Overstepping Bounds Set by the Constitution

A couple weeks ago, President Obama essentially fired the CEO of a publicly held firm:

The Obama administration asked Rick Wagoner, the chairman and CEO of General Motors, to step down and he agreed, a White House official said.

I would like someone to point out exactly where in the constitution the President is given such powers. What I do not understand is how such a power grab can be seen as all right. It may be the best thing for GM but it is not the job of the White House to make such a decision.

Today, I got a message from MoveOn.org asking for my support in sending a petition to Treasury Secretary Geithner that it was time to start firing the Bank leadership. Sounds rather reasonable, if you don’t mind the government stepping over their constitutional limits.

As I read on in the missive, I found something that started to make a little more sense to me. Not only was MoveOn.org calling for action against Bank CEO’s but there was one specific CEO they were after – Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis. What was it that Mr. Lewis did to draw such attention from MoveOn.org? I was pretty much shell-shocked. I was really stricken by this venomous attack on a single member of this class.

I read further and realized the whole basis for MoveOn.org’s efforts. It seems that shortly after receiving their portion of the bailout money, Bank of America brought together a group of  banking interests to figure out how to defeat the Employee Free Choice Act.

Now, depending on your perspective, this bill is either real bad or real good. It is supposed to make organizing unions easier. Now, if you're pro-union, this is good. It also eliminates the need for anonymity in the voting process. You see, if you’re afraid of the union, you’re not going to vote against it as long as they know you did. Regardless of how I feel about unions, this is not a step toward freedom but a leap away from it. I cannot see this as good.

So, here’s what concerns me about the President, the White House, overstepping this particular boundary. The White House calls for – forces – the resignation of a CEO. This establishes precedents and a pattern in which the government gains greater control over industry. This is a move – blatant, unabashed, outright – toward socialism. Hugo Chavez did this with Venezuela’s Oil Industry and many people found it offensive. Where is the outrage when it starts happening here at home?