Scott Walker spewed a whole bunch of BS in a recent gushy interview from conservative talker Dana Loesch. Are you ready for this?
Out popped the old lie about Obama's broken promise to reopen the Janesville GM plant. It never happened, as you can see by the PolitiFact rating pictured here, when VP candidate Paul "Lying" Ryan made it all up the first time:
Ryan said Obama broke his promise to keep a Wisconsin GM plant from closing. But we don't see evidence he explicitly made such a promise -- and more importantly, the Janesville plant shut down before he took office. We rate Ryan's statement False.
Not only did Walker recycle the old Obama/GM lie, but he also played the victim tricked into talking to the entire MSNBC cast of liberal hosts covering the speech that night.
Speaking of that interview, wouldn't it be nice to see that one again, where Walker is confronted with the same facts presented by PolitiFact. Thank you Rachel Maddow:
We still have three huge automakers that provide 3 million jobs
to Americans, and Scott Walker isn't sure that’s a good thing or not?
Scott Walker dodged a question about the federal loans that
rescued the U.S. auto industry. "That's a hypothetical question from the
past," according to accounts from multiplelocal
reporters. "I think what we're going to talk about is the
future." His refusal to give a direct answer is another example of
handle-with-care messaging. It also suggests that Walker
has shifted his tone on a potentially hot-button issue.
That’s an unforgivable media pass in my opinion. Anyone who’s
watched Scott Walker over the years knows a non-answer is very bad news, and yes, he opposed
the bailout.
Since GM had no plan to reopen the Janesville plant,
Walker believed no one should benefit. Hate to surprise out-of-state Walker
supporters, but he’s a petty vindictive double high authoritarian, and that’s not my opinion, that’s the professional conclusion from someone who would know.
In a off moment, one Walker will never let happen again, Rachel
Maddow dug a whole lot deeper than most reporters on the auto bailout:
Note: The managed bankruptcy Walker, Ryan and Romney were
talking about would have dissolved the automakers, since it became obvious no
one would step in and take the risk. They would have been sold for parts. Walker's position was the "do nothing" position most Republicans wanted to take. But here's the happy and profitable end result:
The government ended its $80 billion bailout of the U.S.
auto industry on December 18, 2014. That's when the Treasury
Department sold its last remaining shares of Ally Financial (formerly
GMAC) for $19.6 billion. By selling when the stock market was high, Treasury
made a $2.4 billion profit on its $17.2 billion initial investment in GM's
former financing arm. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew: “And while the goal
was always to stabilize the economy, and not to make a profit, it is important
to recognize the return we have earned for taxpayers.”
This is the part Walker would never have agreed to, since he's a devout anti-environmental Republican. Ironically, conservatives blamed the bankruptcies on car makers not becoming more energy efficient (they fought against it for years):
The federal government took advantage of the take-over,
setting new auto efficiency standard to force the companies to become more
competitive against Japanese and German firms. Congress first explored whether
a planned bankruptcy reorganization without a bailout was the best alternative
for the companies, but realized that would take too long to implement.
