Car Czar to Be Replaced by a Committee

You just know that's going to work out well:

DETROIT — President Obama has dropped the idea of appointing a single, powerful “car czar” to oversee the revamping of General Motors and Chrysler and will instead keep the politically delicate task in the hands of his most senior economic advisers, a top administration official said Sunday night.

Mr. Obama is designating the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, and the chairman of the National Economic Council, Lawrence H. Summers, to oversee a presidential panel on the auto industry. Mr. Geithner will also supervise the $17.4 billion in loan agreements already in place with G.M. and Chrysler, said the official, who insisted on anonymity.

Let's remember that Geithner, admitted tax cheat, is the same guy who showed up on Capitol Hill last Monday and seemed so unprepared to address the banking issue that the stock market tanked over 400 points. His appearance didn't inspire much confidence, and if I were an executive in the U.S. auto industry I'd start packing up my personal items.