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 Car Czar - White House Press Briefing by Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Joel Kaplan 12/10/08 — Wednesday, December 10, 2008 —  MR. KAPLAN: Ann. Q What kind of person is the President going to look for as this designee? I mean, someone from outside of government; how skilled and knowledgeable within the auto industry; and someone who would serve past this administration? MR. KAPLAN: It's a good question, Ann. The legislation provides a great deal of flexibility on who could fill the post of President's designee. And that will be flexibility that this President will have the ability to exercise for the next 41 days, and flexibility the next administration will have. And that's something that we will want to be in continuing contact with the President-elect's team on to figure out what's the best way of doing that to achieve everybody's goal here in the legislation, which is to empower the person and make them successful, but recognizing that there will be a new President on January 20th, and a new team, and we want to make sure that however we proceed, it's consistent with the President-elect's view on how that can be most effective, because it will be under their administration that this decision will ultimately get made. Q It sounds like you want -- that he is thinking of somebody, because of the time frame, who would not be serving just for a few days and then someone else coming in. Would it be the President's intention to try to find someone who would remain, who would be acceptable to the new administration? MR. KAPLAN: I'll just reiterate, we'll -- we expect to work closely with the President-elect's team in figuring out, once this legislation is passed, what the most effective means possible is of implementing this legislation, recognizing that we've got a transition. Q Would the designee work for the White House or be in one of the Cabinet departments? MR. KAPLAN: As I said, the legislation provides a great deal of flexibility, and right now we're focused on getting that legislation enacted so that we have that flexibility. When we're prepared to exercise it, we will let you know how the President intends to exercise it. [...] Q And what does the President think of Paul Volcker for this car czar? Q I was going to ask the same thing. MR. KAPLAN: Really? Well, that's funny because I was going to dodge it when she asked it. (Laughter.) Look, we're -- as I said to Ann, we're focused on getting the legislation passed. Obviously Paul Volcker is a person of tremendous stature and gravitas. But I have no reason to believe that there's been any decisions about who the person would be, if it would be a person from the outside. We're going to -- we're just going to reserve all flexibility on that until we actually get the legislation, until we have a chance to consult with the members of Congress and with the President-elect's team. Q A quick follow on that, Joel. How quickly after the legislation passes would you be looking to name the car czar? MR. KAPLAN: Quickly. Obviously -- Q Days? MR. KAPLAN: We would look to move as quickly as we could. We will obviously want to consult with members of Congress and with the President-elect's team. I can't tell you exactly how quickly that will be. Besides this briefing, I'm mostly focused on working with the Congress on the legislation itself so that we're in a position to have that -- to have the luxury of moving quickly on the person. [...] Q With the President's designee getting so strong authority on the plans, et cetera, how much does this run counter to what the President has said for years, that it is not the role of the government to run private companies? MR. KAPLAN: Yes, it's not the intention in this bill of this President's designee to run the private companies; it's the purpose to empower somebody to sit down with the private companies and all of their stakeholders, who so far have not, apparently, been capable of making agreements that would render them a viable entity going forward, which is why they've come to the government and to the Congress looking for assistance. So this is not somebody who is going to run the companies; it is somebody who is going to be empowered to, like I said before, bring them around the table, knock heads, and tell them, if you want assistance from the taxpayer going forward you're going to have to make some difficult concessions. Now, what are those concessions you're prepared to make, and show me how that adds up to a plan for financial viability. It's not something you would want to do in normal times, and it's not something you would normally do with another company or industry. We're in very challenging economic times. It is our view that to have a uncontrolled bankruptcy in the next couple of weeks in these firms could have very significant and damaging consequences for the economy. So we think there is a rationale for providing them temporary bridge financing, as I started the briefing with, if you can have some reassurance, some very substantial reassurance that the taxpayers' investment in these companies is going to be protected. And that's why you have an empowered President's designee to ensure that that investment is protected. And that's what I've tried to describe. Automobile Industry | Car Czar | Joel Kaplan | Legislation | Press Briefing | White House Press Corps Labels: Automobile Industry, Car Czar, Joel Kaplan, Legislation, Press Briefing, White House Press Corps >> Full Story
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 6:13:00 PM
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