Auto bailout approved by Bush administration

The Patriot Post, Friday Digest, Vol. 08 No. 51 - President George W. Bush announced Friday morning that the White House will include General Motors and Chrysler in the Treasury Department's fiscal bailout plan. The automakers will receive $13,4 billion in emergency loans now, plus another $4 billion in February contingent on the companies undertaking reorganization dictated by the federal government. Among the conditions is Tennessee Republican Sen. Bob Corker's proposal that the automakers negotiate wage and benefit cuts with the United Auto Workers to better align them with competition from foreign companies making autos here in the United States, but that requirement is non-binding. GM and Chrysler must also limit executive pay and eliminate their corporate jets. On 30 March, GM and Chrysler will be made to give account of their condition.

"These are not ordinary circumstances, in the midst of a financial crisis and a recession allowing the US auto industry to collapse is not a responsible action," the president said, adding, "Chapter 11 is unlikely to work for the American automakers at this time." Fair-weather capitalism is also unlikely to work at any time.