Under the category of “You could see this coming from a thousand miles away” it is reported that GM will indeed literally become GOVERNMENT Motors and will miraculously be forgiven most of its 15.4 BILLION “loan”.  From Reuters

General Motors Corp’s plan for a bankruptcy filing involves a quick sale of the company’s healthy assets to a new company initially owned by the U.S. government…

In addition, the government would extend a credit line to the new company and forgive the bulk of the $15.4 billion in emergency loans that the U.S. has already provided to GM, the source said.

(bolding mine)

Gee, they are so credit worthy, no problem with the previous “loan”, let’s extend them MORE money.  I’m sure they will pay it back this time.

Of course no taxpayer funded government takeover would be complete without handing over the company to the very people who drove it into the ground.  For those who haven’t guessed by now that would be the thrilled Auto Union.   

The government’s plans include giving stakes in the new company to GM’s union and bondholders, although the ownership structure of the company is still being negotiated, said the source who is familiar with the company’s plans.

(Again, bolding mine) 

Apparently there are some bondholders that foolishly think that there is going to be a negotiation (as opposed too, meet the head of the UAW Mr. Gettelfinger, he will be working with you  he will be laughing at you he will tell you to go to hell as he will have complete government sanctioned control over GM).

I suggest the bondholders see how things are going for the other debt holders at Chrysler for a hint of what happens next.

At some point I hope someone says “There is such a thing as rule of law”, the unions are owed nothing for their efforts to destroy manufacturing in America and nowhere in the constitution does it say “The government shall bail out any failed business with sufficient political connections”.

I know, silly hope, I fully expect everyone to rollover, hand the union and government a car company plus billions of taxpayer dollars and call it a day.

Gee no one saw that one coming!  From DetNews:

A federal bankruptcy judge Monday allowed Chrysler LLC to tap $4.5 billion in U.S. and Canadian government loans to finance its stay in bankruptcy, but a top company adviser warned that it’s “highly unlikely” the company will repay them.

But wait there’s more…

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez rejected a request by dissident creditors to deny Chrysler use of the loan money.

You go judge, who cares if the tax payer gets screwed!

Attorney Ball and Chrysler officials declined to comment on Manzo’s assessment that repayment of the $4.5 billion is “highly unlikely.”

What more is there to say?

In court papers fielded last week, Chrysler said it expects the U.S. Treasury to forgive the $4 billion loan made in January. A senior Obama administration official didn’t dispute that assessment, but declined to comment on whether Treasury would recover any of the $4.5 billion in debtor-in-possession financing.

So it wasn’t a loan after all?  Who’d of thunk the taxpayer would be left holding the bag.

Well at least the UAW will be well funded.

United Auto Workers Union President Ron Gettelfinger said the union intends to sell the equity stake it gained in Chrysler as soon as possible — but said that may take years. A union trust to pay for retiree health care, known as a Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association, or VEBA, got 55 percent of Chrysler as part of a concession plan ratified by workers last week.  

Only 55% of a company you yourself drove into the ground, man you guys really took it on the chin in your negoations.

I’m sure the GM bailout loan will go MUCH better.

P.S. Should we be worried about TARP?  Naaah, what could go wrong?

Poor Arlen, your really have to feel for the guy (Ok, maybe you don’t), turns out he WON’T be the big cheese on all those committees he wanted.  From Roll Call

Despite promises from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) that Sen. Arlen Specter would retain his seniority after switching parties, Specter will be put at the end of the seniority line on all his committees but one under a resolution expected to be passed on the floor late Tuesday.

Junior on all but one committee, at least there will be one right?  A ray of hope!

…— the chamber’s Special Committee on Aging. On that committee, he will be next to last in seniority.

DOH!  Second to last in seniority.

Dang tough luck there Arlen, turns out Harry Reid used you like an old rag and discarded you at the first chance he got was unable to deliver on his promise.

But the bad news doesn’t stop there, oh no, it gets worse.  Arlen made a bad rookie mistake as the junior committee member for the Democrat party.

Democrats said that while unrelated, Specter’s comments to the New York Times Magazine this weekend indicating he would support former Sen. Norm Coleman’s (R-Minn.) disputed re-election bid against Al Franken have angered many Democrats.

“Sen. Specter better watch comments like these. They won’t help him in the caucus,” a Democratic leadership aide said, adding that the comments have ‘caused a lot of heartburn in the caucus.”

Arlen, buddy, this isn’t the Republican Party where they pat you on back and say “Good Job” when you stab one of your own in the back.  No, this is the Democrat party where they have a little thing you may have not seen before called “Party Discipline”.  Be careful of that, the Democrats aren’t like the Republicans, they mean business.

Oh, and since your new to the Democrat Senate scene let me clue you into something else you may not be familiar with, the press will not praise you for crossing your new party.  I know, it will be a tough adjustment but we’re working to find you a replacement from our side so you’ll only have to deal with the burden until 2010.

In closing…BAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!

So says Jeb Bush during the NCNA (National Council for a New America) during its inaugural event.   From the Washington Times piece (http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/may/03/gop-listens-in-drive-to-thrive/)…

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush said Saturday that it’s time for the Republican Party to give up its “nostalgia” for the heyday of the Reagan era and look forward, even if it means stealing the winning strategy deployed by Democrats in the 2008 election.

“You can’t beat something with nothing, and the other side has something. I don’t like it, but they have it, and we have to be respectful and mindful of that,” Mr. Bush said.

Unbelievable, well not really considering the NCNA was stacked with moderates.  Allow me to continue with other gems from the Washington Times article…

“So our ideas need to be forward looking and relevant. I felt like there was a lot of nostalgia and the good old days in the [Republican] messaging. I mean, it’s great, but it doesn’t draw people toward your cause,” Mr. Bush said.

 

“From the conservative side, it’s time for us to listen first, to learn a little bit, to upgrade our message a little bit, to not be nostalgic about the past because, you know, things do ebb and flow.” 

Acting like liberal Democrats didn’t draw people to our side either Mr. Bush.  Sounds like your recommending we kick Democrat-lite into double overdrive and simply redefine conservatism (er, I mean upgrade our message) to be whatever the Democrats are doing at the time but just a little less so.  You see gentle reader it is a knownfact ™ that conservatism as expressed by Reagan and his apparently delusional followers just is totally unworkable in these modern times.

Jebs message seems to have resonated with others at the event, Mike Collins said identity politics must also be at the core of a new and improved Republican party!

Again, back to the article…

But Mike Collins, a former RNC press secretary from Vienna, Va., who now runs a public-relations firm, said there is an urgent need for the party to rethink its strategy.

But the Hispanic leader closed with a warning: “The fact is, if they want to be a governing majority again, they have to do that.”

“We need to be much more articulate and reach out to demographics we’re not reaching right now - Hispanics, suburban women, regions of the country that currently we’re not effectively talking to,” he said.

Mario H. Lopez, president of the Hispanic Leadership Fund, agreed, and he applauds the effort by the Republican leaders.

“It starts with showing up, with listening. It starts with making an effort. We really hope that they’ll do that,” he said.

Sadly you see conservatism (the Reagan kind) does not work for Hispanics, suburban women and certain regions of the country.  That simpleminded Reagan tried to reach out to all Americans as Americans not each demographic and you see what that got him.

But at least there was some “good” news!

The message resonated with many of those who turned out at the Pie-Tanza restaurant, right in the heart of a firmly liberal community.

 Gee, I wonder why the expressed agenda that differed little from the Democrat point of view (Reagan BAD, Reagan conservatism BAD, Pandering GOOD) was so well received there?