White House Press Briefing July 29

This is yesterday's press briefing with special guests:

Obama Speaks to AFL-CIO Convention Sept. 15

Obama Speaks at Labor Day Union Picnic Sept. 7

At the picnic, Obama announced Ron Bloom, who also worked on the auto task force, as a manufacturing advisor:

Obama chose a Labor Day union picnic in Cincinnati as the backdrop to announce his selection of Ron Bloom as senior counselor for manufacturing policy. Bloom planned to travel there with the president for an afternoon announcement at the AFL-CIO event.

Bloom was senior adviser to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as part of the auto industry task force since February. Bloom, a Harvard Business School graduate, previously advised the United Steelworkers union and worked as an investment banker.

Bloom will work with the National Economic Council to lead policy development and planning for Obama's work to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, the White House said. MSNBC

Obama's fired up! Hopefully, he'll bring this fire to Congress. Full speech:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Obama talks on health reform:

Auto Task Force's Steve Rattner Resigns

Timothy Geithner pronounced car czar Steve Rattner no longer. WaPo said he resigned. This is from the Treasury Department:

"With the emergence of both General Motors and Chrysler from bankruptcy, we enter a new phase of the government's unprecedented and temporary involvement in the automotive industry.

"I am very proud of the work done by the Auto Task Force, under the leadership of Steven Rattner and Ron Bloom, to help oversee the efficient, fair and commercial restructuring of two great American companies.

"With GM's restructuring complete, Steven Rattner, whose leadership and vision were invaluable to the Auto Task Force's efforts, has decided to transition back to private life and his family in New York City. We are extremely grateful to Steve for his efforts in helping to strengthen GM and Chrysler, recapitalize GMAC, and support the American auto industry. I hope that he takes another opportunity to bring his unique skills to government service in the future.

"Ron Bloom will assume leadership of the Task Force's activities as the government transitions its role away from day-to-day restructuring to monitoring this vital industry and protecting the substantial investment the American taxpayers have made in GM, Chrysler, and GMAC.

"Because of the President's commitment to this industry and the deep sacrifices of all stakeholders, GM and Chrysler have achieved a quick restructuring, and the economy avoided the devastation that would have accompanied their liquidation. Now, with day-to-day management of these companies in the hands of the private sector, the American taxpayers have a better chance of recouping their investment in these companies.

"There is still much work ahead to ensure that GM and Chrysler re-emerge as stronger, more competitive companies. President Obama has made it perfectly clear that it is the responsibility of their private boards of directors and management teams to deliver that result. And thanks to the hard work of Steve, Ron, and the entire Auto Task Force, they have a much better chance today of rebuilding those companies and making them once again symbols of American success." Treasury

Obama's Auto Task Force Goes to Detroit

Will the task force recommend restructuring through bankruptcy? Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, from the right right right wing, says Obama should let the automakers fail. Yesterday he said Obama should let the banks fail. Shelby only has one answer for everything. The guy's too extreme for a conversation.

Ron Bloom Isn't the Car Czar But He'll Be Czaring

Just call Ron Bloom the go-to guy for the automakers requesting bailout funds.

Swamp: Forgoing the appointment of a single "car czar," the Obama administration chose to create a multi-agency task force led by Larry Summers, chief White House economic advisor, and Timothy Geithner, treasury secretary. Bloom will have the day-to-day task of working with carmakers, their bondholders and labor unions.

Bloom is a Harvard Business School graduate and a former vice president with the Wall Street firm Lazard Ltd., focusing on the steel and airline industries.

As an aide to the steelworkers union's president, he helped resolve a 10-month strike against the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp. in 1997 and brokered an agreement with Goodyear Tire in 2003 requiring the tire maker to refinance its debt quickly, maintain its U.S. plants and limit executive pay.

So they're not calling him the car czar.

More on Bloom-just-don't-call-him-a-czar:

WSJ: Ron Bloom, whom the Treasury Department is expected to bring in as a senior adviser to help handle the U.S. auto industry’s restructuring, is a special assistant to the president of United Steelworkers union and a former investment banker.

Mr. Bloom’s negotiating skills may play a key role in shaping the Obama administration’s policies toward the auto industry. It was reported Sunday that the administration won’t name a single “car czar” to help oversee the restructuring process as originally planned. Instead, President Barack Obama will support a new inter-agency task force to deal with the issue, according to senior administration officials. And Mr. Bloom, in his early fifties, is among the players in the administration’s new strategy.

Mr. Bloom attended Harvard Business School, where he gravitated to populist business cases and was keenly interested in employee buyouts. After 10 years at investment banks, among them Lazard, he became special assistant to the USW president in 1996.

Both inside and outside the USW, Mr. Bloom is known as a financially savvy negotiator — with a tendency to spout profanities. In a 2007 article depicting Mr. Bloom’s role in the Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp. takeover battle, The Wall Street Journal wrote some USW members thought Mr. Bloom is “too cozy with the moneymen.”

Vitals from the AP:

NAME - Ron Bloom

AGE/HOMETOWN - 53; New York, N.Y.

EXPERIENCE - Special assistant to president, United Steelworkers union, 1996-present; founding partner of Keilin and Bloom, an investment banking firm, 1990-1996; vice president, Lazard Freres & Co.; 1985-1990. Also worked as a research and negotiating specialist, Service Employees International Union; as New England regional director of the Jewish Labor Committee; and as executive director of the Massachusetts Coalition for Full Employment.

EDUCATION - Undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University, 1977; MBA, Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, 1985.

Obama Scraps Auto Czar Names Task Force

Apparently, people were ready for a czar. Instead, Geithner will be in charge of the task force:

The news, which administration officials e-mailed around last night, took industry executives by surprise. For days, they had been expecting an announcement that the job would go to celebrity financier Steven Rattner, the private-equity executive and former New York Times reporter. One exec told us: 'We would have preferred having a single, go-to person focused on the restructuring. This isn't bad, but the other would have been better.' Politico

Several people on a task force are better than a czar. It lessens the danger of getting suckered manufacturers. Obama's probably saving some cash too.

CNN: President Obama is creating a task force to oversee the restructuring of the auto industry, a senior administration official said Monday.

General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler LLC face deadlines Tuesday for submitting plans to the administration detailing how they can turn themselves around.

The task force will include members from the Departments of Treasury, Labor, Transportation, Commerce, and Energy, the National Economic Council, the White House Office of Energy and Environment, the Council of Economic Advisers and the Environmental Protection Agency, the official said.

It will be overseen by Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and NEC Director Larry Summers and provide advice and analysis about the auto industry.

Geithner will oversee the loan agreements with the automakers.

In addition, Ron Bloom, a nationally recognized restructuring expert, will join the administration's team as a senior adviser at the Treasury Department, the senior administration official said.