The White House recently announced that they were not going to appoint a "Car Czar" after all. The $17.4 billion dollar loan given to the American auto companies will instead be overseen by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.
It’s easy to see why Paulson was chosen. His office already oversees the source of the loan money, the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The fund was set up by Congress in October and was originally designed to help the banking industry. Another reason is the fact that whoever they appoint to handle the loans can be replaced once Obama takes office. Keeping Paulson in charge for now just eases the transition.
"We don’t think that’s something that we should impose … just for 31 days when the next administration may or may not have a different view about how they want to handle it," said Joel Kaplan, deputy White House chief of staff.
Either way, it looks like a "Car Czar" is out of the plans for now. Too bad. For a car enthusiast, that would have been the best job in the world!
Source: Automotive News
