mowermech
Billings, MT
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As I understand it, GM paid back (or will pay back) the LOAN portion of the "bail-out", but they have NOT purchased the stock that is owned by the government. WE, (the taxpayers) still own 61% of GM. THAT will not be paid back until GM has a public stock offering. At the present time, they have only the vaguest idea when that will be.
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Keith99RS
Suffield, CT
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mowermech wrote:As I understand it, GM paid back (or will pay back) the LOAN portion of the "bail-out", but they have NOT purchased the stock that is owned by the government. WE, (the taxpayers) still own 61% of GM. THAT will not be paid back until GM has a public stock offering. At the present time, they have only the vaguest idea when that will be.
Precisely. They are also assuming a 1st quarter 2010 profit as well. Alot of "ifs".
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curt12914
Northern NY State
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SkiDood wrote:curt12914 wrote:If you're an optomist, the fed could actually make money on the stock, like any other investor.
The fed has no business trying to make money on the market. The fed has no money but what they take from its citizens. I would prefer they didnt gamble with it.
I'm not sure about the federal government, but I know state governments are heavily invested in the markets. When income taxes come in, they invest a lot of money. Most years, they end up with a sizable return that saves the taxpayers money.
I know (at least in NY state) that cities, counties, towns and villages do the same thing. I hope the federal government does something to make money on their principle.
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tvfrfireman
Portland, Or
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I don't understand all the anger towards GM. Just a few years ago, a number of people burnt to death in the Pinto compact cars due to a cheap part that would protect the fuel tank and Ford knew but found it cheaper to pay the lawsuits. It looks to be forgotten and people have moved on. What about Pearl Harbor and Hitler. Plenty of folks buy their cars. I'm glad millions of jobs were saved and folks were able to feed their families and wish others could walk a mile in someone else's shoes.
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SkiDood
Peoples Republic of Minnesota
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curt12914 wrote:If you're an optomist, the fed could actually make money on the stock, like any other investor.
The fed has no business trying to make money on the market. The fed has no money but what they take from its citizens. I would prefer they didnt gamble with it.
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curt12914
Northern NY State
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If you're an optomist, the fed could actually make money on the stock, like any other investor.
One of thr things I wonder about is, will GM (& Dodge) be disqualified from selling vehicles to the government as a conflict of interest?
I work for NYS DOT and have a side business selling safes. I can't sell the NY State Police a safe because it is a conflict of interest.
If it's a conflict for me, owning part of a company should prohibit them from selling vehicles to the federal government.
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JALLEN4
Florida
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How easily the facts of a situation are distorted in a very short period of time. No government, U.S. or Canadian, supplied billions of dollars to GM and Chrysler as a speculative investment. There was no gamble but rather a desperate attempt to save what ultimately would have been hundreds of thousands of jobs. Most recognized economists feared that on top of the other failures in the financial markets, it was a pretty sure bet that a 30's type depression could have resulted if they both were left to liquidation.
President Bush, as one of his last actions, started the process and President Obama was left to finish it. It was a bipartisan decision that no informed person could seriously debate. While the ultimate formatting is open to discussion, only the uninformed would argue the need to undertake some kind of process to save an industry that directly or indirectly employs one out of ten in the U.S.
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Bama5150
Alabaster, AL
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If the size of a single company impacts the economy so dramatically that we can't afford to let them die, perhaps they shouldn't be allowed to grow to that size to begin with? Just thinking out loud.
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I'm Rick James
Reno, NV, USA
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Joined: 10/18/2004
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SkiDood wrote:curt12914 wrote:If you're an optomist, the fed could actually make money on the stock, like any other investor.
The fed has no business trying to make money on the market. The fed has no money but what they take from its citizens. I would prefer they didnt gamble with it.
Exactly! An entity which can create currency should not be gambling with it.
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I'm Rick James
Reno, NV, USA
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curt12914 wrote:
I'm not sure about the federal government, but I know state governments are heavily invested in the markets. When income taxes come in, they invest a lot of money. Most years, they end up with a sizable return that saves the taxpayers money.
I know (at least in NY state) that cities, counties, towns and villages do the same thing. I hope the federal government does something to make money on their principle.
State, and local, governments do make investments in the private sector. The fundamental difference is that the federal government should not be printing dollars to gamble with. The incentive to make a sound investment decision does not exist as the only recourse for a poor decision is simply issuing new T-Bills.
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