Bankrupt General Motors Corporation has begun its conversion into an arm of the government in advance of the subsidies it must receive in order to “survive” (for the present managers to keep their jobs). In yesterday’s Wall Street Journal (subscription required), Holman Jenkins wrote an article in which he explains that the company lavishes hundreds of millions on development of the Volt, its electric car, so that it will have a basis for demanding subsidies both direct and to intrepid consumers who are willing to try driving a government car.
You can bet those folks never test-drove a(n East German) Trabant or Wartburg.