Horse 996 - Tell me Quango, Quango, Quango

Tell me when will you be mine
Tell me Quango, Quango, Quango
We can share a love divine
Please don't make me wait again
With apologies to Engelbert Humperdinck

General Motors has now passed into the hand of the US Federal Government which in principle makes it the world's biggest Quango. What's a Quango you ask? Well, during the 1980s when all sorts of these things emerged, it was short for Quasi Non Government Organisation.

Now admittedly this sort of thing has existed in Britain quite well for years, with the most obvious example being the BBC, but in America for some bizarre reason, the same sorts of businessmen who run perfectly profitable companies, don't seem to have the nous to be in a Quango.

Think about some of the Quangos which exist in the USA:
Amtrak - There's a joke if ever I saw one.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting - which is a never ending source of re-runs and very very programs bought from the BBC on the cheap.
Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, American International Group (AIG) - Do we start laughing yet?

And now General Motors? Hmm. Can a Corporation owned by the US Government operate independently it? Is that even possible? Mr Obama seems to think so... well he hopes so.

http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCan...5513A320090602
"We are acting as reluctant shareholders, because that is the only way to help GM succeed," Obama said. "What I have no interest in doing is running GM."

Perhaps he should look to the BBC, because although it exists within the sphere of government, is most certainly not controlled by them (and is frequently criticised by them, so they must be doing something right). The Beeb has an independent board of directors and certainly does not take orders from HM Government. I'm not sure about GM though, they've already been fiddled with by the Obama administration:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a1BaGmyUoHgA&refer=home
The Obama administration asked Wagoner, 56, to leave the company and he agreed, said an administration official who declined to be identified before the move was announced.

We'll know in about 90 days what all this means... if anything. It could all fall into a GM - Glorious Mess.