Obama Defends Auto-Bailout During Detroit Stop

By Sarah Mamula - Talk Radio News Service

President Barack Obama defended his administration’s decision to provide federal aid for the auto-industry during an address Friday morning at a Chrysler assembly plant in Detroit.

“In the 12 months before I took office, the American auto industry…looked like it was going over a cliff,” said Obama. “Chrysler and GM were on the brink of liquidation.”

He recalled the criticism he received in Washington last year for his decision to provide federal funding. Obama said that if the government had not bailed out Chrysler and GM, an estimated 1 million jobs would have been lost in the middle of the recession. 

Furthermore, Obama said that the industry is recovering, creating more jobs, and adding more shifts at assembly plants to meet the demand. He emphasized to the crowd of auto workers that the nearby Sterling Heights Chrysler plant, which was scheduled to close in 2012, will stay open. He was met with loud applause.

“Today, for the first time since 2004, all three U.S. automakers [GM, Chrysler, and Ford] are operating at a profit,” said Obama. “You are proving the naysayers wrong.”

The President wanted the audience to remember those who were against government intervention in the auto industry.

“If some folks [Republicans] had their way, none of this would be happening,” said Obama. “This plant and your jobs might not exist.”

Obama is also scheduled to visit the Ford plant August 5th.