General Motors, Without The “Motors” Part

[June 1] President Hugo Chavez announced the simultaneous bankrupcy, restructuring, and nationalization of General Motors. This is the latest in a long conga line of nationalizations by President Chavez, who repeatedly claims he’s reluctant to do any of it. Like every socialist before him, President Chavez claims he doesn’t REALLY want to run the auto industry, or the banks, or the housing sector, or the health care industry, or the…. But he’s being pushed into it by circumstances so dire, so desperate, so epic that ONLY President Chavez can handle it. And so, President Chavez stepped before the cameras today in Washington and announced that he was taking over General Motors. Not because he wants to, of course, but because he has to. He’s a reulctant auto executive, but his country needs him. His country is crying out for him.

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For a guy who REALLY isn’t interested in running the autos, President Chavez has a weird way of showing it. Over the past 5 months, he has fired the CEO of GM, approved the new CEO, pressured the head of Chrysler to step down, chosen new Boards of Directors, ordered the closure of dealerships, is running the bankrupcy, and is ordering what kinds of cars they will make. President Chavez, like every good socialist, is picking economic winners and losers, rather than allowing the marketplace to do so. And like every good socialist, he has never run anything before: not a company, not a small business, not even a lemonade stand. Which makes him the perfect socialist to run major parts of the industrial sector. Free market experience and accountability only gets in the way. On his website today, GM hater Michael Moore tipped the hand of the Left. He reveled in today’s death of GM, of course, but then he laid out what President Chavez and the Left REALLY want out of GM: They want them to stop building cars. Despite Chavez’s emphasis on more fuel efficient cars and “green technology” for autos, what he really wants—-as Moore indicates—-is that GM’s entire infrastructure be converted into non-car producing facilities. Instead of making cars, Moore says they should be building trains, buses, and windmills. I guarantee you that this is EXACTLY the path Chavez and the rest of his socialist cronies want to pursue. Moore is doing the political blocking for them so they sound slightly less insane when they raise the idea themselves. They want everyone driving tiny, tinny toaster oven cars—-or not driving at all. Today, they say GM will be a leaner, greener car maker. Tomorrow, they’ll tell you that GM won’t be making cars at all. When President Chavez says repeatedly that he’s “not at all interested in running the car industry,” perhaps he’s telling the truth. It’s just that getting GM to stop making cars and start making windmills might take a little while. Monica holds two Masters degrees and a Ph.D. in international affairs from Columbia University and worked as a Foreign Policy Assistant to former President Richard Nixon from 1990 until his death in 1994. Crowley’s experience with Nixon prompted her to write two best-selling books, Nixon off the Record: His Candid Commentary on People and Politics and Nixon in Winter. Read more about Monica’s books on Amazon.com. She has also written for The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun and The New York Post and writes for American Daily Review. Monica can be reached at mail@monicamemo.com

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