GM Pays Back TARP Loans...With TARP Loans.

[mrjarrell]

Well, here's a WTH point in my day. They took out loans, (financed by stolen money) and then repaid the loans with more TARP loans. Seriously?

via Reason

Have you driven a Ford lately? That might be a good idea, as it seems that GM's claims to have repaid its TARP loans in full and ahead of schedule are, well, bull****. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner pointing out that GM has apparently paid back its TARP money with...more TARP money. Here's some of Grassley's query:

During his testimony [Inspector General for TARP Neil] Barofsky addressed GM’s recent debt repayment activity, and stated that the funds GM is using to repay its TARP debt are not coming from GM earnings. Instead, GM seems to be using TARP funds from an escrow account at Treasury to make the debt repayments. The most recent quarterly report from the Office of the Special Inspector General for TARP says "The source of funds for these quarterly [debt] payments will be other TARP funds currently held in an escrow account."...
Therefore, it is unclear how GM and the Administration could have accurately announced yesterday that GM repaid its TARP loans in any meaningful way. In reality, it looks like GM merely used one source of TARP funds to repay another. The taxpayers are still on the hook...
The bottom line seems to be that the TARP loans were "repaid" with other TARP funds in a Treasury escrow account. The TARP loans were not repaid from money GM is earning selling cars, as GM and the Administration have claimed in their speeches, press releases and television commercials. When these criticisms were put to GM’s Vice Chairman Stephen Girsky in a television interview yesterday, he admitted that the criticisms were valid:
Question: Are you just paying the government back with government money?
Mr. Girsky: Well listen, that is in effect true, but a year ago nobody thought we’d be able to pay this back.
​

Read the rest at Reason. See the video and click the links. This is amazing.

 

[Hoosier Gun Coat]

 

[irishfan]

This is nothing new when it involves the Federal Government as it is the same tactic used by administration after administration and is looked at as good politics. Also, this is common practice by big business as it makes their stock holders believe they are making money rather tha just squeaking by. I think we need GM to succeed and it can succeed but I want them to be truthful about where are money is going.

 

[hornadylnl]

I saw the headlines in the paper and was surprised that our resident gm union apologists weren't spamming our board about the repayment.

 

[gunsisgood]

How sad,
The old saying Be American Buy American is a JOKE when it comes to cars.

 

[edsinger]

I test drove a Ford today, I have been a GM fan my entire life. I am troubled because my GM stock is worthless and my Ford stock has made money and Ford took no bailout. I would probably buy a Ford IF I was going to buy.

 

[irishfan]

I saw the headlines in the paper and was surprised that our resident gm union apologists weren't spamming our board about the repayment.

I don't see what you are talking about here....please elaborate. Are you saying that union people would be supporting the non-repayment or its the unions fault that it worked this way?

 

[Sweetums]

I saw the headlines in the paper and was surprised that our resident gm union apologists weren't spamming our board about the repayment.

How did a union get brought up in this?

 

[hornadylnl]

I'll clarify a little better. We have a few posters here that are on the payroll in some way, shape or form. Every negative article that ever gets printed about Toyota or any other foreign manufacturer is reposted here by those same few. They also like to tell us that GM and Chrysler weren't bailed out, they got loans. I figured those few would copy and paste the repayment articles as a "see, I told you so". These few posters are union apologists as well.

 

[jblomenberg16]

I saw the TV commercial a few minutes ago with GM's CEO talking about this very thing. I do hope they get things straightened out, as they are a major employer and big part of our economy.

But in doing so there is a lot that needs to be fixed, and many past habits that have to go.

 

[Srtsi4wd]

This is a drop in the bucket and a diversion from the real pile of BS they dont want you to see.

One of many sources to start reading:

Washington's Blog

Warning: The more you look into it, the more you .

 

[96firephoenix]

I like how when I went to the link, the article was flanked by Ford ads...

my current car and anymore of the same model (pontiac firebird) will be the only GM vehicles I own.

 

[redsuperduty]

Sure makes me proud to be a FORD man!

 

[Leadeye]

GM isn't doing anything different from what the government does, paying off one credit card with another. It's a good gig when you can get it.

 

[grunt soldier]

also a big problem with this that isn't being pointed out is that yes they did pay back a very very small fraction of their debt with tarp money, they only paid back 8 billion.
GM still owes $45.3 billion to the U.S. and $8.1 billion to Canada. The U.S. government owns 61 percent of the company and Canada owns roughly 12 percent.

but yet some how they can just go out on tv lying say the repaid their debt in full and you know the sheeple will eat that up. lets just keep spending and using slight of hand to try to pretend to fix america and her problems vs actually going out and actually doing something about it. blah i am so fed up with all the bs and red curtains

 

[Archaic_Entity]

I saw the TV commercial a few minutes ago with GM's CEO talking about this very thing. I do hope they get things straightened out, as they are a major employer and big part of our economy.

But in doing so there is a lot that needs to be fixed, and many past habits that have to go.

I saw it, too. I was utterly confused, to say the least. My girlfriend's dad is the GM Manager in charge of negotiations with the UAW for the entire US, and I'm fairly certain I would have heard something about it from her. I just couldn't believe that they'd been able to pay it all back and I was going to definitely bring this up. Glad there are people here quicker than me.

 

[cop car]

you know what. GM can have the money, i guarantee GM has paid WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY more than that messily 50billion or whatever in taxes during its existence.

what i think happend is that they were given x amount and told to pay it back. it sounds like they just didnt need the money anymore and were like "here have it back." if they pay it out of pocket and take the loan, or just give the loan back, its paid back either way.

 

[BloodEclipse]

Well, here's a WTH point in my day. They took out loans, (financed by stolen money) and then repaid the loans with more TARP loans. Seriously?

via Reason

Read the rest at Reason. See the video and click the links. This is amazing.

It is kinda like this:
Loan me $1000.
Next give me $2000
I now will repay the $1000 and call it even.

 

[irishfan]

I do hope GM manages to survive this whole mess and can actually start filling more factories as well. If the auto industry is doing well in America then usually the whole country is doing pretty well. I am not saying the auto industry is the barometer it once was but it still is a good indication whether the rest of the economy is going strong or not.

 

[cop car]

It is kinda like this:
Loan me $1000.
Next give me $2000
I now will repay the $1000 and call it even.

uhh.. probably more like loan me $2000. i use $1000 of it.. so i still have $1000 in my loan account.. i give you back $1000 and then the $1000 i have left in the account.. and you say "***** you are paying me back with my own money!"

its liberals trying to harm another american iconic company.