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Politics : President Barack Obama -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (45697)	11/24/2008 6:07:07 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 149317

Obama should step in to assist automakers, Levin says _______________________________________________________________ BY KATHLEEN GRAY DETROIT FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER November 24, 2008 President-elect Barack Obama should step in to sort out how to help out the struggling auto industry, U.S. Sen. Carl Levin said Sunday. Democrats in Congress support a plan to use some of the $700-billion rescue approved for the financial markets to help the auto industry. Others, including President George W. Bush, want to take $25 billion in federal auto loan guarantees for retooling domestic auto plants to make more fuel-efficient autos and convert it to a bridge loan for domestic automakers. "I want him to offer his assistance. He is a person who can really bring people together," Levin said on CNN's "Late Edition" on Sunday morning. "Everyone agrees that there's got to be a plan. The disagreement is the source of the funds. And that disagreement can't be allowed to stop us." General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have both said that by the end of the year they could reach minimum levels of cash needed to sustain operations. The companies and their advocates say they can't wait until Obama takes office Jan. 20 to make a decision. Obama is expected to name his economic advisory team today, including president of the New York Federal Reserve Timothy Geithner as Treasury Secretary and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers as the director of the White House National Economic Council. One of the first tasks to confront them will be assistance to the auto industry. Obama has said the auto industry can't be allowed to fail, but he hasn't spoken directly to the congressional stalemate. A difficult week Levin's comments came on the heels of a difficult week for the auto industry in Washington. The leaders of the Detroit 3 automakers testified before congressional committees in what were widely seen as disastrously poor performances that effectively scuttled any momentum an industry rescue might have had. "The hearings were not good, obviously," Levin said Friday in an interview with the Free Press. "There are a lot of negative images that the Big 4 have and they just got pummeled." Then, U.S. Rep. John Dingell, the Dearborn Democrat, lost his post as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce committee -- for decades he had helped the domestic automakers from that perch. Levin said many members of Congress were angry about the $700-billion financial sector bailout bill that so far has failed to have much impact. So, he said, they took out their frustrations on the auto executives and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger. Levin also said he was frustrated that members of Congress pounced on the executives' use of separate corporate jets to fly to the hearings. "But that is a distraction. It's frustrating when people seize on that when the issue is so much larger," Levin said. "No one asks AIG if they flew in on a private plane." 1 more chance The automakers are scheduled to submit plans to Congress on Dec. 2, detailing their restructuring plans and how they would use a bridge loan. The three are scheduled to return to Congress to plead their case on Dec. 9. Despite the setbacks, Levin remains optimistic that a deal will happen. He crafted a bipartisan compromise that would allow the retooling loans to be used as a bridge loan. "We've got a bipartisan deal and it took a lot to put it together, but it came together," Levin said. "Hopefully, it has some meaning that" Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said "that bankruptcy is not an option." Meanwhile, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that the automakers are seriously working on a plan for future viability, with many, many concessions across the board. Obama's chief strategist, David Axelrod, said Sunday on Fox that the federal government can't write the automakers a "a blank check for an industry that is not prepared to reform itself, to rationalize itself and to retool for the markets of today and tomorrow." -Contact KATHLEEN GRAY at kgray@freepress.com. Bloomberg News contributed to this report.