Government Motors

I would like to shake the hand of the person who coined the term 'Goverment Motors'. As I think about it maybe no one actually coined the term because the name is so obvious that it just rolls off the tongue so easily, the name really fits. I was watching TV a few days ago and I was shocked to see that Ed Whitacre, GM's CEO and President Obama's hiree, has a TV commercial claiming that GM has paid off it's government "bailout" loan, "in full, with interest, five years ahead of schedule." I have to say that initially I was impressed, even slightly amazed and shocked. I felt like I owed the federal government an apology because I was completely against the bailout of General Motors. Suddenly, I snapped out of it and I smelled a rat! Something was amiss, common sense spoke to me and it told me that this Ed Whitacre was lying to me, and to all of America!

Do you remember when all of this financial crap started with the automakers? It was back in November of 2008. Alan Mulally of Ford, Robert Nardelli of Chrysler and Richard Wagoner of GM, all of them arriving in Washington D.C. on their corporate jets. It was an audacious display of arrogance and hypocrisy. They were all broke and they were in Washington D.C. to ask for taxpayer money. The lawmakers were right to chastise this incredible display of indifference.  Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-New York, said, "There is a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hand, saying that they're going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses,"

He added, "It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious."

He also said, "couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you do get it."

So the at the next congressional hearing the automakers drove to Washington D.C. in electric cars with their hat in hand. Supposedly, this sent a message to congress that the executives understood the severity and the enormity of the situation their companies faced. Subsequently, in GM's case, the automaker walked away with $49.5 billion dollars of taxpayers' money. GM had no chance of getting private financing because of their bankruptcy status so the government was the only place that they could turn to for financing.

In January of 2009, GM was $34 billion in debt plus a $13.4 billion bailout from the taxpayer to keep the automaker from filing bankruptcy. That is a total of $47.4 billion of debt that the automaker has racked up. What is the government thinking? Why didn't congress just allow GM to go bankrupt and allow the company to fold? The mess would have had a lot of fallout and yes there would have been plenty of pain felt by many of Americans, but the pain would have been over with in a much shorter period of time than the false path that Government Motors is currently on.

The government won't allow Government Motors to go bankrupt because the Democrats are in bed with the UAW. The UAW is a crooked organization along with the Democrats in Washington D.C. The UAW forces autoworkers to belong to their union and they take dues out of every autoworker's paycheck. The UAW then takes those forced dues and gives contributions to the Democrats. The UAW does not give any money to the Republicans. There is an old adage that says follow the money. The money in this case is forced dues from the autoworker, no matter what their politics are, which is in turn funneled to politicians in the form of campaign contributions. The politicians take forced taxes on the American citizen and in turn provide a backstop to this horribly run automaker to keep the pensions of the autoworkers fluent and also to keep the autoworkers working under this system to keep the cash flowing back to the UAW and then to the Democrats. One hand washes the other is another adage that comes to mind.

The average autoworker isn't the one to blame because they need a job. They are really forced into a bad situation and the system really has the workers hands' tied. Another albatross that is in the pipeline for the auto industry is card check. That is a story for another day. 

So Government Motors hasn't made a dime since the company took the bailout money and also before the bailout for many years. Yet according to GM's CEO, Ed Whitacre, who in this recent commercial is in a sense sympathizing, patronizing, propagandizing, and downright lying to the American public, says that GM has paid the American citizens back in full. This is a bold face lie! GM paid off the bailout loan of $6.7 billion with funds from government aid money that was set aside by the Obama administration for Gm as "working capital". This lying CEO fails to tell us that. He also fails to mention that the total amount that GM owes to the American tax payer is $49.5 billion. The money has been funneled to GM in various ways to avoid a taxpayer revolt. 

GM loses over $1,000 on average for every car that it sells. The money is going to support the pension funds that GM funds for it's retired autoworkers and their families. It is my guess that these families tend to vote for the Democrats in heavy numbers. It is the Democratic party that is the cornerstone and the defender of their current economic existence. These pensioners are really living off of government welfare which is truly the American taxpayer. I'm sure that these pensioners don't view their income that way because in their minds they or their spouse worked many years to earn that golden pension. What they don't want to admit is that the economic model that the UAW structured or "negotiated" for them many years ago was unsustainable.

In any other industry the company would fold and the contracts would die with the companies. In this case the UAW is in bed with the Dems and they are a big voting block so the bleeding heart politicians bail these folks out. The only problem is that once the American taxpayer is tapped out who will these crooked union bosses and politicians turn to, to fund their lucrative and cushy lifestyles. GM will go under and the union dues along with it along with the pensions. However, the jobs will return because a new automobile company will rise up to fill the void that the disappearance of GM has left. Or maybe their won't be a void because no one can afford a new car because the American economy has been thoroughly looted by the corrupt politicians and the crooked unions. 

Another adage that comes to mind is, 'birds of a feather flock together'. One day the chickens will come home to roost. It will be interesting to see how these crooks will point fingers at each other and how they will do their best to deflect any sort of culpability directed towards them. When the light shines on these roaches hopefully average Americans will wake up and stomp on these vultures and send them to where they belong.