jueves, 18 de diciembre de 2008

Obama chooses 3 more to take on financial reforms

CHICAGO – President-elect Barack Obama on Thursday named three veteran regulators to help clean up financial debacles that he said occurred because government overseers "dropped the ball."

Obama wouldn't weigh in on whether he would support a decision byTreasury Secretary Henry Paulson to tap the second $350 billion installment of the $700 billion financial bailout program. Major auto companies are pleading for emergency aid, which could come from that pot.

"I think it's important that the Treasury, the Fed and all of us do whatever's required to make sure that our financial system is stable and secure," Obama said. But he added: "We cannot afford a collapse of our financial system. Main Street can't afford it." He said he would evaluate any Paulson signals about what is necessary.

As Obama spoke at a Chicago news conference rounding out his economic team, the White House said it is considering "orderly" bankruptcy as a way of dealing with the desperately ailing U.S. auto industry. President George W. Bush, asked about an auto rescue plan during an appearance before a private group, said he hadn't decided what he would do but also spoke of the idea of bankruptcies organized by the federal government as a possible way to go.

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