Pulling the Strings

It seems Americans never learn that any money Uncle Sam spends comes with strings attached. You know, the whole thing about 'he who pays the piper calls the tune' and all.

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 surprise announcement about the classically iconic American corporation is perhaps the most vivid sign yet of the tectonic change in the relationship between business and government in this era of subsidies and bailouts.

Tectonic shift? You could say that. GM was once one of the largest employers in the world. Now Uncle Sam is gunning for the title.

When the head of state injects billions of taxpayer dollars into companies, then makes hiring and firing decisions for them, they no longer reside in the private sector, subject to market forces. They are nationalized. And there's a term for the form of government in which corporations and the State merge.