George Allen Would Have Let U.S. Auto Industry Go Belly Up

by: lowkell

Mon Oct 10, 2011 at 14:39:25 PM EDT

George Allen would have played politics with 14,000 Virginia jobs
Ideological opposition to investment could have destroyed American auto industry

George Allen says that the government should have sat on the sidelines while the American auto industry and hundreds of thousands of associated jobs disappeared or went overseas. Despite overwhelming evidence that America's investments in its automobile manufacturers rescued the industry, George Allen thinks it was the wrong way to go. Instead, he would have put over 14,000 Virginia auto industry jobs in danger just to adhere to his anti-government ideology.

"I did not support the auto bailout,"-George Allen, "Ask George Allen" email to supporters.

The federal government helped GM and Chrysler return to profitability by forcing them through bankruptcy, demanding needed cost cutting, and making targeted investments which have largely been paid back. But if George Allen had his way, these two iconic American companies would have disappeared, and hundreds of thousands of jobs would have gone with them. Many of the 14,000 auto industry jobs in Virginia would have been in jeopardy, including jobs at Dynax in Botetourt County, where George Allen recently unveiled his anti-worker platform, Goodyear, the largest employer in Danville, and Continental AG in Newport News.

"George Allen is so stuck to his anti-government ideology that he can't even acknowledge when a federal investment pays off," said DPVA Executive Director David Mills. "Federal investment in American automakers pulled an entire industry back from the brink of collapse and saved hundreds of thousands of jobs up and down the supply chain.

"Letting the auto industry evaporate would have been devastating to American families, the national economy and our national security. But George Allen would have preferred to play politics with the whole industry, including many of the good paying jobs he showed off last week in Roanoke. Allen is so wedded to his 'government is bad' philosophy that he can't recognize a success story when he is standing in front of one."