Romney warned, "If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed."

Just three and a half years ago, when the American auto industry was on the very brink of collapse, Mitt Romney had a suggestion: "Let Detroit go bankrupt."

Romney felt so strongly about his idea that he took to the editorial pages of the New York Times, where in plain English he spelled out his opposition to a government rescue package for the Big Three automakers. He argued that Detroit should seek private financing instead, ignoring the fact that credit markets were frozen solid and that even Romney's old firm, Bain Capital, declined to help an industry in crisis. Romney warned, "If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won't go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed."

Fortunately, our President disagreed, and instead of putting his finger to the political winds, President Obama made the tough, politically unpopular decision to extend a hand to Detroit in its moment of need. It was a decision that saved more than 1 million good-paying jobs in Detroit and across the country. Today, the American auto industry is back on its feet, and it's stronger than ever. Thanks to a tough call from a President who, in his own words, "made a bet on the American worker," Detroit is putting out cars of the future that meet tough new fuel standards, hiring employees, re-opening plants that closed at the height of the crisis, and investing in its American facilities and workers. Just this week, we learned that General Motors is No. 5 on the this year's Fortune 500 list—something that was inconceivable three years ago.

But now that he's been proved so throughly wrong, Romney's trying to rewrite history. He's now making the laughable assertion that he deserves "a lot of the credit." But we know better, and the people who lived through the worst days the American auto industry has ever seen know better—just ask them. Here's what the Detroit Free Press has to say about Romney's gall:

"Is the presumptive GOP nominee delusional? Or is he simply too dishonest to acknowledge that Detroit's survival was assured only after the Obama administration combined the massive injection of federal aid Romney opposed and the managed bankruptcy he favored? …

"Romney won't regain Michigan's trust until he acknowledges the critical role that government played in sustaining the state's auto industry—and abandons the fiction that Detroit's recovery was his idea."

Don't let Romney rewrite history. Spread the word that Romney wanted to "let Detroit go bankrupt"—and doesn't deserve an ounce of credit for a resurgent Detroit by sharing this video.

While Mitt Romney continues to struggle in Michigan's polls and is twisting himself into a pretzel trying to explain what exactly he meant by the words "let Detroit go bankrupt," we got the welcome news today that GM made its biggest profit ever in 2011. And it wouldn't have happened if President Obama hadn't had the courage to bet on the American auto industry.

So here's the lesson, Mr. Romney: Don't bet against America. Don't bet against the American auto industry. And definitely don't bet against the American worker.

We got some very good news out of Detroit this morning: General Motors recorded earnings of $7.6 billion for 2011. That's the automaker's highest profit ever.

It's welcome news for our economy and for the livelihoods of the men, women, and families who depend on a healthy auto industry.

It's also a testament to President Obama's decision to rescue the industry when it was deep in crisis, at a time when lending a hand to Detroit couldn't have been more politically unpopular. When politicians like Mitt Romney were pontificating in the editorial pages about why we should "let Detroit go bankrupt," President Obama took action. He initiated the steps necessary to keep the American automakers afloat while requiring them to change the way they do business, insisting on shared sacrifice among investors, executives, and workers. It worked.

If folks like Romney had had their way, General Motors wouldn't be posting record profits today. General Motors wouldn't be here today.

We got some very good news out of Detroit this morning: General Motors recorded earnings of $7.6 billion for 2011. That's the automaker's highest profit ever.

It's welcome news for our economy and for the livelihoods of the men, women, and families who depend on a healthy auto industry.

It's also a testament to President Obama's decision to rescue the industry when it was deep in crisis, at a time when lending a hand to Detroit couldn't have been more politically unpopular. When politicians like Mitt Romney were pontificating in the editorial pages about why we should "let Detroit go bankrupt," President Obama took action. He initiated the steps necessary to keep the American automakers afloat while requiring them to change the way they do business, insisting on shared sacrifice among investors, executives, and workers. It worked.

If folks like Romney had had their way, General Motors wouldn't be posting record profits today. General Motors wouldn't be here today.

In 2008, at the height of the auto industry's crisis, Mitt Romney wrote an op-ed in the New York Times. His message couldn't have been plainer—or more of a slap in the face to struggling workers in Detroit: His headline was "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." Romney called for a managed bankruptcy and opposed a rescue package for the Big Three automakers, writing, "If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed."

Fast forward to 2012. Detroit is profitable for the first time in years. Romney's entangled in a Republican primary that's seen him drop dramatically in the polls, including in his home state of Michigan. Now that he has to face the voters—Michigan's primary is two weeks from today—Romney's trying to rewrite history. He argues in an op-ed in today's Detroit News that "The President tells us that without his intervention things in Detroit would be worse. I believe that without his intervention things there would be better."

Oh, really?

Today, the American auto industry is back on its feet and stronger than it has been in years, and it's not because anyone listened to Romney and let Detroit go bankrupt. Detroit is churning out new fleets that meet new fuel standards, hiring and re-hiring employees, re-opening plants that closed at the height of the crisis, and investing in its American facilities and workers, all because President Obama made the tough, politically unpopular decision to rescue an industry in crisis—a decision that saved more than 1.4 million American jobs.

Just look at this chart.

It's not surprising that Michigan voters aren't buying Romney's pandering. They're the ones whose livelihoods were on the line when Romney callously called for bankruptcy. Michigan journalist LZ Granderson expressed a sentiment that's spreading across the Wolverine State: "Go away." He writes:

"[Romney] forgot about the people back home who depended on the auto industry to put food on the table, pay mortgages, send the kids to college. He greeted us like family when he needed our votes, but when he left town he treated us like strangers.

"If Romney didn't think a bailout was the best way to help the state, he should have said that when he came here looking for delegates and let the people at his rallies decide if they agreed with him. Instead he pandered, then kicked dirt in our faces on his way out the door—an all too familiar pattern with Romney."