Economy & Budget

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner refused to condemn Chinese currency manipulation on Tuesday when pressed in an interview with CNBC.

Geithner would not criticize China's monetary policies, which critics allege skews the trade balance between the U.S. and China toward the latter.

"What we're focused on is fixing the things we have to fix in the United States," Geithner said when asked if previous administrations' tack with China had been too aggressive. The Treasury secretary said he'd focus on "working with countries around the world to address this crisis," including China.

Geithner was pressed on President Obama's statements on the campaign trail calling China a currency manipulator, but still declined to call out the Chinese, instead praising them for taking a "constructive role internationally."

"Look -- you know, we're going through an exceptionally challenging period globally.

The real loser in President Obama's decision to offer a $30 billion lifeline to General Motors is Wall Street and corporate America, Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) lamented on Monday.

"We're real concerned that when you have government control over corporations, this is inevitable," the second-term Republican lawmaker said in an interview with Bloomberg News. "You put political allies -- in this case, labor unions -- ahead of other people. And they're getting preferential treatment better than unsecured bondholders."

GM's investors have received disparate treatment under the company's restructuring, Lamborn said, that would discourage private investment in the future.

"When bondholders are not given the treatment that they should be getting under their contracts that they had signed, they're basically being bludgeoned into agreeing to a bad deal," he explained. "Indeed, all of corporate America is going to suffer from this bad precedent."

Lamborn also ridiculed the smaller vehicles GM plans to produce as part of its deal with the government for assistance.

"Will we getting these little, glorified electric golf carts posing as cars that are being made that no one wants to buy?" he asked rhetorically.

President Obama is now the president and CEO of General Motors, Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele asserted Monday.

"He's the president and CEO of Government Motors," Steele said during an interview on Fox News. "That's the bottom line. I think it's a sad day for American business, certainly for the private sector."

Republicans have loudly criticized President Obama for becoming too involved with GM after his administration announced it'd extend over $30 billion in assistance to the automaker as it undergoes bankruptcy protection.

Steele suggested that the $20 billion spent so far to bolster GM have been for naught, and that the company should've filed for bankruptcy months ago, which Republicans had largely favored at the time.

"We've already spent $20 billion to avoid bankruptcy, and yet here we are. So what was that $20 billion for?" Steele asked.

Steele also accused the administration of favoring corporate interest over average Americans' pocketbooks.

"So here we have, again, the administration taking care of the folks on Wall Street and ignoring the typical mom-and-pop shareholder on Main Street who's now got worthless stock," Steele argued.

General Motors' CEO Fritz Henderson pleaded with Americans to give his company another chance to succeed, thanking the U.S. and Canadian governments for the billions in assistance provided to the automaker.

"Give us another chance," Henderson said in a press conference Monday shortly following President Obama's remarks.

Henderson thanked "the American and Canadian taxpayers to the opportunity that's being provided to us to start over" at the press conference, as well as President Obama himself and the administration's auto task force.

The administration announced it would extend over $30 billion to GM as it undergoes a bankruptcy and downsizing.

"We will do it right and we do it once," Henderson said of the company's costly restructuring.

"The new GM will be rededicated in our entirety in our leadership team to our customers," Henderson added, saying that every single one of their vehicle launches in the future would be focused on achieving success.

The U.S. has a responsibility to ensure the survival of General Motors and is called to make sacrifices to achieve that, President Obama said Monday in remarks announcing a $30 billion lifeline to the troubled automaker.

"GM is an American company, with tens of thousands of employees in this country, and the responsibility for its future ultimately rests with us," Obama said in remarks at the White House announcing GM's bankruptcy, and talking up a nearing conclusion of an abbreviated bankruptcy for Chrysler.

"Working with my auto task force, GM and its stakeholders have reached a viable, achievable plan," the president said."

Obama stressed that the government would not get involved in the company's regular business operations beyond "fundamental" business decisions. The president said the government, for instance, would not determine dealer or plant closings. (One Ohio Republican lawmaker has demanded the president personally reverse GM's decision to close a plant in his district.)

Obama also said that those adversely affected by the bankruptcy filing today are called to sacrifice for the sake of the next generation of the auto industry.

"I know that you've seen your fair share of hard times. I will not pretend the hard times are over -- difficult days lie ahead," Obama said to those affected.

"I want you to know that what you're doing is making a sacrifice for the next generation," the president added. "Not a sacrifice you necessarily chose to make, but a sacrifice you're called to make."

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) directly blamed the Obama administration for a plant closure in his district, demanding that President Obama personally reverse General Motors' decision.

Jordan blasted the White House for trying to "micromanage" the auto industry, and demanded that Cabinet officials dispatched throughout the Midwest this week include a visit to a Mansfield, Ohio stamping plant GM said would close next June.

"President Obama took the unprecedented step of intervening in private business by replacing the former CEO of General Motors," Jordan said in a statement. "He can certainly take the honorable step in reversing his decision to close down our good General Motors facility."

GM announced Monday it would close nine plants and idle three, with the bulk of those plants located in Michigan and Ohio.

Senior administration officials indicated in a conference call with reporters Sunday night that GM would make the decisions on plant closures, not administration officials. The White House proclaimed that one of its guiding principles for owning a majority stake in GM would be to resist getting involved in the company's day-to-day operations.

"The Obama Administration has dispatched cabinet officials and members of the Auto Task Force across the Midwest to tour auto facilities," Jordan said of Cabinet officials' planned visits to auto towns throughout the Midwest this week. "I demand the Administration change their schedule to include a visit to Ontario, Ohio -- to tour the facility and look our workers in the eyes to tell them why they chose to close their plant."

Without the government's commitment of up to $50 billion to assist General Motors through bankruptcy, the company would have been forced to liquidate, Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) said Monday.

The governor, who has aggressively lobbied the Obama administration for aid for GM and Chrysler, indicated that the company would have essentially disappeared without help from the government.

"Well, I'll tell you, if the White House had not stepped in, we wouldn't be talking about restructuring," Granholm said on CBS this morning. "We'd be talking about liquidation."

Granholm also said that the mere talk of bankruptcy leading up to today's filings probably hurt the company even more as it tried to avoid today's outcome.

"I've never been one who's been a big bankruptcy fan, because you can't get people to buy cars from a bankrupt company," she said. "And in fact, we've seen all of the talk of bankruptcy has certainly dampened consumer demand, not just for the American auto industry, but clearly the recession has made people stay away from the show rooms."

Granholm urged the passage of the so-called "cash for clunkers" bill before Congress -- which would allow tax rebates for Americans who buy new, more fuel-efficient vehicles -- as a way to boost the flagging industry as it undergoes its restructuring.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has kicked out General Motors from its index of industrial stocks as the company enters federal bankruptcy protection Monday.

The exit, along with fellow ejectee Citigroup, will take effect on June 8, CBS News reported.

GM's exit from the Dow reflects its weakened position and now-unsure status as an industrial leader in the American economy -- a position it'd assumed without objection decades ago.

CBS reported that Cisco Systems and Travelers Companies, Inc. will take the places left by GM and Citigroup in the index.

The bankruptcy of General Motors means consumers should "buy American" when purchasing a new car, a Michigan lawmaker said Monday.

"A role that every American can play in this process is to renew their support of our domestic auto industry by purchasing an American car if they are in the market for a new vehicle," Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) reacted to GM's filing Monday. "We are all in this together and we must pull together toward a brighter future."

The notion of buying American has long been a tenet of popular sentiment in the Midwest, where a number of unions and supportive lawmakers have fought against some trade agreements that could threaten the weakened automakers.

"The federal government as the majority shareholder in the new GM needs to ensure that the American tax dollars which are being used to fund this bankruptcy are focused on protecting American jobs," Miller continued. "The goal must be to ensure that this money is not used to continue the trend of outsourcing, but instead invest in American manufacturing and American workers."

Miller, like other Michigan lawmakers on Monday, lamented GM's bankruptcy filing, adding her "heart breaks for everyone impacted."

The United Auto Workers (UAW) has done its job to resuscitate General Motors, the union's president claimed Monday.

UAW President Ron Gettelfinger acknowledged that his organization had taken a hit in renegotiating its contract with GM, but said he expected the company to rebound with minimal government interference.

"We have stepped up to the plate," Gettelfinger said during an appearance on the Fox Business Network. "We believe we've done what we think was necessary to help this company."

The union leader said that the government would benefit from getting involved in GM while the automaker was at its weakest point, as well.

"I think you'll see the government step back," he said on CNBC. "And I do believe this: By beginning this with the floor, and then moving forward -- I think it's going to rebound quicker than what most people would expect. Unless the whole country collapses, I think you'll see that."

Gettelfinger maintained that the UAW would be on board with whatever products GM plans in the future, but dismissed critics who've asserted unions are in part to blame for GM and Chrysler's financial woes.

"Are the people that are pointing fingers at the UAW also giving us credit for what's going on at Ford Motor Company?" he asked. "There's enough finger-pointing been going on the past, it's time to move forward."

The two interviews can be seen in full after the jump. Read more...