Former U.S. President George W. Bush
told car dealers gathered at a convention in Las Vegas he
“didn’t want to gamble” with a depression in defending the
loans he gave to General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC.
“I didn’t want there to be 21 percent unemployment,” Bush
said in a speech yesterday to cap the annual National Automobile
Dealers Association convention, attended by more than 20,000
people. “I didn’t want to gamble. I didn’t want history to look
back and say, âBush could have done something but chose not to
do it.’ And so I said, âno depression.’”
The Bush administration provided loans to GM and Chrysler
starting with $4 billion to each company in December 2008 and
January 2009. Bush eventually provided $17.4 billion in aid to
the automakers before Barack Obama’s administration expanded the
rescue of the companies to $62 billion.
Obama has cited the assistance given to the auto industry
as an example of policy that protected U.S. jobs. Republican
presidential candidates including Mitt Romney have criticized
the moves by Bush and Obama as bailouts that interfered with
private markets and contributed to the national deficit.
“I’d make the same decision again if
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