Even After Bailout, GM and Chrysler Invest Billions Abroad

Had the president promised to simply rehabilitate two Detroit-based multinational corporations, the auto bailout might reasonably be called a success based solely on the profits now being generated by GM and Chrysler. But the president's repeated claims that his auto policy was undertaken in order to grow an auto export base on behalf of American manufacturing workers simply ring hollow against the evidence. Tens of billions of tax dollars have halted the long-term decline in auto jobs, but GM and Chrysler are already building their futures far from America's manufacturing heartland. Mitt Romney may have misled when he claimed that Chrysler was abandoning Ohio with the president's blessing, but the president's entire justification for his policy has been just as deceptive. 

Edward Niedermeyer, former editor of thetruthaboutcars.com, is a freelance consultant based in Portland, Ore.