A version of this article was originally published on TheHill.com.
By Rick Manning
The Department of Transportation is fining General Motors (GM) $35 million for waiting too long to recall 2.6 million vehicles with faulty ignition switches. Automotive News reports that the ignition switch failures have been linked to 35 crashes and 13 deaths.
This announcement comes on the heels of another GM recall of 140,000 Chevy Malibus from the 2014 model year that have problems in their braking systems.
The only thing missing in these product recall and government fines is an acknowledgement of the company’s majority shareholder when the malfeasance took place.
That mystery shareholder would be, drumroll please, the U.S. government.
Yes, the very U.S. government that is now fining GM for actions taken over the past five years, was an active part of the company’s management decision-making process during that exact time period. The Obama administration’s reach at GM went so far as to determining that dealerships should be closed (including allegations that pro-Republican dealerships were targeted), and the decision on the hiring of the company’s new CEO. They even were responsible for firing the company’s pre-bailout CEO.
