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By DAVID HERBERT
President-elect Barack Obama introduced four of his top economic lieutenants this afternoon and said he was "surprised" the auto industry didn't have a better-thought-out proposal as Washington mulls a bailout package.
Word that Obama would tap Timothy F. Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to lead the Treasury Department leaked late last week, and the president-elect made his nomination official today. Obama emphasized his pick's international experience, noting that he was raised partly in Africa and has worked in Asia.
"Having studied both Chinese and Japanese," Obama added, "Tim understands the language of today's international markets in more ways than one."
Obama also announced that Lawrence H. Summers, who served as Treasury secretary at the end of President Clinton's term, will direct the National Economic Council.
After the president-elect's prepared remarks, reporters twice pressed him on the size of any new economic stimulus package. Obama said he didn't "want to get into numbers right now," adding only that his new economic team would work together to find the right figure.
But Obama was less guarded about a potential auto industry bailout. He said that some action is needed because bankruptcies in Detroit would have a ripple effect on suppliers and other businesses. But he put the Big Three automakers on notice that he isn't impressed with their initial overtures for federal money.
"Taxpayers can't be expected to pony up more money for an auto industry that has been resistant to change," Obama said. "And I was surprised that they didn't have a better-thought-out proposal when they arrived in Congress."
To secure a federal bailout, Detroit needs to provide a longer-term vision of success, Obama added.
"Are they describing for us an auto industry that is focused on retooling, [that] understands we are entering into a new energy economy, that is going to be competitive globally?" he asked. "That's the kind of plan that the American people want to see."
Obama also tapped Christina D. Romer, an economics professor at the University of California-Berkeley, to direct the Council of Economic Advisers and named Melody C. Barnes, a former executive vice president for policy at the Center for American Progress, to direct the Domestic Policy Council. Barnes' appointment is already winning plaudits from progressives, many of whom have been disappointed by Obama's more centrist appointees thus far.
