There’s a double standard in Washington, but GM and Chrysler will survive in spite of it.

People often assume that because I’m the editor of Popular Hot Rodding that I’m naturally going to be a one-issue guy when it comes to politics, but I really try to be a big-picture guy, because at heart, I’m a family man, and a proud American. Nevertheless, you could easily see how I might come out in the camp of domestic automakers when it comes to stuff like the auto industry bailout.

Nobody was happier than me when word came down that GM and Chrysler were going to get bridge loans from the Federal government. Hey, if this administration has decided it isn’t going to directly aid tax-paying citizens by paying down inflated balances on home mortgages, at least they’re helping my industry, right? Not so fast, hot rod breath. In exchange for Federal help, the Obama administration plans to micro-manage Detroit with an auto industry task force comprised of White House adviser, Lawrence Summers; Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner; and former United Steel Workers union adviser, Ron Bloom. Wow. Talk about letting a fox guard the henhouse! Keep in mind that so far, we’re “only” talking about oversight of $17.4 billion in loans, compared with the $350 billion already spent from the initial TARP bailout, and the new $787 billion, 1,100-page stimulus bill just signed into law, of which none of the members of Congress or the White House administration has actually read.

You’ll also recall that within days of the initial TARP bailout under the Bush administration, the top six money-getting banks doled out a total of $40 billion (that’s with a “b”) in executive bonuses, apparently for jobs well done. Translation: bank execs robbed $133 from each man, woman, and child in these United States, and our government was the wheelman. We’ve seen some light rhetoric from the Obama administration concerning more scrutiny for executive compensation, but nothing like the top-level auto industry oversight that’s promised now. None of this is counting the $70 billion in bank asset evaluation that mysteriously evaporated overnight after the TARP embezzlement took place. The whole thing makes Bernie Madoff look like a saint.

And how do things square with putting a union guy (Ron Bloom) on the auto industry advisory board? Well, if the current negotiations between GM and Chrysler, and the UAW are any indication of things to come, we might be in for a rough ride. The UAW is holding out for cash funding of its retiree benefit fund, while GM has only bonds to offer. (And by the way, where’s MY pension fund?) Why’s this important? Because under the terms of the Fed bailout, GM and Chrysler need to work out the details of UAW compensation to get continued funding, but that piece of the puzzle is being held hostage.

At the end of the day, all the politicians and advisers never actually build a damn thing, except barriers. Everybody's gaming the system for maximum personal benefit, while we're paying the bill. The auto companies and their workers are the ones who really get the job done. They’ve made it through tough times before, and they’ll do it again—and be stronger for it!