Here are the comments made by President Barack Obama this morning.

Here’s what he really said:

The American auto industry will now be run directly out of my office.  When I go to the G20 meeting, I want to be able to tell the most Despotic of world leaders that I have completely nationalized a major industry in my country so that I’ll be invited to all the cool communist cocktail parties.

Obviously this doesn’t guarantee that anyone in Michigan or elsewhere is any more likely to have a job than if we had let the companies go bankrupt.  But obviously we couldn’t just let “the Market” [laughter from the White House press] just do what it pleases.  We’re appointing a new White House “Car Czar,” but first we want to make sure he a) doesn’t have any tax liens, and b) drives a Mercedes SUV.

Any questions…?