A member of Congress representing Michigan, the state hit hardest by the collapse of the automobile industry, says the White House needs to be clear about what it wants from the industry.
U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, a member of
the House Republican leadership, said members of the auto industry have been given orders to meet “nebulous” goals.
He was interviewed by Greg Corombos of Radio America. The audio of the question-and-answer session is embedded here:
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“We gritted our teeth, and we’re going to try to comply with what the White House requests,” he said.
But he said there are key questions to which industry players have been given no answers.
“How many more jobs lost will they consider [as part of a viable restructuring plan]?” he said. “How deep [will cuts be] for retirees?
“Those are things we need to have so the company can meet them and avoid bankruptcy,” he said.
He said the uncertainty offered by the government only worsens the anxiety for the people as well as the industry.
“We need to know exactly what this administration wants,” he said.
He also said the decision to order General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner out of his job doesn’t make sense.
“GM has 60 days to hit a nebulous target,” said McCotter. “Why would you replace [the key leader]?”
“This type of confusion and concern … cannot be helpful,” he said.
Washington has ordered Chrysler to work out some sort of merger with Fiat in 30 days, officials said.
The new CEO of GM, Frederick Henderson, today said bankruptcy for the company is “more probable.”
According to the New York Times, he said, “We will either do it out of court or we will do it in court, but we will get the job done in terms of recreating and reinventing General Motors as a competitive enterprise, one that wins in the marketplace.”
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