Chris Dodd, HR Specialist?

So after leading the utter failure in regulation of the now-decimated banking industry as the head Dem on the Senate Banking Committee, Chris Dodd has decided that it is a good idea for the US government to invest in companies that are on the brink of bankruptcy or worse.

As if that weren't backwards enough, he goes further by asserting that not only should there be changes in the management teams of these failing companies (which may very well be true), but that he should be the one to decide who goes and who stays. If only he would look back at the damage his "oversight" has done to our economy, even he could not think that taking his own advice would be a good idea for anyone. The hypocrisy is staggering.

What on earth qualifies him to make this kind of decision? Being an old lawyer? Wagoner, the CEO of GM that Dodd has decided needs to go, has been working for GM since the 1970's, which was before Dodd's reign of terror began. Even if Wagoner caused all of GM's problems, which he didn't, he is infinitely more qualified to work on solving those problems than Dodd and his meddling buddies are. Don't misunderstand: Wagoner may need to go, but let the stakeholders figure that out, not some politician in DC who has overstayed his welcome and refuses to take responsiblity for his own role in this disaster while happily accepting VIP treatment and hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from the industry he is supposed to be regulating. For fixing this problem, I'd trust the judgment of an expert who has made some mistakes before Dodd, who knows nothing, any day.

Have we really come to a point as a country where people think it is a better idea to have government officials with no relevant experience making these kinds of decisions? Wait... what's that? We just elected a former state legislator with two years of US Senate experience and zero other qualifications to be President? Never mind.

Ironman's Blog at The Next Right beat me to this, and you can get other coverage of Dodd's epiphany from the AP, Reuters, Wizbang, Bloomberg, Detroit Free Press, Truthdig, and The Hill.