Money matters

President Obama dismisses as unfounded any fears that his administration hopes to nationalize more and more of the private economy.

Perhaps.

But who could have envisioned just one year ago today that the White House would be determining the salaries of executives at some of the nation's largest companies?

Meet Washington attorney Kenneth Feinberg. He's the Obama pay czar.

Mr. Feinberg's job is to set the pay levels for the top 25 executives at seven companies that received federal bailout money -- AIG, Bank of America, Citigroup, General Motors, GMAC, Chrysler and Chrysler Financial.

He must also set up the pay structure -- though not the actual salaries -- for the top 100 executives at each company.

"I'm hoping I won't be required to simply make a determination over company objections," Mr. Feinberg told the Chicago Bar Association this week. He said he hopes to work with the various companies under his purview, not dictate to them.

Well, isn't that special.

One yearns to know how Mr. Feinberg will go about his job. Will he lock himself in a small room with a pair of dice and a dart board, channeling Ralph Nader and Chuck Schumer to arrive at a "fair" but not "excessive" pay package for GM's vice president of union affairs?

Not since FDR have we seen this type of government overreach in action.

Yes, these companies took taxpayer money. But thousands of groups, unions and businesses receive millions in direct or indirect federal subsidies every day. Should we create a whole new bureaucracy for Mr. Feinberg to run, sending hundreds of bureaucrats out into the field to determine the proper pay for the executives at those operations, as well?

This is a dangerous incursion by Washington into the marketplace, a populist ploy designed to make the White House and congressional Democrats look like they're whipping those evil Wall Street types into line. In reality it will likely make it more difficult for these companies to hire and retain the type of talent they need to recover. It sets a very troubling precedent.

"I just can't get over the fact that the American public is going to put up with this, because at the end of the day, this is not the government's business," said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio.

Indeed, the existence of people such as Mr. Feinberg is a prime example of why many Americans don't believe Mr. Obama's soothing assurances that he has no intention of trying to massively expand the federal government's role in the private sector.

We have an appointed bureaucrat waving a magic wand and setting executive compensation for General Motors and Citigroup.

In the United States of America.

Unbelievable.