[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 155 (2009), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10009]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      BIG GOVERNMENT INTERVENTION

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                            HON. JOE WILSON

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, April 2, 2009

  Mr. WILSON of South Carolina. Madam Speaker, yesterday, The Post and 
Courier, of Charleston, S.C., reviewed the intervention of government 
in the management of General Motors. I share the editorial opinion that 
dismissal of business executives is not a proper function of government 
personnel.

                               Editorial

       President Obama fired General Motors Chief Executive 
     Officer Rick Wagoner over the weekend, ostensibly due to his 
     failure to come up with a ``plan'' acceptable to the 
     administration. If he hadn't cleaned out his desk and 
     surrendered his key to the executive washroom, he was told 
     there would be no more taxpayer dollars to keep GM afloat.
       CEOs of other corporations taking federal bailout money 
     surely have taken note. The stock market certainly did when 
     the news hit.
       If you are not worried by the Obama administration's 
     audacious grab for the commanding heights of the U.S. 
     economy--the banks, the insurance industry, the giant too-
     big-to-fail manufacturers--you should be. Treasury Secretary 
     Tim Geithner even suggests that government takeover of 
     private corporations that have not accepted federal loans 
     would be warranted, if considered necessary to rescue the 
     overall economy.
       The question boils down to this: Would it have been better 
     to let well-established bankruptcy law apply to GM (and other 
     failing corporate giants) rather than suffer Washington's 
     continued exertions on its behalf.
       Or, to put it another way, would you like your next car 
     designed in Washington rather than in Detroit?

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