George Will On The Public's Hold On The Private Sector

George Will's essay, "Have We Got A Deal For You," should leave you feeling a bit alarmed. Mr. Will's topic is the government takeover of GM; his theme is that this takeover is irresponsible and an abuse, or, at best, a misuse of power, Mr. Obama's denials of government meddling notwithstanding.

Writes Mr. Will:

The pressure to politicize the economy is spreading. John Sweeney, head of the AFL-CIO, and Gerald McEntee, head of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees -- which is government organized as an interest group to lobby itself -- have demanded the resignation of two directors of Citigroup. Their premise is that businesses receiving direct government subventions should conform to the wishes of the president's allies. [bold added for emphasis]

Amazing, and utterly scary.

The final conclusion drawn by Mr. Will is also quite interesting:

Washington's "rescue" of GM began because GM is "too big to fail," and bankruptcy is (well, was) "unthinkable." Big? GM's market capitalization, $375.8 million on Wednesday, is about the size of California Pizza Kitchen's ($340 million) -- is it too big to fail? -- and one-eleventh that of Harley-Davidson ($4.3 billion). Fail? If GM has not already failed, New Coke was a success.

The administration is determined to prop up GM as a jobs program for the UAW and Midwestern states rich in electoral votes. This frenzy will intensify as the administration's decisions deepen the debacle. [bold added for emphasis]

"Deepen the debacle" indeed.