President Bush Approves $17.4 Billion Auto Bailout
From The New York Times:
The money to aid the automakers will come from the Treasury’s $700 billion financial stabilization fund. Shortly after Mr. Bush’s announcement, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., who will oversee the aid to the auto industry, said Congress would need to release the second $350 billion for that program in short order…
The decision to use the stabilization fund was also a major turnabout for Mr. Bush, who for weeks had insisted that the Treasury program should not be used to help the automakers.
In the end, it was clear that Mr. Bush did not want G.M. or Chrysler, both American icons, to go down on his watch.
From CNNMoney.com:
During brief remarks at the White House, President Bush said in normal times he would have not been in favor of preventing a bankruptcy of the two companies. But the current state of the economy and credit markets left him no choice but to act.
“Government has a responsibility to safeguard the broader health and stability of our economy,” he said. “If we were to allow the free market to take its course now, it would almost certainly lead to disorderly bankruptcy and liquidation for the automakers.”
“In the midst of a financial crisis and a recession, allowing the U.S. auto industry to collapse is not a responsible course of action,” Bush added.
From Breitbart:
Ford Motor Co. said Friday it would not need a short-term loan from the government, but lauded the Bush administration’s decision to extend aid to its cash-strapped competitors and renewed a request for a nine billion dollar line of credit.”We do not face a near-term liquidity issue, and we are not seeking short-term financial assistance from the government,” Ford president and chief executive officer Alan Mulally said in a statement.
Ford said it hoped to restructure its business without government assistance but requested the nine billion dollar line of credit as a “critical backstop or safeguard against worsening conditions.”
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