So they say they are not taking taxpayer money via a bailout? If you read the article, the taxpayer is bucking up $100,000,000.00 for every billion "loaned". How do you take at least $200,000,000.00 (the least amount they want to borrow is $2 Billion) of taxpayer money, and not call it a handout or a bailout? Oh, and at the end of the day ...... it's still a POS GM - that you helped pay for. ... Brad
Unless they end up defaulting on the loans. If they really had the ability to repay the loans, they could get the money from the private sector. Their plan has two stages. First, ask for a loan. Second, ask for loan forgiveness. Much easier to do if the loan came from the government and you already have a sty of lobbyists on the payroll.
For "investing in energy-saving technologies", they say. Suuuure. Just a wee bit of cash, to tide them over. No, not a bailout. Not a handout - sure, Putz, we've got a spare 25 billion lying around somewhere and nothing better to do with it. Which is it, GM? Are you capitalist or socialist? What happened to the money we gave them for the EV1?
I am opposed to any money given to companies for research. Shoot, give me 25 billion and I can research to my heart's content. Did all that research result in anything tangible? Who cares; that wasn't in the agreement! In my opinion, it should be the opposite. When a company develops a product that progresses technology and ushers in a new era they should apply for "research reimbursement." That way, we're not throwing money at a promise but rather rewarding initiative.
Research, if it's sound, produces valuable patents. Government should invest in research, and when it does, the patents should belong to the people of the U.S., not to a private company like GM, which as likely as not will sell the patent to a company formed for the sole purpose of depriving the nation of its use, as happened with NiMH batteries.
I am not for the current round of bailouts that are happening. That said... The problem that is happening in our markets is that the ability to get the loans is disappearing even when they make financial sense. The Chrysler bailout that happened in 1979 is a great example of this. The private sector would not do it (maybe could not do it) yet the government could and did. Chrysler paid back the loans in full and early with interest.
