Iacocca: GM has a hard road ahead

The word "unprecedented" has been used a lot to describe emergency actions taken by the government to avert crisis, but in some cases there are plenty of parallels between past in present. A case in point: the use of Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds to aid automakers Chrysler and General Motors (GMGMQ). While politically controversial because it extended relief beyond strictly financial circles, it is similar to the 1979 loan guarantee the U.S. government granted to Chrysler.

If the government's previous foray into overseeing an auto company is any indicator, it is not going to result in an easy ride, Lee Iacocca said in an interview. Iacocca would know; he was the CEO of Chrysler when the company received the loan guarantees. "They're on you day and night. Their oversight is just too extreme . . . That's why our 10-year loan, we paid it back in three years. We couldn't stand the government. The bureaucracy kills you."