Obama may tap auto chief Bloom to craft manufacturing policy

[rickaren]

Obama may tap auto chief Bloom to craft manufacturing policy

Posted Friday, Aug 21, 2009, 11:03 am in Employee News

The Obama administration may elevate Ron Bloom, head of the government’s auto task force, to a job that would set U.S. manufacturing policy more broadly, people familiar with the matter said, Bloomberg reported.

Bloom, a former United Steelworkers union adviser and Lazard Ltd. investment banker, helped guide General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group LLC through bankruptcy as part of the government’s rescue of the auto industry, the news service noted. The task force will continue, and it hasn’t been decided whether Bloom will remain its leader while taking on the new role, sources told Bloomberg.

The move may alleviate criticism from Democratic allies that the administration spent billions of dollars to prop up investment banks and did little to aid average Americans, the news service said. Manufacturing employment in the U.S. has fallen to 11.8 million workers, the lowest level since 1941, the story said.

“A fork in the road was taken that emphasized the resuscitation of Wall Street rather than the resuscitation of Main Street,” said Leo Hindery Jr., an investor in media companies and former chief executive of AT&T Broadband. Jobs “need to be the product of a policy” and Bloom is “very cognizant of these issues,” he said. (Bloomberg)