Commentary

This edition focuses on two stories I have been following for many years, both of which relate, in their own way, how government involvement, picking winners and losers, can screw things up.  I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the June 2, 2025, Newsweek headline: “Thousands of Dead People Got Student Aid, Trump Admin Finds.”

It was in March 2010, when, as a contributor of political commentary to a weekly paper in Texas, I wrote about President Obama’s decision to overhaul the student loan program, insisting the Education Department could better manage it than community banks, by ending the subsidizing of banks and other financial institutions.  It would allow students to borrow directly from the federal government.

“We are finally undertaking meaningful reform in our highest education system,” Obama proudly said. “By cutting out the middleman, we’ll save American taxpayers $68 billion in coming years.”

Just five years later, it was revealed that 27.3 percent of student loans were delinquent. Investor’s Business Daily, in an opinion piece asked, “why does this matter?” responding thanks to Obama about $1 trillion of student loan debt is owed by the federal government, while citing that the crisis is “the one Obama created.”

The result of Obama’s action was striking.  In each of the six years since signing the legislation, Obama, a man with no business experience, saw the federal direct student loan debt climb by more than $100 billion.

In my June 26, 2019, edition, I wrote how Obama assumed the government takeover of the program in 2010 “because he thought bank weren’t lending generously enough for his tastes and were profiting – heaven forbid – from government guarantees.”

But now, under President Trump, who wants to dismantle the Education Department, with Secretary Linda McMahon at the helm initially who has announced action and proactive steps to ensure American taxpayer dollars spent on federal student aid programs are used properly and responsible.

You may recall that Biden deprioritized accountability and defied the Supreme Court with his wacky effort to relieve student aid debts.

My earlier reference to the thousands of dead people who got student aid funds was recently uncovered by the DOGE effort, working with McMahon, in which it was revealed that $30 million in aid was disbursed to deceased individuals over the past three years.

The Second Story, centers on another individual I’ve heaped criticism on, GM’s CEO Mary Barra.  Regular readers may recall my May 21, 2025, piece, “Mary, Mary, How Does Your Industry Grow,” a take off on an old nursery rhyme.

I have been critical of her and Ford’s Jim Farley for getting weak-kneed with the Biden administration’s foolish all-electric plan.  Barra, on January 28, 2021, announced plans to go all-electric by 2035.

In Allysia Finley’s column in the Wall Street Journal, “What’s Good for Politicians Is Good for General Motors,” she walks her readers through Barra’s relationship with Trump in his first term, the Biden era, and Trump 47.

Working with Trump in his first term, he reminded her that “this country has done a lot for General Motors. He pushed her to open more manufacturing facilities and lowered burdensome Café standards.

Finley noted how Barra began kowtowing to her new master in Washington when Trump lost, stating that General Motors is aligned to address climate change by drastically reducing auto emissions. That was followed by her all-electric pledge.

But now the political tides have changed again in Washington, where they wrongly pick winners and losers.

“Ms. Barra no doubt knows that the business is at the mercy of a mercurial government and better keep the rulers happy,” wrote Finley.  “Credit her ability to please her most important customers – politicians.  Their command is her wish.”

It’s hard to argue with success. She has obviously been able to prove to her stockholders that she knows what she’s doing. GM sold more cars than any other company last year and its profits have doubled in her 11 years as CEO,

If Democrat should ever get back in power, “Ms. Barra will surely be at their beck and call,” noted Finley. The CEO’s responsibility becomes to keep the company’s overlords happy, so it always comes out a winner.”

May God continue to bless the United States of America.