Video: Obama promises Janesville that plant will “thrive,” “will be here for another 100 years”
posted at 3:31 pm on September 3, 2012 by Ed Morrissey
Last week, I wrote extensively about the risible and embarrassing “fact checks” applied to Paul Ryan’s convention speech regarding his recollection of Barack Obama’s promise to Janesville to keep the plant open for another hundred years, but Phil Kerpen has managed to dig up the video of the event. Read my earlier post to refresh your memory of that media failure, and then watch Obama do exactly what Ryan said he did — tell the people at the GM plant in Janesville that his plan would usher in a clean-energy economy that would keep the plant slated for shuttering open for another 100 years:
I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give the assistance you need to retool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another 100 years. So, that’s our priority… I want it to thrive right here in the United States of America, I want it to thrive right here in Janesville, Wisconsin. And that’s the future I will fight for as president of the United States of America.
Here’s what Ryan said in his speech:
“A lot of guys I went to high school with worked at that GM 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 hundred years.’ That’s what he said in 2008. Well, as it turned out, that plant didn’t last another year.”
Sounds like Ryan got it exactly correct — especially since Ryan told the story to explain how people in Janesville and around the country voted for Obama based on his promises of Hope and Change, not just in general, but in very specific terms as in Janesville. Those are just the facts, ma’am.
Blowback
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Yes but the “Fact” checkers gave the media like MSNBC a chance to call Paul Ryan “factually challenged” and add more mud to the water.
IlikedAUH2O on September 3, 2012 at 3:32 PM
The lies.
In the end it will be all the lies that do in the Dems.
Every time they open their mouth they lie.
NeoKong on September 3, 2012 at 3:34 PM
Any bets on the first “taken out of context” call?
ricor on September 3, 2012 at 3:35 PM
Yup. It better be going into an ad for Wisconsin.
Rational Thought on September 3, 2012 at 3:36 PM
I’m sorry.
He distorted his time in a marathon from over 10 years ago.
That means everything he’s said is a lie.
I can’t wait for Stephanie Cutter to show up with video of Ryan’s dad, still alive.
The video may be from 25 years ago, but he’ll still be seen alive.budfox on September 3, 2012 at 3:36 PM
Obama lied, Janesville plant died.
mudskipper on September 3, 2012 at 3:37 PM
I put this up there with Newt promising “moon colonys”
gerrym51 on September 3, 2012 at 3:37 PM
I’d like to be an anonymous fact checker. Win-win.
a capella on September 3, 2012 at 3:39 PM
I already see the “spin”…the factory is still there…nobody works there but let’s not confuse fiction with facts.
teejk on September 3, 2012 at 3:39 PM
Old media, spontaneously combust for not doing your job, you halots.
Schadenfreude on September 3, 2012 at 3:40 PM
And this is the basis for the “lies” referenced in the above email from the DCCC. Unbelievable!
Sasha List on September 3, 2012 at 3:40 PM
Is Zombie Breitbart in charge of the Romney campaign? What a beautiful trap.
faraway on September 3, 2012 at 3:42 PM
a twit on my fiance’s facebook basically did that over the last hotair post on this. Obama said plants like this not this exact plant, he never promised, blah blah. And he wonders why he eventually ends up whining over my insulting him.
aikidoka on September 3, 2012 at 3:43 PM
I’m completely convinced that Obama just says whatever Jarrett and his ‘team’ put in front of him. He’d have to work 24 hours a day to be as duplicitous and nefarious as he appears. I simply don’t believe he has either the energy, or the skills, for such an intensive endeavor.
thatsafactjack on September 3, 2012 at 3:43 PM
Quoting Dear Liar is racist.
rbj on September 3, 2012 at 3:43 PM
There’s got to be something racist about Ryan’s accusation.
Give ‘em a minute to think one up.
Drained Brain on September 3, 2012 at 3:43 PM
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?
Who fact-checks the fact-checkers?
de rigueur on September 3, 2012 at 3:44 PM
Exactly! The plant could still be there in 100 years…..
Sasha List on September 3, 2012 at 3:44 PM
Heh… Ask and ye shall receive.
Drained Brain on September 3, 2012 at 3:44 PM
Cue liberal meltdown 3..2..1
tbrickert on September 3, 2012 at 3:46 PM
It’s like you coming home from a bad day at school and telling your mom, “man it was a bad day I got a c on a test I thought I was prepared for.”
and your mom saying, “well that’s too bad the dog died but we can keep it around for a while if you’d like.”
Barack time to let a real leader get a new dog.
harlekwin15 on September 3, 2012 at 3:46 PM
Before it is over they will be remaking Gremlins and Vegas.
Limerick on September 3, 2012 at 3:47 PM
Notice someone was slacking on their teleprompter duties at timemark 0:50.
Glenn Jericho on September 3, 2012 at 3:48 PM
This is at Drudge, upper left hand corner area and worth 2 minutes of your time…..
Recycled speeches…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZgQhnNRSuw&feature=relmfu
RealMc on September 3, 2012 at 3:50 PM
SHOCKED I tell ya.
gophergirl on September 3, 2012 at 3:50 PM
He didn’t say that
;-)
burrata on September 3, 2012 at 3:51 PM
The sad, if not pathetic, fact of the matter is that you could still put this video in front of someone like Stephanie “Baghdad Barbie” Cutter, have her watch it four, maybe five times, and she will still proclaim that Paul Ryan lied about what Obama said, even though she just heard Obama himself say it!
pilamaye on September 3, 2012 at 3:51 PM
0bama is going to have a very nasty and very disturbing public breakdown before the election. I hope there is at least one patriot in his inner circle, maybe Panetta, that will not let the man start something that costs millions of lives.
jukin3 on September 3, 2012 at 3:54 PM
Dog-Whistles Decoded: Romney’s Shockingly Racist Acceptance Speech (snark)
http://predicthistunpredictpast.blogspot.com/2012/09/dog-whistles-decoded-romneys-shockingly.html
M2RB: Pink Floyd
If Golf Is Racist, What Do “Country Club Republicans” Do At Country Clubs?
http://predicthistunpredictpast.blogspot.com/2012/09/if-golf-is-racist-what-do-country-club.html
M2RB: Neuroticfish
Resist We Much on September 3, 2012 at 3:56 PM
Who you gonna believe – the fact checkers or your lying eyes?
Curtiss on September 3, 2012 at 3:57 PM
Ooooo, I’ve been waiting for a leftie FB-er to post on this, but they’ve not !! Hmmm.
pambi on September 3, 2012 at 3:59 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ68SkaljaU&feature=player_embedded
General Manly Throw McMomjeans Hero of Hole 19 addresses the troops at Ft Bliss Patton style….met w/silence relatively
harlekwin15 on September 3, 2012 at 4:00 PM
“Janesville” is a dog whistle for racism or something, I’m pretty sure.
Do they have golf courses there?
ex Dem from Miami on September 3, 2012 at 4:00 PM
O/T but looks like the DNC are Raaaaaaaacist!
Sasha List on September 3, 2012 at 4:01 PM
Despite being corrupted by a number of skewed media polls over-weighted with unrealistic Dem samplings, the RCP average now stands at
Romney 46.4 Barry 46.4.
What is the real number id only properly conducted polls are used.
bayview on September 3, 2012 at 4:02 PM
Seriously Ed? No one is saying that Obama didn’t claim that the plant would thrive. The problem is that Ryan (and a number of other people) are arguing that Obama is somehow to blame for that plant closing, when there is no conceivable way to argue that he is. But this story must be getting serious traction if you’re going to engage in this kind of intense intellectual dishonesty.
libfreeordie on September 3, 2012 at 4:02 PM
Yeah, well, this was before he realized how bad Bush left things (on purpose!) for him to fix.
SouthernGent on September 3, 2012 at 4:02 PM
Right Wing Hollywood CGI! WE’RE NOT STUPID RETHUGLIKKKLANS!
El_Terrible on September 3, 2012 at 4:02 PM
Yup. Let him speak for himself
mrscullen on September 3, 2012 at 4:04 PM
Hey BatFree Ogabe said he would lower the oceans, and heal the land he also said “hey loan me 700billion and UE3 will be 5.6% or lower….”
then worked on his golf game….
C ya k thx GB
harlekwin15 on September 3, 2012 at 4:04 PM
That ‘someone’ went looking for a video of Teh Won’s actual. in-context words is – undoubtedly – racist.
There’s just no hope for someone that horrible.
To the camps with him!
Solaratov on September 3, 2012 at 4:06 PM
Awesome.
Curtiss on September 3, 2012 at 4:07 PM
He’s already said that he’s going to raise/lower the seas, whatever…Obama can lie with such ease, it’s truly frightening.
He appears to be saying just about anything that makes a big moment something ‘tingly’ without regard for what he is actually saying as to truth and reality.
And still his followers take him seriously. It’s mind boggling. The man’s utterly psychotic.
Lourdes on September 3, 2012 at 4:09 PM
Right, so you have no response to the point I made. Thanks for that.
libfreeordie on September 3, 2012 at 4:10 PM
That video, Obama never said that! How did you photoshop that video? Ryan was “pants on fire”! Obama never said that I tell you.
/sarc
NOMOBO on September 3, 2012 at 4:11 PM
No there’s a point LibFritolay, and it’s this….you can blame Chimpy….you can say “business cycle”, you can bray all day but BARRYY CHOOM cannot open his own umbrella let alone control the oceans or save anything….
what he can do he does, he gets in the way of the economic recovery by running interference between this nations’ oilmen and the nationally held shale fields.
To put it another way as I said in a cameo at an old haunt….
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/2011-03-18-cost-of-living-hits-record.htm
harlekwin15 on September 3, 2012 at 4:17 PM
Ryan never said that. When Ryan talked about this, he clearly stated that the plant was slated to close.
obaka is the one who promised he’d keep it open for 100 years. He’s the one that slipped up by making that promise.
ladyingray on September 3, 2012 at 4:17 PM
Paul Ryan is a racist!
Janesville, Wisconsin? Isn’t that where the Ku Klux Klan started?
Hot Air is a racist!!!!
patch on September 3, 2012 at 4:17 PM
Surely you jest, liveasaslaveanddie.
And, if anyone here engages in “intellectual dishonesty”, it is you. But then, the affirmative action committee that hired you doesn’t really care about that, now, do they? They just had a quota to fill – and you chanced along. Voila! You’re hired.
Solaratov on September 3, 2012 at 4:20 PM
The argument that Ryan advanced was Obama couldn’t keep the plant open, much less around for another hundred years. You are the one misstating the argument.
Here is exactly what Ryan said:
The only conceivable inference that can be drawn from what Ryan actually said is a) that there was no recovery as Obama promised, ergo b) there is no plant open today in Janesville. Anything else is your spin.
Which is what your side calls “traction” these days. I’ll be back shortly with another Slurpee.
de rigueur on September 3, 2012 at 4:21 PM
So Obambam singlehandedly killed binLaden and saved GM,
but
he is not responsible for that plant closing ?
Do you also believe that Solyndra is still producing solar panels ?
On second thought , don’t answer that …
burrata on September 3, 2012 at 4:26 PM
You ain’t lyin’, Jackson.
As I have said many times, if his ‘IQ’ is 120, I’m the Tsar of all the Russias.
Lanceman on September 3, 2012 at 4:27 PM
Obama said `I believe that if our government is there to support you … this plant will be here for another hundred years.’
It’s one of the many, many, many campaign promises he didn’t keep. That’s why Romney/Ryan are offering voters a choice. 4 more years of lies and broken promises, or a fresh start?
Good Solid B-Plus on September 3, 2012 at 4:29 PM
Yet no video of Paul Ryan doing anything odd 4 years ago they still have to go to current speeches to find errors.
Paul Ryan and Mitt have to be the cleanest people on earth. They have not only turned over every rock they dug where the rocks where and sifted the dirt. Think it was George Will that said they have no skeletons in the closet they don’t even have closets. This election is in the bag when people start to pay attention.
This video needs to be made into an ad with Ryan’s speech, Text on money sent to GM and then Obama speech. and then ending in a video of the empty factory.
tjexcite on September 3, 2012 at 4:29 PM
Nope.
On 13 February 2008, candidate Barack Obama said this in Janesville, Wisconsin:
Ryan said this:
Obama made his Janesville speech on 13 February 2008.
Obama was sworn in on 20 January 2009.
On 17 February 2009, Obama signed the Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Stimulus Act of 2009 into law.
On 20 March 2009, the Obama administration loaned Solyndra $535 million so it wasn’t like they were not giving out money to companies for “green energy” projects.
Obama and his administration never “…support[ed] [the workers at the Janesville plant], and [gave them] the assistance [they] need[ed] to re-tool and make this transition…”
The plant closed in April 2009.
Those are the facts and Stephanie Cutter is a lying biotch.
Resist We Much on September 3, 2012 at 4:30 PM
You guys are taking Obamao out of context. He was talking about roads and bridges.
xblade on September 3, 2012 at 4:32 PM
So, let’s play a little game here. If Bush had made that same speech in April of 2000 and the plant announced it was closing in June of 2000 with the last vehicle rolling off the line in April 2001 (after he took office), would you be making the same argument?
The point Ryan was making was that Obama made the statement that with the help of the Government, the Janesville plant would be in existence for the next 100 years. You cannot refute that statement. The plant is not in existence, the government bailed out GM, Obama made a statement that he could not back up. At best you are defending an empty suit mouthing empty words for the sole purpose of gaining votes in a community that was on hard times. So, you are essentially agreeing that Obama is a risible opportunist who will say anything to anyone in order to get votes to be elected whether he has the ability or capability to make the things he says happen or not. Doesn’t make a case for your candidate very well, does it?
AZfederalist on September 3, 2012 at 4:33 PM
We must remember that in the world of Obamaissim the truth matters not.The only thing that matters is good intentions.He intended for the plant to stay open just because he the great one said so.Therefore we must give him credit.We are dealing with a totally narcissists person who believers good intentions trump facts.
logman1 on September 3, 2012 at 4:34 PM
Maybe he should fact check this: The best dang “Empty Chair Day” picture. Ever. Period.
bloggless on September 3, 2012 at 4:35 PM
Obama has made a lot of promises that just haven’t seemed to materialize. The ones that have, like our energy prices having to skyrocket, well it would be nice if those promises weren’t the ones he managed to keep.
Waking up in Hitler’s Bunker.
SWalker on September 3, 2012 at 4:35 PM
Knew it already and the left and their lackeys lie like they always do.
CW on September 3, 2012 at 4:36 PM
Anybody from that area knew that he was full of s**t from the beginning. That plant was barely going to last 100 days.
MadisonConservative on September 3, 2012 at 4:37 PM
This :-)
http://p.twimg.com/A15DauACUAAZMgW.jpg
bayview on September 3, 2012 at 4:38 PM
How difficult, to have what you’ve promised on record. On video tape, no less. Bless his heart.
parteagirl on September 3, 2012 at 4:38 PM
Oh, c’mon!
Obama meant that in dog years.
profitsbeard on September 3, 2012 at 4:38 PM
Mr Tingles will hear a racist dog-whistle if he sees this one
burrata on September 3, 2012 at 4:38 PM
‘Sup, libdieorfree.
Listen. Here’s something you can use: The next time someone says obama promised to lower the oceans and heal the planet, call them out. He said no such thing. His actual words were, to a group of bended-knee idiots, “Perhaps or maybe (I forget which, because it was meaningless drivel from black messiah) this will be remembered as the time when the rise of the oceans began to slow and the planet began to heal.”
Do I have to do all your thinking for you?
However, to his slavish drooling idiots, the implication was clear that he would and could slow the rise and heal the planet.
Lanceman on September 3, 2012 at 4:40 PM
That freaking rocks.
It just went as my computer background picture.
gophergirl on September 3, 2012 at 4:45 PM
Obama new campaign theme song.
Empty Chair.
(It even sounds like him singing!)
profitsbeard on September 3, 2012 at 4:45 PM
Sure hope there are no repercussions to those troops. You know how thin-skinned Jugears is.
AZfederalist on September 3, 2012 at 4:47 PM
Absolutely brilliant!!!
TXUS on September 3, 2012 at 4:49 PM
2008
“I believe that if our government is there to support you, and give the assistance you need to retool and make this transition, that this plant will be here for another 100 years. So, that’s our priority…”
2009
“I don’t want to run a car company.”
vamoose on September 3, 2012 at 4:50 PM
Man, looka them jug-ears!
Lanceman on September 3, 2012 at 4:51 PM
Breitbart lives. Make campaign ads, stat.
Philly on September 3, 2012 at 4:57 PM
And at the end of the ad, fade to the empty chair.
Philly on September 3, 2012 at 4:58 PM
Obviously… The “if” was not met…. And the plant closed, in 2008 (other than a few stragglers filling a light truck order for Isuzu).
In the future, when time machines exist…. Perhaps Ryan will sound honest on this one.
NextGen on September 3, 2012 at 4:59 PM
As a previous poster stated the complete ease in which our Dear Leader lies is an art onto itself. The smoothness of the delivery of the falsehood is an award winning performance. Unfortunately, I do not want a Liar-in-Chief in the oval office.
As many Socialist dictatorships in the recent past have proven, the lies are the truth. Our Dear Leader has learned these oratorical techniques (propaganda). Mao Zedong (Mao Tse-tung) is smiling approvingly from his mausoleum.
electricfunksandwich on September 3, 2012 at 5:00 PM
Do Obama’s thugs have a clue about WHO the empty chair represents ?
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/
burrata on September 3, 2012 at 5:01 PM
Who’re you going to believe, your lying eyes or the fact checkers?
jnelchef on September 3, 2012 at 5:04 PM
FIFY
Stretching the truth to fit your political agenda is a nifty definition of being “honest” yourself.
profitsbeard on September 3, 2012 at 5:05 PM
Let’s review some history, shall we?
- In May 2009, the Treasury Department, as holder of a lien on the Janesville plant and its equipment as part of the original bailout, had the opportunity to stop the total stripping of equipment from the plant. They failed to exercise that option, and whatever GM didn’t strip and ship to other plants was auctioned off.
- In July 2009, the Treasury Department, as the driver behind the reorganization of GM into Government Motors, had the opportunity to transfer the now-stripped-out plant to the entity that was to be created to sell off the unwanted GM properties so they could be redeveloped. They instead hung onto the empty hulk.
- Not once, but twice, Government Motors, with the Treasury Department as controlling owner, had the choice of reopening either Janesville or another assembly plant. Instead, the assembly plants in Orion, Michigan and Spring Hill, Tennessee were reopened.
It sure sounds like Teh SCOAMF made yet another expiring campaign promise.
Steve Eggleston on September 3, 2012 at 5:06 PM
Hey Lanceman! Looks like a new one for you to play with. I’m done playing with dimwits, you can have this one. It’s small, but that’s pretty much all the left has right now. Maybe you can get a little bit of play action out of it anyway.
AZfederalist on September 3, 2012 at 5:07 PM
Well hopefully it will show up with something more at night.
Lanceman on September 3, 2012 at 5:09 PM
I think the “if” was met.
Barred on September 3, 2012 at 5:09 PM
You see, it’s those damned obstructionist Rethuglikkkans that closed the plant.
/liberal
Odysseus on September 3, 2012 at 5:11 PM
I wonder what Barry the Auto Tycoon had in mind.
Surely he wasn’t planning to have the Janesville plant continue making $4/gal gas guzzling Chevy Suburbans and Isuzu trucks, was he?
So what was your plan, Barack “Joe Isuzu” Obama? Did you have one? Why did you abandon it?
farsighted on September 3, 2012 at 5:14 PM
I don’t think Ed has actually covered all the fact relevant to this story. What ‘plan’ was Obama promoting as a solution to keeping the plant open? I don’t understand how Obama holding up government tax incentives to invest in plant retooling as a way to encourage manufacturers to keep older plants alive equates to a promise that GM would never decide to close any plant ever. It’s a typical stump speech that tries make a legislative agenda relevant to local issues and jobs. Let’s not insult the intelligence of people in Wisconsin who heard the speech.
This one argument seems designed to draw attention away from all the other exaggerations that Ryan has floated over the past few weeks.
bayam on September 3, 2012 at 5:15 PM
The plant closed on 23 April 2009.
http://gazettextra.com/news/2009/feb/19/gm-plant-last-day-finalized/
Ryan did not lie. If you continue to ape what Stephanie “I don’t know nuttin ’bout Joe Soptic even though I invited him to tell his story on a conference call that I conducted” Cutter said, then you can join her in the liars’ club.
Resist We Much on September 3, 2012 at 5:18 PM
Why, the same ‘plan’ he used to ‘save’ GM.
Or perhaps the same ‘plan’ that allowed Solyndra, ad nauseum to ‘survive’.
You really that stupid?
Lanceman on September 3, 2012 at 5:18 PM
Yeah, I know that Obama had the first two years of his administration with majority democrats in the House and Senate, and when this was going on had a filibuster-proof Senate. But, Rethuglikkkans! Look! Squirrel!
/another lib
AZfederalist on September 3, 2012 at 5:21 PM
Who drew attention to it in the first place?
Stephanie Cutter, that’s who. She is the one, who tweeted during the speech that he was lying and the plant closed during the Bush administration. It did NOT close during the Bush administration.
Politicians make promises. They often don’t keep them. Seriously, Obama promised that he would close Gitmo and try terrorists in civilian courts downtown. Neither promise was kept.
Are you screaming about those? No.
The Obama campaign thought that they had tagged Ryan and the media jumped on board without doing their own independent research. Both were proven incorrect. It happens, especially to the media it seems. Just ask the Tea Party member James Holmes of Aurora, Colorado.
Resist We Much on September 3, 2012 at 5:24 PM
So, you are essentially saying that this was just empty words from a candidate trying to get elected and that he never really meant any of it for Janesville. He was just shining on the voters in Janesville with a false hope for something he never intended to fight for or really help them, it was just a composite promise. Yeah, that’s a real winner you’ve got there.
Oh, and look! Squirrel!
AZfederalist on September 3, 2012 at 5:25 PM
And Paul Ryan is like the perfect cross between Jack Webb’s Joe Friday and Jimmy Stewart’s George Bailey. That’s why Dems are scared to death of him.
ardenenoch on September 3, 2012 at 5:26 PM
who ya’ going to believe – me or your lying eyes?
libfreeandlie
koaiko on September 3, 2012 at 5:28 PM
Actually, the plant will probably be there for 100 years. It’ll just be empty and not building anything.
platypus on September 3, 2012 at 5:30 PM
Spin it how you will. The reality is Obama was wrong and Ryan was right.
OT–
Libfree
Say are you still going to support a party that has helped lead us as a nation to a point where HALF of all black unborn babies have their lives terminated.
CW on September 3, 2012 at 5:31 PM
Bayam is another embarrassment. What a useful idiot.
CW on September 3, 2012 at 5:33 PM
Paul Ryan didn’t argue that. He argued that President Obama made a promise that wasn’t kept. It’s not President Obama’s fault that the plant was closed in the first place, but if his promise were kept, it would have resulted in the reopening of the plant.
NukeRidingCowboy on September 3, 2012 at 5:36 PM
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