Obama: Yep, Chrysler's Bankrupt, Will Partner with Fiat

The President just gave a statement in which he announced that Chrysler is bankrupt, but insisted that it will emerge stronger from the bankruptcy reorganization. He thanked the many "stakeholders" of the car company, including creditors and employees, who had "made sacrifices" to help put Chrysler's financial affairs in order, but noted that they had been resisted by "a group of investment firms and hedge funds" who chose instead to "hold out" for the "prospect of a taxpayer bailout... Some demanded twice the return the other lenders were getting." He said that while he stood with the stakeholders who had pitched in, "I don't stand with those who held out when everybody else was making sacrifices."

Obama also announced that "Chrysler and Fiat have formed a partnership that has a strong chance of success," and that the U.S. government will pony up about $8 billion to smooth Chrysler's transition. He expected the reorganization to take less than two months.

"If you are considering buying a car," he told listeners, "I hope it will be an American car." On the slim chance that your next car is a Chrysler, he assured them, "your warranty will be safe," thanks to the government plan that took responsibility for that. And he affirmed that if we all approached the nation's economic problems with "the same sense of shared sacrifice and shared purpose that has been shown by so many Chysler stakeholders... we will not only see our auto industry rise again, we will rebuld the entire American economy."