Former George W. Bush Budget Director, Trade Director, and now Senator Portman: “President who?”
COLUMBUS, OHIO – In response to Senator Rob Portman’s Republican National Convention speech that glaringly overlooked his own central role in the disastrous policies that helped cause the Great Recession, Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern released the following statement:
“Tonight, Senator Portman advocated for Mitt Romney and the Go Back Team to return America to the same Bush economic policies that gave tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, outsourced jobs from Ohio and several other states, and helped cause the recession. While President Bush is glaringly absent from this convention, his right hand budget man, Rob Portman, is more than willing to put his arm around Mitt Romney and support the most extreme policies imaginable, from the Paul Ryan budget that would end Medicare as we know it, to the Akin amendment that would set women back decades. Few people have had as great of a harmful economic impact on our country as Senator Portman, and like Mitt Romney, he also failed to support the auto rescue that helped protect nearly 850,000 Ohio jobs, spread out in 80 out of 88 counties, tied to the auto industry.”
BACKGROUND
Portman has Been Consistently Inconsistent On Supporting the Auto Rescue that Protected 850,000 Ohio Jobs
Senator Robert Portman Thought The Auto Bailout Was “Not A Good Deal For Ohio. “Many Republicans voiced opposition to the loans, including current U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, whose spokesman said yesterday that Portman still thinks ‘the auto bailout was not a good deal for Ohio.’” [Columbus Dispatch, 5/25/11]
Portman Called The Plan To Rescue General Motors A “Lousy Deal.”Portman issued a statement on the General Motors Bankruptcy Plan: “The General Motors bankruptcy plan Washington announced today is a lousy deal for Ohio. Taxpayers, including hard working Ohioans, are investing $50 billion in a GM plan that we now find includes shutting down plants in Mansfield, Parma, and Columbus, Ohio. The reason for this unprecedented taxpayer bailout and government intervention was to preserve jobs. Instead, for our $50 Billion taxpayer investment, thousands more workers will see their jobs disappear. Ohio deserves better than this.” [Rob Portman For Senate, via Internet Archive, accessed 3/9/12]
Today, Portman Claims He Always Supported the Auto Rescue. In 2011, Portman revised his previous statements on the auto rescue, noting he ““would have supported a government bailout of General Motors to avoid the bankruptcy…” [The Dayton Daily News, 5/26/11]