Clinton twisting stance on auto bailout, Sanders says

Associated Press

KALAMAZOO, Mich.

Trying to make a stand in Michigan, Sen. Bernie Sanders said Monday that Hillary Clinton was being disingenuous when she asserted that he opposed the auto bailout that rescued carmakers General Motors and Chrysler from oblivion during the economic crisis.

Sanders sought to defend his record ahead of today’s crucial Michigan primary and blunt the former secretary of state’s momentum in the Democratic presidential contest. The bailout of the U.S. auto industry by President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama remains popular in Michigan, the home of the U.S. auto industry, and has been credited with preserving the Midwest’s manufacturing base.

“Secretary Clinton went out of her way to mischaracterize my history as it relates to the 2008 auto industry bailout,” the Vermont senator said during a rally in Kalamazoo, Mich. “Let me be as clear as I can: There was one vote in the United States Senate on whether or not to support the auto bailout and protect jobs in Michigan and around this country. I voted for the auto bailout.”

Sanders was referring to a December 2008 vote in which Michigan’s Democratic senators, Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow, pleaded with fellow lawmakers to provide a $14 billion lifeline to GM and Chrysler, which were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy at the time.

Sanders and Clinton both voted in favor of the bill, but it failed to clear the Senate, prompting Bush to announce about a week later that the federal government would step in with $17.4 billion in federal aid to help the carmakers survive and restructure. The bailout provided $13.4 billion at the end of the Bush administration with the last $4 billion contingent on the release of the second installment of the Wall Street bailout funds.

In Sunday night’s debate, Clinton declared that Sanders “was against the auto bailout. In January of 2009, President-elect Obama asked everybody in the Congress to vote for the bailout. The money was there, and had to be released in order to save the American auto industry.”

She added: “I voted to save the auto industry. He voted against the money that ended up saving the auto industry. I think that is a pretty big difference.” Clinton’s campaign began airing a radio ad in Michigan on Monday with a similar message.