President Obama on His Economic Policy: 'We Tried Our Plan -- and it Worked

Speaking at a fundraiser in California on Monday night, President Obama touted his economic policies, saying "we tried our plan -- and it worked," The Washington Examiner reports. At the same time, Obama dismissed presumptive GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney's proposed tax cuts and spending cuts as the same Bush-style "top down" economic policy that have failed in the past.

"We tried that and it didn’t work," Obama said of Romney’s plan.  "Just like we’ve tried their plan, we tried our plan — and it worked," he added later in his address.

"That’s the difference. That’s the choice in this election. That’s why I’m running for a second term."

Understandably, you may be confused. After all, the national unemployment rate is stuck at 8.2 percent and the unemployment rate in Oakland, Calif. -- where the president delivered the remarks -- was a disastrous 13.7 percent in May 2012.

But that didn't stop Obama for taking credit for saving the U.S. economy. He pointed to the bailout of the auto industry as proof that his economic policies have "worked."

"I refused to turn my back on a great industry and American workers,” he said. “Three years later, the American auto industry has come roaring back.”

The Washington Examiner's Joel Gehrke called the comments,President Obama's "Mission Accomplished moment on the economy," referring to the huge "Mission Accomplished" sign that stood behind former President George W. Bush in a 2003 speech, seemingly declaring the war on terror won.

The Washington Examiner has more on the auto bailouts:

Obama’s auto bailouts aren’t the unalloyed success he describes. “President Obama’s auto task force pressed General Motors and Chrysler to close scores of dealerships without adequately considering the jobs that would be lost or having a firm idea of the cost savings that would be achieved, an audit of the process has concluded,” The New York Times reported in 2010, based on an audit. “The report … estimated that tens of thousands of jobs were lost as a result.”

The Washington Examiner’s Conn Carroll also observes that Obama bailed out union pensions, while neglecting non-union workers, and decided not to follow the law by paying certain creditors — and still didn’t save money.

“All told Obama’s violations of bankruptcy law made the bailout of GM and Chrysler $26.5 billion more expensive than it had to be,” Carroll explained recently. “And according to Obama’s own Treasury Department, taxpayers stand to lose $23 billion if GM stock were sold today.”

Even some of Obama's own colleagues disagree that the economy has been saved or that the worst is over.

"The economy has not recovered," Rep. Henry Waxman, (D-Calif.) said in a recent interview with the Washington Examiner. "Some people call it a recession, I think it’s a depression."