Auto Bailout Not Ready, President Bush Says
By Michelle Krebs December 15, 2008President George W. Bush said Monday an announcement on an auto industry rescue was not imminent, leaving the Detroit Three's fate clouded in uncertainty for a little longer, Reuters news service reports.
"We're not quite ready to announce that yet," Bush told reporters on Air Force One during a flight from Baghdad on an unannounced visit to Afghanistan.
Bush said last week his administration would consider using part of the Treasury's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds, originally intended for financial institutions, to keep General Motors and Chrysler Detroit automakers afloat over the short term as they sought lasting solutions. Ford has said it doesn't need cash immediately but would like access to a credit line in case the economy worsens.
Asked whether he was leaning toward using financial bailout funds, Bush said, according to Reuters: "I signaled that that's a possibility." He did not say when he anticipated an announcement about tapping the funds.
Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican who led the charge to block the loans to automakers and said they should seek bankruptcy protection, said the Treasury Department had been talking over the weekend with automakers about their balance sheets. "I don't think they yet know what they're going to do," said Corker, who added that he spoke with White House officials Sunday morning.
United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger said on CNN's "Late Edition" that the union was in discussions with the administration but has been given no sense of timing of any relief.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said last week in a letter to U.S. lawmakers that the central bank is "extremely reluctant" to lend to automakers.
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