It made headlines last week when General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner was asked to resign by representatives of President Obama. Fritz Henderson, G.M. President, was announced as Wagoner’s successor to the top spot in the troubled car-manufacturer.

Henderson faces a series of directives from the Obama administration intended to retool G.M. As New York Times reporter Bill Vlasic notes, “The government has mandated that at least two-thirds of the debt of bondholders be swapped for G.M. stock, and that half of the retiree trust obligation also be financed pany stock.” If Henderson is unable to meet these demands, then the Obama administration has made it clear that bankruptcy is the alternative.

“We will either do it out of court or we will do it in court,” Mr. Henderson said. “But we will get the job done in terms of recreating and reinventing General Motors as petitive enterprise.” In the sacking of Wagoner and the hands-on approach to forming G.M.’s future the federal government has flexed its muscles, refusing to be a passive partner following the extension of bailout funds to a host of corporations.

Given the precedent this might set, this week’s PBR question is: “Should the government control panies?”