President Obama’s planned announcement of his plan for the auto industry received heavy media attention today. The Administration’s plans to force Rick Wagoner to step down as CEO of GM was often presented as an indication of the severity and scope of the problem and to show the Administration’s sensitivity to public anger over bailouts. ABC World News reported “the Administration itself asked Wagoner to step down as part of its plan to restructure the auto industry, which will be announced by the President tomorrow.” The Detroit Free Press reports it “wasn’t clear today who would replace Wagoner, or why the government had asked him to leave.” The New York Times says on its front page that Wagoner’s ouster “caught Detroit and Washington by surprise.”
In contrast to the Free Press and New York Times, Detroit News reports, “Most industry insiders were not entirely surprised, given the political mood.” Similarly, USA Today reports Wagoner’s “opposition to bankruptcy as an option for GM could have played a factor in his ouster.” In a front-page article, the Financial Times reports that a person close to GM said that “the government intervention made it likely GM would file for bankruptcy protection sometime in the next few weeks.”
On CBS’s Face The Nation, President Obama said, “We want to have a successful U.S. auto industry, but it’s got to be one that is realistically designed to weather this storm and to emerge at the other end much more lean, mean and competitive than it currently is. And that’s going to mean a set of sacrifices from all parties involved.”
In a front-page article, the Washington Post reports that the Administration “said yesterday that it would withhold additional federal aid to the auto industry unless the ailing companies undertake changes they so far have been unwilling or unable to make.” Similarly, in a front-page article, the Wall Street Journal reports that, in “one of the most dramatic government interventions in private industry” during this economic crisis, “the Obama administration used the threat of withholding more bailout money to force out” Wagoner.
The AP reports, “If a Chrysler-Fiat union cannot be completed, Washington plans to walk away” and “leave Chrysler destined for a complete sell-off. No other money is available.” In a front-page article, the Washington Times reports the Administration “is prepared to escort both companies through a kind of quick bankruptcy procedure that senior officials described as ’surgical’ and may take no longer than 30 days.”
The Politico reports “Industry sources had said the White House planned very tough medicine in Monday’s announcement.” The Detroit News reports, “Obama told four key Michigan members of Congress during a Sunday night conference call that he would grant unspecified additional aid to GM for 60 days and Chrysler for 30 days, according to a person familiar with the call.”
The New York Times reports the Obama Administration went into sales mode on Sunday, with President Obama and a number of senior economic and military leaders blanketing the morning talk show circuit to advance the administration’s efforts on the economy and the war in Afghanistan.”
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