Obama Stimulus Made Economic Crisis Worse

[schnurrbart]

I don't of anyone who wanted GM to fail either but all the righties on here, anyway, said repeatedly, that "no one is too big to fail.  Let them fail."  If you never read that, you weren't on here.

[schnurrbart]

What rules would that be?  My memory doesn't include the date that TWA went bankrupt.  Enlighten me.

[schnurrbart]

You should try checking them yourself some time.

[greenhouse man]

"I got news for you.  If GM had been left to go under, the others would have been real close behind in addition to all the parts makers.  If they went under, then Ford and every other US maker would have followed suit.  BTW, GM did sell off or close several of their brands.  Doesn't matter where they operate and Ford built Detroit so bad analogy."

Really??? Ford is got plants all over now. Where is the proof GM would have went away? They would be in better shape and customers would not resent them so much. Chevy and Cadillac and even Buick will make it. That's an  argument can't prove no more than I can prove mine. They are doomed for sure now IMO. I can't see them coming out of this. No one will ever build a plant up north now. So tell me how the unions have helped this country?? Last time I checked Ford was actually making money.

[Samnospam]

And we are experiencing deflation.  The last fmoc release as much as admitted it.

[Samnospam]

Just because it slowed the descent does not mean the stimulus improved the situation.  What it did was add and encourage more bad debt that will need to be cleared before a recovery is possible. 

[Samnospam]

As Washington rushed to nationalize the US auto industry with $80 billion in taxpayer "rescue" funds and avoid contested court termination proceedings, the White House auto team schemed to preserve UAW members' costly pension funds by shafting their nonunion counterparts. The nonunion pensioners also lost all of their health and life insurance benefits.

The abused workers -- most from hard-hit northeast Ohio, Michigan and neighboring states -- had devoted decades of their lives as secretaries, technicians, engineers and sales employees at Delphi/GM. Some have watched up to 70 percent of their pensions vanish.

John Berent of Marblehead, Ohio, lost one-third of his pension: "I worked as a salaried employee for GM (30 years) and Delphi (10 years). After 40 years of dedicated service, I was forced to retire. Then Delphi terminated my health care, life insurance, vision, dental, then terminated the pension plan. Everything I worked 40 years for was wiped out."

Kelly Fabrizio of Franksville, Wis., saw her pension cut by 55 percent after 30 years at Delphi/GM: "I am truly scared for my future. Every day I wake up, shake my head and say out loud -- This Is Not How It Was Supposed To Be."

Roger Hoke of Columbus, Mich., and his wife were both longtime Delphi workers. His pension shrunk by more than 40 percent: "After 33 years with GM and another 10 with Delphi, what did I do wrong to deserve such a fate?"

The retirees, who are suing the feds, have obtained court documents showing that White House officials hatched a plan to dump nonunion workers' pensions on the federally-run Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which immediately proceeded to slash their promised benefits.

At the same time, the administration earmarked GM and TARP bailout money to fully cover the pensions of UAW hourly workers. Sworn depositions of White House auto task force and Treasury officials show that they considered the UAW pension liabilities more "politically sensitive" than those of nonunion workers.

Under oath, Auto Task Force member Matthew Feldman explained that Treasury and auto task force members spent weeks discussing how GM would "honor top-up guarantees" for UAW workers (making their pensions whole) while abandoning salaried counterparts.................................

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/pensions_wiped_out_by_the_white_6SL6MMifLBsQ9sQt...

[schnurrbart]

You can't see them coming out of what??  They have already gotten out of bankruptcy months earlier than expected and are selling lots of cars.  They have even paid back much of the money given to them to bail them out.  They dumped some of the brands and sold, I think, the Hummer brand.  Not sure if that deal went through or not but if the jobbers and parts makers lost something like GM, they would have gone under or cut back severely in addition to GM and then the other manufacturers would not have had parts and they to would have been in trouble.