The new CEO of the new General Motors testified yesterday before Congress and said that she is “deeply sorry” about the company’s negligence in selling cars that came standard with a flaw that could kill you. The company knew. A government regulatory agency knew. And if the administration of President Obama did not know, then one is inclined to wonder why not and go to the only possible explanation, which is incompetence. The administration rescued the company from bankruptcy, after all, using billions of taxpayer dollars. Should it not have taken a careful look at what the money was buying?
The administration considers the GM bailout a success story of the sort it celebrated yesterday when the sign-up period for the Affordable Care Act ended and some seven million people had enrolled. There had been a lot of patch jobs put in place along the way. The employer mandate was dropped. First, it turned out that “you can keep your plan” wasn’t true and then … well, we’ll make some exceptions. All in all, a vast and ongoing jury-rig.
