Decision Points, by Pres. George W. Bush: on Corporations

George W. Bush: Lent $25B to auto companies from TARP money

The House had passed a bill offering $25 billion in loans to the auto companies in exchange for making their fleets more fuel-efficient. But the Senate wouldn't budge. The only option left was to loan money from TARP. I wanted to use the loans as an opportunity to insist that the automakers develop viable business plans. Under the loans' stringent terms, the companies would have until April 2009 to become self-sustaining by restructuring their operations & renegotiating labor contracts. If they could not meet all those conditions, the loans would be immediately called, forcing bankruptcy.