RAF wrote: "Oh,no a news story from April of 2009, after Obama was in office, about the plant closing that week....must be another lie :-( "

Obama has nothing to do with it. The anouncement to close the plant was made in June of 2008.

More to the point WHAT DID PAUL RYAN DO to keep the GM plant open and save jobs of his former High School classmates?

In his capacity as long-term member of Congress, and with a president from his party in office at the time (Bush II) he was in a position to affect the situation, or at least try. And if he did, why is he not talking about it?

GM plant in Janesville closing for good this week, By The Associated Press April 19, 2009

http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/4...

Oh,no a news story from April of 2009, after Obama was in office, about the plant closing that week....must be another lie :-(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56h1gobtk...

This photo from the Gazette on 12/23/2008 says it all:

http://gazettextra.com/photos/galleries/...

'Last day at GM'

A group of General Motors employees poses for a final photo with the last SUV manufactured at the plant. After nearly 90 years, GM has closed the facility and possibly the era of vehicle production in the city.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4TsV_Z0NP...

When GM builds in China the vehicles built there are sold there, not shipped. Same with the Buick s.

Are the trucks built in China for shipment to the US? While a few may find their way here, the shipping costs would be a price killer for dealerships.

In 2008 while campaining right at the plant, Obama said..I believe that if our government is there to support you...this plant will be here for another hundred years. Is it true? The Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinental describes the plant as having completely shut down in 2009. The decision was made in 2008, but the plant itself didn't shutter until the next year, by which time the GM BAILOUT had already passed..You can't blame Bush or Obama, but you can blame GM and the UNION...Obama was accurate on one point and that was his remark stating..this plant will be here for another hundred years, he just didn't mention unless demolished, it will be just a eyesore,falling apart and empty..!

916WI said:
"He spoke of government support with his statement to the GM Janesville assembly employees, "government is there to support you and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition"
..
A government that he took control of along with his party taking control of both the house and the senate in the same year that GM was "restructured" with $80 billion of taxpayer dollars. My question to you is what attempts did he make to make good on that pledge to the Janesville assembly workers. Please give specific examples......."

I think BO was talking more about GM in general on how it would be able to keep plants open in general with this statement. The truth is the SUV's were no longer hot sellers in 2008 and GM no longer needed the capacity of 2 plants producing these vehicles. So they had to made a business decision to keep one of the plants open which was in Arlington, Texas. So it was choice between 2 US cities on which plant should remain open and which should be closed. The Arlington plant was definitely newer than the one here in Janesville which was the oldest plant within GM at the time. Even though it was retooled many times over the years, the energy efficiency and upkeep of a older plant like that would definitely be more costly than a newer plant that had been built more energy efficient from the start. Just think of your own home, as the years go by, it tends to need more and more repairs. That was what was happening with the Janesville plant making it harder and harder to compete with other plants that were newer. If BO would have fought with GM about keeping the Janesville facility open and forced it on them, he would have had the people in Arlington, Texas upset because the plant closed just like the Janesville people are upset because the plant closed here. It would have been a no-win situation for Obama to get involved in which plants to keep open because GM was making a choice between 2 (and eventually more) US cities on which plants to keep open. It is similar to business decisions other companies make when they decide to close a retail store in certain cities and not others. It's just that each retail store does not employee close to the number of employees that the GM plant here had.

Ryan voted for the Auto-bailout in the Bush administration not the Obama administration. This is the problem with politics. We should be able to recognize facts as a basis for debate not debate the facts. GM decided in 08 to close the plant AFTER Obama visited Janesville....FACT. The Janesville plant went from 2500 workers in July of 08 to 50 in December of 08.....FACT. The Janesville plant stopped production under the Bush Administration in December of 08......FACT. Without the auto bailout there would not be a GM today.....FACT. The 50 or so workers left were there to finish the official shut down of the plant. You cannot have a production line with just 50 workers.....FACT. RYAN LIED FACT

"You must not remember he fired the then ceo of GM and took over the company."

Obama did that personally? No, he didn't. Besides, do you think Rick Wagoner was doing a bang-up job, and shouldn't have been fired?

The U.S. government was the lender of last resort for GM. No one else wanted to put up the millions of dollars required to keep GM operating while it reorganized, so the government stepped in to prevent a possible depression in the economy. A majority shareholder always has a lot of influence in any company. Firing Wagoner was absolutely the right thing to do. Frankly, more people should have been fired.

People seem to forget how fragile the economy was at the time. After all, tens of millions of dollars in government loans were given to GM and Chrysler during the Bush administration.

Why didn't Ryan mention that he voted FOR the auto bailout?

Your Ryan voted against the bailout. The government set up a frame work for GM to fiscally salvage its company and save alot of jobs for autoworkers. Unfortunately Janesville was not saved ,but without the bailout there would not be a GM today. Again, Ryan voted against the bailout.

Zoom, why indeed would a president interject himself into the operations of General Motors?
You must not remember he fired the then ceo of GM and took over the company.

Your repetition of your statement simply reinforces the point that Obama did NOT control GM. What's your point? Why would a President personally interject himself in the operations of GM? Where in his statement did he "pledge" anything? Typical troll.

Zoom.......Where did I say that?? What I said is that BO had $80 billion to play with, you would have thought that he could have directed something, anything, toward making his pledge of "government is there to support you and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition" to the Janesville GM employees a reality.......understand?

I appreciate yo honesty. Seriously though, being drunk would be a better guess, since alcohol is known to cause loose lips:)

So now are you actually arguing there should have been MORE government involvement in GM. Typical.

Still waiting for someone to show where Obama PROMISED to keep GM Janesvile open. Some of you folks don't understand the definition of the word.

Zoom....No one is arguing that fact........but the Obama Administration directing $80 billion in taxpayer dollars into GM could have(or should have) had a little bit of input on some decisions that were made regarding the restructuring of that company.......no?

On June 4, 2008, Rick Wagoner anounced that GM would end prodution by 2010. This anouncement was after candidate Obama's visit, but before the election. Pretty simple.

Timmy, I was never naive enough to think that Walker would hit that mark at all.....In all actuality, I think he was totally high when he came up with that number!!!!

916, maybe I missed it, but I didn't see if you were going to hold the gov'na as accountable for his campaign 'promises' of 250k jobs??

+1 Pharm......He spoke of government support with his statement to the GM Janesville assembly employees, "government is there to support you and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition"
A government that he took control of along with his party taking control of both the house and the senate in the same year that GM was "restructured" with $80 billion of taxpayer dollars. My question to you is what attempts did he make to make good on that pledge to the Janesville assembly workers. Please give specific examples.......

"It’s wrong to say Obama promised he’d keep the plant open – because he did not. He said it could remain open with the right kind of help."
Detroit Free Press, today.

"Ryan cited the closing of a GM plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wis., as evidence of Obama’s failing to deliver on promises made in the 2008 presidential campaign. But as it happens, the plant closed before Obama even took office."
Factcheck.org

http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/stat...
People are going to believe what they want to, no matter what facts are presented.

Bowgal, et al. This is quite simple. Quote Obama's statement where he, "promised it (the GM factory) would be here for 100 years." I want to see a quote where he said, "I promise to you, the workers, that this GM factory will be here for 100 years if you elect me." Let's have it...

Remarks by candidate Obama in June 2008:

“Reports that the GM plant I visited in Janesville may shut down sooner than expected are a painful reminder of the tough economic times facing working families across this country. ... As president, I will lead an effort to retool plants like the GM facility in Janesville so we can build the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow and create good-paying jobs in Wisconsin and all across America.” Source: media.gazettextra.com /

Seems like Obama promised exactly what Paul Ryan said he did. When he was a candidate, which is what Paul Ryan said.
I really do not know what people think of Paul Ryan there in Janesville. He may be many things, but he is not a liar on this issue.

Obama campaigned here and promised it would be here for 100 years. More broken promises and failed policies from a failed administration.

Fact Check on your article, Aug 28, 2012:

"Obama wasn't president when the plant closed. Production ended in December 2008."

No, Production ceased on April 23, 2009, based on your own articles. You have contradicted your own stories published prior to August 28, 2012.

"Gillian Morris, spokesman for Obama for America-Wisconsin, noted that the plant closed while George W. Bush was still president."

NO. GazettExtra published last day of production would be April 23, 2009 - at least twice - on Feb 19 and on April 21, 2009.

So, did "Obama for America" spox get you to state the December 2008 end of production, right before Paul Ryan speech??? It just seems a bit odd also that your paper, right there in the town where the Janesville plant is located, would regurgitate exactly what the Obama camp needs to have written at such a convenient time.

Totally frustrated with the media at all levels. And it seemed I was getting an actual history of what happened in Janesville, until I got to the Aug 28, 2012 article. You know full well that the end of production for the SUV was in December 2008, and production continued through April 23, 2009.

There were only 50 or so workers left. There were 2500 in July 0f 08. Production stopped in 08. Ryan voted for the Bush Auto-bailout to try and save the Janesville plant and when he realized it was going to close anyway he voted against it in 09. He doesnt care about GM or the auto workers he just wanted to save face at home.

Per your own paper, posted Thurs, Febuary 19th, the plant would stop production of the SUV in April 2009 and the employees where notified Wednesday, Feb 18th (the day prior). That would make the closing April, 2009..NOT 2008..please don't allow politics to change history: http://bit.ly/Ot9GMZ

Look it was a misleading statement and anybody that believes it either is drinking the kool-aid or doesnt care about the truth. GM decided to close the plant and effectively did in 2008. All this does is misrepresent Janesville and the poor people that lost their job. Even though there is no GM plant in Janesville, there would not be a GM plant in America without the Auto bailout. By the whey, Ryan voted against it.

Audrina, I didn't forget anything. That last sentence in no way redeems your false claim that, "Obama made a false promise that if elected he would be able to keep the plant open 100 more years." So why include it?

Poobah - you forgot to copy and paste the last sentence of Obama's speech into your reply: "I want it (GM) to thrive right here in the United States of America; right here in Wisconsin; and that’s the future I’ll fight for as your President."

http://www.cfr.org/us-election-2008/obam...

Paul Ryan is blaming Obama for the closure? Where was Paul Ryan when the rest of the state politicians were begging GM to keep it open? He was completely absent. My personal opinion is that Paul Ryan secretly took satisfaction in watching the UAW leave Janesville. I mean come on, the guy hates unions as much as Ayn Rand did.

For many people, being that gm is still in business is a good thing. Look at all the truck drivers, dealer employees, parts plants, assy plants, suppliers. Sure, things are not back to pre Bush days but it sure is better than Rmoney would have done, which is nothing.

wow, you would think he would be smart enough to hire a fact checker before giving a speach about his own home town. Clearly he is thinking of somewhere other than the Janesville I live in. Maybe he should actually talk to some of those old high school friends to find out what really happened here with GM. I'm just sayin'.....

*GM's decision to close the GM plant was decided and announced in the late Summer of 2008 prior to Obama even being elected. *

Then he was elected--and the Government and UAW took control of GM. You'll note that the plant not only closed after his election, but hasn't reopened...even though the FedGov and the UAW basically run the company and even though the President has run roughshod over every other law which prevented him from doing what and his party/cronies want done. If the DNC wanted the plant open, it would be open. Obviously, they do not.

Sure woods....enlighten us--what position did BO run for and ultimately win when he made that statement. It wouldn't happen to be the President of the United States, would it? So if making that statement that government would offer support--and BO is elected to the leadership position of that government and his party has total control of Congress at the time when the GM issues were being dealt with as well as access to $80 billion in taxpayer funds, do tell, specifically what "assistance" did BO offer to the Janesville GM employees as an attempt to make good on that pledge?? Surely there has to be something........right??

Even though the bailout didn't help to reopen this particular plant, it helped GM get through the bankruptcy do that thousand's of GM retirees locally would continue to get their healthcare and pesion benefits. If the pensions would have been turned over to the PBGC, many GM retirees would have lost quite a bit of their pension payments along with all their health care benefits. Janesville would be hurting worse now then we currently hurting if that happened.
..
I know someone will comment that those retirees should go out and find a job to supplement their income. But there really aren't that many available locally even now with the current unemployment rate.
..
Also, the bailout helped the industry as a whole, not a particular community. There would have been many more jobs lost nationally to foreign manufactuerers if it hadn't been done.

Audrina regurgitated, "Obama made a false promise that if elected he would be able to keep the plant open 100 more years."

Audrina, have you even attempted to verify what it was that Obama ACTUALLY said?

"I know that General Motors received some bad news yesterday, and I know how hard your governor has fought to keep jobs in this plant. But I also know how much progress you've made -- how many hybrids and fuel-efficient vehicles you're churning out. And I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years." President Obama's statement on February 13, 2008.

I totally get what Ryan meant in regards to the GM comment...if you're from around here how could you NOT? Obama made a false promise that if elected he would be able to keep the plant open 100 more years. Yes it closed in 2008 and it wasn't Obama's fault. HOWEVER, the bailout (Obama's idea) did NOT work. People who used to work at GM are STILL out of jobs. He was not able to keep his promise. He has not been able to create new jobs either. How is Ryan mentioning that in his speech last night a lie?

Good job Paul Ryan, you are AWESOME!

Once again 916 proves he's ignorant. This is what Obama said: "And I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years."
.
"government" is not just one person, it includes all the obstructionists that you praise.

Haha. Always room for a 'guest post' if you got something you wanna say:) It's a blog FOR the people!!

Well said, tthompson. In baseball parlance, you just hit a grand slam! Don't worry, I'm not trying to take over your blog!

If there were 2800 workers in July of 2008 and 50 or so workers left working at the plant after production stopped in December of 2008 then that is a plant closing. It is wrong to be dishonest about this fact ,and it is disturbing that Ryan can do this to a town he has lived in all his life. Facts do matter and should not be used as opinions. I understand the homer aspect of liking Ryan because he is from Janesville, but it actually makes it worse to lie about this because he is from Janesville.

Shedding some light on something that Obama stated on the campaign trail, that was ultimately beyond his control that didn't work out?? Sure, I hope you hold the gov'na to the same standards if he doesn't get that 250,000 jobs he talked about.

Not the trump card at all Timmy......and definitely not a reason to vilify Ryan either. Obama alluded to the fact that under his watch that Janesville GM Assembly would be looked after....History obviously tells us that it wasn't and Ryan is considered a liar for shedding some light on it??

GM's decision to close the GM plant was decided and announced in the late Summer of 2008 prior to Obama even being elected. The majority of the plant was closed in December, 2008 which was prior to Obama being sworn in. So Obama had absolutely no power to impact the decision. In February 2008, he would have had no way of knowing GM plans and that he was making a false promise. But Ryan is telling a outright lie when blaming the closing on Obama. Since he is KNOWINGLY doing that and did it on national TV last night, what else will / are they lying about?

I love how right wingers are clinging to fact that a few utility trucks were being made up to April '09 when thousands had already lost jobs in December '08. Makes them feel better that last nail went into coffin when Obama was president for three whopping months, I guess.

916wi: Good catch. President Obama is the first person in the history of this great nation to make a statement on the campaign trail that he ultimately couldn't back up. I guess that's the trump card huh??

Woods......get your facts straight before you start spewing ignorant statements. During Obama's initial campaign, did BO not stand before the GM Assembly workers and tell them that they would be making automobiles there for another 100 years??

President Obama came to Janesville in Feb 2008 and said exactly what Paul Ryan quoted in his speech, as was reported here in the GazetteXtra.

http://gazettextra.com/news/2008/feb/13/...

Then the plant closed in April 2009, as was reported here in the GazetteXtra.

http://gazettextra.com/news/2009/feb/19/...

Paul Ryan was telling the truth. Obama was sure talking big in Feb. 2008 when he thought government was the answer to all of our problems, but the truth is it isn't. He didn't try to help the GM plant stay open. He forgot all about it after he was elected.

BTW the stimulus was signed by Obama on February 18 2009. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12348795...

Nothing for Janesville GM plant in there, for as much money as that monstrosity threw around.
http://www.recovery.gov/Transparency/fun...

916wi...get the facts before you spew the hate rhetoric. Obama did NOT promise to keep Janesville gm open.
.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/30/politics/p...

Third_Eye said, "I'm not supplying charts and quotes because we all know this."

Don't bother making excuses why you aren't supplying data that would support your wild claims about oil reserves. We already know the reason for that -- they don't exist.

It's funny, but no mention in this article about the article written on 2/19/2009 at GazetteXtra entitled "GM plant's last day finalized" wherein it states, and I'm quoting the article verbatim: "General Motors will end medium-duty truck production in Janesville on April 23 (2009), four months to the day after the plant stopped building full-size sport utility vehicles.

About 100 employees associated with the line learned of the layoffs Wednesday.

April (2009) will mark the end of vehicle production at the Janesville plant that traces its roots to 1919 and the Samson Model M tractor. Chevrolet production started in Janesville in 1923."

So the plant closed in 2009, under the Obama regime.

It's funny that the author of this article states that the plant was closed in December 2008, when the GazetteXtra actually reported that the plant was finally closing on April 23, 2009. Maybe he should read his own paper.

http://gazettextra.com/news/2009/feb/19/...

I was just wondering if people that are actually from Janesville and worked at the GM plant blame the president for the plant closure? When did you lose your job at the plant? It appears from the outside that production at the plant stopped during the Bush administration. Even though Ryan is one of your own do you think it is ok to falsify the facts about the plant closing? Thank you for your responses and I hope you find future employment.

Why does the Saudi government subsidize gasoline? Because they have money running out the wazoo. Note that this subsidy is not borrowed money.
We could do that if we used our oil resources. Would the oil companies get rich. Yes. Since the major oil companies are owned by the public in the form of stock many would partake in the profits.
Jobs would be plentiful, not only in the oil industry but in all the industries that make the parts and supplies needed.
Technology allows us to use our oil resources with a much smaller environmental impact than in the past.
I'm not supplying charts and quotes because we all know this.
Acting on this knowledge depends on your political persuasion.

Third_Eye: The Saudi government massively subsidizes the price of gasoline (to the tune of $13.3 Billion last year) - that is why it appears cheap relative to our cost. It has nothing to do with their oil production capacity.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Americas/...

Third_Eye said, "Poobah, your usual array of selected quotes which could be countered with opposing selected quotes."

You're more than welcome to provide quotes supporting your viewpoint, but you should note that I used a variety of experts including those from conservative think tanks. I wide range of ideologies all agreeing on this point.

Third_Eye said, "But hey, let's look at reality and use common sense. The US has more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia. If we pumped at their level we would dictate pricing (much as they do now)."

Wow! You claim the US has more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia? What a joke! Did you hear that while watching the Republican convention? Saudi Arabia has over 14 times the reserves of the United States. We're #13 on this list for proven oil reserves. [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cou... ] Check out the other data sources they cite -- you won't find one of them that has the US with more reserves than Saudi Arabia. You insist you're the one relying on "reality and common sense," yet you can't even get the facts correct on which you base your entire argument! That's just sloppy.

theflick - Long time production workers at GM make about $25 per hour, and have since their last raise back in around 2007. It took them about 35 man hours to build that $50 K truck. Do the math, direct labor is a small portion of the sticker price. If the workers' wages really were the problem they would now be building Tahoes in Silao Mexico, not Arlington Texas.

OVERABUNDANCE OF GAS ????????? he musta missed the 15 cent increase in one day !!!!! c'mon WAKE UP !!!!

.613 (61 cents)

Poobah, your usual array of selected quotes which could be countered with opposing selected quotes.
But hey, let's look at reality and use common sense. The US has more oil reserves than Saudi Arabia. If we pumped at their level we would dictate pricing (much as they do now).
In Saudi Arabia a gallon of gas is 61.3 in US dollars.

http://susieofarabia.wordpress.com/2011/...

note:I know you don't subscribe to common sense since we previously had that discussion.

Mteg: here's some help with the math and logic - an increase of 79% is not the same as the Government purchasing 79% of GM's vehicles.

Government purchases of fleet vehicles rose 79% in June 2012 (an increase versus their purchases in June 2011), fleet vehicles represent about 32% of GM's total sales, and not all fleet vehicles are purchased by the Government - the numbers I saw is that the actual increase in Government purchases was less than 7,750 vehicles out of a total of almost 250,000 vehicles sold. This does represent around 23% of the total year-over-year sales increase of 15.5%, meaning that if the Government purchases hadn't increased, GM's June sales would have only been 11.9% higher instead of 15.5%.

Not exactly a massive Obama conspiracy.

Third_Eye said, "Supply vs WORLDWIDE demand = price."

Back to the drawing board with that idea, buddy.

“There are not many markets where the United States can’t impose its will on market outcomes … This is one we can’t, and it’s hard for the average American to understand that and it’s easy for politicians to feed off that.” - Christopher Knittel, MIT economist

“The amount of oil you produce at home doesn’t affect the price … You can lower your vulnerability to price by lowering your consumption of oil, but not by increasing your production.” - Michael Levi, Council on Foreign Relations

“Producing more oil domestically will enrich the U.S. economy, particularly U.S. oil companies and their workers. With oil so valuable, it may be a good idea, though the value must be weighed against environmental consequences. But it will have no discernible impact on gas prices, because it will change the world’s supply/demand balance for oil by less than 2 or 3 percent over a decade or more.” - Severin Borenstein, UC Berkeley economist

“If the U.S. produced more of its own oil, it would probably reduce imports, but it’s not likely that it would reduce prices … We probably cannot produce so much oil to exert downward pressure on prices compared to the world market.” - Ken Green, American Enterprise Institute

“Sure, more domestic oil creates the possibility of fewer refined imports tied to the price of Brent crude, but given that the price of Brent sets the price for crude generally, the result would be more profit for domestic crude producers rather than significantly lower gasoline prices for Americans (not that there’s anything wrong with that).” - Jerry Taylor/Peter Van Doren, Cato Institute

Feed his OWN agenda??
I'm sure.....Thats what 99% of Republicans and Democrats do.

LaborParty. Supply vs WORLDWIDE demand = price.
If we drilled more we could roll in the dough with our exported oil AND have lower prices. (but then we might disturb the thrashweed butterfly or something).
.
If true, why does Congressman Paul Ryan's brother working for Bain Capital need to be spun?

GM today and the Ryan connection to Bain Capital tomorrow. I see where someone finally noticed Paul's brother worked for Bain in the 90s. Let's see how this is spun - if at all.

so true:Ryan..started out as a good local politician that now has forgotten all about us common folks, and will say anything to feed his OWN agenda, not ours...
A sad thing indeed...not just for Janesville, but for the Country too.

Ryan also lied about requesting stimulus money until the letters he wrote were brought to his attention. After voted against it and criticized Obama for the stimulus plan.
LIARS!

LaborParty, you're spot on with your comment.

Frank S you need to send a resume to the"New York Times". Your style of reporting would fit right in there.

Mr. Schultz: Do you think you are a bit biased against Mr. Ryan in your article? Are you planning on reporting on Mr. Obama's stretching of the facts? Didn't think so.

How GM really failed. Its not gas prices people. Their number one selling vehicle was still their full size pickup after gas prices skyrocketed. And yes, unfortunately we had the oldest, most outdated plant.

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2009/05/31/a...

One point not mentioned in the article, that most people forget is that the GM plant in Janesville was among the oldest active plants. Cost anaylisis figures forcasting ahead show that it would have been costlier to keep the Jansville plant open and continually revamp/remodel/repair...vs. Build new from ground up. The simple fact is that Obama, Ryan, Walker, Doyle, Bush, etc... would have had very little impact on a bottom line corporate decision based on profit/cost margin.

Rick Wagoner announced in June of 2008 that the plant would close by 2010. If you're trying to blame someone for the closing, the initial announcement is more important than when the doors were actually closed for the last time. Pauly got it wrong.

Frank, you are incorrect. As Zoso indicated, production at the plant didn't end until April of 2009. Part of good reporting is using facts in your reports.....

"79% of GM’s sales last month was government purchased

July 12th, 2012
Remember how Obama keeps telling us how he saved GM, and how our economy is getting better, it seems the car company he bought is being saved by Govt employees using our tax money to buy new cars. 79% of GM’s sales last month was government purchased.
GM’s sales figures for last month were the best since 2008 , up 16% for the month of June. YIPPEE! Well, wait just a minute. It seems that those rosy sales figures are due primarily to a 79% increase in fleet sales to the U.S. government in June. That’s right. Our tax dollars are being used to pump up GM’s sales figures ahead of next month’s quarterly report so that Dear Leader can point to Government Motors as a huge success. The incestuous relationship between GM, the UAW and the Regime has never been more glaringly apparent. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. GM is unsustainable without government subsidies and will ultimately go bust again, taking billions of taxpayer dollars down with it.
We bailed out General Motors to the tune of $50 billion. $30 billion of this is effectively a loss, mostly sunk into fattening the United Auto Workers union—fierce Obama supporters—while the actual bondholders were shown the elevator shaft.

Meanwhile, as News Busters reports, “We the Taxpayers are still stuck holding 500+ million shares of GM stock. Which we need to sell at $53 per. Which debuted post-bankruptcy at $33 per. And which is currently trading at just over $20 per. Meaning we’ll lose about $15 billion.”
But it gets better. Despite the overwhelming negatives, the tiny bright spot of positive June sales numbers is being heralded by Obama and the leftist press as proof the auto bailout was a “success.”
Obama is now campaigning on the “success” of – the government buying cars from…the government’s car company. With our money.
Americanvision says That’s like you setting up a lemonade stand for your kids. You buy them the lemons, sugar, cups and pitchers – and then buy most of the lemonade yourself.
The pressure is on Government Motors to appear financially strong as this may be the last earnings report before November elections and sets the stage for how “successful” GM is. One of GM’s past tricks to help fudge earnings numbers has been to stuff truck inventory channels. Old habits die hard at GM. According to a Bloomberg report, “GM said inventory of its full-size pickups, which will be refreshed next year, climbed to 238,194 at the end of June, a 135 days’ supply, up from 116 days at the end of May.” 135 days’ supply is huge, the accepted norm is a 60 day supply. The trick here is that GM records revenue when vehicles go into dealership
"
http://pushbacknow.net/2012/07/12/79-of-...

Just one more thing to back up my position on Ryan..started out as a good local politician that now has forgotten all about us common folks, and will say anything to feed his OWN agenda, not ours...
A sad thing indeed...not just for Janesville, but for the Country too.

jonkon, that session of Congress began in January 2006. The recession started in December of 2006. Please tell me what legislation was passed in those 11 months (not including the summer break) that caused the worst recession since the great Depression. The fact is, Republicans were at the wheel for more than a decade before the collapse.

You need to do some research. The output of domestic oil drilling goes on the world market. We simply don't have enough to make a significant dent in the price of gas. Also note that off-shore drilling has actually INCREASED under the Obama administration.

If the media wouldnt have hyped up the gas prices no one would care as much. There are lots of things that have went up more than gas. I found myself in kind of a panic when the gas prices went up....only fueled by everyone elses panic and the media. After I realized it only equates to a couple bucks more a fillup.... who really cares?... inflation is life. Get over it people and thank the media....It helped car sales drop more than anything. Look at what it cost to go watch a movie at the theater and get a bag of popcorn and pop.... And people complain abuot gas.... HAHA! Its sad the media affects society like it does.

Zoom, Democrats took over Congress in 2006 and presided over the collapse of the banks and housing markets, creating the bad economy that Obama blames Bush for. Also the futures market would have immediately driven gas prices down in anticipation of future capacity coming on line. Furthermore increased gas production would be coming on line now if Democrats had not blocked increased drilling because "it would not be available for another 10 years."

freedomfighter608: Obummer? How old are you? The President has done so much, but that is taking away from the subject. How do you feel about Ryan's accusation? P.S. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/magazin...

People wouldn't vote for Perot because they were "AFRAID" their "vote" would be "wasted".
I'd rather waste it that way than waste it on Republicans and Democrats.

Ross Perot can explain it as can many thousands of other people.

Just ask Ross Perot.

ThirdEye- Those are good points but GM has never stopped making great numbers of large vehicles, its just that now they make so many of them in Mexico and Canada instead of Janesville.......THANKS Republicans and Democrats for NAFTA......Anyone who doesn't believe both are just as responsible for that atrocity can look it up.

You can't just make stuff up. When you do, you appear desperate (or dumb.)

I agree with Westorbust@7:54am in the last paragraph about GM being sluggish. Look at Ford, they adapted and are surviving.
The biggest problem with GM is that they could not embrace small cars. The writing was on the wall when they spun off the Chevy Sprint, Spectrum, and Nova into the Geo brand, thus divorcing the Chevrolet name from any sign of a small car. (Even though Chevrolet introduced the smaller Corvair and Chevy II in the early 60's)
The culture of Alfred P. Sloan gave way to the culture of a series of 'Roger Smiths'.
The launching of Saturn confirmed the GM culture as big cars or nothing, and we ended up with nothing. (Not even Saturn)

"But Obama's POLICES were to blame since they were the same policies used by Jim Doyle who was governor when the plant closed."

What energy policies would those be? Did Doyle have some magical control over national energy policy?

The 30% rise in gas price was rapid and a shock. The $3 to $4 rise happened in about 6 months. Overall car sales fell about 30%, but a much larger hit was to large vehicle sales. Rational or not, people stopped buying large vehicles in greater proportions than other vehicles. Note that I wrote large, and not expensive. Luxury vehicles didn't take the hit that gas guzzlers did.

Gas is taxed at a fixed amount per gallon, so as gas prices rise, the gas tax is actually a smaller percentage of the overall price. The U.S. gas tax is small compared to most of the rest of the world. Gas taxes had nothing to do with carmageddon.

"President Barack Obama's policies were, in part, to blame. Obama wasn't president when the plant closed."

But Obama's POLICES were to blame since they were the same policies used by Jim Doyle who was governor when the plant closed.

Why do people blame gas prices for GM closing? Govt mandates large tax on gas = govt responsible for high gas prices. If the govt caused this why did they bail them out? If you owned a Tahoe to begin with then gas prices are not even a thought....you should always be used to using the amount of gas you use. And so the prices went from almost $3 a gallon to $4. How can anyone that owns a vehicle that costs that much complain about such small operating cost increase? Instead of $75 to fill a tank its $100.... is $25 that big of a deal? Maybe to some, but those who drive SUV's I would think not. I have one, spending a couple more pennies is not a huge deal. Gas prices are more hyped up than they really matter.

"The president's terrible energy policies are costing us jobs."

As the article states, the "President" at the time was Bush, and Republicans controlled both the House and Senate from 2003 to 2008. Republicans controlled the House from 1996 to 2008, and the Senate in all but two of those years. Whose energy policy is Ryan talking about again?

Yes, rising gas prices killed Tahoe/Suburban. Overall car sales dropped over 30% in about 6 months, and the Tahoe/Suburban were sales leaders of their class, so it had nothing to do with unions or union wages.

No new energy policy enacted in 2008 or 2009 would have lowered gas prices enough to make a difference. New pipelines, wells and refineries take YEARS before they come on line.

"The people" keep getting sick but can't seem to figure out that the food in both the Democrat and Republican dumpsters that they're eating out of both contain contaminated food.
They go from-one-to-the-other and can't seem to figure out why they remain sick.

During Obama's initial campaign he stood before the GM Assembly workers and told them that they would be making automobiles there for another 100 years. I guess in "Obama years" 2 equates to 100 actual years?? The president also considers the GM "turnaround"(which is entirely debatable once one looks at how the numbers were tabulated) one of his crowning achievements. A company which has over 66% of it's labor resources outside of our borders and whose long term growth plans clearly state that that percentage will increase. All financed with billions of US taxpayer dollars.....but Bain Capital is the bad guy.......if it wasn't so pathetic it would be comical.......

Eagle- Yep...Like I said before, until "the people" see fit to get rid of Republicans and Democrats, there is no hope for the working middle class.

Wow how can you people support Obama or Ryan on this issue? Neither is better than the other. If you are waiting for a politician to open the doors to any business you will be waiting a long long time. Ryan used rhetoric to make a point, unfortunately for him the facts don't support what he said. Obama does the same thing he is a politician. I remember Clinton doing it when talking to minority groups he talked about how when he was a child he was saddened by the church burnings in his hometown, the first church burning in Hope, Arkansas was in 1967, Clinton was 21 years old. If the rhetoric which is all BS is what you people are going to get hung up on you deserve the failure the two parties offer.

No "theflick", like any business they charge what the market will bear, and what gives them profit. The Tahoe/Suburban line gave GM it's one of it's largest profit margins of any vehicle they produced, so what the workers made had little do with closing the plant. $4 a gallon gas and a devastated global economy is what closed the plant in Janesville, of course that's ALL Obama's fault, right?

Maybe if GM had not been so ponderously slow to change it's sluggish corporate culture and actually produced vehicles that got good reviews AND decent gas mileage, they might have weathered the storm without a government bailout, which was supported by Paul Ryan, btw.

theflick- are you related to Ryan? You seem to have a penchant for telling lies also.

'Jobs' really haven't been debated yet. It's mainly been abortion and Medicare that the candidates have been debating through the media. Once jobs hit the debate platform I wonder if we will see images of the tired building on the national news again?

Wow, I can't believe the folks of Janesville do not have enough pride to call Ryan on his lies. He says, I am from Janesville, Wi. and then tells straight out lies making Janesville, Wi. look bad. And in turn making everyone from Janesville, Wi. look bad. He represents Janesville, Wi to the whole nation right now and how embarrassed we all should be of him. If you ask me, Janesville, Wi should publicly disown him. Of course unless we all really are a city of liars.

Technically, the Janesville GM plant didn't close until 2009. They did produce Isuzu light trucks there through part of 2009. It probably wouldn't be too difficult to find some way to connect some bill Obama supported as Senator as contributing to the closing of the plant.

So were several state democrats but heck it isn't their fault the plant closed. It is all Ryan's fault. Doyle didn't save the plant. Kohl didn't save the plant. Baldwin didn't save the plant.

If you vote for me janesville, I will get the GM plant open.....heard that before. Anything to get a vote. Wasn't he on the committee that was working with GM to keep its doors open and failed?

Ryan- Politics first and formost. Facts just get in the way.

Just like Obummer is doing right now, because he cannot run on what he has done successfully, during his term.

It took a week for this 'mistake' to appear in the Gazette. I believe the Congressman would say anything to get elected, including lies, or at the least stretching the truth. So, the list of lies begins...