U.S. Could Take Stakes in Big 3

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122875608562688401.html ^ | 12-08-08 | By GREG HITT

[Las Vegas Ron]

WASHINGTON -- Congress and the White House inched toward agreement on legislation that would throw a financial lifeline to the Big Three auto makers, giving the government a substantial ownership stake in the industry and a central role in its restructuring.

Under the terms of the draft legislation, which continued to evolve Monday evening, the government would receive warrants for stock equivalent to at least 20% of the loans any company receives. The company also would have to agree to limits on executive compensation and dividend payments, much like those contained in the government's $700 billion rescue of the financial industry.

[Las Vegas Ron]

Pure fascism, and Bush is negotiating this.

[denydenydeny]

Goody! I get to pay taxes so that people who make three times what I make can be paid for not working.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Back in the day, the guys that used to run these companies wouldn’t be caught dead groveling at the feet of those homos in the Senate. They would have come up with ways to get themselves out of this mess. To hell with a bunch of girlymen politicians.

[NavVet]

The government is controlling the means of production and is about to appoint a czar. Kruschev was right, they beat us without firing a shot.

Who is John Galt....?

[Las Vegas Ron]

I’ve said this before here and I’ll say it again, we are witnessing a political coup, and a very well planned one at that.

[the invisib1e hand]

us could take stakes in big three..

no! in other news, the sky is up.

centralization-of-capital-bump.

[Las Vegas Ron]

And Bush is in on the whole thing. I can’t even post my disgust with him.

[the invisib1e hand]

Kruschev was right, they beat us without firing a shot.

yeah they can, when all people do is sit around a yap about how right our enemies are. yep, that's how the beat 'em without a shot.

You get an A. Whass that gonna do for you in the f*ckin' gulag?

Maybe you can give lectures on Rand there.

[SMCC1]

If they are going to do this no matter what, I’d rather them just lend them the $ ONCE no strings attached, no “car czar” attached. It would be corporate welfare and I’d hate it but at least it wouldn’t be nationalization which this is.

[FormerACLUmember]

It's in the way you dress. The way you boogie down. The way you sign your unemployment check. You're a man who likes to do things your own way. And on those special odd-numbered Saturdays when driving is permitted, you want it in your car. It's that special feeling of a zero-emissions wind at your back and a road ahead meandering with possibilities. The kind of feeling you get behind the wheel of the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition from Congressional Motors.

All new for 2012, the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition is the mandatory American car so advanced it took $100 billion and an entire Congress to design it. We started with same reliable 7-way hybrid ethanol-biodeisel-electric-clean coal-wind-solar-pedal power plant behind the base model Pelosi, but packed it with extra oomph and the sassy styling pizazz that tells the world that 1974 Detroit is back again -- with a vengeance.

We've subsidized the features you want and taxed away the rest. With its advanced Al Gore-designed V-3 under the hood pumping out 22.5 thumping, carbon-neutral ponies of Detroit muscle, you'll never be late for the Disco or the Day Labor Shelter. Engage the pedal drive or strap on the optional jumbo mizzenmast, and the GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition easily exceeds 2016 CAFE mileage standards. At an estimated 268 MPG, that's a savings of nearly $1800 per week in fuel cost over the 2011 Pelosi.

Even with increased performance we didn't skimp on safety. With 11-point passenger racing harnesses, 15-way airbags, and mandatory hockey helmet, you'll have the security knowing that you could survive a 45 MPH collision even if the GTxi SS/Rt were capable of that kind of illegal speed.

But the changes don't stop there. Sporty mag-style hubcaps and an all-new aggressive wedge shape designed by CM's Chief Stylist Ted Kennedy slices through the wind like an omnibus spending bill. It even features an airtight undercarriage to keep you and a passenger afloat up to 15 minutes -- even in the choppy waters of a Cape Cod inlet. Available a rainbow of color choices to match any wardrobe, from Harvest Avocado to French Mustard.

Inside, a luxurious all-velour interior designed by Barney Frank features thoughtful appointments like in-dash condom dispenser and detachable vibrating shift knob. A special high capacity hatchback holds up to 300 aluminum cans, meaning fewer trips to the redemption center. And the standard 3 speaker Fairness ActoPhonic FM low-band sound system means you'll never miss a segment of NPR again.

Best of all, the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt is made right here in the U.S.A. by fully card-checked unionized workers and Detroit's famous visionary jet-set managers. Even if you don't own one, you can enjoy the patriotic satisfaction that you're supporting the high wages, good benefits, and generous political donations that are once again making the American car industry the envy of the world.

But why not buy one anyway? With an MSRP starting at only $629,999.99, it's affordable too. Don't forget to ask about dealer incentives, rebates, tax credits, and wealth redistribution plans for customers from dozens of qualifying special interest groups. Plus easy-pay financing programs from Fannie Mae.

So take the bus to your local CM dealer today and find out why the Pelosi GTxi SS/Rt Sport Edition is the only car endorsed by President Barack Obama. One test drive will convince you that you'd choose it over the import brands. Even if they were still legal.

(from IowaHawk!)

[St. Louis Conservative]

Just wait until leftist congressmen and senators attach a myriad of regulations to the car companies. They will likely be made to adhere to insane environmental regulations, meaning they will be forced to make boxes on wheels that nobody will want. The union “concessions” will most likely be window-dressing. The unions will probably get equity stakes in the company, with a seat on the board too. They will have to abide by 1000s of pages worth of affirmative action policies and follow every politically correct rule in the book when it comes to company decisions.

[OpusatFR]

Oh good. Then Pelosi et al can force them to make Green Cars that no one is going to buy and thus, bankrupt them anyway.

Can the shareholders start speaking up? I should think they need to tell Congress a bit.

[NavVet]

You aren’t that bright are you. Short of picking up a gun, something I am not prepared to do, we have to combat the Communists with words. Offering the criticism that our leaders have in fact embraced socialism to a large degree is at least doing something. What the F@!# have you done that is more effective.

Oh, and by the way, if more people were lecturing on Rand maybe we wouldn’t be where we are today.

[jcon40]

So if Congress votes for the taxpayer to own the “American” car industry then maybe we’re each gonna get a free car out of the deal?

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

“Pure fascism,....”

Precisely. Ironically, the leftists "useful idiots" that like to toss that label around, as an indictment of conservatives; will be the last to realize what they've wrought.

[the invisib1e hand]

You surely have me outgunned in the intellect department, Rambo.

Yo, Rambo, how far you gonna get "combatting" them with their own words? You're a walking 5th column every time you say, "yep. Kruschev was right."

[Las Vegas Ron]

Oh good. Then Pelosi et al can force them to make Green Cars that no one is going to buy and thus, bankrupt them anyway.

Me thinks that was the plan all along.

And another thing, if the people really knew the causes of thid whole mess (one being companies paying too many people not to work) they just might equating it with their SSI.

We all know if there was anything that might cause an uproar would be the people thinking their SSI was in jeopardy.

[Las Vegas Ron]

Great post, sadly it is also dead on.

[NavVet]

I’m beginning to think most people have you outgunned in the intellect department. Do you even know what Kruschev said that I’m referring to?

Since you probably don’t, I’ll share. Kruschev once told the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture that they wouldn’t have to force Communism on the U.S., they would just feed us Socialism in small pieces until one day we would be a socialist nation.

Now, if you care to make an argument that pointing out the fact that Kruschev’s prediction coming true makes it more likely to come true, let’s hear it, because, most people would read my original post as a WARNING. It is people like you that would rather stick their heads in the sand and ignore reality that are almost as dangerous as the looter class.

[floozy22]

I’ve said this before here and I’ll say it again, we are witnessing a political coup, and a very well planned one at that.

It certainly sounds like one. And all at the hands of a Republican president. We survived 8 years of The Slickster and Madame Bovinery - and even they didn't screw us this bad. I think Bush just found his legacy. Selling us out for amnesty and exploding federal spending wasn't enough for him. Chump.