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He who pays the piper calls the tune

wagonergm

GM CEO resigns at Obama’s behest

The Obama administration asked Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, to step down and he agreed, a White House official said.

On Monday, President Barack Obama is to unveil his plans for the auto industry, including a response to a request for additional funds by GM and Chrysler. The plan is based on recommendations from the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry, headed by the Treasury Department.

The White House confirmed Wagoner was leaving at the government’s behest after The Associated Press reported his immediate departure, without giving a reason.

General Motors issued a vague statement Sunday night that did not officially confirm Wagoner’s departure.

Here’s how I see it:
GM had the option of declaring bankruptcy and reorganizing under Chapter 11. Instead they agreed to taking buckets of government money, hence making private enterprise a governmental entity.

Bad for GM, worse for the country.

Worse yet: now the government is telling the CEO/chairman to leave.

Is the government going to pressure the unions to make the necessary concessions that could turn GM into a profitable enterprise? The same administration that’s in favor of card-check?

Does the inept Obama administration have anyone with the managerial skills needed for GM to even survive without bailouts?

I wonder how many millions in Wagoner’s golden parachute, and whether the administration will enact more confiscatory taxes on them.

Welcome to Obama Motors, folks.

UPDATE, Monday 30 March
How many millions in Wagoner’s parachute? Twenty:

GM has received billions in loans from the U.S. Treasury Department, and recently asked for billions more. Under its agreement with Treasury, it cannot pay severance fees to senior executives. That ban does not appear to apply to retirement benefits, however.

We’ll see what the outcome is to the second part of my question.

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This entry was posted on Sunday, March 29th, 2009 at 8:28 pm and is filed under Barak Obama, business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

5 Responses to “He who pays the piper calls the tune”

  1. steveegg Says:
    March 29th, 2009 at 8:52 pm

    I guess Wagoner didn’t donate enough to Obama last year.

  2. Pat Patterson Says:
    March 30th, 2009 at 12:56 am

    Waggoner would have gone anyway. Most of the car blogs have hated him for years and pointed out many of the almost unbelievable mistakes he and his executives had made. Too bad the GM board didn’t act sooner instead of being talked into a strings attached bailout from the government.

  3. vanderleun Says:
    March 30th, 2009 at 1:17 am

    I love the Obama quote: “it’s important for us to take serious restructuring steps now in order to preserve a brighter future down the road.”

    Ah the brighter future seen by the glorious leader.

  4. Horlic Says:
    March 30th, 2009 at 3:22 am

    Rick Wagoner to step down…Yes, I agree with the action.

  5. steveegg Says:
    March 30th, 2009 at 7:32 am

    If memory serves, part of taking the government cheese was the shredding of the parachute.

    I find it ironic that a government incapable of putting together a plan is criticizing GM’s and Chrysler’s inability to put one together.