DID OBAMA BLUNDER? - AT 7:50 A.M. ET:  The New York Times, to its credit, has recently run some surprising critiques of the Obama administration.  This morning, an op-ed piece by William J. Holstein, author of "Why G.M. Matters: Inside the Race to Transform an American Icon," raises the possibility that the president's drastic decisions regarding G.M. are wrongheaded:

PRESIDENT OBAMA’S stunning decision to demand that Rick Wagoner resign as chairman and chief executive of General Motors was based on the wrong set of premises and raises the prospect that the administration will intervene too deeply in the automaker, seriously jeopardizing a transformation effort that has come a long way in the right direction...

...Mr. Obama indicated he did not believe G.M. had moved fast enough in facing up to global competition. But the company is coming close to achieving the cost structure of Toyota’s assembly plant in Georgetown, Ky. — largely because Mr. Wagoner and his team stripped thousands of dollars out of the cost of every vehicle...

...Mr. Wagoner also encouraged G.M.’s adoption of Toyota’s lean manufacturing techniques and quality control. So much so that Buick tied with Jaguar for first place in the latest J. D. Power ranking of dependability, coming in ahead of Toyota and its Lexus brand.

And...

The Cadillac CTS and Chevrolet Malibu both won car-of-the-year awards last year and the newly revived Camaro — which is hitting the roads just as Mr. Wagoner is being ousted — represents the high-water mark of revitalized American car design...

...Mr. Obama has not only failed to understand these contributions, he has also deprived G.M. of Mr. Wagoner’s presence on the board...

...Mr. Obama’s intervention does not stop there. His aides were quoted as saying they are going to remake the entire G.M. board. But deciding which director should go and which director should be added is far beyond the competence of any government.

And the president's mouth:

Mr. Obama also failed to end the bankruptcy talk that has hung over G.M. and hurt its sales. In his statement on Monday he admitted that “I know that when people even hear the word ‘bankruptcy’ it can be a bit unsettling.” He’s right — and that’s exactly why he shouldn’t have said it was a possibility.

Finally...

It may have been politically expedient for Mr. Obama to give Mr. Wagoner the pink slip. But politics in Washington have real world consequences. Before he goes too far, Mr. Obama should recognize the huge distance that G.M. has traveled and strike the right balance in respecting the role of the private sector. Unlike the insurance giant A.I.G. or Wall Street’s failed banks, General Motors consists of real factories where real people make real things. As it looks to micromanage an entire industry, let’s hope the administration doesn’t lose sight of the human side of things.

COMMENT:  This is a powerful, well-written indictment by an expert on General Motors.  We, the American people, have a right to ask what's going on here.  Do the people in Washington know what they're doing?  Who decided to oust Rick Wagoner, and why?  Who made him a villain, when, apparently, he was doing many right things? 

The people in the president's "auto task force" - do they know anything about cars?  About manufacturing?  Or are they numbers crunchers who went to the right schools?  Steve Rattner, who heads the task force, is a financier and investor, an Ivy Leaguer, and a former reporter for The New York Times.  (I didn't know a man could have that many strikes against him.)  Three members of the auto "team" are climate-change experts.  I am not kidding. 

This calls for a major congressional investigation.  It won't happen because Democrats control Congress.  But the president may have killed General Motors just when its engines were beginning to roar again.

March 31, 2009