This was bugging me so I took a minute and found this, I was right again, damn I'm good! :lol:
GM Pays Back TARP Loans With...TARP Loans! - Hit & Run : Reason Magazine
That story leaves out an important detail about the way that the debt was repayed. Not all of the Tarp money came in the form of loans. In fact, the government bought a controlling share in the company.
Obama ****ed up (IMO) by selling off a large portion of those shares at a loss, but we (through the government) still retain about 33% of the total shares.
The
only way that we (through the government) can possibly recoup that which was invested into GM would be if the GM stocks rise to something like $55 a share. that doesn't seem all that likely, given that GM is trading at under $30 at the moment.
But, one big way that we can mitigate our losses (or even pull off the upset by breaking even) is if GM becomes a successful business, thus driving up the stocks' worth.
I think tapping into an emerging market such as China and cutting the costs of domestic employees are both positive steps toward that goal.
While I disagree with how GM's bailout went down, I understand that it is in our best interest that this company succeeds now. People who choose to not buy GM in protest of the government's decision are contradicting themselves. If they really care about the money that was invested, then they should be hoping for GM to succeed so that we do not
lose that money.
It certainly doesn't help that the administration made a stupid business decision with that money, but I believe that this stupid business decision was in part fueled by the shortsighted political rhetoric surrounding the bailout (people who don't want to buy from "government motors" because they'd rather shoot themselves in the foot than just suck it up and deal with the reality of the situation). That shortsighted political nonsense is actually harming the country as much as the initial bailout did, if not more.
We had a chance to recoup our investment if, instead of playing political games, our leaders asked us to rally behind the decision to help an American company. We could have helped GM become successful
without them having the
need to go into China. We didn't do that, though, for various reasons. For some people, it was a distaste for GM product which pre-existed the bailout. There's no fault in that. But for many, it is
mostly due to political views, and I
do find fault in that.