Ronald Reagan said, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” General Motors is learning that lesson the hard way. Now that GM is a ward of the state after being bailed out by Uncle Sam, it has to drive forward with all kinds of bad business schemes pushed by Washington bureaucrats, such as the expensive, electric Chevy Volt consumers don’t want. The latest wrong turn is GM’s move to buy a large stake in troubled French automaker Peugeot. The taxpayers who bailed out GM just got sold a lemon. This is a bad deal on its face. Government Motors is paying $420 million to get 7 percent of Peugeot, which, like GM, has been struggling to make financial ends meet for years. Peugeot lost $578 million and sales were down 8.8 percent in 2011. There’s no mystery why. Anyone who spends any time across the Atlantic knows these French rides are marred by mediocre performance, iffy quality and uninspired styling...
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