President Obama: "No matter how many punches we take, we don't give up. We get up. We fight back"

United Auto Workers President Bob King introduces U.S. President Barack Obama to speak at the United Auto Workers conference in Washington February 28, 2012.
Susan Walsh/AP


WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama delivered a rousing speech Tuesday to UAW members, reminding them -- and perhaps Michigan voters -- of the $80 billion rescue of General Motors and Chrysler that may have saved the industry.

"I placed my bet on American workers," he said in an advance copy of his speech. "I know our bet was a good one because I've seen the payoff first hand."

The timing of the speech was notable: As the UAW held its national community action program conference in Washington, Michigan voters were headed to the polls to help decide which Republican candidate will face Obama, the Democrat, in the fall.

Obama, without mentioning anyone by name, noted Republican candidate Mitt Romney's column in the New York Times in November 2008 headlined "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." Obama pointedly said that while some -- including Romney -- suggested private financing and a managed bankruptcy could have saved the companies, there was no such financing available and everyone knows it.

read: http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20120228/NEWS01/120228008/Obama-speech-UAW-convention-placed-my-bet-American-worker-?odyssey=nav|head



REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

‘‘You’ve got folks saying. ‘Well, the real problem is, what we really disagreed with was the workers, they all made out like bandits; that saving the American auto industry was just about paying back unions,’’’ Obama said. ‘‘Really? Even by the standards of this town, that’s a load of you-know-what.’’

He noted that under the agreement to use taxpayer money to save GM and Chrysler, union members had to agree to reduced wages and that thousands of retirees saw reductions in their health care benefits.

‘‘But they’re still talking about you as if you’re some special interest that needs to be beaten down,’’ Obama said.

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REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

President Obama said the 2009 bailout of the auto industry prevented another Great Depression from hitting the Midwest. He said the $80 billion from the U.S. government was the only way to save General Motors and Chrysler, and pointed to subsequent successes achieved in the auto industry, including record profits at GM and the addition of over 200,000 jobs in automotive industries.

Without taking Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney by name, Obama said, “Some even said we should ‘let Detroit go bankrupt.’ You remember that. You know him.” He was referencing a New York Times op-ed written by Romney on Nov. 19, 2008.

“Think about what that choice would have meant for this country. … Production: shut down. Factories: shuttered. Once proud companies chopped up and sold off for scraps. And all of you – the men and women who built these companies with your own hands – would’ve been hung out to dry.”

Obama swung out at his Republican opponents saying, “It’s been funny to watch some of these folks completely try to rewrite history, now that you’re back on your feet.”

read: http://www.ipolitics.ca/2012/02/28/obama-defends-bailout-for-detroit-automakers/



Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

"Four hundred thousand jobs across this industry vanished the year before I took office," he said. "And then as the financial crisis hit with its full force, America faced a hard and once unimaginable reality, that two of the Big 3 automakers -- GM and Chrysler -- were on the brink of liquidation."

The president also took a somewhat veiled swipe at GOP Presidential frontrunner Mitt Romney, reminding the workers that "Some even said we should 'let Detroit go bankrupt.'"

"Think about what that choice would have meant for this country, if we had turned our backs on you, if America had thrown in the towel, if GM and Chrysler had gone under," he said. "The suppliers, the distributors that get their business from these companies, they would have died off."

"You guys helped to write the American story," President Obama said. "And today, you're busy writing a proud new chapter. You are reminding us that no matter how tough times get, Americans are tougher."

He added, "No matter how many punches we take, we don't give up. We get up. We fight back. We move forward."

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So no, we were not going to take a knee and do nothing. We were not going to give up on your jobs, your families, and your communities. In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We said the auto industry would have to truly change, not just pretend that it did. We got labor and management to settle their differences. We got the industry to retool and restructure. Everyone involved made sacrifices. Everyone had some skin in the game. It wasn’t popular. And it wasn’t what I ran for President to do. But I ran to do the tough things – the right things –no matter the politics.

And you know why I knew this rescue would succeed? It wasn’t because of anything the government did. It wasn’t just because of anything management did. It was because I believed in you. I placed my bet on American workers. And I’d make that same bet again any day of the week. Because three years later, that bet is paying off for America. Three years later, the American auto industry is back.

About 700,000 retirees saw a reduction in the health care benefits they had earned. Many of you saw hours reduced, or pay and wages scaled back. You gave up some of your rights as workers. Promises were made to you over the years that you gave up for the sake and survival of this industry, its workers, and their families. You want to talk about values? Hard work – that’s a value. Looking out for one another – that’s a value. The idea that we’re all in it together – that I am my brother’s keeper; I am my sister’s keeper – that is a value.

But they’re still talking about you as if you’re some greedy special interest that needs to be beaten. Since when are hardworking men and women special interests? Since when is the idea that we look out for each other a bad thing? To borrow a line from our old friend Ted Kennedy: what is it about working men and women they find so offensive?

This notion that we should have let the auto industry die; that we should pursue anti-worker policies in hopes unions like yours will unravel – it’s part of that same old you’re-on-your-own philosophy that says we should just leave everyone to fend for themselves. They think the best way to boost the economy is to undo the reforms we put in place to prevent another crisis, and let Wall Street write its own rules again. They think the best way to help families afford health care is to undo the reform we passed that’s already lowering costs for millions of Americans, and go back to the days when insurance companies could deny your coverage or jack up your rates whenever and however they pleased. They think we should keep cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans so that billionaires can keep paying lower tax rates than their secretaries.

I don’t think so. That’s the philosophy that got us into this mess. And we can’t afford to go back. Not now . . .

read: http://www.freep.com/article/20120228/NEWS15/120228022/Transcript-Read-Obama-s-speech-today-United-Auto-Workers-Convention




Transcript: President Obama's speech today to the United Auto Workers Convention: http://www.freep.com/article/20120228/NEWS15/120228022/Transcript-Read-Obama-s-speech-today-United-Auto-Workers-Convention