GM is paying back Uncle Sam to shake him down for more money

[bobv13]

I just love it when the government gets involved where it does it does not belong, because one thing is for sure, the American taxpayer is going to get screeeeewed.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/23/general-motors-economy-bailout-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html?boxes=opinionschannellatest

In short, GM is using government money to pay back government money to get more government money. And at a 2% lower interest rate at that. This is a nifty scheme to refinance GM's government debt--not pay it back!

[bobv13]

For the disbelievers, another source.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/business/02gret.html?ref=business

Big Government and Big Business are so close their relationship should be referred to as being incestuous.

[makaiookami]

I just love it when the government gets involved where it does it does not belong, because one thing is for sure, the American taxpayer is going to get screeeeewed.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/23/general-motors-economy-bailout-opinions-columnists-shikha-dalmia.html?boxes=opinionschannellatest

Well I'm just going to blame the big buisiness loving republicans for all their deregulation that have gotten us to this state in the first place.

Obama 2 years D
Bush 8 years R
Clinton 8 years D
Bush 4 years R
Reagan 8 years R
Carter 4 years term ended in 1981 D
Ford 4 years R

So since 1981 we've had 10 years of Democrat presidents. The Republicans should have been preventing all of these financial melt down through having control for so many years. It also doesn't help that Clinton helped deregulate this crap...

But these bailouts wouldn't even been an issue if Republican Presidents had worked hard enough to prevent all the economic down turns for the past few decades and continued to work hard to build up the middle class rather than creating the biggest economic divide from the rich to the middle class than any other industrialized nation.

Say what you will dude, but you can't pass the blame onto the democrats who have 3 completed terms in the past 9 presidential terms. 4 out of 10 if you count Obama in 2 years. Of course there is nothing Obama could do to where you guys would consider him a good president. The talking points would just change. That's all there is to it.

[bobv13]

makaiookami

I agree... most republicans suck but guess what, most democrats suck too. Wake up. they are out for themselves. The two parties pretend to be different from each other, but they aren't. We have got the best government money can buy. Just ask any lobbyist. Don't get me wrong if I were spending in Washington what wall street and the unions are spending, I would want to write the laws too. The one hope that I had in Obama was that he would be true to his promise not do business behind closed doors. Washington is as closed down as ever.

I don't believe the answer to our problems are in the hands of either political party but rather in an informed public. I demand more for our leaders than we are currently getting.

[makaiookami]

I'm changing how I"m stating things. My post was too long.

Reagan was asked about if he was to blame for any of the recessions and problems going on, he said "Yes because for many years I was a Democrat"

Now adays I believe Reagan would have said "Yes because for many years I was a Republican" given the circumstances of today.

You say that both parties suck, and that they're worthless. Well all I can see is hate, lies, and misinformation from the Republicans and a public that can not fight on it's own behalf. During the bailouts the public did not start taking their money out of the banks when they were being bailed out, they did not do it when the public started saying how terrible the banks are, nor did they do it when the banks were paying CEOs with bailout money.

The republicans did their darndest to prevent regulation on the banks. Yet treated the auto companies the exact same way.

I want to see what the Democrats will really do. But I can't because we're always seeing republicans filabuster and raise such disgusting rhetoric such as "Death Panels" and "Socialist Nazi Power Grab" yet they never articulate valid points that prove their intent.

You can watch them flip flop on their values in real time as the democrats change their stances. The quickest way to get every republican to vote Yes on a bill is to get every democrat to state that they Oppose the bill. I'm 23 years old so I saw republicans doing a terrible job during Bush and was too young to know waht things were like during clinton. I want to see Republican party have less than 20 Senators. SO that they have no possible way they can prevent the democrats from enacting legislation. I don't care if we have 40 democrats, 20 republicans, and 40 independents, labor, or what ever. Just as long as they aren't republicans and they aren't nazis I don't care. I want to see what democrats can do, not see a uniform vote against everything the democrats propose with just enough votes to prevent the democrats from doing anything by threatening with a filabuster.

[bobv13]

makaiookami

The dems have a large enough of a majority such that if all dems could agree on a bill it would pass. I laugh when they cry about republican obstructionists because it they could just get their own party to agree there would be no problem. Personally I believe in split government (no party having control over the house, senate,and presidency) That way they have to work together and fringe ideas remain just ideas and don't get into law (like we have now). I agree that there is far to much partisanism but it's on behalf of both parties.

In the end, no one party has all the answers, nor are all the ideas proposed by either party good.

[makaiookami]

but at this stage the republicans have NO arguments what so ever.

The Republicans have gone down such a visceral path that the division on the Democratic part seems to be taking the place of the lack of quality debate that the republicans lack.

The republican party serves no purpose anymore. Get them out. Get some libertarians, some Labor, some Green, independent, I don't care who but just get the republicans out. Let Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, Bill O'rielly, preside over them as they think they're time is coming.

Could the democrats ram legislation through? Yes Bush did it under similar circumstances. But the Republicans at this point, all they do is whip their constituents into paranoid delusions.

The democrats have done numerous bipartisan efforts and made concessions. Then the Republibrats just throw a tantrum and the bill gets no votes even though they were given what they wanted.

The Democrats keep offering bipartisanship and compromises, but it's the Republicans who have been consistently partisan on almost every issue other than the federal reserve audit which just recently passed.

I mean they oppose bills for the sake of opposition. That is not a healthy legislative technique. When they get asked for their budget proposal, they bring out an 11 page pamphlet with no real numbers cited for the budget.

When they get asked to write up stuff for Health Care Reform, they rail on death panels.

Here is the Republican Platform...

Gays can't marry cause God will cry
Gays can't serve in the military cause God will punish us
Abortions should be illegal regaurdless of facts
Government should have the right to do any means against anyone identified as a terrorists including but not limited to removal of citizenship
Gays can't adopt
We should drill as much oil as we can because God gave it to us to drill for
Government can not provide fair and proper health care. Just don't look at the actual facts surrounding that argument and you'll be fine.
America is number 1.
God wouldn't let something like Global Warming destroy America.
By the way Obama is doing a power grab, pay no attention to the last 8 years of power grabbing.
etc...

The republican positions are pretty much just a theocratic patriotism. They rarely if EVER provide any facts or verifiable evidence of their claims. Even when they're provided with a chance to defend their arguments they don't hold up under the most standard bits of scrutiny.

[johnnysalami]

So you're upset that GM has paid the government back?

And ask someone who lives in an auto-industry dependent town how much of a waste the (paid back) bailout was.

[bobv13]

So you're upset that GM has paid the government back?

And ask someone who lives in an auto-industry dependent town how much of a waste the (paid back) bailout was.

The joke is that they paid the money back with more borrowed money. And the stupid part is that GM got into trouble by making deals with the labor unions that they could not keep or should I say that the American tax payer must now pay. Sorta sucks that I am now paying UAW benefits that I can't afford.

[minimo]

That really sucks! I left Europe a few years ago believing to have the opportunity to profit from the US tax-system. Now it looks like all the efforts I've had to receive my green card have been useless because I'm in similar poor conditions as I was in Europe :(

[alaskalonewolf]

Welcome to the American Dream. And that's all it is, a dream.

[minimo]

And still thousands of people apply for a green card (http://www.green-card.com/) every year and often they are even more starry-eyed as I was at this stage. :(

[alaskalonewolf]

...just wait for the point where we absorb a fifth of their population (http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=mexico+versus+United+States).