November 19, 2008 Romney favors 'managed bankruptcy' for autos

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Mitt Romney chided fellow Republican presidential candidate John McCain early this year for telling Michigan workers that lost auto jobs weren't coming back.

But the Michigan native took a harsh stance himself Wednesday when he said in a New York Times op-ed piece that the federal government shouldn't bail out the Detroit Three.

Romney says management must go, new labor agreements struck and the companies radically restructured through a "managed bankruptcy."

David Cole of the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research disagrees.

He tells reporters in East Lansing that domestic automakers already have forged new labor agreements and designed new products that will lead to lower costs and increased sales once the financial crisis eases next year.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)