[MrIcky]

Originally Posted by UCF w00t

This is all extremely uncharted territory. The government cannot legally compete with private enterprise. For example, with Amtrak, they've just been giving them the money. So I wouldn't be too surprised to see a lawsuit from F, TM, HMC, etc if this deal gets approved (although I'm not sure if TM and HMC would be allowed to sue the US federal government). Almost certainly Ford would though. This quote does scare me a bit...

"As a result of its ownership of GM common stock, the U.S. Treasury will be able to elect all of our directors and to control the vote on substantially all matters brought for a stockholder vote," GM said in a statement.

There is nothing expressly illegal about the Government participating in what should be private industy. It's a founding principal of the country that the government should not compete unless it serves the common interest or the common defense. For instance, Freddie Mac was quasi-governmental under the guise of insuring lower income people would be able to afford homes. It came to exist through an act of congress (I'm not arguing for or against Freddie-just an example). The government is in the position of deciding what's in the public good and a great excuse would be to shape the 'future of transportation for the good of the country'.

The quote though is beautiful, its the common sense outcome of the proposal- but somehow people are surprised.