Brad Dutcher, Former Janesville GM Plant Employee, Says Paul Ryan 'Should Be Ashamed Of Himself' For Misleading Claim (VIDEO)

Republican vice presidential nominee, Rep. Paul Ryan and his wife Janna points to delegates during the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A former employee of the General Motors plant in Janesville, Wisconsin said Paul Ryan "should be ashamed of himself" for his misleading claim about the plant's shutdown.

During his speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday, Ryan blamed President Obama for the plant's closing.

"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," Ryan had said. "Well, as it turned out, that plant didn't last another year."

Brad Dutcher, the former GM employee, told MSNBC's Ed Schultz on Friday that he was at the Janesville plant during Obama's visit and that Ryan had told an "outright lie" by implying that Obama had been responsible for the plant's closure.

Dutcher said that Obama "had nothing to do with the decision to close our factory." He added that "there was never a promise made...to keep our plant open. That is completely false."

Dutcher's comments come on the heels of widespread criticism from Democrats and the media. A progressive Fox News columnist called the speech "apparent attempt to set the world record for the greatest number of blatant lies and misrepresentations slipped into a single political speech." The Washington Post called it "breathtakingly dishonest." Stephanie Cutter, Obama's deputy campaign manager, told the LA Times that "Paul Ryan lied."

As Schultz pointed out, the plant shut down in December 2008, when George W. Bush was still in office. The plant's shutdown had been announced months earlier.

Dutcher said that Ryan should be "ashamed of himself" for his misleading claim.

"To turn this plant closing into a political football is shameful," he said. "We still have families that are separated, we have moms and dads that drive 4, 5 states away that come home on the weekends to see their families," because of the plant's closing.

Ryan's campaign has pushed back against criticisms, arguing that "whenever the plant may have closed, it has yet to re-open under Obama, and is therefore a symbol of a failed recovery."

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Comments

[Deborah Ann Moore]

02:35 PM on 01/11/2013

I would appreciate a face to face with Dutcher. I worked there=was a UAW rep.
Obama came to the plant for votes.

[godipo]

05:22 PM on 09/17/2012

There seem to be ads on tv constantly that misrepresent (utterly) 'Obamacare', the 'rape of Medicare' by Obama, the 'lead from behind dpilomacy', and the constant implication that Obama promised to keep Janesville open, and instead, shut it down. What variables determine the possibility of drivel being believed?

[Norskie]

02:36 AM on 09/10/2012

The truth will set you free and so will former employees it seems...Good job for having the courage to take on lyin Ryan....If he would lie about that you have to wonder what are all the other things he is lying about...perhaps I know that Democrats aren't Christians.

[swimbiker]

06:30 PM on 09/05/2012

I have read through 20 pages on this thread and it reminds me of one thing:  The number of Republicans who came storming in to claim that "Sarah Palin was right" about the ride of Paul Revere. We all know she wasn't right and in this case, it is evident who is lying.

[David Resendes]

12:21 PM on 09/05/2012

Ryan is in fact correct. The Janesville GM factory stopped production of SUVs in December 2008 and closed its doors for good in 2009 – less than one year after Obama promised to keep it open for another hundred years.

As a democrat, and doing true fact finding to see what is the honest to goodness truth. I will be very surprised if this True comment ever make it for everyone to see.

[swimbiker]

05:52 PM on 09/05/2012

There was NO promise by candidate Obama.

Here’s what Obama told workers during a campaign stop at the struggling GM plant in Janesville back in 2008:

Obama, Feb. 13, 2008: 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 …

www.factcheck.org

[David Resendes]

10:30 AM on 09/06/2012

Promised from Obama are worthless. The entire speech has already been confirmed the he promised by MSNBC, CNN, FOX NEWS, ABC, CBS, and the Washington Post. Please if you are going to say anything at all. Get the story straight first. Then place it for the world to see. The very things you point the finger at R&R, is exactly what you are doing. Both Hard left and hard right media has verified that the words the Congressman Ryan speaks are very true... Thank you very much

[behavingbadly]

06:55 PM on 09/05/2012

Contrary to what the Mendacious Duo have told you, look in the bank window at midnight, and seeing someone emptying wastebaskets, doesn't mean that the bank is "open". The plant closed for business in December 2008—after that, it was just maintenance people dismantling equipment and cleaning up.

[David Resendes]

12:18 PM on 09/05/2012

Ryan is in fact correct. The Janesville GM factory stopped production of SUVs in December 2008 and closed its doors for good in 2009 – less than one year after Obama promised to keep it open for another hundred years.

[swimbiker]

05:52 PM on 09/05/2012

Please stop lying. The facts do not support your assertions.

[Bunburyism]

11:45 PM on 09/05/2012

http://www.jsonline.com/business/130171578.html

[plt726]

02:06 AM on 09/10/2012

He thinks if he repeats it, it will somehow become true. You know the drill.

[Frog in a pot]

07:48 PM on 09/04/2012

Republicans arent capable of shame.
Or empathy
Or compassion
Or honesty

There is a word for that....

[brucek50]

07:30 PM on 09/04/2012

For proof, just ask one of the more prominent supporters of the Janesville plant shutdown — the George W. Bush Administration. After all, the closure was part of a broader GM restructuring initiative that the then-President supported. White House Press Secretary Dana Perino even praised it as evidence of GM “adapting well:”

The White House called the announcement a sign that the auto giant was “adapting well” to market shifts.

“It’s a sign that Detroit continues to adapt and evolve and address the change in consumer tastes and attitudes. And I think that they’re adapting well,” spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

“And they’ll make these changes, and hopefully be able to pull themselves up out of what has been a rough several years,” she said. …

GM plans to shutter production at its Toluca, Mexico, pickup truck at the end of the year and its Oshawa, Canada plant will be closed in 2009. Plants in Moraine, Ohio and Janesville, Wisconsin, are slated for closure in 2010 “or sooner if market demand dictates,” GM said.

[vkeri]

02:49 PM on 09/04/2012

Here is links to Pres. Obama's speech's concerning the Janesville plant. And his other comments on Janesville Oct. 2008.
http://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/03/video-obama-promises-janesville-that-plant-will-thrive-will-be-here-for-another-100-years

"Reports that the GM plant I visited in Janesville may shut down sooner than expected are a painful reminder of the tough economic times facing working families across this country," Obama said in a statement released by his Wisconsin campaign organization.

"This news is also a reminder that Washington needs to finally live up to its promise to help our automakers compete in our global economy. As president, I will lead an effort to retool plants like the GM facility in Janesville so we can build the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow and create good-paying jobs in Wisconsin and all across America."

VP Ryans opinion about the policies of Pres. Obama are factual and accurate. Plant wasn't decommission because GM was waiting for word from the PresObama that he would keep his word, and the Janesville plant would be getting some green money to build some green cars. That did not happen. The Janesville plant is still closed. Main work force was let go on Dec. 2008 and the last employee's stopped making cars on April 2009. So there you have it.

Really bad when you have to fact check the False Checkers.
:

[swimbiker]

05:54 PM on 09/05/2012

Stop right there. The candidate said he would try to keep the plant open. GM thought differently. They weren't "waiting for word" because they had made up their mind long before Barack Obama was elected.

[vkeri]

02:45 PM on 09/04/2012

Really Mr. Schultz my GM/Suzu truck says manufactured Janesville, WI Mar. 2009. The plant WAS still open. Yes, Obama had nothing to do with GM corp. deciding in summer 08 that they would shut the plant. Obama came to Janesville, in Feb 08, making promises to save the plant. Here is exactly what VP Ryan said. Because the people posting here obviously DID NOT listen to the speech.

“President Barack Obama came to office during an economic crisis, as he has reminded us a time or two. Those were very tough days, and any fair measure of his record has to take that into account. My home 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 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. It is locked up and empty to this day. And that’s how it is in so many towns today, where the recovery that was promised is nowhere in sight.

[swimbiker]

05:56 PM on 09/05/2012

Candidate Obama did NOT promise to save the plant. Ryan lied.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/08/30/obama-could-not-have-saved-janesville-gm-plant-it-closed

[carolmcd7]

12:53 PM on 09/04/2012

Between Ryan and Romney, the lies just keep coming....when Ronney said he wanted Obama to succeed, I almost gagged !!!!!!!! OMG....these two pathetic men aren't even close to being dserving of being in the White House......... OBAMA / BIDEN 2012

[carolmcd7]

12:30 PM on 09/04/2012

When Ryan has to even lie about his marathon time, you KNOW his lying will continue, and that's just what we need in the White House.....between Romney's flip-flopping and phoniness, I can't imagine a worse pair running our country !!!!!!!!

[stillstandingkickingbutt]

11:49 AM on 09/04/2012

Ryan liar liar yo abs on fiyah!

[OLJW00]

11:26 PM on 09/03/2012

Sorry libs....

1. On February 13, 2008 Obama said in Janesville : “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.”

2. In June 2008 GM announced that the Janesville plant would stop production of medium-duty trucks by the end of 2009, and stop production of large SUVs in 2010 or sooner.

3. In October 2008 Obama doubled down on his promise to keep Janesville plant open: “As president, I will lead an effort to retool plants like the GM facility in Janesville so we can build the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow and create good-paying jobs in Wisconsin and all across America.”

4. In December 2008 GM idled production of GM SUVs at the Janesville plant. Medium-duty truck assembly continued.

5. In April 2009, four months after Obama was inaugurated, GM idled production of medium-duty trucks.

6. In September 2011, more than two years after Obama was inaugurated, GM reiterates that Janesville plant is on “stand by status.” Auto industry observer David Cole, tells the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel it would be premature to say the Janesville plant will never reopen.

6. Today the GM facility in Janesville still has not been retooled “so we can build the fuel-efficient cars of tomorrow and create good-paying jobs,” as Obama promised.

[blamethebush]

11:30 PM on 09/03/2012

Great factual information as always OLJW00.

[swimbiker]

06:31 PM on 09/05/2012

Except that he is leaving out a lot of info. Obama never promised to keep the Janesville plant open.

[CUPC4KE]

01:29 AM on 09/04/2012

And yet, GM happened to report a $150 billion profit in 2011. Maybe the Janesville plant should stay closed.

[OLJW00]

11:33 AM on 09/04/2012

So - why are taxpayers (us) still on the hook for $50 Billion?

[OLJW00]

06:57 PM on 09/04/2012

Sorry - but the term well-being wasn't intended to cater to every need we might have as people. No Gov't issued toothbrushes, clothing, cars, etc.

The idea was larger, to create the framework that on one hand addresses our basic needs, like the ability to have laws, enforce contracts, maintain a military, and yes, some degree of services such as roads and schooling.

But to try and play the Progressive game of extending welfare to mean all of our needs is simply ludicrous on its face.

[userfireman1800]

04:29 PM on 09/03/2012

Here is the video of Obama saying exactly what Ryan claimed he said. Ryan was right ..

http://hotair.com/archives/2012/09/03/video-obama-promises-janesville-that-plant-will-thrive-will-be-here-for-another-100-years/

[swimbiker]

05:57 PM on 09/05/2012

No, he was not right. Saying someone would do everything he could to keep a plant open and promising to keep a plant open are two different things.