Obama Runs GM

Did Obama fire the General Motors chairman? It’s a little more complicated than that.

The GM bailout severely curtailed the power of the corporation. In most times, a bailout would also have damaged the employee’s union. But the United Auto Workers refused to negotiate with the government. This made it look like the union thought GM was not in serious trouble. And GM looked like they were going after some easy money.

If GM really was close to bankruptcy, the government should have made it plain that both company and employees were getting the benefit. That is, they should have waited until the UAW was willing to make as many concessions as did the company. The upshot of the ill-timed bailout is that GM lost power which the UAW gained, and the government lost credibility.

The union now has the power to fire the chairman and probably the entire board of directors. They also have a huge amount of influence over President Obama. If the UAW says fire the chairman, Obama has just enough power to save face by acting like he did the firing.

Though Obama fired the GM chairman, the UAW pulled his strings.