Bankruptcy 'New Lease on Life' for Chrysler: Obama

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 30, 2009 12:14 PM CDT
Bankruptcy 'New Lease on Life' for Chrysler: Obama
The Chrysler Stamping Plant in Twinsburg, Ohio.   (AP Photo)

President Obama said today that Chrysler’s impending bankruptcy is “not a sign of weakness but one more step” towards recovery, the Washington Post reports. The 1-to-2 month “surgical” bankruptcy—a time frame met with skepticism by experts—will give the automaker a “new lease on life,” Obama said. The president claimed that the filing and a partnership with Fiat would save “tens of thousands” of jobs.

Though the president said he was hopeful about the bankruptcy, he had harsh words for the lenders who made the process so difficult. “A group of investment firms and hedge funds decided to hold out for an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout. Everybody else would have to make sacrifices and they would make none,” Obama said. “I don’t stand with them. I stand with Chrysler's employees.” (More President Obama stories.)

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