Obama claims: "investment paid off"

GM hasn't paid off the $50 billion direct investment let alone the $45 billion in special tax benefits or the "Cash for Clunkers."

President Obama went on a three-pronged attack on Friday, alternately touting passage of the free-trade agreement with South Korea, recounting the success of the auto bailout and taking a veiled swipe at Republican challenger Mitt Romney for his opposition to the bailout.

Speaking at a General Motors plant in Orion Township, Mich., a plant the president said would likely have shut down without government intervention, Obama said his plan to “retool and restructure” the auto companies was “an investment in American workers.”

“One of the first decisions I made as president was to save the U.S. auto industry from collapse,” Obama said to a standing ovation.

The president recounted the administration’s narrative about how the Orion plant, which produces the Chevrolet Sonic, was set to close before government loans helped the company restructure its debt — a move the White House said saved 1,750 jobs.

“Today, I can stand here and say the investment paid off,” Obama said. “The hundreds of thousands of jobs saved made it worth it … taxpayers are being repaid, and plants like this are churning out groundbreaking fuel-efficient cars like the Chevy Sonic.” . . .

Obama continued this theme in his Saturday radio address.

I’m here in Detroit visiting workers at a GM plant in the heart of a resurgent American auto industry.