Sen. Brown touts bailout of auto companies

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U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Avon)

Staff report

WASHINGTON

Sen. Sherrod Brown says the U.S. automotive industry is important to America’s economic recovery.

Brown, D-Ohio, who joins President Barack Obama in Toledo today to visit Chrysler Group LLC’s Toledo Supplier Park, released a report Thursday that highlighted the jobs saved as a result of the auto bailouts of 2009.

“The auto rescue wasn’t just about saving the Big Three; it was also about investing in Ohio manufacturers who make the auto parts used in some of America’s most popular cars,” Brown said Thursday.

“By investing in the auto-supply chain and Ohio’s economy, we can see how manufacturing can lead our economic-recovery efforts.”

Brown cited a 2010 study by the Center for Automotive Research, which said nearly 800,000 Ohio jobs rely on the auto industry.

Brown’s office also released a map detailing the direct suppliers to General Motors Co. and Chrysler, which in Ohio manufactures the Chevrolet Cruze and Jeep Wrangler, respectively.

Detractors have pointed to recent numbers released by the White House indicating that loss estimates still are around 20 percent for the $80 billion bailout.

“We’ll get what we get back,” Ron Bloom, an Obama adviser, said Wednesday. “It will be what it is.”

Chrysler has repaid all but $2 billion, and GM has paid back about half of the $50 billion it received from the federal government.