Claiming that "bankruptcy is not an option", Pelosi made her position on the issue clear, reports the Detroit Free Press. While she has not yet seen the plans that the Detroit 3 are submitting to Congress today, she was adamant that "either their plan will be one that we will act upon or we will say this is how we want to restructure and that will be the legislation".
Pelosi, like Obama, was not willing to write a blank check for the auto industry just to save jobs in the short term. Any financial assistance, she said, would be given only if the Detroit 3 showed a "commitment to the future" and new ways of conducting business that would see them avoid similar situations in the future.
The news bodes well for the auto industry, which is currently pulling out all stops to convince the government to lend it financial assistance, even going so far as to forsake their corporate jets and pay their CEOs just $1 per year. But symbolic gestures such as these will need to be backed up with solid plans for the future, especially with evidence of a willingness to produce more efficient cars.