Jennifer Granholm asks “What if Mitt Romney had been President in 2009?”

Eclectablog/Blogging for Michigan/Eclectablog

This is a worthy question for Michiganders to be asking tonight as we host the clown show that is the Republican primary debate in our fair state: “What if Mitt Romney had been President in 2009?”

When the candidates seeking the Republican nomination for president stand onstage in Michigan tonight to debate the future of this country, they will be expected to answer for this important fact: Not one of them would have lifted a finger to save the American auto industry that is so vital to both the Michigan economy and the entire nation.

In fact, when the U.S. auto companies were on the brink of collapse Michigan native Mitt Romney actually went so far as to write an appalling opinion piece in the New York Times titled, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.”

Not one of the Republicans that will appear on the stage at Oakland University support the loan program from the federal government that allowed them a soft landing and subsequent resurgence that was triggered by the economic catastrophe of 2008. Given the report today that GM posted third quarter profits of $1.73 billionalong with similar results for Ford and Chrysler, most Michiganders are pretty psyched that we didn’t allow the domestic vehicle manufacturers in the USA fail.

Granholm concludes:

We simply would not have seen this progress under a Romney Administration. For all his talk about fiscal responsibility and experience as a former business executive, it’s important to remember that Mitt Romney’s plan was to let GM and Chrysler collapse. This decision, according to the Michigan-based Center for Automotive Research, would have cost federal government roughly $28.6 billion in lost tax revenues and aid to the unemployed in just the first two years alone.

Viewers tuning into tonight’s debate need to remember that in stark contrast to the President, if Mitt Romney had gotten his way, Midwestern families, middle class families and Michigan families would have been left out in the cold with no job, no income, and no industry. With a record like that no wonder Romney’s prone to changing his story to fit the audience. What he may have forgotten is that Michigan voters haven’t forgotten.

I couldn’t agree more. I actually said pretty much the same thing in September and again in October.

And, ya know, just because Mitt’s dad was the governor here once upon a time, I know Michiganders. I am friends with Michiganders. Mitt, you are no Michigander.