By E. Thomas McClanahan, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

President Obama assured the public that he had no interest in running General Motors, despite the government's heavy investment. The company would be run by a private board. The board will call the shots. More: "The federal government will refrain from exercising its rights as a shareholder in all but the most fundamental corporate decisions."
Somebody forgot to tell Barney Frank, Democratic congressman from Massachusetts.
It seems Frank found out GM planned to close a distribution center in Norton, Mass., so he did what Very Powerful Members of Congress always do: He called up the company CEO, Fritz Henderson, and demanded to know what's up.
More formally, according to Frank's spokesman, the two talked about "the facility's value to GM."
No doubt Frank re-educated Henderson on that point. Or, in the more common expression, Frank "'splained it to 'im."
Chrysler and GM are now government dependents. They are what the Chinese would term "state-owned enterprises." And their thorough politicization is only beginning.