Reflections From a Murky Pond

General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, June 1, 2009, as part of President Obama’s plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government.

Obama’s plan is for the federal government to take a 60% ownership stake in the new GM (Government Motors?). The Canadian government would take 12.5% of the company. The United Auto Workers Union (UAW) would be granted a 17.5% share and unsecured bondholders receiving a mere 10% holding. All existing GM shareholders are expected to be wiped out and to lose all of their investments.

So Americans, under the rule of President Obama are now left with an important question:

Would You Buy A Car From This Man?

Of course I could say that the question was largely moot. Obama is set to take ownership of both GM and Chrysler through his control of their bankruptcy proceedings and his control over the US financial sector; American will be left with few choices except to purchase cars from Obama and his government agencies.

On the bright side though, GM and Chrysler - possibly to be combined into a single Government Motors, People’s Motors, or Obama Motors – will have the benefit of both the largest advertising budget in history and the consummate snake oils salesman / used car salesman in America’s history as their spokesman.

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How could President Obama make sure that he and his administration achieve their agenda for the American automotive industry’s restructuring? While his government now “owns” major interests in GM and Chrysler, they’re both still technically private companies that can set their own policies.

The easy answer is for Obama and his government is to use American tax dollars to start a new automobile manufacturer and buy out the remaining healthy assets of GM and/or Chrysler. Apparently that is what he is planning on doing!

Driving America To The Edge…And Beyond

Many Americans feared that the Automobile Bail-Out would lead to nationalization of the Americans auto industry. In response to those fears, the Liberals heaped scorn upon the concerned. Sadly for America, it looks like we were right to be afraid. Welcome to Obama Motors.

NEW YORK, May 19 (Reuters) – General Motors Corp’s (GM.N) plan for a bankruptcy filing involves a quick sale of the company’s healthy assets to a new company initially owned by the U.S. government, a source familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

Supposedly it’s GM’s plan, but it’s Obama and his Liberals who have the money – our money – that GM needs to survive – so who’s deciding what going happen? The government under Obama, that’s who. America has already heard about how Obama and his team are controlling the Chrysler pseudo-bankruptcy.

Of course this new company – Obama Motors? Government Motors? USSA Auto? – won’t be wholly owned by the US government. They’ll be splitting it with the UAW, but the government will likely hold the majority of control.

The government’s plans include giving stakes in the new company to GM’s union and bondholders, although the ownership structure of the company is still being negotiated, said the source who is familiar with the company’s plans.

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The board of the new company would be established with the tacit approval of the government. Fritz Henderson, who took the helm of GM earlier this year after the government pushed out Rick Wagoner, would likely head the new company, the source said.

There’s not that much else to say on this topic other than this is a very bad thing for America and it is very likely to come to pass.

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Having car troubles – i.e. having your automobile malfunction – is a royal pain in the ass. Nobody likes it, except the mechanics of course. They get paid to find and fix those problems.

Mechanic – I found your problem

Of course, sometimes finding out what the problem is doesn’t mean that it’s fixable. This is often the case when one either uses substandard parts to start with or adds shoddy after-market modifications conceived of in the 3rd-World.

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