And you are stuck with it.

In our era of big government, we need some perspective on what this really means. Never in the history of the United States has the government ever taken anything over, then given it up. Now that you and I own GM, Chrysler and half of the country's banks, there are some examples that you need to understand. In theory, the government "fixing" or "helping" works out quite well. However, there is a chaos theory called the "law of unintended consequences" that can't be predicted except with the study of history.

Ever ridden on Amtrak? If you are a fan of seeing Aldi bags used as luggage and watching people eat cold fried chicken, chances are that you have. Not only synonymous with total disaster, it is owned by the US government. It exists solely for the purpose of existing and costs us millions every year. It was taken over officially in the mid 1950s as it was being rendered useless by commercial aviation. It was previously bailed out in the 1920s as Henry Ford's prowess pushed them to the brink of collapse.

In the 1950s, you and I bought Amtrak and have operated it, or should I say funded it, ever since. Although commercial aviation is 7x faster, 1/3 the price and has on-time performance exponentially superior, the trains continue to run. Freight First. The rules of the railroad state simply that passenger trains must yield to freight trains. Delaying freight trains can drastically impact the economy by delaying production, import, export, what have you. There is no accurate way to predict a way when an Amtrak train will depart or arrive. To this end, Amtrak is not a viable means of transportation in the 21st century. While there is part of us all that can only imagine the history and romance of the train travel era, we have to ultimately accept that Amtrak has gone the way of the Zeppelin, White Star Lines and Oldsmobile.

Politically, Amtrak has been a victim. The US government has hired executives to make the company profitable only to fire them because of the way in which they were achieving it. Congressmen and women would call for an ousting when a revenue hemorrhaging route in their jurisdiction would be nixed. The sad part is, it has been close to profit under several different managers, however, as political whims go so goes Amtrak. Relegated to limbo by a schizophrenic political climate.

With Obama's firing of Rick Wagoner and a disproportionate control of GM given to UAW, he essentially politicized the US economy. You and I have stock in GM - if you own a mutual fund or a money market account, you have money somewhere in GM. The US government now controls a good percentage of the free market, which can now ebb and flow with political landscape. It has nothing to do with financial viability - it has to do with who is in office, and whether they will continue to fund it and to what extent. If they fund it, your kids can go to college. If they let it fail, your kids will be flipping burgers. If they fund it, you can retire at 58. If they let it fail, you work until you are 67. They now have that power, and you didn't even realize it. Check mate - you will never get that back, you can merely play along.

Here's the point; the government does not give anything back. Further, they tend to over control things to the point of destruction. They consign a bad product to an eternity of mediocrity and continue to charge you for it without your knowledge. The military is the only thing that the government does well; and that is a direct result of a lack of political input. Have you been to the DMV in recent years? It is painfully backwards, inefficient and bureaucratic - and that is the on a good day. Now imagine that process building a Cadillac.

Ronald Reagan said "the most terrifying words imaginable are 'I'm from the government and I am here to help.'"