Obama Urges Help for Auto Industry

By Jennifer Loven

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President-elect Obama suggested to President Bush that struggling U.S. automakers need more federal help, aides to the Democrat say, in the first face-to-face meeting the pair had since Obama's election victory.

Obama's aides said the president-elect on Monday discussed with Bush the need for urgent action. The Illinois senator's spokesman, Robert Gibbs, said only that the talks during Obama's first post-election victory to the White House were mostly "about the broad health of the industry" and were not just limited to any one of the three largest car makers, General Motors(GM Quote), Ford(F Quote) and Chrysler.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asked the administration over the weekend to consider expanding the $700 billion bailout for financial firms to include car companies. At a news conference last Friday, Obama said he hoped the Bush administration would "do everything it can to accelerate the retooling assistance that Congress has already enacted."

The White House did not reject such an idea. Presidential spokeswoman Dana Perino said Bush would listen to lawmakers if and when they come back for a post-election session, "they decide to try to do something more on the auto industry." She said Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson would review the rescue plan again, but also suggested the administration needs Congress' help to determine which industries might qualify for help under the new law.