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Government backed loans is not the same as government direct supplied loans and money gifts.
Ford restructured prior to the industry collapse .. so they were actually worth something . That allowed them to borrow money against their assets (such as their buildings and plants) They were also smart enough to know that they needed to clean up their products before GM and Chrysler.
When GM and Chrysler stock collapsed, they could not borrow money at a reasonable cost because it would not be secured against assets. So they had to hope the gov`t would lend them money as rates reflective of being backed by assets.
Also..Ford was not GIVEN (no need to be repaid) money like GM was, which GM then used to pay back the loans. They are paying back the loans from the Dept. of Energy with PROFITS, which GM did not.
Using government backed funds? sure..but its completely different from being given money from the government directly, and then using that money to pay back loans. GM didnt EARN the money they used, they were given it.
I suspect this may be a huge shock..but big and small businesses use government loans and government backed loans all the time. Businesses however dont usually get a government check to payback their loans, which GM did.
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