Then and now. June of 2009 (emphasis added) :
Today's New York Times:
Awaiting the retractions and apologies from the Republicans. Does President Obama still "own" this, Mr. Norquist? Hmmmmm?
"General Motors hopes that bankruptcy will make the struggling automaker stronger and more competitive. Republicans are hoping it will do the same for them.
The GOP sees President Barack Obama's decision to help the unpopular carmaker as an easy opportunity to paint him as a bailout-happy, deficit-drunk spendthrift eager to impose a heavy government hand on a swath of industries.
...Republicans see in GM a chance for their party to come out with a unified message -- a confidence grounded in the conservative belief that government involvement in private industry always spells disaster. And GM's long history of financial problems -- even in more prosperous times -- also makes Republicans see the company as a big albatross around Obama's neck.
"I know that I don't want Speaker Pelosi and Harry Reid designing the car that I drive, and I don't think any New Yorker -- or any American -- does, either," House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said in a New York radio interview Thursday. "Washington, the president, Congress, none ... has any business running that car company. They'll run it into the ground."
"This is somewhere in between Baghdad and fixing the flood in Louisiana," Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, said, comparing the GM decision to major stumbles by former President George W. Bush. Obama "has decided to take this over. He now owns it."
Today's New York Times:
"DETROIT -- General Motors said Thursday that it had net income of $1.3 billion in the second quarter, becoming the third Detroit automaker to report stronger results.
The quarterly profit marks G.M.'s strongest financial performance since 2004, and sets the stage for the automaker to file for an initial public stock offering as soon as Friday. It was the company's second consecutive quarterly profit.
The automaker reported revenue of $33.2 billion in the second quarter compared with $31.5 billion in the first. Earnings in the first quarter were $865 million.
A new board of directors selected by the government replaced G.M. veteran Fritz Henderson as chief executive with Mr. Whitacre, the board's chairman and the retired head of AT&T. New executives were also named in top financial, marketing and operational jobs.
Despite eliminating four of its eight brands, the automaker has increased its sales in the United States by 13 percent so far this year compared with the first seven months of 2009."
Awaiting the retractions and apologies from the Republicans. Does President Obama still "own" this, Mr. Norquist? Hmmmmm?
He should own it; it's one bright spot of the bailout so far, but the long term returns from the deal will tell the true story.
used cars
Nope, what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine as long as it works out in my favor and I get to throw stones at you whenever I want for no apparent reason.
That's the GOP tactic on everything.
As a GM kid whose father and stepfather AND oldest brother all retired from GM factories, I still think that the bailout should have been given with STRICT instructions to bring jobs BACK to the American autoworkers.
Yes, the UAW made mistakes and got greedy. But so did the corporate honchos. And I've seen too many people left unemployed - and unemployable - due to GM, et al, shipping their jobs overseas. Even during the crisis, I heard rumors rumbling forth from my hometown about GM sending more jobs to China. While people in my hometown were growing more and more desperate.
The Hummer was a mistake. So was having five different lines - which were basically interchangeable. GM was finally forced to do what they should have started doing back in 1970. If they had taken their heads out of their tookuses back then, we might not have lost millions of good, middle-class jobs.
Carguy - Glad to hear that you are out of the hospital and doing ok. We missed you a bunch!
the challenge now will be to keep the 'bailed-out' company from being snatched up by a sovereign wealth fund of some sort that would perhaps make us an attractive offer for the stock we own and that Geithner would accept.
since the biggest portion of GM sales are in China now, we need to be thinking how we would feel if the new CEO (fresh from the Carlyle hedge fund) arranges for China to become a huge share-holder.
it would be a win-win-win, with the new share-holder able to get in on the ground floor of a re-organized company that had jettisoned its debt, re-negotiated its union contracts, could be bought with a whole bunch of excess dollars laying around, and even comes with a new financing facility since Ameri-Credit was acquired and can be so helpful.
That way, you could cheaply finance with even more excess dollars the purchase of GM cars by Americans - might be a little hard for Ford to compete, though.
Who could object to such a wonderful win-win-win; it's just perfect :(
The changes GM was FORCED to make could easily have been (and should have been) made back in 1990. Eliminating the non-profitable motor divisions and slimming down their product line as well as reducing the number of retail dealers is in Chapter 1 of any high school econics textbook.
Bailing out GM was not an option according to everyone with half a brain. The fact that they have come back so quickly, frankly, that surprised me.
It appears we will probably get most or all of our money back.
Now, retractions from the GOP....yeah, right.
I hate the new Camro though. Too "bloated" looking. I still don't like their products but they seem to making some progress.