To be honest, I am very happy that Barrack Obama was elected the President of the USA, and i’m sure he will do a great job in this position. Today, he declared that he - and the members of Congress - was very suprised that the Detroit 3 CEOs were so ill-prepared for their crucial hearings last week on federal aid to the industry.

“I think Congress did the right thing, which is to say, ‘You guys need to come up with a plan and come back before you’re getting any taxpayer money,’ ” Obama said in response to a question after he introduced top members of his economic team in Chicago.

Obama added: “I’ve said before and I will repeat, we can’t allow the auto industry simply to vanish. We’ve got to make sure that it is there and that the workers and suppliers and businesses that rely on the auto industry stay in business.”

As you might know, last week, Democratic leaders of Congress blocked action on bills that would have provided $25 billion in emergency loans to the Detroit 3 and possibly to suppliers. The performance of the Detroit 3 CEOs was widely mediatized and even lampooned Saturday on “Saturday Night Live.”

After two days of hearings, the CEOs were told to prepare plans on how they would use federal money and how they will become viable companies over the long term. The plans are due Dec. 2. Then more hearings are scheduled. The Congress is supposed to meet again back the week of Dec. 8 if the companies’ plans answer those questions.

Obama, essentially backing that stand, said, “Taxpayers can’t be expected to pony up more money for an auto industry that has been resistant to change. But more importantly, are they describing for us an auto industry that is focused on retooling, understands that we’re entering into a new energy economy that is going to be competitive globally?”

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