Government Motors Lacks BMW Vision

BMW is very excited by the feedback from it's 2013 Vision hybrid concept supercar. Although by the time it hits showrooms, it will lose some of the exterior flair and perhaps morph into a four door sedan, it will no doubt be hailed by the media, as it likely should. Actually, in looking at it, it seems GM has/had a vehicle that has similarities in it's exterior appearance that has very similar chassis characteristics and weight differential that drew very high marks from the automotive media. You guessed it, the Pontiac G8 GXP.

Famed longtime GM executive Bob Lutz labeled the Pontiac G8 Grand Prix GXP "America's BMW", and many automotive journalists agree, as noted HERE, HERE and HERE. It is unfortunate, that President Barack Obama, in a rare display of his Mount Rushmore brilliance, fired GM CEO Rick Wagoner and placed the fortunes moving forward of General Motors, and Pontiac, in the hands of a complete neophyte named Brain Deese.

Pontiac, regrettably for the American consumer, did not survive. On that note, although I remain irate at this development, I am happy to have a G8 Grand Prix GXP in the garage.

Thuggery From Within

During the 2008 Presidential campaign, when attempting to evaluate the work Barack Obama had accomplished as a Senator from Illinois, it took quite some doing amongst all the votes present that were recorded.

Among the very few items uncovered, one located was a bill sponsored by Claire McCaskill, D:MO, which Obama piggybacked on and co-sponsored. As reported by The Kansas City Star, McCaskill last year sponsored a bill protecting inspectors general from partisan firings. No longer can presidents simply note they have “lost confidence” in a watchdog. The new law requires the chief executive to note the actual reason for a firing and to allow Congress 30 days to investigate the claims.

Fast forward to the past week, where lo and behold, an Inspectors General was fired by Obama without the chief executive noting the actual reason and not allowing 30 days for the Congress to investigate the claims. Byron York of The Washington Examiner and Glenn Beck of FOX News discuss and interview Gerald Walpin, the fired Inspector General. Take a listen:



Oh my! Now that is a fantastic example of upholding the law and what transparency! Kind of like the 5 days Obama promised the citizens of the United States would have to examine bills when the spendulous package was rammed through so fast even the members of Congress had not time to read it. They even dragged some congressman back from his mothers funeral to vote on it only for Obama to sign it at a photo opt 5 days later. Good grief America!

After a few days when a storm cloud seemed to be brewing regarding the firing, the White House played hardball, claiming Walpin "was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve." Glenn Beck is on the case, and he gave Walpin a competency test. In English!

Amazingly, Obama is fooling quite a few folks because he is practicing thuggery from the oval office. Since when do we Americans appreciate our governance being run in this fashion?

Glenn Beck has more on the subject:

No doubt, Michael Barrone was quite correct in a column during the campaign predicting this whole scenario.

If you do not want to run car companies as you state, don't. Ditto banks and insurance companies. And quit strong arming corporate executives, whether personally as with Mr. Walpin or Rick Wagoner of GM or through your surrogates as evidenced by the despicable behavior by ACORN and your media partners during the AIG bonus debacle.

America, please wake up!

Running on Empty

According to the government, GM's Rick Wagoner was forced to resign because of poor performance. That’s embarrassing. You run an organization that loses billions of dollars and then get fired by a guy who heads up an organization that loses trillions of dollars.
--Jay Leno

Reaching your hand out to the government at a time of crisis has can have lasting and extreme consequences, as General Motors (GM:NYSE) recently found out. CEO Rick Wagoner was forced to resign, or fired, by President Barack Obama. Since when does Obama, who would not know a Plymouth Barracuda from Mercury Comet, think he can run a car company better than 30 year GM veteran Wagoner? Obama called the GM recovery plans insufficient. Perhaps Obama failed to read the status report GM submitted. With the Congress in charge, I feel much better.
The Obama administration has crossed the line in this regard in my opinion, and I am not alone. "They have opened Pandora's box -- the U.S. government has decided they know better than the private company," said Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) "There is no question that this country is moving down a very different and foreign path. We have crossed this threshold: We own this company and we are telling it what to do." Amen brother!

I think the Obama administration, which has spoken publicly that GM does not "build cars people want," wanted to grab GM under the "crisis" to expand their ideas via the GM platform that America wants hybrid, small vehicles similar to the European model. This is nonsense. We don't! We want real cars for real guys, like Chevy Trucks, SUV's and Camaros.

As I have written about extensively, particularly HERE and HERE, General Motors has made great strides recently, and the 2010 Chevy Volt is a home run in waiting.FORMER GM CEO RICK WAGONER PICTURED WITH THE 2010 CHEVROLET VOLT

On April Fools Day yesterday, a rumor from Car and Driver discussed how President Obama had ordered GM and Chrysler to cease NASCAR operations at the conclusion of the current season. It bordered reality so closely, it was removed from the web. Investors Business Daily editorialized about it. If true, now that would indeed be a line in the sand that would pack out every tax day tea party from south Florida to Idaho. I almost wish it were true, for Obama's days in the Oval Office would definitely be numbered, as they should be anyhow.