From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

An ultimatum for GM and Chrysler.

Hello again, I'm Armin Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues, Americans care about most.

President Obama says GM and Chrysler have failed to justify their requests for 17 more billions of federal dollars.

Bankruptcies a real possibility.

GM has 60 days to come up with a better plan for reorganization.

Chrysler has 30 days to pull together a merger with Fiat of Italy.

Even if the companies do go bankrupt, the president doesn't want them to die.

He says Washington will back the warranties on all their new cars.

He calls the auto industry an emblem of the American spirit.

Will today's drastic action help to restore it or drive it off a cliff?

We'll get several answers to that question and look at the impact on the U.S. economy.

First, the news.

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deserve the chance to live a healthy, productive life. Information at gatesfoundation.org.

Hello again, Warren Allene. Back with To the Point. President Obama says Chrysler and General Motors

have made good faith efforts to

restructure their companies, but not good enough. They'll get 60 and 30 days respectively to do

better or else face bankruptcy. He said their problems are due to failures of leadership.

...