Obama Drives Home Tough Agenda for Auto Industry

President says no more bailouts for GM, Chrysler

The President made it clear: there would be no more bailouts for General Motors and Chrysler.

He was firm. He laid down a tough agenda.

He wanted more concessions from unions and creditors. He even suggested that controlled bankruptcy for one or both of the automobile companies might be the answer, if all else failed.

Barack Obama is about two-thirds of the way into his first 100 days. Journalists have a disconcerting habit of gauging a new president's ability by how well he does in that initial period. Well, by that measure, no one can deny that he's trying.

In the early days of the administration, once the inauguration euphoria had subsided, Obama confronted the nation's problems head-on. He warned us that times were difficult and the tasks ahead would not be easy.

More recently, he has tried to reassure us. The economy is facing difficult days but, he has affirmed, we're going to get out of it and see a brighter day.

Now, as he warned GM and Chrysler that they'd better get their act together soon, he took pains to reassure the American people that their interests would be protected. He said the federal government would back the warranties that new car buyers receive no matter what happens to the industry.

Obama made it clear that the industry, despite the $17 billion it received from the Bush administration, had not performed well. Obama warned them to again submit re-structuring plans. He gave GM 60 days to produce a new reorganization plan. He told Chrysler it would get just 30 days to affect a merger with the Italian company Fiat SpA.

His language was hardly conciliatory. In effect, he issued an ultimatum to each of these auto manufacturing giants. And, by introducing the idea of controlled bankruptcy, the president was underlining his tough stance.

The new president is an avid student of history and he recalled that, during World War II, the auto industry converted to war production and we became, under FDR, ''the arsenal of democracy.''  In evoking that image, he promised the American people that the industry would not be allowed to die, that it would continue to provide for each American "your share of the American dream."

The cars of the future will, he promised, continue to be built here.

The president continues to perform a delicate balancing act, hanging tough with those who have presided over the disintegration of an industry even as he tries to reassure those Americans who  struggle to stay afloat in the turbulent economic sea.

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