completely bat sh_t crazy. I am sure the ad will play well for Mitt in Michigan.

[smartalecq]

Romney's campaign is so incompetent, they might as well get Palin for VP.

[smartalecq]

duh? what are you, ten years old?

[smartalecq]

Romney criticized Obama for saving GM because, that's the opposite of what they do in Bain Capital.

Bain Capital's business model is to acquire struggling companies, load it up with debt, sell anything that is valuable, make a lot of money then file for bankruptcy.

[smartalecq]

good come back. so catchy!

[dj_chi]

And considering even Bain passed on helping GM back then, it just makes Romney look silly for suggesting that private markets could have saved them - and Bush's people didn't see that as a viable option either!

"Let 'em go bankrupt." Thanks Mitt for thumbing your nose at the American workers.