The Consequences of Taking Government Money

It should serve as a lesson to all that taking money from the government comes with a whole lot of strings attached. This, now more than ever before, is more evident.

In every circle of discussion, on line and off, there are as many opinions on the latest developments from Detroit via Washington as there are dollars in the bailout/stimulus/budget bills.

There are those that say that Øbama does not have the power to fire (disguised as a request to resign) GM CEO Rick Wagoner, and although I personally agree with this assessment, I understand that once GM took federal funds, the doors were opened for such abuse of power.

These same folks argue that the government has no business meddling in the affairs of private industry. I too, agree with that. Interventionism is a very dangerous thing. I believe that since Øbama believed that GM was to big to fail, he was determined to dump money into this giant mess. At that point his team should have put out a set of rules for the money prior to handing it over. Here, these rules could have set deadlines, bonuses, management, etc. If the company agreed to these rules, then take the money. If not in agreement, then don't take the money. The government at that point should have just let the company do it's thing and moved on to the next project.

The prudent and right thing to have happened to begin with, as Mitt Romney suggested way back when, was to allow the company to file for bankruptcy and allow restructuring through that route. Now they're faced with the possibility of having to go there anyway. What will happen to these "loans" then? Is anyone taking any bets on how long it will take to get our money back?

Now the precedence has been set and Øbama has become the new ghost CEØ of GM. The newly appointed head man, Fritz Henderson will be dictated what he can and can't do. He will have to follow in the steps of various government run enterprises like the USPS and Amtrak as well as the examples set by the Veterans Administration and Social Security... after all, this is the experience the government has.

And there are more dangers coming. Tennessee's Senator Bob Corker put it this way:

With sweeping new power the White House will be deciding which plants will survive and which won't, so in essence, this administration has decided they know better than our courts and our free market process how to deal with these companies.

It’s been a long time since Washington has seen the kind of kowtowing that’s about to occur among members of Congress trying to curry favor with the administration to keep plants in their states open, and it will be interesting to see if the administration makes these decisions based on a red state and blue state strategy or based on efficiency and capable, skilled workers at each plant.

This is a marked departure from the past, truly breathtaking, and should send a chill through all Americans who believe in free enterprise. I worry that in one fell swoop we’ve lost our moral high ground throughout the global community as it relates to chastising other countries that use strong arm tactics to invade on private property rights.

Question #1: Who gave this "sweeping new power to the White House"? I don't claim to be a constitutional expert, but I have read and studied the constitution a bit, and I can't remember such power mentioned. Was it Congress? If so, when and how did this happen? Or was it self-imposed power that Øbama just gave himself?

Question #2: "Would you, in your right mind, purchase a GM vehicle knowing that the government has taken over the service and warranty policies of your purchase?"