Did Paul Ryan Lie About The Janesville Plant and Obama?

There has been a ton of spin since Paul Ryan's speech at the RNC last night in Tampa. I would like to examine one particular point being contended by the media, namely Ryan's facts related to the GM Plant in his hometown of Janesville, Wisconsin.

Here is the part of Ryan’s speech that the media is most up in arms about and saying that he is lying:

“President Barack Obama, came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those are very tough days. And any fair measure of his record has to take that into account. My own state voted for President Obama. When he talked about change, many people liked the sound of it. Especially in Janesville where we were about to lose a major factory. A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that G.M. plant. Right there at that plant, candidate Obama said, ``I believe that if our government is there to support you, this plant will be here for another 100 years.''

That's what he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year. It is locked up and empty to this day. And that's how it is in so many towns where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight. Right now, 23 million men and women are struggling to find work. 23 million people unemployed or underemployed. Nearly one in six Americans is in poverty. Millions of young Americans have graduated from college during the Obama presidency, ready to use their gifts and get moving in life. Half of them can't find the work they studied for, or any work at all. So here's the question, without a change in leadership, why would the next four years be any different from the last four years?” Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/08/29/transcript-paul-ryan-speech-at-rnc/#ixzz253MeJVYG

Here is what Barak Obama said in his campaign speech at the GM Plant in Janesville, WI, February 13, 2008:

“This can be America’s future. I know that General Motors received some bad news yesterday, and I know how hard your Governor has fought to keep jobs in this plant. But I also know how much progress you’ve made – how many hybrids and fuel-efficient vehicles you’re churning out. And I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another hundred years. The question is not whether a clean energy economy is in our future, it’s where it will thrive. I want it to thrive right here in the United States of America; right here in Wisconsin; and that’s the future I’ll fight for as your President.” Read more: http://www.cfr.org/us-election-2008/obamas-speech-janesville-wisconsin/p15492

Closing date of the Janesville GM Plant according to Wikipedia:

“In October 2008, GM announced Janesville Assembly would be largely idled December 23, 2008 when production of SUVs would end.” Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janesville_GM_Assembly_Plant

What Paul Ryan said is true. Obama did say in 2008 (February 13) at that very plant that he believed “if our government is there to support you,….this plant will be here for another 100 years.''

It is true that the plant closed in late December of 2008, less than a year after Obama made his statement. But it still continued to produce vehicles through a GM/Isuzu partnership until April 2009.  It is also true that the plant is still closed today.

 

In 2006, the Janesville plant set production and sales milestones for their E85 Flex Fuel SUV’s. But pressure from the EPA and California to further cut emissions and improve fuel economy would require that the Janesville plant would need to re-tool and make the transition, which takes time. The plant closed during Bush’s administration as a result of “fuel prices, the related slow sales of SUVs, and the economy”.  Ultimately this was an economic issue fueled by other factors.

The quote from Obama’s speech in 2008 that was missing as stated by Ryan was this: “…and [our government] give you the assistance you need to re-tool and make this transition”.

I believe the point Paul Ryan was making in his speech was not about the fact that the plant closed during Bush’s time in office and that Ryan was supposedly trying to be deceptive in saying that Obama was to blame, but that almost 4 years into Obama’s presidency that plant and many other businesses and plants like it are STILL closed and show no signs of life. Where is Obama’s promised “assistance [you need] to retool and make this transition?” He was pointing to the fact that Obama has not made the suffering of 23 million + Americans and their families his top priority. That his approach to fixing our economic problems with more taxes, more spending and bigger government bureaucracy has not worked, but yet he (Obama) thinks he deserves 4 more years.  

Ryan concedes in his speech that Wisconsin voted for Obama in 2008, primarily because life for Wisconsans had become difficult during the later part of the Bush presidency and they were desperate for “change”.

Ryan goes on further:

“You would think that any president, whatever his party, would make job creation and nothing else his first order of economic business, but this president didn't do that. Instead, we got a long, divisive, all or nothing attempt to put the federal government in charge of health care.