Daily Auto News Obama Task Force Members to Visit Detroit
Daily Auto News
Bloomberg reports, “President Barack Obama’s auto task force comes to Detroit tomorrow amid Republican calls to let General Motors Corp. go bankrupt and waning public support for giving automakers taxpayer loans they say they need to survive.”.
The President’s automotive task force has been charged with finding a solution to GM and Chrysler’s depending troubles – either through continuing government aid, or by deciding the companies aren’t viable any more. Both companies have been operating thanks to $17.4 billion in government loans and have requested $21.6 billion more, for a total of $39 billion in loans.
The purpose of the trip, according to the Associated Press, is to “test drive the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable electric car and tour a Chrysler LLC pickup truck factory when they visit the Detroit area on Monday.” The task force will also meet with executives from both companies and union officials.
The Detroit Free Press says,” The visit, spurred by invitations from the automakers, will cap two weeks of intensive research by the presidential task force into all aspects of the U.S. auto industry as it suffers the worst slump in four decades,” and notes that the task force will be able to “literally kick the tires on Detroit’s struggling automakers before deciding how much federal aid they’re worth.”
The trip comes as public and political opinion have started to tire of the ailing automakers. The Wall Street Journal notes, “Political pressure is mounting against an open-ended bailout of GM and Chrysler, with strong support in many quarters for the companies to reorganize through bankruptcy.” Bloomberg adds that this week on Fox News Sunday, Senator John McCain said, “The best thing that could probably happen to General Motors, in my view, is they go into Chapter 11.”
However, the WSJ says, “with the nation’s unemployment rate now over 8%, President Obama and his team are wary of undermining the United Auto Workers and sending another economic shockwave through the heart of the country’s industrial belt.” The Free Press adds, “Obama has said repeatedly that the auto industry is a cornerstone of American manufacturing and should not be allowed to disappear. But the administration has ruled out only a disorderly bankruptcy; all other options, including paying for GM and Chrysler’s trip through bankruptcy court, are in play.”
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