GM Bailout...

[CamaroSkooter]

Originally Posted by PQ

To stay open it was going to have to come from Gov. Not an investor in the world would have sunk that kind of money into that. (not that it would be a big list who COULD have)

Without the bailouts there would have been a depression that could have approached the great depression in many areas.

Of course WITH the bailouts will now create an even worse one later. But at long as WE are comfy NOW, right?

If government assistance really was the only available option, they could have provided a one-time loan for the bailout instead of purchasing stocks. But instead, they did the latter and now they don't want to relinquish the "control" they have over a large corporation.

Which is exactly why I never wanted the government owning stocks in ANYTHING to begin with.

Originally Posted by Berean

As I said in another thread.......


It's funny how the defenders of the bailouts act like every single GM job, and all their supplier jobs, would have been lost if they went into normal bankruptcy.

It's as if all the people who were going to buy cars and trucks would suddenly decide to never buy anything again. Ridiculous.

Sure, there would have been jobs lost. The inefficient parts of the company would have went under. But guess what?

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED ANYWAY WITH THE TAXPAYER BAILOUT. GM STILL LOST 23 THOUSAND JOBS AND CLOSED 13 PLANTS.

You know what the difference is? Government got to pick the winners (UAW) and losers (secured bondholders, salaried employee retirement funds), and THEY USED YOUR TAX MONEY TO DO IT.

Exactly.

I always hated the argument where a person states, "If we hadn't done what we did, then the number of jobs lost would have been greater."

How do you quantify that? There is absolutely no way any person can support or refute that statement.

You're arguing against a future result that never happened. Ugh.

[Lou_Dorchen]

Originally Posted by Berean

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED ANYWAY WITH THE TAXPAYER BAILOUT. GM STILL LOST 23 THOUSAND JOBS AND CLOSED 13 PLANTS.

Thay also closed about 1,000 dealerships. That was another 63,000 jobs lost.