SEE THE USA IN YOUR...WHAT?

Posted at 9:08 a.m. ET

Did you ever think you'd see the day when Washington would control the auto industry, at one time the corporate symbol of America?  It seems to be coming, as The New York Times reports:

WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats were drafting legislation Sunday for tight government control of the crippled American auto industry, including the possible creation of an oversight board made up of five cabinet secretaries and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency and led by an independent chairman or “car czar.”

Cabinet secretaries?  Does that mean Hillary?  Hillary will design the new Mustang?

The final legislation is also expected to impose stringent taxpayer protections, including stock warrants that would give the government an equity stake in the three companies, new limits on executive pay and a ban on stock dividends while the loans are outstanding.

The executive pay bit will prove very popular with the public.  Even firm believers in free enterprise - and that's us - have trouble with paying a guy ten million dollars a year to fail.

Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the chairman of the banking committee that is drafting the legislation, called for the dismissal or resignation of Rick Wagoner, the chief executive of G.M., which is the most imperiled automaker.

“I think you’ve got to consider new leadership,” Mr. Dodd said Sunday in an interview on “Face the Nation” on CBS. “If you’re going to really restructure this, you’ve got to bring in a new team to do this, in my view.”

Maybe they can bring in the guys who ran Dodd's presidential campaign.  Remember?

Congressional Democrats said that if any of the companies failed to meet government requirements by the end of March, the emergency loans could be called in for immediate repayment.

At the news conference in Chicago, Mr. Obama affirmed his position that it would be unacceptable to allow the auto industry to collapse. But using somewhat tougher language than he had before, he said it made “no sense for us to shovel more money into the problem” if the companies are unwilling to reorganize.

Okay, conservatives, how about demanding that Mr. Obama apply the same standards to federally supported school systems?  (Did you just see Democrats clear the room?)

There is great skepticism about the auto bailout, especially among Republicans, and the votes to pass are not necessarily there.

Senator Richard C. Shelby of Alabama, the senior Republican on the banking committee, on “Fox News Sunday” urged his Republican colleagues to filibuster a bailout bill. “I think this is a bridge loan to nowhere,” he said.

As lawmakers grappled with ways to aid the auto industry, Mr. Obama cautioned on “Meet the Press” that it was critical to think about both short- and long-term solutions to the nation’s economic woes. “Things are going to get worse before they get better,” Mr. Obama said.

That's right.  And remember that government can make them worse.

December 8, 2008.