Thank Unions and Obama

[slow99]

Thank you for opening your macroeconomics and giving us knowledge.

No problem.

is that a real number?

That doesn't sound right. That would be almost 1% of total GDP as lettuce imports. I think it's $137.4 million, not $137.4 billion.

[Broncojohnny]

Baller... I remember making $3.35 back in the 80's.

I made $3.35 back in the 80s. Sweet Jesus how depressing. I'd have to eat dog food if I made less than six figures today. DOG FOOD!

[Broncojohnny]

That doesn't sound right. That would be almost 1% of total GDP as lettuce imports. I think it's $137.4 million, not $137.4 billion.

That's a lot of lettuce!

[JP135]

That's a lot of lettuce!

Mexican "blackwater" lettuce or good growed in the US of A lettuce?

[Sgt Beavis]

I'm going to have to call bullshit on at least some of this..

First, I noticed that this was based on Akerson's comments. However he said that "7 out of 10 cars WERE built outside of the US". That is past tense. We don't get the entire sentence to put this into context. I would at least like to see some more evidence to back up that claim. I know for a fact that since the bailout their have been several plants reopened in the US. Some manufacturing is even being moved from Canada (Oshawa plant) to the US (Spring Hill, TN).

The other thing that bothers me is that this insinuates that cars built outside the US are sold to customers in the US. This is most certainly the case with cars built in Mexico, Australia, Europe, and Canada but I know for a fact that there is not one single car built in China that is exported into the US. I know this because just a few months ago China exported their first car EVER to North America. It was a Honda Fit built in China and sold only in Canada. I know that we will eventually be seeing this in the US, but it isn't the case now and it has never happened.

GM has had a partnership with SAIC for well over a decade. It existed well before the bailouts. China requires any foreign auto maker to have such a partnership to do business in their country. It's bullshit but it's the price of doing business. Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, and every other car manufacturer has the same type of partnership.

Additionally, Ford and Chrysler both have factories in China and are expanding their operations. Both companies are building these cars for sale in China and Asia in general.

The fact is that China is just as big of a car market as the US. Recently, it has been a bigger market. Everyone wants in on it. Except for this year, China has been the biggest profit center for many auto makers.

This video implies that GM's involvement in China is directly due to the bailout in 2009. That is bullshit. It was happening with ALL major automakers well before anyone was even close to having a financial issue.

However I do agree with some things. The bailout could definitely be called "crony capitalism" but I think we would all agree that it isn't limited to the GM or Chrysler bailouts. Our government has been practicing crony capitalism for decades. It has just gotten worse in the last couple of decades. It happened under Clinton when he allowed corporations to raid pension plans to make payouts to stockholders. It happened in the Bush administration with the prescription drug benefit that doesn't let the government shop around for the medications it buys. And of course it has happened under Obama...

But what are we so pissed at the Auto bailouts? That cost us something around $50 Billion, right? Why aren't we more pissed off about the Wall Street bailouts? We are on the hook for TRILLIONS with that one. The CEO's of Chrysler and GM both lost their jobs during the bailouts. How many Wall Street execs lost their jobs? And the real crime is that the Obama administration has done nothing to stop them from doing it again....

I agree that there is a lot to debate on the auto bailouts but why are we sooo focused on that during this election year when the bankers are the ones that ultimately fucked us over and are in the position to do it again. Yet our politicians are saying nothing about fixing it. I guess the auto bailout is the shiny object they'll use to distract us this year...

[Sgt Beavis]

BTW, there is something else missing from this video. Romney and many others contend that GM should have simply been put through a normal bankruptcy process that liquidated all existing shares and bonds and allowed GM to be sold off. The belief being that GM would be reconstituted as a new company under new ownership..

The thing they don't mention is that the number one buyer for this new company was the Chinese. They were chomping at the bit to buy GM outright.

[abecx]

This is news? GM is just as useless as Obama. Another reason why I won't buy another GM product.

GM saved our ass in WW2 when we had to switch production to military, thats why they got bailed out.

[Broncojohnny]

But what are we so pissed at the Auto bailouts? That cost us something around $50 Billion, right? Why aren't we more pissed off about the Wall Street bailouts? We are on the hook for TRILLIONS with that one. The CEO's of Chrysler and GM both lost their jobs during the bailouts. How many Wall Street execs lost their jobs? And the real crime is that the Obama administration has done nothing to stop them from doing it again....

The treasury has made money so far on the bank bailouts. Probably because a number of the banks didn't even need the money but were forced to take it under threat of regulatory action. The AIG bailout is still a damn mess and will probably end up being a big loser.

People are up in arms about the GM "bailout" because it was really a gift to the unions at everyone else's expense. Common equity got wiped out, bond holders only got 10% of the action and the unions got a huge payout of triple what the bondholders got. Crony capitalism indeed, except the unions were the ones who benefited.