Obama Prods Bush to Aid Detroit
President-elect Barack Obama met at the White House Monday with the man he will succeed in January, and pressed President George W. Bush to take immediate action to help stave off the collapse of the U.S. auto industry and to aid the economy more broadly.
Mr. Obama's focus on the auto industry came as fellow Democrats on Capitol Hill started moving on their own to help Detroit gain access to federal rescue funds allocated for the financial sector. Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan said Monday that he is drafting legislation, aimed for quick passage, that would free up money from the $700 billion Wall Street rescue for Detroit auto makers careening toward seeking bankruptcy protection.
Two Democratic leadership aides on Capitol Hill said they were told by Obama aides that the meetings were longer on pleasantries than substance.
Meanwhile, it was the sharp drop in General Motors Corp.'s stock Monday that raised new pressure on Washington for quick action to help domestic auto makers.
The Bush administration continues to be reluctant to intervene. While the president-elect has called for immediate action, transition aides say he is hesitant to assert himself too boldly in the process before being sworn in as president. What Mr. Obama does not want, they say, is to be saddled with responsibility for the crisis in Detroit before he has the authority to do anything about it.
In a phone conversation overheard by reporters aboard his plane, Mr. Obama told an unidentified person on the other end: 'I am not going to be spending too much time in Washington over the next several weeks.'
On Saturday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) asked the administration to study whether it has the authority under current law to tap the $700 billion Wall Street bailout fund to aid Detroit, and if not, to tell Congress what action is needed.
Ms. Perino signaled on Monday that the White House doesn't believe it has the authority, and won't act without further legislation.
'We have moved forward with what we can do with the statutes that Congress has authorized,' she said, referring to an Energy Department loan program to help Detroit make the transition to a more fuel-efficient fleet. 'Congress will have a chance to meet next week, and if they decide to move forward with something additional, we will be able to listen to their ideas,' Ms. Perino added.
Sen. Levin has started working to address those White House concerns. 'If the Treasury Department rejects the suggestion of Pelosi and Reid, and says the language is not flexible enough, a bipartisan amendment to clarify the existing language is being prepared for consideration during the lame-duck session of Congress,' the senator said in a statement.
The White House meeting came after nearly two years of harsh words about Mr. Bush from candidate Obama, who decried 'Bush policies' and 'Bush politics' at nearly every campaign stop. His most reliable applause line was his statement that 'George Bush's name won't be on the ballot in November.'
For his part, the president once said during Mr. Obama's hard-fought nominating contest that his rival, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, was the more experienced candidate in the Democratic race.
Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, pulled up to the White House's diplomatic entrance in an armored black limousine, a more formal transport than his usual sport-utility vehicle. They were greeted by the president and first lady Laura Bush. The current and future first couples shook hands and smiled for the cameras. Messrs. Bush and Obama walked together through the West Colonnade flanking the Rose Garden, then into the Oval Office.
Mr. Obama's transition chief, John Podesta, held a separate meeting with White House Chief of Staff Joshua B. Bolten.
Obama aides spoke with congressional leadership aides ahead of the meeting to discuss the two most pressing questions: How quickly could Washington move to assist the U.S. auto sector, and whether a lame-duck session of Congress next week could pass an economic stimulus plan, which would then be in place before Mr. Obama's inauguration.
Both White House and Obama aides said the meeting between Mr. Obama and President Bush was both cordial and substantive.
'Upon arriving, President-elect Obama and President Bush proceeded to the Oval Office, where they had a productive and friendly meeting that lasted for over an hour,' transition spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said in a statement. 'They had a broad discussion about the importance of working together throughout the transition of government, in light of the nation's many critical economic and security challenges.'
White House press secretary Dana Perino said the president described the meeting 'as good, constructive, relaxed and friendly,' touching on domestic and international issues. |
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