U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., may not have been able to secure the near-compromise bailout plan he crafted between Detroit automakers and their main union in the week before Christmas, but that doesn't mean he has stopped trying to achieve the proposed changes.
The White House-brokered loan program that extended as much as $17.4 billion to General Motors and Chrysler (Ford said it does not need the money) retained Corker's provisions to cut debt at the companies by two-thirds, eliminate programs like the United Auto Workers' jobs bank, and make wages competitive with foreign automakers operating in the U.S.
In a conference call with The Tennessean editorial board on Tuesday, Corker indicated that he was pleased the White House chose to keep the provisions he worked out, but cautioned that because they are nonbinding, it will be up to the incoming Obama administration to enforce the agreement.
"It really is dependent upon Obama," said Corker, who has had two separate discussions with Timothy Geithner, the president-elect's nominee for Treasury secretary and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
"Tim (Geithner) has listened. It's been more of a monologue," he said. "I'm hoping (the Obama administration) will be very centrist in their approach, and I think there's a great possibility they're going to view this as an opportunity to show the American public that they are going to be centrist in their approach."
According to the loan terms agreed to by GM and Chrysler, the companies have until Feb. 17 to submit plans to a presidential designee for how to reach targets laid out by the Corker plan. Since the loan facility is through the U.S. Treasury, the new president would have the authority to change the agreement and eliminate the Corker provisions.
The UAW hopes the new administration does just that and is lobbying for it.
"The UAW strongly disagrees with the addition of these Corker proposals. We will be calling on President-elect Obama to indicate that he will drop these requirements," UAW legislative director Alan Reuther wrote in a letter circulated to members of Congress on Dec. 19, the day the White House deal was announced.
Corker defends roleIn Tuesday's conference call, Corker defended his role as dealmaker and industry critic, both of which drew the national spotlight to him earlier this month, during the Senate Banking Committee's auto bailout hearings. Corker said portrayals that he is anti-union and a Republican senator unwilling to compromise were not accurate.
"This was never about anything other than shared sacrifice," he said. "And that's what we got."
Washington Report: The Bailout Debate
Bailout is relief for automakers, but not for all
