REPORT: Obama dropping "car czar" in favor of task force
While there have been rumors and suggested candidates floated for the so-called federal "car czar" post, it now no longer looks like that position will be filled. That's because President Barack Obama has apparently gone cold on the idea. Instead, new reports suggest that he will look to a select group of senior economic advisers for guidance.
In lieu of appointing a single authority to help guide the restructuring of the Detroit Three, a senior adviser is suggesting that Obama instead plans to look to Treasury Secretary, Timothy F. Geithner; National Economic Council chairman Lawrence H. Summers, and Ron Bloom, a labor union and corporate restructuring expert. The three men will work with a presidential auto industry oversight panel, with Obama "reserving for himself any decision on the viability of GM and Chrysler."
The aforementioned panel will be known as the Presidential Task Force on Autos, and will incorporate officials from various government agencies, including commerce, energy, labor, transportation, and Treasury. A number of panel members are already embedded in the project, helping to develop viability plan proposals with the automakers themselves,
Both General Motors and Chrysler are scheduled to file restructuring plans with the Treasury in time to meet a Tuesday deadline, at which point Obama and his newly-assembled team are expected to review the plans for one-to-two weeks before issuing a public statement. More details at the link below. Thanks for the tip, Mike!
[Source: The New York Times | Image: AFP/Getty]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Swede 8:04AM (2/16/2009)
HOLY CADILLAC BATMAN!
Reply
Flashpoint 8:48AM (2/16/2009)
Everytime I see Cadillac One, it looks better. GM should be selling protection models to other countries just like this.
That DOOR is FKIN HUGE. I don't think I could shoot through that with even a A-10 Thunderbolt's gatling gun.
Yaroukh 8:53AM (2/16/2009)
> Everytime I see Cadillac One, it looks better. GM should be selling protection
> models to other countries just like this.
ROFLMAO, good one.
Richard 8:57AM (2/16/2009)
That door is so heavy, it takes two SS agents to open it.
James 9:28AM (2/16/2009)
"..Obama instead plans to look to Treasury Secretary, Timothy F. Geithner; National Economic Council chairman Lawrence H. Summers, and Ron Bloom, a labor union and corporate restructuring expert."
Automotive "Politburo"
big J 12:25PM (2/16/2009)
That thing is a tank.
SimbaDogg 5:54PM (2/16/2009)
i dunno flashpoint...the gattling gun on the a10 warthog is AMAZING.
Jason 8:07AM (2/16/2009)
Wasn't in part the bean counters that got the big 3 here in the first place?
Reply
Smegley 11:07AM (2/16/2009)
And Obama did this because Geithner's bank bailout reforms he introduced last week were so well received by the market that it took a 5% 400-point dump?
Gimme a break Obama. Cronyism is not change. Geithner is a clueless failure from the outset who showed in his appointment confirmation hearing just how over his head he would be in the role he was appointed to, and now you expand it.
Change my äss. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
GM/Chrysler are screwed now.
john 3:52PM (2/16/2009)
Welcome to the new Communist nation? where the government take control of everything.
Hamud 8:09AM (2/16/2009)
Holy sh.. that limo looks huge, it's like an SUV in limo disguise.
Reply
James 9:52AM (2/16/2009)
Coming out of that ginormous Caddy, the Pres looks like a..."mini-me" Obama.
JLevy 10:38AM (2/16/2009)
Uh...it is an SUV underneath. It's a Tahoe chassis with Caddy body.
Sean 2:49PM (2/17/2009)
JLevy, what I heard is that it's actually a modified GMC TopKick chassis. I believe the previous-gen presidential limo was a Caddy body on a Tahoe chassis.
Robert Kamanzi 2:12PM (2/18/2009)
My thoughts exactly. I saw the pictures here on autoblog a few weeks before the inauguration. I thought it was based on the Caddy DTS, but this thing looks huge. I'll paraphrase someone here, those normal sized people look like mini me. Another paraphrase it's like an SUV disguised as a sedan.
Sea Urchin 8:10AM (2/16/2009)
I think these people can really help GM, for example Geithner can advise GM not to pay Taxes, and save a few billion $$ in between.
Reply
Jay Evans 8:27AM (2/16/2009)
Uhhh, they did already. GM got a 7-10 billion tax break in the Stimulus Bill.
LoneWolf 8:12AM (2/16/2009)
Wow, look at these doors!
Reply
Yikes 8:16AM (2/16/2009)
Government oversight of Automobile production.
Look how well that went for East Germany and the Soviet Union.
James 8:15AM (2/16/2009)
Ditto #1, #3 and #5... this is the first time I've seen a photo of the beast that reveals just what an ugly ass machine Mr. President's limo is....
Reply