Obama chief of staff criticizes automakers

WASHINGTON -- The president's chief of staff criticized U.S. car companies Sunday for relying too long and gas guzzlers and not investing enough in alternative energy vehicles.

Rahm Emanuel also said the automakers have an outdated health care cost structure. He said the companies are making the kind of changes now that many people long had told them to make.

President Barack Obama's auto industry task force is trying to restructure General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC by a March 31 deadline. If the Obama administration fails to approve their turnaround plans, earlier loans could be called back and the companies could be forced into bankruptcy.

GM and Chrysler have received $17.4 billion in loans, and are seeking an additional $21.6 billion in aid.

The administration's top budget official, Peter Orszag, said on ABC's This Week that Americans can expect higher energy prices as a result of the administration's budget and stimulus plans.

Speaking on CBS' Face the Nation, Emanuel said energy costs are too low, anyway, and U.S. car companies relied too long on gas-guzzling autos and failed to invest in alternative energy vehicles.

"They never invested in both alternative energy cars. They got dependent on big gas guzzlers. They didn't do — they have a health care cost structure that's outdated," Emanuel said, repeating the administration's premise that health costs must come under control or else risk breaking all other pieces of the budget.