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Reuters  – President Barack Obama has decided to launch a government task force for restructuring the struggling U.S. auto industry instead of naming a "car czar" with sweeping powers, a senior administration official said on Sunday.

Obama is appointing Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as his "designee" for overseeing auto bailout loans and as co-head of the new high-level panel together with White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers, the official said.

But Obama, who took office on January 20 and last week won congressional approval of a $787 billion economic stimulus program, has dropped the idea of having a single appointee empowered to handle the politically sensitive task of revamping America’s once-mighty auto sector.

"There is no ‘car czar,’" the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

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Tags: administration official, anonymity, appointee, auto industry, auto sector, bailout, barack obama, car czar, congressional-approval, economic adviser, economic stimulus, government task force, january 20, lawrence-summers, reuters, senior administration, sensitive task, timothy geithner, treasury-secretary, u s auto

Reuters – President George W. Bush said on Monday an announcement on a auto industry rescue was not imminent, leaving the industry’s fate clouded in uncertainty for a little longer.

"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.

He had been asked when he might make an anticipated announcement about tapping a $700 billion financial industry bailout fund to aid General Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler LLC.

Asked whether he was leaning toward using financial bailout funds, Bush said: "I signaled that that’s a possibility."

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New York (HedgeCo.Net) – In his first press conference since winning the presidential election, Barack Obama discussed ways to tackle the economic crisis while describing the “enormity of the task that lies ahead.”

In the wake of what looks to be a pending recession, Obama talked about his focus on job production and the extension of unemployment benefits.  He also talked about ways of helping the faltering auto industry and other small businesses, as well as possibly tweaking his tax plan to help more low and middle income families.

“I think the plan that we’ve put forward is the right one, but, obviously, over the next several weeks and months, we’re going to be continuing to take a look at the data and see what’s taking place in the economy as a whole,” Obama explained.

He did mention that a good majority of his first year may in fact be spent on reviving the troubled economy.

“Immediately after I become president I will confront this economic crisis head-on by taking all necessary steps to ease the credit crisis, help hardworking families and restore growth and prosperity,” Obama stated.

Before the news conference, Obama and Vice-Presidential elect Joe Biden met with the transition economic advisory board, where they discussed ways to stabilize the sinking economy.  Although Obama did state that President Bush would be handling the situation for the days leading up to January 20, he did reinforce his belief that “a new president can have an enormous impact.”

Julie Scuderi
Senior Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: julie@hedgeco.net

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