Obama taskforce faces Congress over car industry rescue
Christine Seib in New York Members of President Obama's auto task force are expected to face tough questions about America's ailing car industry when they appear at a congressional committee hearing today. It is the first time White House representatives will face public scrutiny over the decision to use billions of dollars in taxpayers' cash to bail out General Motors (GM) and Chrysler. Ron Bloom, the former investment banker who led the task force's labour negotiations, and Edward Montgomery, President Obama's director of recovery for auto communities and workers, will testify to the Senate Banking Committee in Washington this afternoon. The hearing will review the use of funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (Tarp) to put the two car companies through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. The Government will provide up to $50 billion (£30.5 billion) to GM alone to get the carmaker back in operati...