Media Debate Fail: Obama the Auto Bailout and China

Good thing President Obama separated us from our $85 billion - allegedly to create or save" jobs.  Mostly foreign jobs but....

In their third Presidential debate analysis the Jurassic Press Media last night and thus far this morning have failed utterly in their role as fact checker and record-corrector - at least when it comes to what President Barack Obama had to say. 

As but one glaring example there were the Presidents absurd assertions regarding the auto bailout and China.

Here in large part is what the President last night had to say on the subject:

 

If we had taken your advice Governor Romney about our auto industry wed be buying cars from China instead of selling cars to China.

 

If we take your advice with respect to how we change our tax codes so that companies that earn profits overseas dont pay U.S. taxes compared to companies here that are paying taxes. Now thats estimated to create 800000 jobs the problem is they wont be here theyll be in places like China."

 

This is not the first time the President has made these claims.  It is not the first time the Press has taken him - utterly unexamined - at his word. 

We wont.  Lets go piece by Presidential piece and see what we find.

If we had taken your advice Governor Romney about our auto industry wed be buying cars from China instead of selling cars to China.

 

There is so much wrong-ness packed into this one sentence. 

Governor Romneys auto industry advice was to have General Motors (GM) and Chrysler file for bankruptcy.  Like President Obama has done with swaths of predecessor President George W. Bushs foreign policy he criticizes it - while emulating it. 

 

Guantanamo Bay is still open - just as President Bush advised.  And President Obama took GM and Chrysler through bankruptcy - just as Governor Romney advised.

 

Only Romney wanted to do it without $85 billion of our money dumped down the United Auto Worker union rat hole.  GM and Chrysler could - and should - have gone bankrupt for free.

 

As for whos buying cars from whom lets go to the videotape.  Obama-appointee GM CEO Dan Akerson gave a speech in Shanghai China where he proudly proclaimed:

 

Seven out of ten of our vehicles were made outside the United States."

 

Many many of those cars are made in China - which is why Akerson was saying it there.  In fact nearly two-thirds of GM jobs are in other countries - again many many of them in China.  From GMs 2011 annual report:

 

We will continue to grow our business under the Baojin Jiefang and Wuling brands. We operate in Chinese markets through a number of joint ventures and maintaining good relations with our joint venture partners which are affiliated with the Chinese government is an important part of our Chinese growth strategy."

 

And those Chinese Communist government joint venture partners?"  One of those joint ventures was GM being the chief sponsor of the celebratory flick Chinese Communism at 90 - Hooray."  (That is a rough title translation - my Mandarin is weak.) 

 

Good thing President Obama separated us from our $85 billion - allegedly to create or save" jobs.  Mostly foreign jobs but.... And as weve seen with Ford no government bailout money was necessary to preserve a gi-normous member of the American auto industry.

 

More of the President from last night:

If we take your advice with respect to how we change our tax codes so that companies that earn profits overseas dont pay U.S. taxes compared to companies here that are paying taxes. Now thats estimated to create 800000 jobs the problem is they wont be here theyll be in places like China."

 

Small problem there.

 

President Obama illegally allowed GM to carry forward through the bankruptcy $45.4 billion in losses - which serve as post-bankruptcy write-offs costing We the Taxpayers $18 billion in lost tax revenue.  GM paid absolutely no income tax in 2011

 

So GM earning profits - domestically or overseas - isnt paying any U.S. taxes.  That was President Obamas illegal illegally imposed advice - not Governor Romneys.

At no point last night did debate moderator Bob Schieffer insert himself to correct President Obama on any of this - as last debate moderator Candy Crowley was only too happy to incorrectly do in defense of the President. 

 

At no point since has anyone in the Press done anything to correct President Obama and the auto bailout record. 

Shocking I know.

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