October 28, 2012

Yes, Mitt Romney Called Federal Spending On Disaster Relief “Immoral”

As Hurricane Sandy makes her way toward the United States’ east coast, Governors in the path of the hurricane are declaring their states disaster areas. Even New Jersey’s Republican Governor Chris Christie said in a press conference today that he spoke with President Obama, and he is set to accept help from the Federal government as Sandy approaches his state.

But imagine if Mitt Romney was in charge. Huh? You can’t remember what Mitt Romney had to say about the government helping its citizens in the event of a natural disaster?

Well let me jog your memory.

Remember during the Republican primaries when Romney and his fellow Republicans were trying to out nut each other? A question was asked about government relief during times of natural disasters. Mitt Romney answered that question by saying that federal spending on disaster relief is “immoral.”

We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we’ll all be dead and gone before it’s paid off. It makes no sense at all.

Just what Americans need. A president who thinks it is “immoral” to provide help to Americans after a natural disaster.

Could Be a Mitt Romney Record – Ad Tells 4 Lies in 30 Seconds

First, here’s the ad.

And here are the lies:

1. “Mitt Romney has a plan to help the auto industry.” No specific plan is referenced in the ad, and Romney’s campaign web site does not include a plan to “help the auto industry.” In 2008, Romney wrote a New York Times editorial titled, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt,” and he re-upped his call against the auto rescue during the Republican primaries this year.

2. “[Romney] is supported by Lee Iaccoca and the Detroit News.” Chrysler Chairman Lee Iaccoca has indeed endorsed Romney. The Detroit News, a self-described “conservative newspaper,” endorsed him last week. But in that endorsement, the paper slammed Romney’s “wrong-headedness on the auto bailout.”

3. “Obama took GM and Chrysler into bankruptcy.” Obama did take both companies into a managed bankruptcy, the path Romney says was originally his idea. Romney, however, supported private sector financing of the bankruptcy, a plan that was “pure fantasy” at the time since no private lenders could lend to the companies in the middle of the financial crisis. Without federal intervention, the companies would have almost assuredly collapsed, costing 1.3 million jobs, according to industry estimates.

4. “[Obama] sold Chrysler to Italians who are going to build Jeeps in China.” This week, Romney claimed he read a news story that said Chrysler was planning to “moving all production to China.” The Bloomberg News piece he referenced, though, made it clear that Fiat, the Italian company that now owns Chrysler, was opening new factories in China to make Jeeps for Chinese consumers. No American plants will be closed, and no American jobs will be lost. The ad’s claim may not be as false as Romney’s previous statement, but it is certainly misleading.