What is Digg?Sponsored by AVG
CNET Top Weekly Download for Free Anti-Virus view!
free.avg.com - 2.4 million people a week get AVG Anti-Virus Free, for the best protection against web threats.
197 Comments
- sjbdallas, on 04/26/2009, -8/+86May as well have thrown the money in an incinerator.
- AlphaDrake, on 04/26/2009, -9/+84/me throws money into a black hole
Lookit me, I'm governmenting - ErickStevenson, on 04/26/2009, -6/+50So I guess GM = Government Motors?
- CannedCorn, on 04/26/2009, -5/+43GM is a joke. This money, instead of going to a new company with great ideas, is just going to fix one that has been dead for years. Let them go out of business for god sake. Give 2 billion to Elon Musk (tesla) or any random digger. We could do a better job of running a company. Seriously how stupid do you have to be to keep producing cars when we are this kind of economic environment. Fire all the union workers (they have no power now obviously) and stop making cars for a bit. Then ramp up production and hire non union folks as the economy recovers. Problem solved.
- XtheXlanternX, on 04/26/2009, -2/+32As a shareholder in Ford who has many relatives who work for Ford, I often wonder how the people who run Ford feel about this. The government is keeping their competitors on life support. Ford has asked for a credit line, but has not tapped it, while GM and Chrysler have received BILLIONS in low interest loans. This is just as bad as the government paying farmers not to farm (in order to keep prices artificially inflated), subsidizing corn ethanol plants (even though we can make ethanol from stuff that we don't eat), and picking and choosing which industries it will support with massive subsidies. ALL of it has unintended consequences.
- zacharytelschow, on 04/26/2009, -5/+35The company is worth $1 billion. The government is running it anyways, why not just put all pretense aside and buy it? Then we can sell off the pieces, as GM should be doing now.
- TeenReader, on 04/26/2009, -8/+29Wow its funny how a newspaper from another country is publishing this!
Also our goverment is stupid - mleaman, on 04/26/2009, -0/+19Let this company die.
- inactive, on 04/26/2009, -15/+32Can't let the unions go without can we President Obama? How are those "green" cars coming?
- Vicromano311, on 04/26/2009, -0/+17*****!!! let GM fail already! this is a total waste
- pissshivers, on 04/26/2009, -0/+15..more lemon-aid.
Just let them fail already. - cowsgonemadd3, on 04/26/2009, -3/+17Yeeeehaaaawww!
- inactive, on 04/26/2009, -7/+19when will the big US auto makers realize that bigger was never better in the long run. five liter V8s running at 12mpg aren't attractive to the modern day consumer anymore.
Japanese cars are more fuel efficient, cheaper to buy and maintain, and have some of the best warranty plans available.
this was a loan? a loan means that they have to pay it back... there's no way on earth they're ever going to be in a position to do that. - Import98, on 04/26/2009, -0/+12Nothing like throwing an additional $2BN to a company that for all intensive purposes is dead. If people aren't buying the product, why keep filtering money into it?
At least it's nice to see a company receiving continuous funds as my income stays stale, property taxes, gas, everything else goes up. Great to be an American - sjl127, on 04/26/2009, -3/+14No, would have caused too much carbon dioxide to be produced. /sarcasm.
- JasonCox, on 04/26/2009, -2/+13Don't insult the Corvette, bitch.
- govsucks, on 04/26/2009, -1/+11More years of the average americans life thrown in the trash by government. How many years would it take the average american to make two billion dollars. Take all those years, all that effort and throw it on the alter of government. Hallelujah we are saved!
People who worship government are WORSE than those that worship a god. At least MOST of the ones that worship a god don't force others to participate. - kevinmoore, on 06/13/2009, -2/+12The Corvette probably gets better mileage than whatever POS you're driving.
- inactive, on 04/26/2009, -6/+16Obama has already spent more than he should have for his whole term.
- inactive, on 04/26/2009, -3/+13No. Incinerating $2 billion wouldn't be inflationary.
- cly8419, on 04/26/2009, -2/+12The restructuring plan should include getting rid of the union. You do not need to make 40 dollars an hour to do something a high school drop out could do.
- XtheXlanternX, on 04/26/2009, -0/+10So in other words, it is exactly as I described. Ford, realizing that it needed to restructure, did it when it needed to be done without government aid. GM and Chrysler, due to poor leadership and lack of vision, ran their companies into the ground and only then decided to restructure. You make no sense. Ford didn't take any government money to restructure. They anticipated problems and sought to avoid them altogether. GM needed Uncle Sam to foot the bill for its restructuring. In a true capitalist system, GM and Chrysler would be in bankruptcy (without the federal government acting as emergency creditor) and Ford would be doing what it is right now, using private financing because it is still creditworthy.
- unpolloloco, on 04/26/2009, -0/+10so.......why are companies like toyota, honda, hyundai, or FORD not in the same position?
answer: GM's bad management - eavonius, on 04/26/2009, -1/+10Yeah, because the New Yorker isn't controlled by financial interests *rolls eyes* wake up bro.
- randyzaia, on 04/26/2009, -2/+11How about we just let them file for bankruptcy just like every other ***** company. Who gives two ***** about whether we have a domestic auto industry.
- AlienMushroom, on 04/26/2009, -3/+12Hurray! More bonus for executives!
- xero69, on 04/26/2009, -2/+11That $2bn should have been used to provide tax credits to people who actually buy and use the cars. GM needs to SELL cars, not suckle the government teat. I'd better be able to buy a new Camaro in the next year if GM is getting all kinds of govt cash to stay afloat.
- inactive, on 04/26/2009, -1/+10What happened to the government needing a sound plan before they gave GM more money?
- guitarike, on 04/26/2009, -6/+15i can haz bailout?! seriously though, what's another 2 billion when compared to trillions?
- Sanderson9009, on 04/26/2009, -0/+8Stop spending our future!
- RonPauls, on 04/26/2009, -2/+10doesn't matter what the rate is cause it's not gonna be paid back
- Hardataq, on 04/26/2009, -3/+11Remember "The Money Pit" with Tom Hanks? This reminds me of that, only no happy ending.
- asgardshill, on 04/26/2009, -0/+8There's actually a reasonably good market for muscle cars. It's the crappy econobox rattletraps that GM builds that are a glut on the market. When your labor costs are $25 an hour higher than your competitor's are, you don't win on price OR on quality.
- MasterInsan0, on 04/26/2009, -0/+8The underlying problem is this: the government is a bloated, corrupted, and inefficient entity with no realistic concept of economics (since it can pretty much borrow as much money as it needs to do anything). Trying to rely on such an entity to fix a pertinent problem is like relying on a fat man in a wheelchair to push you out of the way of oncoming traffic. He'll get there eventually, but by the time he gets there you're already splattered on the side of the street, and he's too fat and lazy to scrape you up and get you to the hospital. Instead, he just rolls your bits onto the sidewalk, throws some painkillers at you, and says, "You're welcome."
- tidu, on 04/26/2009, -0/+8There is a huge market for trucks in the more rural parts of America. But the thing is, they don't recycle trucks like people recycle smaller cars. Trucks last for a pretty long time and can take a beating, while we get tired of our economy car in two years and buy a new one.
- mark5hs, on 04/26/2009, -0/+7No, right back at you, you don't know what you're talking about. It isn't about some moralistic sense as you try to make it out to be in your high horse insults of us Digg users. It's bad economics, plain and simple.
- tidu, on 04/26/2009, -2/+8What do you think happens to the manufacturing plants when this company goes under? They just sit there unused? I'm sure Toyota or Honda would love to buy a pre-built plant that already is filled with workers. Maybe we'll start to get good cars that focus on efficiency more than they focus on DVD players and glove box ice boxes.
- XtheXlanternX, on 04/26/2009, -0/+6In a true socialist system, there are no "achievers" receiving subsidy. The wealth of the state is spread about in accordance with the needs of the state.
- inactive, on 04/26/2009, -0/+6General Malaise
- CannedCorn, on 04/26/2009, -1/+7http://www.smilespedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2008 ...
- Khast, on 04/26/2009, -2/+8Well, I guess that is better than the guy being paid $80K to only tighten bolt #3912 on the assembly line for 8 hours a day. Having the guy tighten #3911 and #3910 would breach his union contract. /s
- mark5hs, on 04/26/2009, -0/+6No, tossing billions of dollars at them is bad economics. Contrary to what you might believe, if they're allowed to file chapter 11, all their factories and equipment don't vaporize, and all their employees don't instantly lose their jobs. They simply restructure under the oversight of a judge and become a new, stronger company.
- XtheXlanternX, on 04/26/2009, -0/+5You seriously make no sense at all. The fact that GM was in "better shape" when Ford was "having serious problems" has no real relevance at all. GM is in terrible shape now, because instead of spending money to restructure, they operated as they have in the past and thus misrepresented themselves as being in "better shape". When Ford was having "serious problems" (which I disagree with but I will agree with you for the sake of argument), they decided to restructure in a booming market so that they wouldn't face hard times when the economy went south. In essence, Ford sought to forgo profits in the near term in order to restructure for the future of the company. GM sought to maximize profits using an outdated business structure and thus is reaping the consequences during an economic downturn. Had GM chose to read the writing on the wall and acknowledge the need to change the way it operated during the good times, they would have avoided being in the situation they are in now. Foresight and vision are the some of the fundamental qualities of a successful business.
Do you work for GM or something? You are really making no sense. - thewonster, on 04/26/2009, -1/+6I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.
- sanman, on 04/26/2009, -2/+7gotta keep that money flowing to the union workers who make campaign contributions to the Democratic Party
you know, the guys who insist on being paid $80K to drive cars from ParkingLotA to ParkingLotB (thus substantially bumping up the final car sticker price for you and me) - mksmothers, on 04/27/2009, -0/+5hankidic: The thousands of people working for them (UAW workers) is one of the prime reason GM is dying.
- inactive, on 04/26/2009, -1/+6They didn't manufacture it, but they sold it. Same difference.
- N0DIGGITY, on 04/26/2009, -0/+5sure it is wiggletits...
-
Show 51 - 100 of 204 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is 