Oh, SNAP
President Obama is proud of his bailout of General Motors. That’s good, because, if he wins a second term, he is probably going to have to bail GM out again. The company is once again losing market share, and it seems unable to develop products that are truly competitive in the U.S. market.
Right now, the federal government owns 500,000,000 shares of GM, or about 26% of the company. It would need to get about $53.00/share for these to break even on the bailout, but the stock closed at only $20.21/share on Tuesday. This left the government holding $10.1 billion worth of stock, and sitting on an unrealized loss of $16.4 billion.
Right now, the government’s GM stock is worth about 39% less than it was on November 17, 2010, when the company went public at $33.00/share. However, during the intervening time, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has risen by almost 20%, so GM shares have lost 49% of their value relative to the Dow.
It’s doubtful that the Obama administration would attempt to sell off the government’s massive position in GM while the stock price is falling. It would be too embarrassing politically. Accordingly, if GM shares continue to decline, it is likely that Obama would ride the stock down to zero.
Just President Zero living up to his name.
– In the worst case scenario, not counting the original shareholders investments or lost wages and retirements, I think I read somewhere the total cost to date is hovering around 90 billion if the stock trend continues. But he did save a million jobs, over half overseas in foreign plants, while we lost 16 million jobs in manufacturing alone, but he did blow another 850 billion in worthless stimulous to help that along, and he kept his Union base in line.
– Plus it only cost us 2+ trillion to get Bin Laden, so, you know, win, win, win. Forward.
Cutting your losses, not an option. Great. Fantastic.
November is coming.
Somewhere Thor is wiping his ass with GM stock certificates, all the while crawling into a half empty bottle of cheap whiskey. Oh yeah, the dead Russian hooker is slumped in a corner of the half lit dingy room.
Hey now! The UAW are happy. And isn’t that what really counts?
If GM would unass the empty office buildings and parking structures that they own and sell them to the highest bidder, they could go a long way toward solvency.
Obama bailed out of Iraq and into GM. There’s the difference between into and out of, though the outcomes may be very much the same. Yet these he touts as his successes.
“I met [Obama] recently on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico where we had a chance to talk. And though we talked mostly about Syria, I could still take stock of my counterpart. My feeling is that he is a very honest man and that he sincerely wants to make many good changes. But can he do it, will they let him do it?” — Vlad
Chrysler has been bailed out twice now, GM once. Maybe its just time to let these zombie corporations just go bankrupt.
The govt should just sign all its GM stock over to the UAW and wash its hands of the whole thing. Tell the UAW, if you think you can manage this business and turn a profit, or break even, have at it, but the taxpayers are DONE. You’re on your own now.
The UAW will of course run GM straight into the ground and bankrupt it for real, but us taking that $16B haircut will turn out to be a real bargain in the long run.
My feeling is that he is a very honest man and that he sincerely wants to make many good changes.
honest/sincere != competent
I’d rather have a competent crook or even the mafia running the govt right now. The mafia knows how to turn a profit, and they understand how to provide service their customers want.
If the government sold these shares under these conditions, the stock would collapse and GM would be essentially out of business (given B/R is not really an option anymore). We are stuck with this pig and they will probably throw more good money after bad.
We are stuck with this pig and they will probably throw more good money after bad.
I’m serious about just signing the shares over to the UAW and washing our hands of it. Let them run the whole show from top to bottom. Sink or swim.
Actually, he’s probably on some proggy board talking about Romney’s huge cock and how the Negros are going to pay for their insolence. He’s just that sort of asshole. Oh, and he’s wiping his ass on the carpet.
When Chrysler went bankrupt the first time, they borrowed federal money with the stipulation of repaying it and they did. This time? Ha. Perhaps if there were a way to clone Lee Iacocca they’d have a chance.
We’ve bailed out private companies before, American Airlines was one, I believe. Personally, I don’t think it is always a bad idea. In the case of GM and Chrysler, I think a structured bankruptcy rather than a bailout would have been the way to go.
GM is really a loan company that manufacturers automobiles as a sideline and it has been for the last 20+ years. We need to admit that and let them die a natural death.
“GM is really a health care provider
loan companythat manufacturers automobiles as a sideline”Gun Sales Surge: An Obama Bounce?
Speaking of thor, anyone heard from Nishi? I thought for certain she’d be around telling us how right a choice her magical president is, and how completely obsoleted we ageing wingers are.
OT… Another example of the RINOsphere coming close to the answer and yet again backing away from it.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2012/09/why-is-this-election-close.php
“(Andy McCarthy:) Certainly, the media, the academy, and most of our society’s major institutions are heavily influenced by progressives, if not outright controlled by them. It is therefore a given that elite opinion will portray Republicans as villains. Yet, that longstanding challenge for Republicans has never before been an insuperable one. In America, at least until now, the avant-garde has never been able to tame the public. It has always been possible to run against elite opinion and win — if you make a compelling counter-case.
Today’s Republicans do not. Indeed, they cannot, because they have accepted the progressive framework. Their argument is not that the welfare state, deficit spending, federalized education, sharia-democracy promotion, and the rest are bad policies. Their argument is not that Washington needs to be dramatically downsized. It is that progressive governance is fine but needs to be better executed.
(Hinderaker:)Like Andy, I would love to see a radical down-sizing and reorienting of the federal government that would tame, if not abolish, the welfare state at the federal level. But is that really a practical suggestion for this year’s campaign?”
Right in front of their fucking faces and they will not see it.
Right in front of their fucking faces and they will not see it.
– They can’t do it at this point GO. They’re like a guy whose purchased a baby Gorilla, and raised it over the years, and if they don’t keep feeding it banana’s and try to keep it happy it might turn on them in a heart beat and rip them limb from limb.
I’d say that’s a straightfoward example of why McCarthy is worth reading and Hinderacker isn’t —nor has been for some time.
– That piece by Woodward spells out clearly just hoew close to the cliff we really are. Our toes are hanging out over the edge. We can stave it off for a couple more years at best, but by 2014 or so if we haven’t done the things we need to and managed to attract investment we can hang it up.
Then we can hang it up.
Because Obama won’t, and guys like Hinderacker make it that much harder for Romney to make the case, other than in a vague you kids are pretty much screwed because you’re the ones whose lifestyles are going to be limited by that 16 trillion in debt, like he did on the campus of Northwestern (Community?) College in Orange City IA yesterday.
So yeah, everybody agrees on the problem, and Obama is looking to cast blame, and Romney is talking about the problem without going into specifics for solutions, and we’re all stuck waiting to see what the idiot fucking moderates decide to do.
I’m feeling very under gunned this weekend.
– Assuming Romney has the spine for it, and also assuming he gets it, which as a money man at least that part I’m sure of, even with all of that the thing no one knows is how much, if any, and how fast, if at all, we can attract a good chumk of that 80-90 trillion of worldwide investment money back into US businesses. If we can do that then we have a chance to tread water and slowly creep back to some measure of solvency.
– That’s a lot of “if’s”. As Ramius would say:
“Personally I give us 1 chance in 3…..More tea anyone?”
and Romney is talking about the problem without going into specifics for solutions
Mitt “I got health care for every man and women in Massachusetts” I dare say, is part of the problem.
– Thats stump speech rhetoric. Like any politician he’ll say whatever he thinks will get him elected, or rather his campaign team will guide him that way.
– We have to hope he knows exactly whats wrong and acts accordingly, if he even manages to win. If not it won’t matter if Rosanne Barr wins.
– Obama’s never going to let go of his hatred for the money people. Its in his political DNA. Its the foundation of the Marxo-Socialist religion. They will never share power, and they’ll take us all down to the death if they have to.
“seeing it” requires that they recognize and admit that they have not been clever, brave, nor wise since around 2004, and have been gullible assholes and cringing clueless suckers who, for the momentary illusion of acceptance from those who want to reeducate, try, imprison, or bury them, have for almost a full decade stood in direct opposition to what they claim they want and the country needs.
USEFUL IDIOTS in other words. Turncoats. Speed bumps.
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Off topic but at least we know Obama did attend Columbia… http://pjmedia.com/instapundit/150299/