GM in Default

[Conan71]

Appears the FED and Treasury combined are the new mega bank/workout department for the benefit of retaining jobs throughout America. In the automobile industry as in the financial industry, Mergers and Acquisitions and bankruptcy can be enabled and cleaned up through only the governments supervision, regulation, and oversight on deals of this magnitude.

The obvious point is our government is taking charge of bad management that resulted from many years of lousy regulations and poor oversight but mainly decisions based from greed and "afluenza". Those jobs being saved will rescue the economy. And much of the money forwarded is being paid back over time. The auto industry is being forced to comply with change and that's going to be worth the taxpayers investment in non tangibles.

It's helped to have forward thinkers and "brainiacs" in charge of the USA for a change. Wait and see.

Yes we can.

I can't help but doubt your words.  But, I hope you are right.

[cannon_fodder]

My fear is, I agree with him.  But to make that work we have to assume that the bureaucrats that are taking over using tax payer money will have more incentive to or otherwise be able to do better than the managers they are taking over from.

[Conan71]

My fear is, I agree with him.  But to make that work we have to assume that the bureaucrats that are taking over using tax payer money will have more incentive to or otherwise be able to do better than the managers they are taking over from.

And therein lies my doubt.  What kind of track record do we have with large bureaucracy?  That's the whole problem with GM in the first place, it was being operated like a damn government entity.  "We aren't operating efficiently enough to profit?  Aw hell, just issue more debt, we'll be okay.  When we can't borrow any more money, we will get the government to print more for us."

There's a reason GM is known as "Generous Motors" in Michigan.  They apparently have zero concept of good fiscal stewardship.

[bmuscotty]

Looks like part of GM will be gone soon.....

http://money.cnn.com/2009/04/24/autos/pontiac_obit/index.htm?postversion=2009042414

[guido911]

DETROIT — The Treasury Department is preparing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing for Chrysler that could come as soon as next week, people with direct knowledge of the action said Thursday.

Good.

[FOTD]

GM will be gone when those Wingnutians destroy our country....

[guido911]

Pontiac gone as well as 21000 jobs:

http://www.wxyz.com/news/story/WATCH-LIVE-GM-to-Cut-Pontiac-21-000-Jobs/kYLlxaZ6t0KZbtFj5yAwEw.cspx

Hey UAW, how are those democrat campaign contributions working out for ya?  hahahahaha

[cannon_fodder]

I just don't see this ending any way other than massive job losses.  A company can not continue to lose billions of dollars each month and pretend like nothing is wrong.  About a decade of that is all a company can take.

Perhaps the UAW was right to stick to it's guns and defend the wages.  If the ship is sinking, you may as well loot it as much as you can before it hits the bottom.  Assuming you agree with the notion that you can't save the ship.  Oh, and by making that assumption and doing the looting you'll probably drown in the long run.

[edit] buy != by [/edit]

[guido911]

I just don't see this ending any way other than massive job losses.  A company can not continue to lose billions of dollars each month and pretend like nothing is wrong.  About a decade of that is all a company can take.

Perhaps the UAW was right to stick to it's guns and defend the wages.  If the ship is sinking, you may as well loot it as much as you can before it hits the bottom.  Assuming you agree with the notion that you can't save the ship.  Oh, and buy making that assumption and doing the looting you'll probably drown in the long run.

My only problem with your post is that the UAW and management just looted the taxpayers in this country through the bailout, not the company so much.

[FOTD]

POTUS just crushed GM bondholders....they own 24 billion in debt and might get 10% of company UAW owns 10 billion indebt and they might get 39% of GM. Negotiating GM debt structure will not be pretty. Looks like a rugged fight with bondholders is emerging.....

"Salt of The Earth"     
M. jagger/k. richards)

Lets drink to the hard working people
Lets drink to the lowly of birth
Raise your glass to the good and the evil
Lets drink to the salt of the earth

Say a prayer for the common foot soldier
Spare a thought for his back breaking work
Say a prayer for his wife and his children

Who burn the fires and who still till the earth

And when I search a faceless crowd
A swirling mass of gray and
Black and white
They dont look real to me
In fact, they look so strange

Raise your glass to the hard working people
Lets drink to the uncounted heads
Lets think of the wavering millions
Who need leaders but get gamblers instead

Spare a thought for the stay-at-home voter
His empty eyes gaze at strange beauty shows
And a parade of the gray suited grafters
A choice of cancer or polio

And when I look in the faceless crowd
A swirling mass of grays and
Black and white
They dont look real to me
Or dont they look so strange

Lets drink to the hard working people
Lets think of the lowly of birth
Spare a thought for the rag taggy people
Lets drink to the salt of the earth

Lets drink to the hard working people
Lets drink to the salt of the earth
Lets drink to the two thousand million
Lets think of the humble of birth

[Conan71]

So, what are you saying FOTD?  You picked up the bong and went off into the song lyrics w/o any analysis.  Do you think this is a good thing that UAW just foobared the bond-holders with the help of the President, or are you recognizing that this is a total quid-pro-quo for consistent union support of the DNC?

[FOTD]

It's pretty obvious what the devil's position is at this point....the hard working people come before the wall street gonifs.

[Conan71]

It's pretty obvious what the devil's position is at this point....the hard working people come before the wall street gonifs.

How many hard-working non-UAW retirees have pensions that own part of those $24 bln in GM bonds?  It's not just grey suits who own GM debt.

[guido911]

How many hard-working non-UAW retirees have pensions that own part of those $24 bln in GM bonds?  It's not just grey suits who own GM debt.

If this deal goes through, there will be huge repercutions. Who in their right mind would ever purchase another bond in troubled sectors of the economy? For now, join me and encourage everyone to never purchase a GM or Chrysler car again. Let the UAW and those moronic executives that BOTH ran those companies into the ground hit the bread line. Teaching moment.

[FOTD]

If this deal goes through, there will be huge repercutions. Who in their right mind would ever purchase another bond in troubled sectors of the economy? For now, join me and encourage everyone to never purchase a GM or Chrysler car again. Let the UAW and those moronic executives that BOTH ran those companies into the ground hit the bread line. Teaching moment.

The labor members did not abuse GM.....the management of this company ran it into the ditch building "those" vehicles for the red states' tax payers . In the end, it's about employed getting a hand up and not so much about the stockholders and execs getting a hand out. It's about meeting demand not creating a false demand.  Not about protectionism but innovation.

And here's a way to help pay for it!

The cost of business on Wall Street
To curb Wall Street excess, the US should tax financial transactions as the UK does

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/apr/27/wall-street-economy-financial-transactions-tax


Change has come to America.