The New York Times
Published: November 10, 2008
WASHINGTON — The struggling auto industry was thrust into the middle of a political standoff between the White House and Democrats on Monday as President-elect Barack Obama urged President Bush in a meeting at the White House to support immediate emergency aid.
Mr. Bush indicated at the meeting that he might support some aid and a broader economic stimulus package if Mr. Obama and Congressional Democrats dropped their opposition to a free-trade agreement with Colombia, a measure for which Mr. Bush has long fought, people familiar with the discussion said.
The Bush administration, which has presided over a major intervention in the financial industry, has balked at allowing the automakers to tap into the $700 billion bailout fund, despite warnings last week that General Motors might not survive the year.
Mr. Obama and Congressional Democratic leaders say the bailout law authorizes the administration to extend assistance.
Mr. Obama went into his post-election meeting with Mr. Bush on Monday primed to urge him to support emergency aid to the auto industry, advisers to Mr. Obama said. But Democrats also indicate that neither Mr. Obama nor Congressional leaders are inclined to concede the Colombia pact to Mr. Bush, and may decide to wait until Mr. Obama assumes power on Jan. 20…
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/us/politics/11auto.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Mr. Bush could have shown a real concern for “JOE the autoworker” if he had restricted his concerns to America – leaving out a condition associated with his foreign policy domain.
Why, it was just a few days ago, I believe it “wuz”, that the neocons had pretended to be this/close to labor – or perhaps just plumbers. It is likely that most of America was not fooled. Trying to fool all of the people, even during a political campaign, can be quite difficult.
Tags: auto industry, barack obama, columbia, emergency aid, financial industry, free-trade, president bush, White House
