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 General And Somewhat Nonspecific - White House Press Briefing by Robert Gibbs 3/30/09 — Monday, March 30, 2009 —  Q Thank you. I'd just like to follow up on some of the -- that has been out there here. You've been asked a couple times whether the actions regarding these auto companies should be viewed as something that the banks should pay attention to because a similar approach may come their way. And you said, no, we should look at these as individual cases. So are you essentially --MR. GIBBS: I guess what I'm trying to do is, I'm just trying to -- again, the example I just used with Chuck, I mean, the pathway for two auto companies is, based on the President's decision today, different. So I think to take any series of other entities and put them on that same scale, those paths may also be different. That's all I'm -- Q There's certain principles that underlie all of these decisions, though, obviously, and there is a certain willingness or unwillingness of the administration to dictate certain terms as a condition of receiving federal money. And so are you saying, by saying these are individual cases, are you trying to communicate that these banks really -- don't worry about this, this isn't coming your way? MR. GIBBS: No, I -- Q I think it's a fair question. MR. GIBBS: It is. It's a little general -- general and somewhat nonspecific. And again, what I'm -- I guess what I'm asking is, instead of looking at every entity as the same entity, I think that's -- I don't think that's hypothetically productive. Q Well, do you want me to ask the question that way by inserting all the names of all the banks that have received aid and ask if it would apply to that? I mean, would that be more helpful? MR. GIBBS: Well, again, understanding that some of the circumstances are different. Q But why Rick Wagoner and not Ken Lewis? MR. GIBBS: Again, some of these things are -- I don't have anything specific on Bank of America. But again, I just don't want to be generalistic across the board. Q So, in other words, you really don't want people reading anything more into this? MR. GIBBS: I hope people read into it exactly what I said rather than reading into it what they want to read into it. Q It's our job to help people -- to explain to people what it is that you're saying, and so I'm trying to make sure I understand it. MR. GIBBS: Okay. (Laughter.) Q It sounds like what you're saying is, no, you don't want us to interpret this as a sign of things to come for others -- MR. GIBBS: My hesitancy -- Q -- and if that's the case, why don't you just say -- MR. GIBBS: My hesitancy -- no, no, my hesitancy is just to look at every entity the same way, because, again, the circumstances by which any entity is at any certain point may well be different, even though it's the same type of entity, right? Again, I want to go back to GM and Chrysler. On the face, both are auto companies, right? Both have found themselves at a point where they're seeking additional government assistance, adding in to the additional loans that they got to put them on a path toward viability. But again, the examples by which we're using -- or that the President has made a determination about which direction they're going to go is different even though they're both auto industry. Q Of course, and I'm not suggesting the exact same remedy would apply to any one of these things, but, again, if you look at the general case, you have, say, generically, contracts that at AIG were unbreakable because they're legal contracts but for the UAW, those are contracts that you fully expect them to modify if they're going to get federal assistance. MR. GIBBS: Well, I think this -- I think many people have made -- I think many people have made sacrifices, but, again, without looking through the individual instances of other entities, it's hard to make that generalization. Automobile Industry | Banking | Economy | President Obama | Press Briefing | Robert Gibbs | Treasury Department | White House Press Corps Labels: Automobile Industry, Banking, Economy, President Obama, Press Briefing, Robert Gibbs, Treasury Department, White House Press Corps
Posted by White House Press Corps @ 9:32 PM
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