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GM Falls Below IPO Price as Rising Oil Dims Truck Outlook

Consumer Reports offered a harsh initial review of the Chevrolet Volt, questioning whether General Motors Co.'s flagship vehicle makes economic "sense." The extended-range plug-in electric vehicle is on the cover of the April issue — the influential magazine's annual survey of vehicles — but the GM vehicle comes in for criticism.

"When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn't really make a lot of sense. The Volt isn't particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it's not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy," said David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports auto testing center at a meeting with reporters here. "This is going to be a tough sell to the average consumer."

Champion believes a hybrid, such as the Toyota Prius, may make more sense for some trips. "If you drive about 70 miles, a Prius will actually get you more miles per gallon than the Volt does," Champion said.

The magazine has put about 2,500 miles on its Volt. It paid $48,700, including a $5,000 markup by a Chevy dealer. Champion noted the Volt is about twice as expensive as a Prius.
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Consumer Reports: GM's Volt 'doesn't really make a lot of sense' | detnews.com | The Detroit News

buy!
 
The Prof said:
whose hero?

You sound a bit bitter. You can't win elections in this country that way.

LOL!
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This coming from an individual who supports the "party of NO", whose have made it a point to thrawt every effort at putting forth any meaningful legislation with their Democratic counterparts, who has done everything in their power to regain total power and control of government at every level throughout this country, and whose stated mission it has been from Day-1 of the 2008-2012 election cycle to ensure that this president fails and to make President Obama a 1-term president? You mean those bitter people?

Try again, mister.
 
Objective Voice said:
This coming from an individual who supports the "party of NO", whose have made it a point to thrawt every effort at putting forth any meaningful legislation with their Democratic counterparts, who has done everything in their power to regain total power and control of government at every level throughout this country, and whose stated mission it has been from Day-1 of the 2008-2012 election cycle to ensure that this president fails and to make President Obama a 1-term president? You mean those bitter people?
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yup

the voters richly rewarded us for it---most house seats since 38, most state reps and legislatures in history, 10 gubs, 6 senators...

cuz we know how to say NO with a SMILE
 
The Prof said:
yup

the voters richly rewarded us for it---most house seats since 38, most state reps and legislatures in history, 10 gubs, 6 senators...

cuz we know how to say NO with a SMILE
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Saying no and actually following through with it is a different story entirely

If the cuts come, the special interest groups will punish the republicans and they will lose the next election heavily.
 
those "special interest groups" already went after, with all they are good for, the party of no

we saw the results

and what's gonna happen to those "special interest groups" when public payrolls are SLASHED in illinois, california, new york, michigan, wisconsin, florida, new jersey, indiana...

did you see ANDREW CUOMO's take?

The State of the State begins with an honest analysis of the crisis that we face. In government, as in life, you can never solve a problem if you refuse to acknowledge it. The economic recession has taken an especially hard hit on the State of New York. In 2009, we had a twenty-six year high in unemployment, roughly 800,000 New Yorkers are now unemployed, hundreds of thousands more are under-employed. We have the worst business tax climate in the nation, period. Our taxes are 66% higher than the national average. Upstate is truly an economic crisis. In real GDP, from 2001-2006, upstate New York grew about 1.7% per year while the average in the nation was 2.7%. The costs of pensions are exploding, 1.3 billion in 1998-1999, projected for 2013, 6.2 billion - a 476% increase and its only getting worse.

The State of New York spends too much money, it is that blunt and it is that simple. Our spending has far exceeded the rate of inflation. From 1994-2009, inflation was about 2.7% per year; medicaid went up over 5% per year and education went up over 6% per year. We just can’t afford those rates of increase. State spending actually outpaced income growth. State spending increased just under 6%, personal income growth was only 3.8%.

And most damaging, our expenses in this state far exceed revenue. We’ve been focusing on this year and the deficit this year, which is a very large deficit about $10 billion, and that is a problem and it is a major problem; what’s worse, is it’s not just about this year. Next year, the problem goes to $14 billion. The year after, the deficit goes to $17 billion. This is not a one year problem my friends. This is a fundamental economic realignment for the State of New York.

Not only do we spend too much, but we get too little in return. We spend more money on education than any state in the nation and we are number 34 in terms of results. We spend more money on Medicaid than any other state in the nation and we are number 21 in results. We spend about $1.6 billion per year in economic development and we are number 50 in terms of results.

And the large government we have is all too often responsive to the special interests over the people of the State of New York. The proof is in the pudding. And New Yorkers are voting with their feet. Two million New Yorkers have left the State over the past decade. What does this say? It says we need radical reform, it says we need a new approach, we need a new perspective and we need it now. This is a fundamental realignment for the state.

And we have to relearn the lesson our founders knew and we have to put up a sign that says New York is open for business. We get it. And this is going to be a business friendly State.

The property taxes in New York are killing New Yorkers. Thirteen of the sixteen highest tax counties are in New York when assessed by home value. In absolute dollars, Westchester County has the highest property taxes in the United States of America. Nassau County the second highest property taxes in the United State of America. It has to end, it has to end this year. We have to hold the line on taxes for now and reduce taxes in the future. New York has no future as the tax capital of the nation. Our young people will not stay. Our business will not come. This has to change.
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GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS | Governor

why do you think the dem gub of dark blue new york would say such things?
 
The Prof said:
those "special interest groups" already went after, with all they are good for, the party of no

we saw the results

and what's gonna happen to those "special interest groups" when public payrolls are SLASHED in illinois, california, new york, michigan, wisconsin, florida, new jersey, indiana...

did you see ANDREW CUOMO's take?



GOVERNOR ANDREW M. CUOMO STATE OF THE STATE ADDRESS | Governor

why do you think the dem gub of dark blue new york would say such things?
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Things have not been cut yet

Wait untill they are

From schools, to earned income taxed credits, to the military, when things actually get cut you will see an uproar in the US that mirrors that of some eurppean countries. But with more guns
 
Lord Tammerlain said:
Politicians being practical will not change the facts of special interest groups opposing cuts to what they find important.
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huh?

politicians being politicians will go the way of what they perceive to be the overwhelming sentiment of the voters of new york and california

ie, tell it to cuomo and moonbeam
 
today: Barack Obama: Losing $84 billion big success - Washington Times

Though Democrats tout the auto bailout as a success, recent reports illustrate the taxpayer cost of the GM auto bailout was substantially larger than the Obama administration and a Congressional Oversight report has owned up to.

"American taxpayers are now positioned to recover more than my administration invested in GM,” President Obama said, according to a piece in USA Today last November. Steven Rattner, former head of the Treasury's auto task force agreed, telling CNN in November: “Recent progress at GM gives reason for optimism that it may be possible for taxpayers to get every penny back.”

However, a March 16 Congressional Oversight report, tells a different story. It estimates taxpayers will be out $25 billion. Additionally, the report points out that “full repayment will not be possible unless the government is able to sell its remaining shares at a far higher price.”

That's only the beginning. Both the White House and the Congressional Oversight report omit the fact that during its bankruptcy, GM got a $45 billion tax break, courtesy of the American people.

GM is driving “away from its U.S.-government-financed restructuring with a final gift in its trunk: a tax break that could be worth as much as $45 billion,” reported The Wall Street Journal last November.

Over one year after the promises President Obama and his administration made about the auto bailout, a February piece on AutoBlog also confirms that GM will also get a $14 billion dollar domestic tax break:

GM will be able to skip its tax tab due to years of massive losses. Companies are typically forgiven a portion of future taxes due to their past losses, but that benefit is typically stripped after an organization goes through bankruptcy.
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http://cop.senate.gov/documents/cop-031611-report.pdf

GM Could Be Free of Taxes for Years - WSJ.com
 
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ptif219 said:
There is no proof it saved anything. It did grow government. As for jobs unemployment just kept increasing
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Since unemployment is a lagging factor, it is not going to turn around right away. First we have to get increased demand, then inventories have to fall, before any significant hiring takes place (Economics 101). We are getting steady job increases now, due to the economy turning around, but I believe that this is due more to the markets than anything Obama has done. Unfortunately, for the GOP, voters will not see it this way.
 
danarhea said:
Since unemployment is a lagging factor, it is not going to turn around right away. First we have to get increased demand, then inventories have to fall, before any significant hiring takes place (Economics 101). We are getting steady job increases now, due to the economy turning around, but I believe that this is due more to the markets than anything Obama has done. Unfortunately, for the GOP, voters will not see it this way.
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Why would the GOP see in another way?

I believe the Economy is turning around in defiance of The Kenyan Tyrant's subprime policies to nowhere........so were in agreement.
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USA_1 said:
You do know unions have been around for awhile, don't you?
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Yes, I think EVERYONE knows that. Do they realize they're doing a bad job on behalf of their workers and the company and why?

However, countless millions of the American manufacturing job losses in recent decades were not inevitable, but rather the result of misguided public policies. This fact sheet briefly examines one of the most destructive of these policies: federal support for compulsory unionism.

Since the 1930’s, Congress has authorized and promoted a labor-law system under which the individual worker may be compelled to accept an unwanted union as his or her “exclusive” (monopoly) bargaining agent. Compounding this injustice, federal labor laws also authorize and promote the firing of workers who refuse to join or pay dues or “fees” to an unwanted union monopoly-bargaining agent.
http://www.nilrr.org/files/nilrrFactSheetOutsourcing2005.pdf
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The Leftists strike again!


Even when US automakers grew into some of the largest corporations in the world and during times of record profits.
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You should read Deming as to why.

The Bush recession almost destroyed US automakers.
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That was the Unions own doing.

Who knew? Speculation about which welfare state will be the first to buckle under the strain of the pension and medical costs of aging populations... Who knew the first to buckle would be General Motors, with Ford not far behind?

...GM's stock price is down 45 percent from a year ago; its market capitalization is smaller than Harley-Davidson's. This is partly because GM is a welfare state.

GM says health expenditures -- $1,525 per car produced; there is more health care than steel in a GM vehicle's price tag -- are one of the main reasons it lost $1.1 billion in the first quarter of 2005...
George F. Will - What Ails GM - washingtonpost.com
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UAW-negotiated contracts require rigid job classifications that waste time and money, ultimately to the detriment of workers’ paychecks and job security. Under the UAW contract, a “skilled tradesman” may be required to change a fuse in an assembly-line machine, although virtually any assembly-line worker could be trained to do the job. Furthermore, managers cannot assign additional work to employees who have begun working faster after mastering a task without entering into a potentially lengthy “consultation” with a UAW official.
http://www.nilrr.org/files/nilrrFactSheetOutsourcing2005.pdf
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While the medical coverage received by active Big Three employees and their family members isn’t measurably better than the coverage of transplant employees and family members, the Big Three pay much more, per active employee, for health benefits.
http://www.nilrr.org/files/nilrrFactSheetOutsourcing2005.pdf
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And the pension plans of the Big Three and unionized auto-parts companies are currently underfunded by $45 to $50 billion. That means unionized autoworkers and their families will likely get much smaller benefits than they’ve been promised once they retire.
http://www.nilrr.org/files/nilrrFactSheetOutsourcing2005.pdf
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Did the unions create the recession, too?
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No but the whole mentality of those in the Leftist Party have created a platform for what happened.

Do unions control gas prices?
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No but the whole mentality of those in the Leftist Party have created a platform for higher energy prices; Can't drill here, can't build a refinery there, I'm going to bankrupt the coal companies, no nukes, is the hallmark of the Left. You folks made that bed... now we have to sleep in it. Why do you folks run from your record?
 
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