Alice in Wonderland?
Does anyone else see how perverted this story is? A company which is 60% owned by the U.S. Treasury, in other words, 60% owned by taxpayers — not voluntary shareholders, but TAXPAYERS, has hired a private investment banking company to take the company public.
That is, to be sold to public stockholders. For a profit. Which is going to be distributed to whom? The government. Who took the company over by edict, essentially by force, ignoring lawfully binding financial contracts in the process. Oh, yes, technically G.M. went through a “banktuptcy,” but when one of the two involved parties is the federal government — the one who makes up the rules of the game — then it isn’t a game anymore. It’s “do it, or else!”
Absolutely unbelievable. This IPO should not be happening. The bailout should not have happened. None of this should have happened. If the company cannot generate a profit in the marketplace, then it should go bankrupt and its resources freed up to be used where they are most valued by the marketplace.
by Sherry Jarrell
Learning from Dogs 
Does the Defense Department make a profit in the market place? But who makes the vehicles the DOD use come from? China? Pakistan? I did not think so.
The point is that engineering capability, if unemployed, disappears, for ever. The country just become dumber, less capable. I am plenty skeptical about GM, and especially their “Volt” car, but I can understand the attempt to save that asset.
Now reselling a nationalized company, that’s the way. Nordic countries and France sold their most of their nationalized largest banks, after nationalizations in the early 1980s (France), and 1990s (Nordics). Someday the UK conservative government will resale its nationalized banks.
What is outrageous is paying for nationalizations, with the money of the People, but not taking title, as the government of the USA did in 2008-2009. First the same banksters stay in power, and keep on not lending to the economy. Secondly, the companies, although paid for, cannot be resold later at a profit for the People.
BTW, in theory we are under the PEOPLE-Rule (DEMO-Cracy), not governmento-cracy, or taxpayero-cracy. In a nationalization, a private company becomes property of the People. It can be compensated, or not. For example the French government confiscated the car company Renault in 1944, for being too nice to the Nazis. The owners were sent to jail. Several decades later, Renault was sold back, and now Renault-Nissan is about the fourth car maker in the world. GM is second. Since there is over-production, it’s understandable that the government of the USA protects the People’s of the USA assets. Otherwise everybody would drive Toyotas (I did, for many years; now I drive a Ford, and Franco-German cars)
PA
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