Bush Unveils Auto Bailout Plan

WASHINGTON (AP) - President George W. Bush says he's offering
$17.4 billion in loans to the auto industry because letting them
collapse is "not a responsible course of action."
He says the rescue plan will require "meaningful concessions"
from the auto companies and others, including labor unions and
suppliers. The companies, he says, "must understand what is at
stake, and make the hard decisions necessary to reform."
Bush said Friday he ordinarily would let the companies go
bankrupt, concluding it's the "price that failed companies must
pay." But, he says, "These are not ordinary circumstances." He
says letting the industry collapse, amid a financial crisis and a
recession, would be irresponsible.
He says there's "too great a risk" that a bankruptcy filing
would lead to a "disorderly liquidation of American auto
companies" and send the economy into a "deeper and longer
recession."

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)