Originally Posted By skinnerbox <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/08/30/776711/bush-administration-gm-ryan/" target="_blank">http://thinkprogress.org/econo...gm-ryan/</a> <> Bush Administration Praised Closure Of Auto Plant That Ryan Now Blames On Obama By Zack Beauchamp on Aug 30, 2012 at 2:05 pm Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) claimed during his convention speech Wednesday that President Obama is responsible for the closure of a GM plant in Janesville, Wisconsin. However, as many media outlets have noted, GM announced plans to close the plant in June ’08 — long before Obama was even elected — and it ceased major operations in December of that year. For proof, just ask one of the more prominent supporters of the Janesville plant shutdown — the George W. Bush Administration. After all, the closure was part of a broader GM restructuring initiative that the then-President supported. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino even praised it as evidence of GM “adapting well:” The White House called the announcement a sign that the auto giant was “adapting well” to market shifts. “It’s a sign that Detroit continues to adapt and evolve and address the change in consumer tastes and attitudes. And I think that they’re adapting well,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said. “And they’ll make these changes, and hopefully be able to pull themselves up out of what has been a rough several years,” she said. … GM plans to shutter production at its Toluca, Mexico, pickup truck at the end of the year and its Oshawa, Canada plant will be closed in 2009. Plants in Moraine, Ohio and Janesville, Wisconsin, are slated for closure in 2010 “or sooner if market demand dictates,” GM said. In keeping with the rest of the night’s theme of ignoring and whitewashing the Bush Administration’s disastrous record, Ryan failed to mention this inconvenient history. <> The part that really galls me about this speech of Ryan's, is how he conveniently blames Obama for failing to keep this auto plant open before he actually became President, while Ryan did virtually nothing to try to keep the plant open as the district's Representative. Adding insult to injury... Ryan voted against the auto industry financing program in 2009. So Ryan is criticizing Obama for not making an effort to re-open the plant, even though Ryan voted against the financing program that helped GM keep their existing plants open and operational. There's a word for this. Let me think... Oh yeah. H-y-p-o-c-r-i-t-e
