Should GM repay $10B rescue cost? CEO says no

[WestVirginiaRebel]

USA Today:

WASHINGTON -- The General Motors bailout may have cost the government $10 billion, but GM CEO Dan Akerson rejects any suggestion that the company should compensate for the losses.

 

He says Treasury officials took the same risk assumed by anyone who purchases stock.

 

"I would not accept the premise that this was a bad deal," Akerson said during a question-and-answer session at the National Press Club in Washington. He also said the government's $49.5-billion aid to GM helped save billions of dollars in tax revenue and government social services.

 

Akerson spoke in the wake of Treasury announcement last week that it sold its last shares in GM and Akerson's decision to retire in January. The automaker's board of directors named Mary Barra, the company's first CEO, to succeed Akerson.

 

The speech also came as GM announced it is investing $1.2-billion in five U.S. plants, which Akerson said is a recognition that after 15 straight profitable quarters the automaker can't rest on its success.

________

 

He'd like to thank the taxpayers for their support...

 

[Draggingtree]

Bang for taxpayers’ bailout buck: GM has recalled more cars this year than they sold in last five

 

**Written by Doug Powers May 20, 2014 12:52 PM

 

General Motors announced another round of recalls today, bringing the total number of vehicles recalled this year in the U.S. to well over 13 million.

 

According to Jalopnik, that’s more cars than the company sold in the last five years:

With the announcement of today’s recall of 2.4 million more cars, trucks and SUVs, the total number of General Motors recalls in the U.S. now exceeds 13 million. To put that into perspective, recalls now exceed the number of cars they sold in the U.S. in five years.

 

http://michellemalkin.com/2014/05/20/bang-for-taxpayers-bailout-buck-gm-has-recalled-more-cars-this-year-than-they-sold-in-last-five/

[Draggingtree]

Government negligence and insider trading behind the GM recall

By: streiff (Diary) | May 23rd, 2014 at 02:30 PM

After being saved by the American taxpayer in 2008, General Motors seems again on the way to the knacker’s yard.

General Motors has recalled nearly 13.8 million vehicles in the U.S. this year. That’s a lot, obviously. For example, it blows past GM’s previous annual recall record of 10.75 million vehicles, set in 2004. And it means GM is responsible for more than half of the total number of vehicles recalled in the U.S. so far this year.

But if you’re looking for one statistic that really drives home just how cataclysmic the whole episode has been for GM, it’s this one: In just this year alone, GM has recalled more vehicles in the U.S. than it sold between 2009 and 2013. And it’s only May.

The saga of the GM ignition recall begins in 2001

http://www.redstate.com/2014/05/23/government-negligence-insider-trading-behind-gm-recall/

[Valin]

Danny had the money....He'd rather whack 'em.