Barack Obama fired the CEO of General Motors last night … except obviously that’s not what “happened.”
Rick Wagoner resigned, technically, at the behest of the U.S. government.
Stop and think about that for a minute, though.
Obviously Rick Wagoner should not be running a lemonade stand, let alone General Motors, but that’s a decision GM shareholders should have made, not the White House.
Of course therein lies the rub … and it’s layered with all sorts of frightening ironies.
The first is that GM shouldn’t have any shareholders right now, because the marketplace is already done with GM – and Chrysler, too.
Both companies would be bankrupt right now were it not for $17.4 billion doled out like candy by the administration of President George W. Bush last year – back in the early stages of the socialist fever that has gripped D.C. since last October.
Now all of a sudden Obama is “talking tough,” though, denying (for now) additional bailout billions but at the same time giving both companies new leases on life.
Chrysler gets thirty days to try and sell itself to Fiat and GM gets two months to … wait for it … come up with a restructuring plan whose central element is not asking for billions more taxpayer dollars.
Oh, and as we mentioned before the government is now calling the personnel shots, which makes sense considering that Obama has agreed to provide both companies with “some working capital” during their latest transition period.
How much capital? Nobody knows yet.
Obama wants the American people to think he’s sending a message, that he’s giving all parties to this ongoing disaster some “tough love.”
What he’s really doing, though, is further perpetuating a failed interventionist philosophy – and symbolically extending the government’s power over the private sector into the corporate boardroom.
The solution here is easy.
GM and Chrysler never should have been bailed out in the first place. Nor should they be given a second chance now that it’s painfully obvious they did not live up to the terms of the bailout.
This needs to end.
The American automotive industry as we know it is dead, and anybody who doesn’t agree with that statement is tap dancing around the obvious.
Washington needs to stop wasting our money and let Detroit die, and from the creative destruction will arise new innovations, better industries and more jobs, if only we can get government (and the unions) to stand aside and let that happen.
We know, wishful thinking.
Big Brother is driving now.
By sylvia March 30, 2009 at 7:32 am
Obama’s out-right power-grab of GM is chilling. He’s following the template of Venezuela’s Chavez and Cuba’s Castro. Government is not the answer. Freedom is.
I’ve owned 3 GM vehicles and was about to purchase another. Forget it! I’m going to purchase a Japanese-owned brand to protest our government’s ambitious nationalization designs.
By DJ March 30, 2009 at 7:53 am
Yes indeed, it is a scary thought. The power grabbing is slow, deliberate, and happening under the nations nose.The same tactic of using fear that GW used to get the nation to shut up about going to Iraq is the same tactic Obama is using to do push his agenda. Fear about safety. Do I worry? I know the true patriots would ultimately stop this when it gets too bad. Obamas presidency is not historic, not when you compare to what is gonna happen to the country in the next five years. I believe that things will come to a head within the next five years and either we grab freedom again or we become the so called Socialist country everyone is talking about. Conspiracy inspired, I know, but the inklings of all this are happening now. You just need to take the red pill lol.
THINK ABOUT IT…..THE PRESIDENT JUST FIRED A CEO OF A PUBLIC COMPANY, NOT THE SHAREHOLDERS, THE GOVERNMENT.
By matt March 30, 2009 at 7:59 am
I don’t see how anyone can have a problem with the ouster of its incompetent leader. The government is simply conditioning relief on its own terms. No one is forcing the CEO to resign. We’re just making a statement that we’re not going to waste taxpayer dollars on a company sure to fail under his leadership. The concept is simple. You can keep your leadership and not invoke the aid of the American taxpayer; or you can accept our money, but do it on our terms. The lesson for GM: Beggars can’t be choosers.
By roofus March 30, 2009 at 9:45 am
Why not let the failing company fall on its own? The union legacies killed GM. Now, our children and grandchildren will pay the tab so Billy Bob the box-stapler can retire at 48 with a great pension whilst I work my chops off until my upper seventies.
By randee March 30, 2009 at 10:25 am
Does this mean it’s un-American to buy a Honda?
After all, Honda’s are manufactured in the South where anti-union laws insist upon competition and a level playing field.
By sclawyerIII March 30, 2009 at 10:53 am
This move is closer to cutting the automakers off than anything seen yet.
It requires GM to actually restructure rather than to merely see the government as a low interest lender.
It is also a shot across the bow of organized labor to start making concessions or have a bankruptcy court impose its own remedies.
I don’t know if GM can be saved or not, but I know the fallout from them falling would not be pleasant.
Apparently there is consensus among sensible people in both parties that that would be bad, mmkay.
By Katherine Jenerette March 30, 2009 at 11:05 am
We are now witnessing the true Obama factor: ‘Change you can believe in.’
So Big Brother is in the Driver’s seat. Big Brother is doing the talking (no more candidate endorsements from the media). Big Brother has his hand in our pockets ripping us off in plain sight. And we are the ones that will pay for all of this.
This is the Perfect Storm, I’m sick of hearing that worn out cliché’, but that is exactly what this is.
He might as well be taking the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence and selling them on EBay. They used to be worth something to all of the people, but the Obama factor intends to be the sole and final bidder on our freedom.
The only ones in a position to stop him is Congress and expecting them to act is like waiting for Hell to Freeze over, Pigs to Fly, and fish to stop stinking.
We the People need to get off this bailout ‘life support’ band wagon real quick.
That’s all for now.
Katherine
By randee March 30, 2009 at 11:26 am
Perhaps we should re-name GM to OM –Obama Motors.
Incidentally, isn’t it ironic that Obama assisted in establishing a carbon credit company months before the election and is now shilling for cap-and-trade laws which would directly profit his financial enterprises?
By Pat Hendrix March 30, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Hmm, so GM is the second largest maunfacturer in the world and it’s “dead”? Not even close. Chrysler is dead as fried chicken, but it seems pretty clear the adminstration is going to let it go.
In any event, Obama has not nationalized a bank, a car company or anything else. Besides, TARP passed in the Bush Adminstration with the support of Dick Cheney, not exactly a left-winger. The first bailout of the auto industry also happened in the Bush Adminstration, with no concessions. At least Obama is talking about using bankruptcy and letting the losses fall with their righful owners.
This looks like the bailouts of Harley, the Savings and Loan industry, New York City and Chrysler in the 1980s, not the beginnings of a marxist revolution. Some you bed wetters should do a little reading and little less writing.
By roofus March 30, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Dr. Comrade O,
Thanks for the tip regarding your corporate take-over of G.M.
I sold short on Friday and made another billion with the expectation of a drop in the Dow.
Don’t take the European’s rejection of socialism personally–I only want to bankrupt the United States.
Cheers.
George Soros
P.S. Please take a zyrtec upon your return from England, I hear that the pollen from the cherry blossoms are particularly intense this year and I don’t want you to get the sniffles…
By Dusk McCoy March 30, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Pat,
I’m no historian, but I can’t think of any U.S. president in my lifetime who has ordered the resignation of a privately held company CEO. Can you?
By Pat Hendrix March 30, 2009 at 4:22 pm
No. But that doesn’t equate to “big brother” or “socialism” or anything more than commonsense. When the board of directors of a company comes asking for super low interest loans, expect there to be accountability. I’m certain fits news and the rest of the crowd posting here were not offended when the Republican Party asked labor to set aside their contracts at GM and Ford. What’s the difference?
Obama will ask the same of labor. I’m guessing we will not here sqwaking about that here at fits.
Besides, the guy ran the company into the ground and walked with 20 million. Where do I get that deal?
By roland March 30, 2009 at 4:57 pm
So, the GM CEO gets the hatchet.
Fannie Mae and Fannie Mac received tens of billions more than GM and no heads roll.
Anyone see a contradiction?
Then again, Dodd and Franks received hundreds of thousands of dollars each from Fannie Mae and Mac.
By sylvia March 30, 2009 at 7:44 pm
Does anyone in Obama’s Cabinet have any private sector business experience?
Has any of his cabinet run a Fortune 500 company?
How can we trust the man to run a car company?
Right… I get it. Hope and Change…Hope and Change…Hope and Change…
By Pat Hendrix March 30, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Roland, hell yes I see a contradiction and that segs perfectly into Sylvia’s question – yes, his cabinet is neck deep into the financial markets. Take a gander at the resumes of his cabinet. Crony capitalism at its worst. Both parties, both chambers are sold out to the banks and insurance industry. It’s nauseating.
By Recovering Lobbyist March 31, 2009 at 8:28 am
President Obama is backing your car warranty now. I am a beneficiary of that I guess; I own two GMs.
You read it here first, however. Congress is going to start playing politics with car warranties.
Cadilac owners, we didn’t mean what we said. You have money, so no warranty for you. But if you have a Dodge Neon, we will fix your car twice if it breaks because you must be poor. Then again, maybe this guarantee isn’t going to help me. Both of my GMs are SUVs. We all know those are bad, so no warranty for me. But if you drive a new hydrogen car, your warranty is good for 200,000 miles because Lindsay Graham likes hydrogen cars.
America is now officially an emirate of France. But look on the bright side: it is only a matter of time before Congress mandates 5-weeks of vacation like UAW workers get. God help us all.
By Pat Hendrix March 31, 2009 at 10:07 am
Five weeks of vacation? That would be the first good thing Congress has done in decades.