Conservatives stand against bailouts. We believe in letting failures go bankrupt so healthy replacements can be made.
You should have known that. This isn't a general election.
Conservatives are idiots if that's the case.
The under-regulation - something else 'conservatives' say they're for - of the financial industry allowed bad things to happen, resulting in a massive phony 'insurance' of all the institutions owing each other huge sums, and a crash in which credit was frozen, threatening the auto industry as collateral damage.
There was no value to 'letting the auto industry fail' - only more destruction from the financial crash. The government could and did take steps to protect the industry.
In so doing, the auto industry and the many industries dependent on it were saved, and the economy greatly benefited by this.
'Conservatives' were wrong. Those who supported the policy to protect the industry from the financial industry disaster were right.
Industry wasn't entirely blameless - and government made management changes as part of the bailout plan, changes that worked.
'Conservatives' claimed this was the government trying to become the new owner of the auto industry, socializing it. Wrong again.
Romney said the bailout would basically guarantee the destruction of the auto industry. Wrong again.
Now he's trying to lie that what the government did is what he suggested. Typical of him, lying for votes.
Santorum was wrong also but I haven't heard his spin on why he got it wrong. Maybe he's more honest, but I doubt it.
This was about an attack on the unions, because they're the political enemies of Republicans who want to cut wages.