Senate candidates from Ohio debate auto bailout
(CNN) - Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and the Republican seeking to unseat him, State Treasurer Josh Mandel, debated on Monday in Cleveland, sparring over whether the auto bailout and other stimulus measures had helped the Ohio economy.
Mandel said that if elected he would "take a backseat to no one when it comes to fighting for auto jobs, to protect auto jobs, and to grow auto jobs here in the state of Ohio" but said he did not favor the measures.
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"I could not have supported a process that stripped pensions from middle class retirees, and stripped jobs from mechanics and salesmen throughout the state of Ohio," Mandel said. "I will do everything I can in Washington to grow the economy through strong manufacturing policy strong auto manufacturing policy, but I'm not a bailout senator. He's the bailout senator who bailed out Wall Street, Fannie, and Freddie, and large corporations."
Brown, a first-term Democrat, said that Mandel's opposition to the measures "just boggles my mind."
"Josh, do you know about the Chevy Cruze and the Chevy Eco? The steel and the aluminum are made right here in Cleveland. The transmission comes out of Toledo. In Defiance they build the engines. These are real jobs and real people that's a big part of the reason that before the auto rescue, well in early 2010, the unemployment in this state was over 10.5%, now it's under 7%," Brown said. "It's not good enough, there are far too many people still unemployed, but we're going in the right [direction]."
But the state's unemployment rate is at 7.2%, according to the government's August statistics, and was last below 7% in August 2008. September state-level numbers come out later this month.
Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama both pursued stock purchases and loans of automakers General Motors and Chrysler. Manufacturing is the largest sector of Ohio's economy.
Over $21 million has been spent on the Buckeye State race for the U.S. Senate, according to Federal Election Commission data. Both the Rothenberg and Cook political reports rate the Senate race as leaning in Brown's favor.
The state is a key battleground in the presidential race.
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""I could not have supported a process that stripped pensions from middle class retirees, and stripped jobs from mechanics and salesmen throughout the state of Ohio...."
"....unless it was being done by a private equity firm."
brown sold out the auto workers .....
It's apparent that if the auto bailout was fully financed with China money it would be OK?
The Auto Bailout, a glaring failure of liberal politics may have temporarly helped workers at the cost of the National Debt rising.People still need jobs. Something that has been lacking the last 4 years.
Brown: "but we're going in the right [direction]."
FACT: OHIO'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HAS BEEN FALLING SINCE JANUARY 2010 when it reached a peak of 10.6%.
CNN response: "But the state's unemployment rate is at 7.2%, according to the government's August statistics, and was last below 7% in August 2008. " In other words, REACH BACK TO AN IRRELEVANT 2008 STATISTIC to try to make Brown look like he lied.
I want to make a point to Ray E. (Georgia). A BAILOUT would NOT have been NEEDED if GEORGE W. BUSH and those head up the a$$es did not screw up and over the country. Talk about failure.
Of course the bailout was a horrible idea. It was something that turned out to be a positive for Ohio and was done by a democratic president. We MUST make it look like a bad idea.....even though 1-8 jobs in Ohio are tied to the industry.
Part of republicans problems these days. They can't say "maybe I would have done something different" or "I just didn't agree with it". They must make it to be the downfall of the entire world and the evil machinations of the most sinister person in the universe.
Listening to mandel the other day, he sounds like one of those "private sector can do it" jerks. If that was the case, why couldn't the private sector bailout the auto industry? Oh, that's right. All the credit was frozen. Sen. Brown doesn't have to worry about losing his seat. He's on the right side of this issue.
The ignorance of some voters is amazing. If GM had gone bankrupt, millions of jobs would have been lost. Banks would not have bailed them out. I'am also sick of people making it seem that so much money is borrowed from China. The fact is that China is only one of many countries that the U.S. owes money to. We owe more money to Britain then we do China so quit making it sound that China owns us. As far as the economy goes, its a worldwide crisis. Anybody who believes that Romney or anyone else has a quick fix to the problem should not even be allowed to vote. It will takes years to fix the economy and it sure didn't help our debt that we were involved in two wars at the cost of billions of dollars and lost lives for no reason. Does anybody actually believe that Iraq was a threat to the U.S.?
This "kid" has no idea what he is talking about. Bless him for his service to this country but honestly
he is not material for this office. Sherrod Brown fought for Ohio. We do NOT need Mandel in office.
bad bad idea.
It's funny to hear neo-cons say it is okay to use taxpayers dollars for the rich but not the middle class. If you total the tax subsidies that are given to corporations and the top 1%, the auto bailout was pocket change. The Rethuglicans...for the rich by the rich.
Of course it was wrong... becuase it benefited the middle class ...right Mandel.
It's easy to say what everyone else thinks about govt shouldnt be involved in the business of bailing out businesses. The problem is this was no ordinary situation. This was a crisis and you throw away ideology and tough rhetoric when it comes to saving your country. This was a bi-partisan choice that Pres Bush made and Pres Obama made. THE PRIVATE SECTOR WAS NOT LENDING AND BANKS WERE RECEIVING MONEY FROM GOVT. Are the critics of the bailout suggesting we enter the Great Depression era when govt sat on the sideline while bank after bank failed? The market crashed due to lack of confidence and then sent the country into a tail spin. Economist from both sides who studied the Great Depression identified Govt's inactivity perpetuated the problem into the greatest economic crisis ever. People who criticize these moves are either clueless about economics or just plain out partisan.
Humm,
The Auto Industries were going down the tubes long before Bush was elected GM got rid of their parts suppliers and the Retirement plan because of?? The Union Pentions. When the Workers were making between $65 to $ 78 in wages and benifits there was no where to go but bankrupt. Excuse me NOTAGOPANut you need to get your head out of the sand, (Your*ss) and see what is going on. If your secnereo is correct, why isn't unemployment around 4.5 percent, as it was under Bush, until the Dumbocrats took back the Congress?? GM was bailed out. The National debt went up accordingly.