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It’s a common thing for a presidential candidate to pontificate about an issue of the day. It’s quite another for one to take credit for something he had no discernible role in.

But that isn’t stopping Mitt Romney. On Monday, in an interview with Cleveland‘s WEWS-TV, Romney said, “I’ll take a lot of credit” for the revival of the Detroit companies that went through federally sponsored bankruptcies.

Nobody disagrees that Romney kicked off the debate over whether General Motors and Chrysler would be better off filing for Chapter 11, rather than go hat in hand to Congress for a bailout. His New York Times op-ed piece, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” has a place in the historic saga.

In the television interview, however, Romney takes his role further than just proposing an idea. Here’s what he said:

“ My own view, by the way, was that the auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help. And frankly, that’s finally what the president did. He finally took them through bankruptcy. That was the right course I argued for from the very beginning. It was the UAW and the president that delayed the idea of bankruptcy. I pushed the idea of a managed bankruptcy and finally when that was done, and help was given, the companies got back on their feet. So I’ll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry’s come back.”

But where was Romney when the actual work was taking place on the bailout? As far as I could tell at the time, when I was reporting on the story on a daily basis for The Times, he was not involved in any visible way, beyond speaking about it.

There were Republican players who took part in the discussions, including Tenn. Sen. Robert Corker, who insisted that UAW members’ compensation be adjusted to reflect that of transplant auto workers, such as those he represented. Michigan’s former Republican governor, John Engler, now president of The Business Roundtable, did his best to round up support on Capitol Hill, before a Congressional bailout died in the Senate.

And of course, President George W. Bush got things rolling with the first assistance to the car companies, which kicked in just before Barack Obama took office and moved the ball further down the field.

If Romney was indeed pushing for the idea of a managed bankruptcy in the manner he describes, he wasn’t doing it where the automotive and political press corps could see it, beyond the op-ed page.

I don’t recall any of the lawyers, bankers, lawmakers, union leaders and others we all talked in the course of our reporting bringing up his name. In fact, one of the key bankers I spoke with regularly is a high-powered financier for GOP candidates, and he surely would have detailed Romney’s role, if he played one.

Maybe we all missed something. Or maybe, Romney is revising history. But it’s always a good idea to make sure there’s nobody around who was actually there before you claim to have done something. http://www.forbes.com/sites/michelinemaynard/2012/05/08/mitt-romney-ta
kes-credit-for-the-auto-bailout-say-what/2/

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LANSING, Mich. — Mitt Romney is making a play for his native Michigan, which last voted for a Republican for president nearly a quarter of a century ago. His task is made infinitely more difficult because of his opposition to the auto bailouts that many credit with saving the industry, a fact that was illustrated when he took the stage here Tuesday, not far from a GM plant.

As protesters outside the Lansing Community College auditorium where he appeared criticized Romney's opposition to the bailouts, the presumptive GOP nominee was introduced by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican who has called the $80-billion federal loans to GM and Chrysler successful. Neither man raised the matter.

In a state where car is king and where his father led an automotive company before becoming governor, Romney's only remarks about cars were lamenting the demise of Oldsmobile, which had been based in Lansing.

The automobile industry and the bailouts are sensitive issues in the state; voters overall support the bailouts, with GOP voters split over it. Romney's difficulty with the issue arose Monday, when the candidate raised eyebrows when he claimed credit for the auto industry's recovery in an interview with an Ohio television station.

"I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back," Romney said Monday on WEWS-TV in Cleveland, arguing that his call for the companies to go through a managed bankruptcy was eventually the path President Obama took.

"My own view is that the auto companies needed to go through bankruptcy before government help," Romney said. "And frankly, that's finally what the president did."

During a call organized by Obama's campaign, United Auto Workers President Bob King described Romney's argument as "absurd."

King noted that Romney had favored having the car companies go through bankruptcy and seek private financing as they restructured. But at the time, the credit markets were frozen and little or no financing was available.

During a call organized by Obama's campaign, United Auto Workers President Bob King described Romney's argument as "absurd."

King noted that Romney had favored having the car companies go through bankruptcy and seek private financing as they restructured. But at the time, the credit markets were frozen and little or no financing was available. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-romney-michigan-2
0120509,0,2326090.story would say something like "he's lost his credibility", but that disappeared so long ago I don't think anyone even remembers WHEN. I guess, in the end, all we can do is sit back and laugh. The absurdity has gotten beyond anything possible to take seriously!