Superprez saves GM

Meet Barack Obama, president of the United States, savior of the universe, sheriff of Motown, automobile executive. The preternaturally humble Obama, naturally, chafes at the slight hyperbole. Of course, he’s not an automobile executive, he says. But, Mr. President, if we may use that particular title, you are too modest. General Motors is yours to salvage or turn to junk.

Obama took over GM by issuing it a weekend ultimatum: Fire CEO Rick Wagoner and produce a new viability plan within 60 days or the government bailout well goes dry. Chrysler similarly got the back of the administration’s hand along with marching orders. Sell to Fiat in 30 days or else lose a place at the government trough.

So Wagoner bid adieu, then leapt into the arms of a lavishing $20 million retirement package – quick, call ACORN; time for another protest. And Chrysler dutifully got busy, announcing a global alliance with Fiat, with the help of a $6 billion government loan. For his next trick, Obama the swami will get GM board members to cluck like chickens. A trifle more daunting will be persuading unions to make wage and benefits concessions.

Recognizing as much, Obama muttered Monday that the situation might necessitate “using our bankruptcy code as a mechanism to help them restructure quickly and emerge stronger.” Oh. But wasn’t the necessity of avoiding bankruptcy the reason taxpayers plunged billions of bailout dollars into the automakers? Who would buy a car made by a bankrupt company, the administration mused. Well, who would empty Treasury vaults in the name of steering companies “too big to fail” away from bankruptcy then suggest that very step? Meet the sheriff.

And now the CEO. Obama disdains this title because of its accompanying baggage. But the title and baggage are his. That goes with playing the role of government bully in private enterprise. Naturally, those who possess the money also possess the right to dictate terms. Lest he forget, and we think he does, Obama’s money is not his own, but taxpayers’. So, too, are the risks he takes.

Few pity Wagoner, who after six inglorious years on the job had GM idling on the brink with the engine revving. Few sensible people would pity Ron Gettelfinger, the United Auto Workers president who as much as anyone accelerated the auto industry’s race to ruin but still survived Obama’s muscling.

“Use of the bankruptcy code” always has been the answer for GM and Chrysler, so it’s encouraging in a sense to hear the president discuss the possibility. But it would be better now as it would have been better in the beginning for the government to step away from car companies and seal the doors to the Treasury. Bankruptcy will not only compel restructuring, it will force the concessions unions have so successfully resisted to the point of auto companies’ near undoing.

Instead of restraining government hands, leaving GM and Chrysler to do what almost everyone knows they must, Obama appears likely to continue feeding them taxpayer money while pushing an agenda to produce more green cars. Obama the CEO believes this will drive those companies back to profitability, but the president’s auto industry task force says different. Producing cars to meet the fuel efficiency standards Obama wants will make the companies less competitive, the task force says.

So what now, Mr. President? We suggest this: Having broken GM and Chrysler, leave them now to fix themselves and leave them to do it without taxpayer help. That corner of the universe occupied by the auto industry can best be saved by your doing nothing more.