Today, President Obama announces another corporate bailout to an already bailout-weary nation.

To understand the rationale behind the timing and new policy, check out my friend and former Bush economic advisor Keith Hennessey’s informed analysis on his new blog.

Even more interesting to me is how the White House appears to be using President Obama’s firing of GM CEO Rick Wagoner to sugarcoat the fact that the Administration is pouring more taxpayer money into companies that increasingly look headed towards bankruptcy. According to the Wall Street Journal:

“Mr. Wagoner was asked to step down on Friday by Steven Rattner, the investment banker picked last month by the administration to lead the Treasury Department’s auto-industry task force. Mr. Rattner broke the news to Mr. Wagoner in person at his office at the Treasury, according to an administration official”

So even though the firing was done on Friday, the Administration and GM did not announce the news until late Sunday night, guaranteeing that news of another corporate bailout would be buried under headlines like “Government Forces Out Wagoner at GM” (WSJ), “GM chief to resign at White House’s behest” (Wash Post), and “Car-rescue plan ousts GM chief Wagoner” (USA Today).

Considering the public’s anger at corporate managers and skepticism over bailouts after the AIG-bonus scandal, it will be interesting to see if the White House’s shrewd roll-out of the President’s auto plan will help mute public and Congressional opposition to another bailout.

Tags: auto, bailout, communications, obama, roll-out