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GM Did Not Really Pay Back Its Loan

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  April 22nd, 2010 at 10:07 PM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

If you own a GM vehicle and they have your email address, you’ve gotten a nice email in the past few days that they paid back their bailout loan from the federal government.

A lie. Well, technically true, but a lie.

Turns out they took money out of one pocket and put it into the other. More precisely, GM took TARP money to pay off the auto bailout money and now must pay off the TARP money.

Pfffft.

GM, since being taken over by Obama, is now acting like the Obama administration.

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  • raginpatriot

    GM and Chrysler were really corporate pass-through entities; in reality this was a bailout of the UAW.

    Hence the extra-legal preferential treatment that the UAW got … with proceeds strong-armed from bondholders by the Obama administration.

    Another example of Obama’s practice of “redistributive justice.”

    Next up — they’re already floating the idea of a taxpayer bailout of the UAW pension fund.

    Since I’m already contributing to the UAW through my taxes, henceforth I decline to further contribute to them by refusing to purchase any UAW-assembled vehicle.

    I recommend that you do the same. The sooner the UAW dies, the sooner it’ll stop feeding off of the taxpayers.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    Because…uh….we’re trustworthy…….and we, uh, make good cars…….

  • http://www.erickerickson.org Erick Erickson

    It is awesome.

  • jeffreywturner

    I wish the management of Ford would grow a pair and get out there to BLAST Government Motors as nothing more than another government agency.

    I have heard one local Ford dealer advertise their vehicles as “No bail-out Fords”, but I would like to see this on a national scale.

    I suppose that the leadership of Ford has been warned by the Regime that if they expose GM on this, they will mysteriously find themselves having problems with the IRS, Department of Labor, OSHA and any number of other Federal agencies.

  • jeffreywturner

    How many more billions of taxpayer bail-out money did they they receive as equity, in addition to the loans?

  • banzaibob

    Here in San Antonio a Ford dealer advertises American Built, Not American Owned.

  • http://www.barrypopik.com barrypopik

    I did a diary on the GM TARP debacle.

    You could link it or mention it. Red Staters are people, too.

  • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim
  • 6eorge Jetson

    2010 Cadillac DTS

    I’m going to head down to a dealership tomorrow to see if they’ll consider my offer of $6,700 as payment in full.

  • E Pluribus Unum

    It’s my project car at the moment.

  • rbiii

    Not exactly an apples to apples comparison but these kind of accounting gimmicks landed ENRON in a huge pile of stink.

    Also, where the hell is the media on this? Can you imagine if Bush had pulled this kind of crap?

  • http://pocketchangeproductions.net/ anotherindyfilmguy

    do as the Romans do… or tell you to do… or both… or else…

  • mikerazar

    Some day the SS trust fund will “pay back” the Federal Government, so that checks can be issued to retirees.

    I see no difference.

  • gamechange11two

    Gee, and I thought the 1st quarter earnings statement might turn out to be a real doozey. GM lost $9.6 bil in the 4th quarter alone last year, and then they pay-off $8 bil in loans 90+ days later? That would be the turn around story of the century. Still, they havent announced yet.

    (sounds of bated breath)

  • NeoKong

    I could payoff my mortgage with only 10%.
    Since I have already given them that much anyways I guess I’m all set.
    Actually…they owe me a refund.
    I call them later with the good news.

    The Democrats in this country just never stop insulting the voters.
    Everybody knows that they took over 50 billion dollars in loan money.
    Giving back 6.7 billion of it does not mean they paid it all back.
    They can never pay it back.
    They are only pulling this publicity stunt because many Americans will not buy there cars now and their sales stink.
    I will never buy a GM now.
    Not after the way that the Obama administration and the UAW STOLE IT from the secured investors.
    It was thievery and wealth transfer plain and simple.
    GM is just going to become another entitlement program for aging UAW workers.
    They are now a giant pension company that occasionally makes a few cars.

  • raginpatriot

    At least Toyota is assembling cars using U.S. workers — and neither of those parties is feeding off of my paycheck via coerced tax withholdings!

  • michiganwolverine

    As I was watching Foxnews last night, I saw a GM commercial where they specifically stated that they had paid back the money. What a fraud.

    It will be interesting to note who takes this on.

    Sorry, but I would not buy a GM car if you paid me too.

    Ford would be my choice.

  • erp617

    Ford still does business with UAW. No Ford in my future either. I swore I wouldn’t buy a Japanese car, but when my two old cars are no longer fixable, I’ll look for a car made by non-union workers no matter who owns the company.

  • southernilpat

    The myth of GM repaid it’s bailout loan can be added to the myth of Clinton balanced the federal budget. And the same idiots will believe it.

  • gatorbob

    The way Libs do a few other things is …….
    Ignore it whenever Libs do something that is obviously anti-American and/or
    so obviously stupid

    Whenever they cannot respond intelligently to a honest accusation by Conservatives in a debate… simply do the following…..talk over the Conservatives like a rude Child….use the Racist Card….always say everything that obuma has failed to do anything about or did the wrong thing just say …”well that occurred before obuma was in office”…..

    I don’t remember him saying anything during his Campaign about the fact that he could not fix anything that he could falsely blame on the prior Administration……it just gets more and more ridiculous…..GatorBob

  • jeffreywturner

    Mainly, because I think the success of Ford at the cost of GM & Chrysler will lead to the eventual destruction of the UAW.

    Think about it, the only reason the UAW was able to survive was through the bail-out, because in a regular bankruptcy, they would have gotten next to nothing just like the creditors did. Also, unemployed workers don’t pay union dues.

    So, going forward, if the non-bail-out Ford succeeds while the bailed-out Chrysler and GM fail, then political pressure will lead to an end of the bail-outs, so GM & Chrysler will fold. Then, the only US automaker will be Ford, and they will essentially be able to dictate terms to the UAW, because what are they gonna do if they go on strike from Ford – go work for the non-existent other US automakers? This loss of any meaningful negotiating power will make the UAW irrelevant and lead to their demise as the works see their union dues going for nothing.

  • chabsentia

    First of all , Chrylser has not been a public corporation for some time. It was owned by a private equity firm by the name of Cerebus. Check it out. So the taxpayers bailed out a private equity firm which had refused to inject any more money into it. It was a bailout for the U.A.W. just as it was for General Motor. Ford did not take any money and refused it and had prospered. General Motors is still bleeding money from deficits and the media and this administration go along with this scam and there are a large number of gullible people who believe it.

  • demooresr

    WHAT vehicle assembled in the USA is not UAW controled ?

  • uselogic

    … money you spend on a Ford helps fund the Ford Foundation. It is the largest single supporter of left wing, progressive causes. Well, except for the federal government.

  • demooresr

    All cars built in America are UNION MADE even those Japanese cars made here

  • romeg

    The Dem’s favorite tool: The Boycott. What a perfect way to punish the UAW for it avaricious treatment of GM’s customers.

  • pilotguy40

    Its a good place to be from… One of my better choices in life. Now I work for a company that makes NOTHING. They just help people get stuff from China. UPS…

  • jeffreywturner

    Why do you think the German and Japanese automakers always choose to build in the South when they open plants in the US? Very simple, even if they don’t say so openly, they are intentionally AVOIDING the unions by opening up shop in anti-union (ie: right-to-work) states.

  • qixlqatl

    it’s the fed. govt. that owes the SS trust fund. Pretty sure that’s what you meant, and most people understood.

  • soljerblue

    all assembled in Alabama by US citizens — and the UAW hasn’t been able to snare them yet so far as I know.

  • soljerblue

    2k model, 155,800 miles on it this afternoon…only ever has needed regular service, oil changes, new tires. AWESOME vehicle…who cares what Congress thinks of the company. They carry the UAW’s water anyway.

  • soljerblue

    correct!

  • Richard Mullins

    It’s a different story in Japan though. Are you a moby or plant sent here to spy on us. I’ve hoping to kill the UAW for auto making and start over.

  • http://www.redstate.com/tnjim TNJim

    I do have a bit of inside info on this. While the now defunct NUMMI plant in California was union the other Toyota plants in North America are not. As far as I know, neither is Nissan nor Honda American plants.

    Get your facts straight before you post, please.

  • harvey

    Ford cant complain about Cherovlets habit of sucking of the taxpayers tete,they are to busy promoteing the homosexual lifestyle.They have caved in to these siskening fools.
    I hare driven Fords all my life but i will never buy another Ford or Cheverolet.

    Today the chief executive officer of Cheverolet came on televison and said that G.M.had paid back the taxpayers, LIE

    From now on i will nor buy either of these companys product

  • mikerazar

    When we pay our FICA to the Treasury, benefits are paid by the Treasury to the useless old people who haven’t yet been dealt with by a death panel. The excess is “deposited” in the Trust Fund.

    So, the so called Trust Fund “holds” some bonds. Those bonds say that the Treasury owes the trust Fund a few trillion dollars. When the trust fund needs money it sells those bonds (perhaps to the Treasury but it doesn’t matter) to raise cash.

    By some mechanism when the “excess” becomes a deficiency, money from “selling” the bonds must make its way back to the Treasury to pay the benefits.

    Wait! I have it backwards. I thought we pay our FICA to Treasury. Actually, we pay it directly to the Trust Fund, which sends cash to beneficiaries and uses the excess to “buy” bonds from Treasury. So qixlqati is right. Those bonds cause Treasury to “owe” cash to the “Trust Fund”.

    So it boils down to whether you think SS checks come from Treasury or from the (giggle) Trust Fund. I still see no difference.

    Funny money is always a pleasure to play with. When you lend money to yourself, who is the debtor and who is the creditor? I nominate Bernie Madoff to sort it out.