Bush: Auto Bailout 'Not Ready'

Deal seems to be grinding gears
By Ambreen Ali,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 15, 2008 3:58 AM CST
Bush: Auto Bailout 'Not Ready'
A pedestrian walks by graffiti in downtown Detroit, where large numbers of jobs are on the line if an auto industry bailout falls through.   (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The federal auto industry bailout appeared to be stuck in neutral as President Bush warned today that a deal is not imminent. "We're not quite ready to announce that yet," Bush told reporters on a plane to Afghanistan. Lawmakers expected the administration to quickly reallocate part of the $700 billion market-recovery pot after Congress failed to rescue the Big Three last week, Reuters reports.

The president said that's still a "possibility." But a GOP senator who spoke yesterday with White House aides said: "I don't think they know what they're going to do." The president of the United Auto Workers said union officials have been meeting with the administration, but haven't been told when industry aid might become available.
(More Bush administration stories.)

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