Cantor Compares Obama To Putin
Cantor told the AP that Mr. Obama's plans for the auto industry represent governmental micromanagement and said watching the administration operate is "almost like looking at Putin's Russia."
Cantor has previously opposed the administration's role in the bankruptcy of General Motors and claimed that GM investors "had their rights trampled" by the government.
"The nature of this bankruptcy agreement raises serious questions about the ultimate cost to millions of Americans," Cantor said earlier this month, as Bloomberg reports.
He also accused Mr. Obama of taking rights away from auto creditors in order to gain favor of UAW workers and his fellow party members.
In response to concerns that the government will get too involved in the new GM and Chrysler, a senior aide to Mr. Obama told the Washington Post Thursday that the administration would not interfere in the car companies' day-to-day workings, acting instead merely as an "investor of taxpayer resources."
"We're not going to get into micromanaging their decisions," auto task force member Ron Bloom testified before the Senate Banking Committee.
The government is set to own 60 percent of GM and have a small stake in the new Chrysler. In effort to make car companies more competitive, the Obama administration will give nearly $80 billion in federal aid to the automakers, their lending affiliates and their suppliers.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Bloom said there is no specific timeline to revamping GM, though he expects company stock to be available to the public by 2010.