Did the Obama Administration Negotiate the GM-UAW Deal?

Mickey Kaus picked up an interesting tidbit from a union newsletter:

Corporatism Watch: Blame the Proofreader! Was a representative of the Obama administration “literally sitting in the room” for recent UAW/GM negotiations—as a newsletter to members of a UAW local said.  Or was the union report just a “misprint, as an official of the local now claims? … P.S.: Does it matter? The  government owns 32% of GM, after all. Why shouldn’t it watch over its investment? I suppose there are two fears: 1) The Obama administration might order GM’s managers to give the UAW a break the union otherwise wouldn’t get, or 2) The Obama administration might try to facilitate any agreement–including perhaps one that includes concessions the UAW otherwise wouldn’t give–by promising to make it up to everyone involved by steering business or favorable government rulings their way or by simply bailing them all out again.  Both sorts of favoritism can be accomplished, however, whether government officials are “in the room” or merely get second-hand reports and make a few phone calls. It’s mainly a question of “optics.” …

But given the impossibility of real transparency–i.e., proving to the public that the administration isn’t playing favorites, directly or by remote control–optics are all the Obama administration’s got. …