to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs." The Obama Administration ultimately implemented managed bankruptcy reorganizations of the General Motors and Chrysler corporations in combination with the direct government financing that Romney had opposed, after which Romney said that he deserved credit for the auto industry's recovery. During the 2012 presidential campaign, Romney criticized the Obama Administration for holding General Motors stock for longer than he thought prudent. He said that the government should sell its General Motors stock holdings quickly and should seek alternatives to what he called excessive automotive industry regulation. He also said that fuel economy standards should be determined by market forces rather than by government mandates, and he called electric vehicles "a technology that people aren't interested in." GM and Chrysler have denied that their post-bailout returns to the Chinese market are attempts to outsource American jobs, as Romney claimed from a since corrected report by Bloomberg News. Budget In March 2012, Romney endorsed the House Budget Committee proposed budget for the fiscal year 2013, a newer version of Paul Ryan's The Path to Prosperity. In 2019, as a US Senator, Romney voted for both Republican and Democratic bills to end a government shutdown. He was one of six Republicans breaking with their party to vote for the Democratic bill. In 2021, Romney joined all Senate and House Republicans in voting against the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021; however, on September 30, 2021, he was among 15 Republicans in the Senate who joined all Democrats, and both Independents, to pass a temporary spending bill to continue government funding and avoid a government shutdown. In August 2021, Romney was among the 19 US Republican Senators who voted with the Democratic caucus to pass a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. The bill passed the House of Representatives, with 13 Republicans joining the Democrats, in November 2021 after being delayed due to negotiations among political factions of the House. In December 2021, he was one of 14 Republicans in the US Senate to vote with all members of the Democratic caucus in favor of allowing the Democratic leadership to raise the debt ceiling on a party-line vote. Campaign finance In his 1994 Senate campaign, Romney advocated spending limits on congressional campaigns and suggested abolishing political action committees. In his 2002 gubernatorial campaign, Romney proposed taxing private political contributions in order to finance publicly funded campaigns. In