WASHINGTON – President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday that the United States cannot allow the Big Three automakers to fail – but said their top executives may have to hit the road.
“If this management team that’s currently in place doesn’t understand the urgency of the situation and is not willing to make the tough choices and adapt to these new circumstances, then they should go,” he told NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
He made a point of pinning blame on the heads of the three companies for the mistakes that brought their once-proud companies to the brink of bankruptcy.
But, referring to the industry, he said, “I don’t think it’s an option to simply allow it to collapse.”
Obama also said Congress was doing the “right thing” by drafting legislation that “holds the auto industry’s feet to the fire” at the same time that it tries to save the companies. For example, there would be strict oversight on how the companies spend taxpayer money.
Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) also called for a pink slip for at least one executive, saying Rick Wagoner, who heads General Motors, “has to move on.”
Meanwhile, negotiators for the White House and Congress narrowed their differences over a plan to extend roughly $15 billion in short-term loans to automakers.
Analysts say that General Motors and Chrysler are at risk of going broke in the next few weeks, and that Ford may need help if the economy gets worse.
Obama also reiterated that the economy was in the tank, and his administration would be ready to write some checks to help get it back on track.
“This is a big problem, and it’s going to get worse,” Obama said.
Even with the prospect of a federal budget shortfall approaching $1 trillion, Obama said, “We can’t worry, short term, about the deficit.”
He said that if the right steps are taken in coming months, “we can emerge leaner, meaner and ultimately more competitive and more prosperous.”
On Iran, Obama said the United States must “ratchet up tough but direct diplomacy,” but also include economic incentives, to get Tehran to quit developing nuclear weapons.
He sidestepped a question about the pace of a troop withdrawal from Iraq, saying he would direct US generals to come up with a plan “for a responsible drawdown.” With Post Wire Services