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June 6, 2009
GM: 17% UAW Stake + 60% Federal Gov't Stake = 100% UAW Control
Monique Chartier
Referring to the federal government acquisition of 60% of General Motors, President Obama stated that
the government would refrain from playing a management role in all but the most critical areas
It appears, however, that "critical" is in the eye of the beholder.
The latest self-appointed car czar is Massachusetts's own Barney Frank, who intervened this week to save a GM distribution center in Norton, Mass. The warehouse, which employs some 90 people, was slated for closure by the end of the year under GM's restructuring plan. But Mr. Frank put in a call to GM CEO Fritz Henderson and secured a new lease on life for the facility.
Congressman Frank has swiftly demonstrated one of the major perils of a government acquiring control of a business: the temptation to make operating decisions on the basis of political rather than business considerations can be overwhelming.
7:23 PM
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Exactly! I hadn't heard about this. Thanks Monique.
Posted by: mikeinri at June 7, 2009 9:45 AMPerhaps they should change the name to Fannie Motors.
Barney did such a great oversight job with that, I can't wait to see what he'll do with an auto company.
Here come the subprime auto loans ...
Posted by: Ragin' Rhode Islander at June 7, 2009 6:38 PMHey, Mike, if we move to his district, we can be taken care of, too ...
Tom, I was going to make a joke about a potential change to the tax code: "Buy a GM car, preserve your Standard Deduction." Then I remembered that Massachusetts did exactly that with health insurance (shudder) and thought better of it.
Posted by: Monique at June 7, 2009 9:25 PM