Rep. Ryan: TARP to banksters good, TARP to GM not so good
So this weekend GOP Rep. Paul Ryan was on Fox News Sunday to chitchat with Chris Wallace. Among the issues discussed was Ryan’s support for TARP dollars to financial institutions but not for stimulus dollars to keep jobs in the auto industry.Yeah that’s right. Paul Ryan, who represents both Janesville and Kenosha’home to a GM plant and a Chrysler plant, respectively’went on national television to denounce the best laid plan to restore and revitalize operations in Janesville. In May, Ryan issued a news release on how he was ‘shocked’ by the Chrysler plant closing in Kenosha, but has issued no such follow-up to applaud the government for investing in the plant and thus restoring some of its operations.
Ryan agreed with Wallace that the $700 billion to financiers he voted for may have ‘prevent[ed] an economic collapse’ but was less sure doing the same for the auto industry and workers’albeit on a much lesser scale’ could yield the same result. Because now, you see, he worries about something he calls ‘crony-capitalism,’ which I guess is when our government steps in to save thousands of workers from losing their jobs. But remember, it’s not ‘crony-capitalism’ if we dump $700 billion to save the a$$e$ of banksters. It only applies to working class jobs.
Under Ryan’s failureship, Kenosha County’s unemployment sits just above 10% while Janesville’s is at nearly 13%. So at a time when Wisconsin is doing everything it can to ensure Ryan’s hometown of Janesville doesn’t lose the GM plant that has supported the city for decades, it is reckless at best for Ryan to go on national television and denounce our best hope to restore jobs to the city.