Romney's Whopper On Jeeps and China

By Jeralyn, Section Elections 2012
Posted on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 12:54:46 PM EST
Tags: Mitt Romney, Chysler (all tags)

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A new Mitt Romney ad began airing over the weekend,

The 30-second spot shows cars being crushed as a narrator says Obama “sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China. Mitt Romney will fight for every American job.”

At a campaign event last week, the one at which Meatloaf butchered America the Beautiful, Romney said "he read a story somewhere" that "Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China... “I will fight for every good job in America, I’m going to fight to make sure trade is fair.”

Jeeps production is not being outsourced to China. Chrysler says it has no intention of moving production, even for the new Jeep Patriot. To the contrary, it says it is increasing production at its Toledo and Detroit plants, with up to 2,200 new jobs.[More...]

The Washington Post gives the ad 4 pinocchios.

Chrysler writes of the article Romney cited:

“Chrysler currently builds all Jeep SUV models at plants in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. Manley (President and CEO of the Jeep brand) referred to adding Jeep production sites rather than shifting output from North America to China.”

Despite clear and accurate reporting, the take has given birth to a number of stories making readers believe that Chrysler plans to shift all Jeep production to China from North America, and therefore idle assembly lines and U.S. workforce. It is a leap that would be difficult even for professional circus acrobats.

Let’s set the record straight: Jeep has no intention of shifting production of its Jeep models out of North America to China. It’s simply reviewing the opportunities to return Jeep output to China for the world’s largest auto market. U.S. Jeep assembly lines will continue to stay in operation. A careful and unbiased reading of the Bloomberg take would have saved unnecessary fantasies and extravagant comments.

Just what we need: A presidential candidate who lacks basic reading comprehension skills.

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Romney's Whopper On Jeeps and China | 29 comments (29 topical)

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Romney's distortion here has (5.00 / 1) (#1)
by indy in sc on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 01:22:55 PM EST

also caused the CEO to have to calm the fears of his employees. Talk about disrupting business--isn't Romney supposed to be the friend of business?

: He's a friend to business (none / 0) (#22)
by sj on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 10:05:26 PM EST

What does that have to do with employees? In his mind they're just fungible resources.

This is not a religious man (5.00 / 4) (#2)
by Dadler on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 01:27:58 PM EST

I don't care what his church or PR dept says. He is the classic charlatan. Creep.

It is called (5.00 / 3) (#7)
by KeysDan on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 03:57:36 PM EST

"lying for the lord."


Lying for HIS particular lord.. (5.00 / 2) (#13)
by jondee on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 04:22:58 PM EST

that inscrutable, Old Testament voice-out-of-the-whirlwind-in-Utah who requireth that no liberal Amalakite or Philistine be left alive..


I'd have more respect if he were lying... (none / 0) (#24)
by Dadler on Wed Oct 31, 2012 at 01:06:28 AM EST

...for Jack Lord.


: or The Lords of Flatbush (none / 0) (#32)
by jondee on Thu Nov 01, 2012 at 03:24:59 PM EST

or Lord Mountbatten.

Yes, "lying for the Lord" (none / 0) (#30)
by MKS on Wed Oct 31, 2012 at 01:06:26 PM EST

is a Mormon custom for the Mormon uppercrust. Came into vogue to deny polygamy in the 1800s. Continues today to avoid embarrasing details.

See, Mitt has been foreordained to be President of the United States. It is the fulfillment of the Joseph Smith White Horse Prophecy that held that at one time the U.S. Constitution would "hang by a thread" and would be saved "by the Elders of the Church."

Ann Romney feels entitled not just because she is rich.....Foreordained to be a Queen. And, she believes she will be a Queen in the Celestial Kingdom. Why can't you little people see that?

Not all Mormons are like this--not certainly Harry Reid--but some of the rich, pampered ones are.


"every American job" (5.00 / 1) (#4)
by jondee on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 03:26:10 PM EST

at which Americans are willing to work for lower wages and less protections than workers in China, Vietnam, Mexico, and Bangladesh get..

I'd have to disagree, Jeralyn. (5.00 / 2) (#5)
by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 03:44:29 PM EST

Jeralyn: "Just what we need: A presidential candidate who lacks basic reading comprehension skills."

Romney is a very smart man -- and unfortunately for the country, he knows exactly what he is doing and saying and just doesn't give a rat's a$$, as long as it gets him what he wants.

Remember, this is a guy whose own campaign freely admitted only a couple months ago that they're not going to feel bound and constrained by anything that fact-checkers might say in response to their ad campaign.

Simply put, Mitt Romney is a serial bull$Hi+ artist and amoral huckster, who's pandering to the GOP base's lowest common denominators.

We've seen this before.. (none / 0) (#9)
by jondee on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 04:13:48 PM EST

this is the danger when a person is deeply emotionally-spirtually invested in an authoritarian tradition that believes it has an exclusive, direct line to the Almighty..

Their 'higher calling' excuses any means used to achieve the goal. Like the crusaders said: kill them all; let God sort them out.


Romney may think he's the ultimate Mormon savior (none / 0) (#16)
by sallywally on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 06:44:27 PM EST

of the U.S. or the world or whatever they think the prophecy indicates. He is probably on track to be a god himself in the Mormon tradition, with his own planet, etc. At least that's what I understand the unreported backstory is.

I wish the MSM would cover what Romney's Mormonism is really about. I'm not sure it's what most of his co-religionists think about him.


: I saw about half of "The Choice" (5.00 / 1) (#18)
by shoephone on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 07:03:42 PM EST

on a Frontline repeat the other night. The decades-long belief by Romney and those around him that he is a "shining, white knight" who rides in and saves the world is stunning, to say the least. "Messianic" is an understatement.

With this much time left (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by Socraticsilence on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 04:00:32 PM EST

would a better response just be the Obama team starting to blatantly lie about Romney? I mean the old "lie gets halfway around the world" chestnut would seem to be smart to take advantage of right now especially the GOP seems to be mirroring Mitt and just going all Gish all the time. WHy not start saying Mitt will put troops on the ground in Iran within 6 months or swearing in or something similar, Mitt will abolish social security.

: Did you know (none / 0) (#12)
by Socraticsilence on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 04:19:08 PM EST

Mitt Romney personally recommended offshoring Advance AutoParts at a Bain board meeting, I think the fine folks of Richmond, VA deserve to know the truth.

Mitt Romney's Core Values (5.00 / 1) (#31)
by john horse on Wed Oct 31, 2012 at 09:08:57 PM EST

In in science news: Using the most powerful electron microscope known to man, scientists claim to have discovered the elusive particle containing Mitt Romney's core values.

Grazie Obama, (1.00 / 3) (#3)
by Jim in St Louis on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 01:43:18 PM EST

Italian car companies are very grateful for the auto bailout money. And I'm sure that they would not move production just to save a few lira.

: Fiat owns 61% of Chrysler stock, and ... (5.00 / 3) (#6)
by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 03:53:02 PM EST

... has been a good and supportive strategic business partner to the U.S. auto manufacturer. Your xenophobic remarks are duly noted.

: Scusi. Italy adopted the Euro (5.00 / 4) (#10)
by KeysDan on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 04:14:16 PM EST

February 28, 2002, which replaced the lira and preceded the Obama administration.

: I realize (5.00 / 2) (#11)
by Socraticsilence on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 04:16:11 PM EST

as a Republican the idea of 100,000s or millions out work is deeply satisfying but to the rest of us saving the auto industry was a good thing.

: Idiota (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by Zorba on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 04:38:03 PM EST

Cetriolo.

Mini Jeeps (1.00 / 2) (#19)
by ding7777 on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 07:37:27 PM EST

Fiat is going to make mini Jeeps in Italy and export them to the Americas (USA ?)

Rather than closing factories in Italy to bring costs down in line with the slump in European demand for new cars, Mr. Marchionne is gambling that he can put burgeoning spare capacity to use by exporting more premium-priced cars to growing markets in the Americas and Asia.

[,,,]

Mr. Marchionne gave few details on new models. But the new product roll-out in Europe between 2013 and 2016 would include [...] a Chrysler car and six Jeep models

I don't think the term ... (5.00 / 2) (#21)
by Donald from Hawaii on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 09:04:15 PM EST

... "the Americas" necessarily refers to the United States exclusively. There's an entire continent to the south of us, which contains one of the burgeoning economic powers of the 21st century, Brazil.

Further, I'd like to bring to your attention a key statement in the article that speaks directly to Fiat's motivation for its actions, which for some reason you chose to omit:

"Fiat said its European factories are operating at 45% of capacity on average, while its plants in Brazil and North America are operating at full tilt." (Emphasis is mine.)

Also, I found it somewhat misleading that you would selectively edit your last quote to omit key points of information. Thus, that sentence you sought to quote actually reads as follows:

"But the new product roll-out in Europe between 2013 and 2016 would include five new Fiat cars, nine new Alfa Romeo cars, six new Maserati models, three new Fiat light trucks, as well as new vehicles from Fiat's 58.5%-held U.S. unit Chrysler Group LLC, comprising a Chrysler car and six Jeep models including one specifically for the European market." (Emphasis is mine.)

Thank you for posting a link to your article. Next time, I would respectfully suggest that you first take the time to actually read it and absorb its contents in their entirety, so as to avoid future misinterpretations of quotes which were taken out of context.

I'm really trying to be gracious in my rebuttal, and give you the benefit of the doubt. Next time, others here might not be so forgiving. By and large, I'd say that the TalkLeft community tends to be a rather skeptical lot, and members will readily fact-check your statements when their bull$Hi+-detecting antennae are aroused, as was mine in this instance.

We certainly are a rather diversely opinionated group, to say the least. But unlike so many of those who would post at right-wing sites like RedState.org or left-wing sites like DemocraticUnderground.com, we are also a reality-based community who respect facts and truth, and don't view either as mere disposable commodities of convenience.

And as such, we are hardly predisposed to chase our own tails, when it comes to substantive discussions of politics and public policy.

Aloha.


Like I said (1.00 / 3) (#25)
by ding7777 on Wed Oct 31, 2012 at 02:52:03 AM EST

And nothing in the expanded article I linked to or your self-proclaimed graciousness refutes that statement.

So deal with the reality that the mini Jeep

1. Will not be built in the USA and
2. Will be exported to the Americas (yes, Donald, the USA is part of the Americas)

: Recipe: (5.00 / 1) (#29)
by sj on Wed Oct 31, 2012 at 10:29:08 AM EST

. Take one minor fact
. accompany minor fact with "quotes" deliberately edited to say the opposite of what they do.
. Stir quickly and blindly and wait for annoyance to rise.
. When dander or annoyance has arisen and is fully articulated, sanctimoniously point to minor fact while simultaneously burnishing self-righteous indignation.
. Ignore responses
. Rinse and repeat
This will provide enough bullsh!t to last nearly one calendar day.

What's the fuss (1.00 / 4) (#27)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Wed Oct 31, 2012 at 07:44:19 AM EST

... Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China.

That is true as well as assembly in Italy. How a statement of fact gets 4 pinocchios is a wonder.

: Well, you know.... (5.00 / 2) (#28)
by Rojas on Wed Oct 31, 2012 at 08:09:07 AM EST

Romney said "he read a story somewhere" that "Jeep, now owned by the Italians, is thinking of moving all production to China... "

The D's should publish a book of Romney quotes... (none / 0) (#15)
by unitron on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 06:39:08 PM EST

...entitled "All the true things Mitt Romney has said", and make it a very slim volume with blank pages.

Except for the "I like being able to fire people" line and maybe couple more accidents like that.

: The things Romney says and stands by (5.00 / 3) (#17)
by CoralGables on Tue Oct 30, 2012 at 07:02:00 PM EST

could be made into a Seinfeld episode... A show about nothing.