Romney: Distribute GM shares to taxpayers

The federal government should distribute GM shares to taxholders and relinquish direct control over the bankrupt company, Mitt Romney said today.

“The government should get out right now,” Romney said on the NBC’s Matt Lauer. Instead of holding a direct stake in the company, the federal government should “distribute the shares to the taxpayers of America, let them buy and sell amongst themselves as we do in a normal public market.”

Though the White House has claimed it will not be involved in the day to day operations of the auto giant, Romney worried that the administration would determine where plants would be and what kind of cars are built.

“I don’t want the Sierra Club telling General Motors what kind of cars they have to build,” Massachusetts quipped. “Let’s let the taxpayers–the shareholders–decide how GM is going to be run.”

Also in the interview, Romney criticized Obama for his perceived “apologies” on his last overseas tripped, and said he hoped the President would put on a repeat performance during his current trip to the Middle East.

“The prior visits the president has had for instance to Europe has resulted in the kind of apology I think is inappropriate,” Romney said, adding that the sacrifices America has made “overshadows all the mistakes.”