June 1, 2009 2:56 PM
- Text
Cheney "Worried" About U.S. Ownership Of GM
(AP)
When the federal government, "gets into the business of running a major corporation, like GM, then all these political pressures come to bear" Cheney said during a luncheon at Washington's National Press Club Monday.
He said he was worried that in government-owned companies decisions are made not for economic or business reasons but with political motivations.
Cheney praised the private free enterprise system and said a "healthy process" would be to "create new things and destroy old things" – seemingly a call for GM to have restructured earlier.
The former vice president echoed the Republican National Committee's sentiment on the bankruptcy.
"Now we have a situation where I am concerned because government stepping in," Cheney lamented. "I do not like the precedent that we are setting here."
Cheney continued his charge for the administration to declassify information on the intelligence gained from interrogation.
"I would not ordinarily be leading the charge to declassify classified information," he said.
"Otherwise, they would not be calling me Darth Vader for nothing," he said to some laughter." I think the declassification of those documents would serve a public purpose, and enlighten the public."
He was also asked to weigh in on President Obama's Supreme Court nominee, Sonia Sotomayor.
"If it were my decision to make, I think I would have gone with someone a little more conservative," Cheney said, citing his preference for Bush appointees Justices Roberts and Alito.
He said he is looking forward to the Senate's confirmation hearings and that the choice is Mr. Obama's "prerogative" and is "nothing personal."
Predict: General Motors Bankruptcy
Will GM emerge from bankruptcy before Labor Day?
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