At the White House event on the GM bankruptcy this morning, President Obama repeated his claim that the U.S. government has no interest in running General Motors. But in the same paragraph, he conceded that the government will use its power as the majority owner of GM to shape the most important decisions made by the giant automaker:
What we are not doing — what I have no interest in doing — is running GM. GM will be run by a private board of directors and management team with a track record in American manufacturing that reflects a commitment to innovation and quality. They — and not the government — will call the shots and make the decisions about how to turn this company around. The federal government will refrain from exercising its rights as a shareholder in all but the most fundamental corporate decisions….
Put aside the question of whether Congress and the executive branch will actually refrain from micromanaging GM. What does it mean to say that you’ll stay out of running a company except for its “most fundamental corporate decisions”? Doesn’t that mean that, when it matters most, you’re running the company?
