Senators: Money alone won't save carmakers

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- No amount of money will save struggling U.S. automakers unless they change their operations, a group of Republican senators wrote to President George W. Bush.

The letter was sent by seven Republicans who effectively killed legislation last week to provide General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler a federal bailout, ABC reported Wednesday.

They sent their letter to Bush as the White House considers whether to use a portion of the $700 billion financial industry bailout to help stave off the collapse of General Motors and Chrysler.

"American taxpayers cannot afford to save every company facing financial peril," said the letter, which was also signed by more than two dozen Republican House members.

They said absent restructuring, "We do not believe any amount of money will succeed in saving these companies."

The letter was signed by Sens. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, Jeff Sessions of Alabama, John Ensign of Nevada, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Enzi of Wyoming and Saxby Chambliss of Georgia.

White House spokesman Tony Fratto told ABC News on Wednesday that the people working on a possible rescue plan for the Big Three don't like the choices available to them.

"It's a huge industry, and both the problem and the potential solutions are complicated," Fratto said. "Congress is leaving the administration with suboptimal choices to deal with the issue."