Corker turns from thorn to advocate

SPRING HILL, Tenn., April 10 (UPI) -- Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a vocal critic of car company bailouts, is now fighting to save an auto factory in Tennessee that looks vulnerable to closing.

When the option to use Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to help U.S. automakers came up in January, Corker said it would turn the funds meant for financial firms into "a $350 billion slush fund." In February, he said, "all of us in this country are becoming far more concerned about continual potential bailouts," advocating car companies "take some tough medicine."

But now, as the General Motors Corp. Spring Hill Chevrolet Travers SUV plant looks vulnerable to cuts, Corker is "fighting like a Michigan Democrat" to keep the plant open, the Detroit Free Press reported Friday.

In recent weeks, Corker has issued a news release and written a newspaper column arguing the plant should remain open.

Analysts said the distance of the plant from supply lines made the plant vulnerable to closing, even if it has been making a profitable vehicle.

But, "if the decision is made absent of politics, it has a good chance of staying open," Corker said.