Romney Pays Dearly for Making the Fatal Mistake of Lying about Corporations

Last updated on February 8th, 2013 at 02:41 pm

The Denver Post joined the line up of papers attacking Mitt Romney’s blatant dishonesty in the ad where he claims that Jeep is moving jobs to China and the radio ad in which the Republican candidate claims Obama saved GM for the Chinese. There’s an entire line up of papers that have taken a hard line against Romney’s Jeep and GM lies.

When Romney used his usual tactic of making harmful things up in a chaotic attempt to make himself look better, he made a fatal mistake in taking aim at corporations. Here’s a round up.

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The Denver Post begins with, “Nothing smells like desperation more than the falsehoods and half-truths coming out of the Romney campaign about Chrysler purportedly moving Jeep manufacturing jobs to China. The episode has been shameful.” And it gets worse. They denounce Romney for his refusal to let facts get in the way and call him out on basically not liking that Obama was making inroads in Ohio because of his auto bailout, “But why let the facts get in the way when you can exploit a poorly written news story for political gain in a must-win state?”

It seems others agree with the Denver Post, from the New York Times to the Toledo Blade. I pointed out yesterday that Romney’s statements indicated that he knows absolutely nothing about global auto manufacturing. But it is a lot more fun coming from Greg Martin, spokesman for GM, who called Romney out on being a know-nothing in the New York Times. New York Times: “‘That is absolutely bereft of any fundamental understanding of the global automotive industry,’ Mr. Martin said. ‘All global manufacturers, whether General Motors, Ford, Chrysler or VW, build historically in the markets in which we sell.'”

Detroit Free Press: “‘We’ve clearly entered some parallel universe during these last few days,’ GM spokesman Greg Martin said. ‘No amount of campaign politics at its cynical worst will diminish our record of creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back to this country.'”

Detroit News: “Chrysler Group and General Motors Co. forcefully attacked comments from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney that Chinese production could cost Americans jobs.”

The Cleveland Leader: “We all know that lying and politics go hand-in-hand, but Mitt Romney is really taking the cake this year with the 2012 presidential election. After being blasted by the auto industry for making false claims at a rally in Defiance, Ohio, last week that Chrysler was going to move jobs from their Jeep plant in Ohio to China, Romney’s campaign decided to solidify the blatant lies in a television ad suggesting the exact same thing. Despite the claims be called outright lies by Chrysler itself, which has invested over $500 million into the Jeep factory in Ohio, Romney’s campaign is not backing down. Instead, they’ve opted to triple down on the assertion that Chrysler is moving Ohio jobs to China in a new radio ad that began running in Ohio on Tuesday.”

Youngstown Vindicator: “GM and Chrysler officials ‘feel they’re being dragged into a political campaign in the most dishonest, cynical way,’ Rattner said. ‘To be accused by someone who’s a presidential candidate of exporting jobs is infuriating. Romney crossed the line here. It’s one thing to have a point of view or to shape something to help a position. It’s another thing to just make things up out of whole cloth.'”

Toledo Blade: “‘Jeep is one of our truly global brands with uniquely American roots. This will never change,’ Mr. Marchionne said. ‘So much so that we committed that the iconic Wrangler nameplate, currently produced in our Toledo, Ohio, plant, will never see full production outside the United States.'”

Denver Post: “Beyond the ad’s veracity is a question about character. In a place like Ohio, where 1 in 8 jobs are in the auto industry, such a lie matters. It scares people. It makes them worry that better economic times they are just beginning to see could dissolve before their eyes. It bespeaks an indifference to the concerns of Ohio’s working class, and that is just as revealing as backing an ad that leaves a wholly untruthful impression.”

Reuters: “Chrysler Group LLC Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne reaffirmed on Tuesday that the company is not moving Jeep vehicle production out of the United States to China … Chrysler in an October 25 blog post had already rejected a statement made that day to a crowd in Ohio by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, that Chrysler was thinking of moving all Jeep production from Ohio to China.”

The best quote of all has to be Greg Martin stabbing Romney right in the Bain Cayman with this, “We think creating jobs in the U.S. and repatriating profits back in this country should be a source of bipartisan pride.”

The press has finally caught Romney in a lie that can’t be explained away. And why is that? Because this lie impacts corporations.

Such is the respect we give the business community in this country. When workers came forward to tell of how Romney decimated their jobs they were dismissed as sore losers. When women came forward to tell of how Romney tried to force them to give up their child for adoption or not have a life-saving abortion, they are ignored and the press gives Romney a pass on his extremist views on women’s freedom. But when Mitt Romney started lying about corporations, that was too much.

Romney’s lies about Jeep and GM are no less egregious than the lies he tells about his views on women’s freedom and equal pay, healthcare, middle class taxes, Medicare, Social Security, and so much more. No less egregious or ruining of reputations than when he smeared 47% of the country as lazy victims who felt “entitled” to food and shelter. But heck, it was okay when he was smearing those people. If it wasn’t exactly okay, it was up for debate. Were they not paying taxes, who wasn’t paying taxes, why and how much – these were issues.

But when he started smearing corporations and hurting business, well that was enough of that. Mitt Romney can make enemies anywhere at any time. That much is clear. It seems Mitt Romney has just met two corporations that are not people. They are much bigger than people. Even Mitt Romney will not be allowed to lie about big corporations.

GM and Chrysler didn’t deserve to be dragged into Romney’s mud, but then neither did union members, women, the gay community, single mothers, veterans, people on Social Security, Britain, and the rest of the global community he’s taken aim at in despicable acts of stupidity and desperation. It’s one thing to have an ideological position and another to tell egregious, harmful lies about the other in order to get votes and money.

The press just can’t believe Romney would stoop this low. But the littered path of destruction in Romney’s wake of ugly lies reveals that this isn’t a new turn for Romney, but rather the usual way he conducts himself — with no attachment to reality and no remorse about the damage he’s inflicting without just cause.

Sarah Jones

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