Perhaps President (and apparent chairman of GM's board) Obama should appoint Barney Frank as the new CEO of GM. Certainly Frank has exhibited his tremendous wisdom and insight during his Congressional hearings over the past few months where various business executives have been grilled over such heinous business perks as corporate jets and bonuses. I'll bet given Frank's views on executive compensation, he would work for free. That should help solve the GM problem.

Waggoner should have been fired a long time ago. Unfortunately, he should have been fired through a chapter 11 reorganization. Waggoner is only one of the problems facing GM. GM is failing due to poor management, bad economic conditions, smothering union contracts, and bad supplier contracts. All four of these problems need to be fixed.

Back in 1990, The government seized the Mustang Ranch (a brothel) in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law tried to rum it. They failed and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country and our banking system to the same nit-wits who couldn't make money running a whore house and selling whiskey.

A silent partner is someone that comes up with the money but has no clue how to run the company.

There is nobody in government that knows how to run a car company. Some conditions are fine (e.g. plan to restructure, reduce, refine), but dictating who runs the company and how it is run is a guaranteed recipe for disaster.

First, they force banks to take bailout money if they want it or not. Second, Geithner asks for the ability to intervene in healthy companies. Three, you fire GMs CEO because of the bailout money they took. Connect the dots, there is now a prescedent for the government to forcibly capitalize any industry they want, put thier own cronies in charge and have it fall under the rule of the Executive branch. If you were not scared before you should be.

....now sit back and watch the spectacle of an Obamabot running a company. Should be fun. I'm waiting for the new and improved Trabant to emerge from this (a failed, socialist excuse for a car made in the former People's Republic of E. Germany).

No more barrier on the warranty issue with the government backing new owners of GM cars. The new CEO shoulf immediately file BK and dare the Obama admin to go back on their word to back warranties. First order of business is get out from under onerous labor contracts. Do it NOW before treasury is given the power to seize them by the democrat congress.

Unions campaigned to put him in there. Now they can both go under together ... and they will.

Hmmm, yes, and the government has such a long, successful history of running things efficiently without losing money.....

The government turns to feces everything it touches. Sure, not everyone in business is a genius, either, but at least we can (and should) let them fail.

Why do people like Copyleft think the government is so brilliant at running things?? It's not. Government consists of the most inept and corrupt people out there. People who would rather have a cushy job with no self-risk than go out into the business world.

And we want these people to run private businesses? Are you kidding me?

The moment GM approached the Gov't for money was the moment GM lost control of its company.

When you go to banks for a business loan, they ask for a business plan and how the money will be spent. If they don't like it, they don't loan.

GM is an already established biz, therefore instead of a biz plan, conditions for a loan must be established. GM (and its CEO) very well could have turned down the money and stayed private ... and gone into bankruptcy.

They CHOSE to accept the money and therefore CHOSE to accept conditions along with the money.

The gov't didn't take them over, the answer a request from said company to be saved. These are the conditions for that rescue.

I like how all the robots on this site conveniently forget that GM went to the government, tophat in hand, and BEGGED for public funds to be sent their way. Now that they're seeing some consequence to that, YARR NO MORE GUB'MINT.

Remember all that tripe about "personal responsibility"?

Yeah, I guess it just doesn't apply to corporate welfare. Neocons unite.

My son, a high school senior, looked at me and said "Whoa, how can the government do that". I am proud of him. I don't have to say a thing.

Let's skip past all this talk about dictating to the private sector and go ahead and face the fact that there will be no presidential election in 2012. The various "crises" are only going to get worse, because nothing this administration is doing is really aimed at fixing anything. By the time the next election cycle rolls around, our leader will be to busy working to resolve what he’ll call “unprecedented sociological and economic turmoil” (or something like that) to be bothered with a campaign. We might even witness the dissolution of the legislative branch of our federal government (especially if the democrat party looses its near total majority in two years). And why not? The Constitution is already being ignored. ACORN almost got away, unchallenged, with fixing a national election. Dead people have been voting for years. The print media is about to be nationalized. They’re working very hard to silence dissent in radio. I could go on but this is supposed to be a comment, not a column.

This is really getting to be a mess. If our GOV had stayed out of the BAILOUT's and let all these business go into Bankrupcy like they should have, we would never be discussing any of this and the tax payers would still have 80 BILLION Dollars. Now the GOV is using one mistake, the bail outs to grab control over American Business - another mistake. If they get away with it once they will do it again and you can count on that.

So this is just a mess and 2 wrongs really don't make a right - UNLESS you are the GOV!

If these companies didnt want the interference from heavy investors then they shouldnt have been on CSPAN begging for government money. I never saw them begging the investors for more money.

Anyone else find it funny that copyleft says that if they want bailout money they do it OUR way. I assume they mean the taxpayers' way. However, every politician is paid with taxpayer money and they ignore the will of the people to further their own agendas and left supporters like copyleft aren't calling for them to do things OUR way. That is unless by OUR way copyleft means the LEFT way and to heck with everyone else who has an opinion because it's "wrong" and doesn't matter.

Yeah, & if GM lasts that long, I wonder just how well this highly touted "Volt" will sell in our market next year...

While the gummit is forcing US auto makers to build electric and hybrid autos, Ford builds a perfectly good 65mpg diesel 5 passenger sedan and sells it everywhere except here.

I'd buy one in a skinny minute. But I refuse to by a battery powered car where in 5-7 years the replacement battery will cost more than the car.

Sounds like AmtrakII coming down the pike.

When do you think the President will fire the head of the union?

It must chafe the administration and their union buddies that Ford did not take the money.

The gubmint didn't want to let GM go into bankruptcy, that's why they bailed them out. Something about the bankruptcy judge breaking all contracts including the UAW boat anchor around GM's neck. So the 'Pretender in Charge' had to make sure the union didn't lose their grip on the auto industry.

There are lots of other instances where the gubmint is footing the bill and they have been conveniently absent, like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Failed business models need to die so a better model can rise from the ashes. GM and Chrysler are "dead men walking" and should be allowed to go into Ch.11 to get relief the way other sagging businesses do, and if they reemerge as a stronger business then that's OK. If they end up in liquidation then that is where they should be and all their assets taken by some other entity to be used in a stronger more viable business. The gubmint has no business in determining the winners and losers in private industry.

I guess that this shows how much starch and integrity the GM CEO actually had. If he runs with his tail between his legs this easily, then maybe it is a good thing he is gone, but it certainly not a good thing that the Prez, for that matter anyone in government can FIRE a CEO of a non-government corporation. I was under the distinct impression that the CEO could only be fired by the Chairman of the BOD after the BOD vote to fire the CEO. This should send chills up and down the backs of all public companies BOD and executives. I would have thought that 'Teh One' would at least get the trains to run on time first.

I wonder who will be the first one to tell 'Teh One' to take a hike?

Are caused by government/Unions.

Ohhh, gov't control of "private" business, guess thats fascism. Never thought I'd live to see this here. It's ok though, dear leader has our best interests at heart.

/sarcasm

"No Stan, its not fascism because we don't call it that."

I'm right there with you Neal.

Help me out here Neal, government educated as I was...back in te 60's...what's the term when a government takes over an international company and ousts it's leader. I thought I read about that happening down south in Venez-wail-ah....