Free Republic

January 04, 2010, 0:00 a.m. Will the American People Finally Revolt?Federal indulgence and incompetence are too vast to catalogue. By Deroy Murdock Where is Nelson Mandela when we need him? In an especially memorable moment in Clint Eastwood’s fine new film Invictus, South Africa’s first black president (exquisitely portrayed by Morgan Freeman) inspects his first official paycheck. “This is terrible,� Mandela says. He decides he earns too much money and subsequently donates a third of his salary to charity. Thus was born the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund. Mandela’s humility and fiscal restraint would be as exotic in the nation’s...

Republican Study Committee Chairman, Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), issued the following statement after the administration announced it was providing another bailout and taking larger ownership of GMAC...

GOVERNMENT DOLES OUT $3.8 BILLION TO GMAC, MISSPELLS TWO WORDS IN HEADLINE: I kid you not. And just in case someone from the U. S. Treasury comes back and checks their spelling, I've copied and pasted the announcement below (page down). Notice the headline: "Treasury 'Annouces Resturcturing' of Commitment To GMAC"

<p>GMAC Financial Services is close to getting approximately $3.5 billion in additional aid from the U.S. government, on top of $12.5 billion already received since December 2008, according to people familiar with the situation.</p> <p>The announcement, expected within days, will coincide with GMAC taking additional steps to absorb losses related to its mortgage operations, these people said. The cleanup is designed to return the Detroit-based finance company to profitability in the first quarter of 2010, according to one of these people.</p>

In a surprise move, the head of GMAC Financial Services -- the giant, taxpayer-supported auto lender -- was ousted Monday. The forced resignation of Alvaro de Molina after only 19 months as chief executive caps a series of clashes with regulators and mounting board frustration over his turnaround plans for the Detroit company. GMAC has received $12.5 billion in taxpayer money since December 2008 in two installments, giving the U.S. government a 35.4% stake and growing power over the firm's trajectory. Government officials said they made no suggestion to GMAC's board to dump Mr. de Molina. "That was 100% GMAC's...

Who knew? Ally Bank is running all those TV ads belittling the “fine print” used by other banks. But as the Wall Street Journal detailed on Tuesday, the ads do not disclose that Ally is a unit of troubled GMAC  Financial Services, the former financing arm of GM, now seeking its third multi-billion taxpayer  bailout.Ally had been offering some of the highest CD interest rates in the nation until federal bank regulators pressured Ally to reduce them. Lower rates are one thing but there is another compelling consideration when shopping CD rates. When you deposit your money with Ally, you...

GMAC, the former lending arm of General Motors Co., is in talks with the Treasury Department for a third injection of taxpayer aid, a further sign of the U.S. government's entrenchment in the U.S. auto industry. The Treasury Department mandated earlier this year that GMAC Financial Services raise an additional $11.5 billion in capital after undergoing a "stress test" along with 18 other banks. While other banks deemed undercapitalized have been able to raise funds from private investors, GMAC has been forced to go back to the government.

Pay Czar Feinberg, Not Obama, Behind Decision to Slash Executive Pay White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg did not seek President Obama's approval to order steep pay cuts from bailed-out executives. Thursday, October 22, 2009 White House pay czar Kenneth Feinberg was the driving force behind the move to order steep pay cuts from bailed-out executives, and did not even seek the president's approval before making his decision. The Treasury Department is expected to formally announce in the next few days a plan to slash annual salaries by about 90 percent from last year for the 25 highest-paid executives at...

More tales from broken the credit markets. Read » Ford has been learning the danger of being a relatively successful company in the age of bailouts: higher borrowing costs. The Associated Press breaks down the numbers: GMAC, 9.9 percent owned by GM and lender to its dealers and buyers, sold $3.5 billion of 2.2 percent three-and-a-half year notes on June 3 guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. priced at 99.841 cents on the dollar to yield 2.25 percent. Ford issued $1.1 billion of five-year 8 percent notes May 28, priced at 82.036 cents on the dollar to yield 13...

Big auto and mortgage lender GMAC LLC, which has received $12.5 billion in federal bailout aid, spent $410,000 lobbying in the first quarter on legislation putting restrictions on companies receiving the rescue money, its restructuring as a bank holding company and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report.

CHICAGO (Reuters) - GMAC LLC, which is giving the U.S. Treasury Department a 35.4 percent equity stake, said on Friday it might take 17 years for the government to shed its investment if the auto and mortgage lender were to go public. The timetable suggests that federal involvement in GMAC's affairs could persist long after troubles plaguing the economy and the auto industry end. GMAC has gotten $12.5 billion of government infusions since December, including $7.5 billion on Thursday.

The Obama administration announced late Thursday that it's forking over another $7.5 billion to GMAC, LLC (General Motors Acceptance Corp.). And, in keeping with the fascist theme of this new administration, the government has mandated two new directors to GMAC's board of directors. Not that anyone is keeping track, but this now totals approximately $13.5 billion that the government (supposedly you and me) have invested in GMAC. Oh, how quickly times have changed. Or, have they? Just yesterday, Turbo Tax Cheat Timothy Geithner said that the administration wasn't getting involved in management decisions at General Motors Corp. Oh, I see...they're...

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday it has put another $7.5 billion into auto lender GMAC to enable it to support both Chrysler LLC [CBS.UL], and General Motors Corp Corp (GM.N) car buyers and partly meet a shortage of capital.

By Glenn Somerville and Corbett Daly WASHINGTON, May 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday it has put another $7.5 billion into auto lender GMAC to enable it to support both Chrysler LLC [CBS.UL], and General Motors Corp Corp (GM.N) car buyers and partly meet a shortage of capital. The widely anticipated action is intended to help counter a scarcity of credit that has helped drive sales of domestic cars into a ditch. The Federal Reserve also extended an exemption that will let GMAC keep lending to GM dealers and retail customers, which it normally would be...

The U.S. Treasury Department is preparing to announce as early as Wednesday that it will invest an additional $7.5 billion in lender GMAC LLC in a deal that could allow the U.S. government to hold a majority stake in the Detroit-based auto finance company, the Detroit News reported. GMAC (GJM), which also provides loans for consumers to buy General Motors Corp (GM) and Chrysler LLC vehicles, has been in talks for several weeks to secure additional capital, the newspaper said. The U.S. Treasury declined to comment. A GMAC spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy...

REUTERS A lawsuit charges hedge-funder Ezra Merkin "knew or should have known" that Madoff was a fraud, and seeks $500M from Merkin's funds. Merkin's Gabriel Capital Corp. received $tens of millions in fees from deals with Madoff. Stanley Chais of California was charged last Friday. Microsoft's wholly owned affiliate, Microsoft Licensing GP, one of the pioneers in the field of computerized stock trading, joined the Bankruptcy Court case against Madoff, but declined to discuss its claims against the swindler.

GMAC revives sub-prime car loansGeneral Motors' (GM) finance division is cutting financing costs and reviving sub-prime lending to speed up a car sales revival.GMAC Financial Services will make an extra $5bn (£3.46bn) available as loans to car buyers over the next 60 days. Dealers are also having fees and repayments slashed or delayed to help them clear a back-log of unsold cars. GM has been given a 1 June deadline to come up with a restructuring plan. The alternative is bankruptcy. GMAC's additional car financing packages will be made available for buyers of both new and used cars. ..... GMAC,...

Ezra Merkin may have jumped from the frying pan right into the fire.....the hedge-fund billionaire who lost as much as $3 billion in investor funds with Bernie Madoff has the NYAG looking over various pieces of evidence ahead of a possible full-fledged probe........Merkin was feeding hedge funds into Madoff's operation while serving as GMAC Chair (an auto-and home-financing company).......many felt Merkin should not be trusted with $6B federal rescue money GMAC received. Merkin resigned as GMAC chair Friday.....he pocketed hundreds of millions of dollars in investment fees over the years. Merkin lives in a posh duplex at 740 Park Ave,...

...... US investigators want to know whether hedge fund operator J. Ezra Merkin misled tax-exempt schools and charities about how he invested their money....... authorities have subpoenaed records from three investment funds run by Merkin, who recently chaired GMAC Financial Services LLC, the auto/housing financing arm of General Motors..... 15 tax-exempt nonprofits tied to Merkin are asked to turn over records and other information. Merkin's key fund, Ascot Partners LP, had invested almost all of its $1.5B assets with Madoff. Merkin's funds Gabriel, Ascot, and Ariel Management Corp, already face a string of lawsuits from investors who say they were...

Two high-profile culprits in a pair of colossal economic scandals bit the dust yesterday.... * Robert Rubin, Clinton's onetime Treasury secretary, resigned as senior counselor at Citigroup. * Madoffian J. Ezra Merkin resigned as GMAC Financial Services Chairman, effective immediately. Rubin architected risky debt strategy that brought once-great Citi to its knees, costing it $20 billion in losses the past year alone. ....shares fell to 10% of as Rubin was collecting $115 million in salary - plus stock options. Now America's taxpayers are forced to bail out Citigroup to the tune of $45 billion in cash and $306 billion in...

Last week on TheCuttingEdgeNews.com and TheAutoChannel.com, investigative journalist Edwin Black broke the story that Bernie Madoff's cohort Ezra Merkin is, of all things, the Chairman of GMAC. Edwin's report chronicled Merkin's own highly questionable history and financial/legal problems. Late this afternoon, GMAC Financial Services LLC announced that Chairman J. Ezra Merkin is stepping down effective immediately, as GMAC prepares to name a new board of directors. At the time that the original report was published on December 30th, CNN News had missed this story completely, even though GMAC had just received $5 billion of Federal Bailout funds. As of the...

In America's ever-more-democratic society, egalitarianism seeps into everything, even the supposedly severe meritocracy of sport. So every 7-year-old who has soccer shoes laced up by a parent gets a trophy just for showing up, and almost every college football team that is not dreadful is "bowl eligible." That is why there are 34 bowl games, which is why you might not have noticed Tuesday's Bailout Bowl (Ball State vs. Tulsa, by the way), in which you could have seen your tax dollars at work. Or at play. The game's real name was the GMAC Bowl. GMAC is known as the...

The move is gearing up to oust GMAC Chair J. Ezra Merkin in the wake of GMAC scoring a $6B injection from the federal government and securing approval to convert into a bank holding company. GMAC's approval was contingent on retooling its 12-member board......observers believe that's not soon enough after Merkin lost some $1.8B that he funneled to arch-swindler Madoff. Under Merkin, GMAC spiraled into nearly $8B in losses. Merkin was one of the original backers of private-equity shop Cerberus Capital's move to own a 51% stake in GMAC....the shop was required to relinquish its majority stake after GMAC converted...

... 2008, I mean. Democrat and (to some extent) Republican schemes to make every American, no matter how qualified, a homeowner leads to financial disaster, everybody with a business license is lining up for government (taxpayer) largess, the YouTube and Entertainment Tonight generation - people who have no clue in the world how our government actually works or who the key players are - turn a presidential election into a glorified version of American Idol, and now our wonderful elected officials in Washington are getting ready to vote on and pass a ONE TRILLION dollar stimulus bill without even so...

Pressure continues to mount on Erza Merkin to step down as chairman of GMAC....the auto- and mortgage-lender which received a $6B (taxpayer-financed) government rescue package...... Neither GMAC or the Treasury Dept. is talking about how Merkin was allowed to stay atop the privately-held GMAC operation despite his cloudy recent history - which has been marked by several lawsuits charging the 53-year-old investor with fraud. Merkin, a partner in private-equity powerhouse Cerberus Capital Management, became chairman of GMAC in November 2006 when Cerberus bought a 51% stake in the company. Merkin maintains he is a victim of Madoff.......Treasury Secy Paulson was...

When the Bush Treasury decided to bail out Detroit, GM and Chrysler quickly said yes to the taxpayer cash, but Ford Motor Co. said it didn't need the money and declined. Ford's reward for this show of self-reliance? Treasury is now helping GM again by giving it a credit pricing advantage against Ford in the marketplace. That's one little-noted result of Treasury's action earlier this week to rescue GMAC, the GM credit arm that, as it happens, is 51% owned by the Cerberus private-equity shop that also owns Chrysler. With $5 billion in taxpayer cash in its pocket, GMAC quickly...

A regulatory expert says President Bush is flagrantly ignoring the law by using money from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) for a second bailout of General Motors. The government's bailout of the auto industry has swelled to $23.4 billion after the White House committed to send GM and its financing arm an extra $6 billion. The Treasury Department plans to purchase a $5-billion equity stake in GMAC, the financing arm of GM, and give GM an additional billion dollars to in turn buy stock in GMAC. The $6 billion will come from the $700 billion Wall Street...

GMAC may be in financial trouble, but that isn’t stopping the auto lender-turned-bank holding company from maintaining its corporate sponsorships. In October, GMAC changed its legal status so that it would be eligible for TARP funds passed by Congress. Late last month, GMAC was approved to receive a $5 billion lifeline from the U.S. government. However, the company is still maintaining its sponsorship of a collegiate bowl game set for Jan. 6 in Mobile, Ala. “There’s about 34 bowl games, 30 of which are sponsored in one way or the other,” Fox Business Network’s Jenna Lee said Jan. 2 on...

GMAC, the auto financing arm of General Motors that's half owned by Cerberus Capital, is spooling up its own bid for a federal bailout. GMAC wants to mimic American Express, Goldman Sachs and others that converted to bank holding companies and then tapped the TARP. Meanwhile, GMAC's chairman, Jacob Ezra Merkin, runs Ascot Partners, an investment firm that lost most of its $1.8 billion in assets in the Madoff scandal, according to the New York Times. So, sure, let's give billions in federal funds to a guy who blows almost $2 billion of his and his clients' money on a...

General Motors Corp. and its dealers rushed to roll out new financing offers Tuesday after the Treasury Department pumped $6 billion into GMAC LLC, the lending giant partly owned by GM. In a hastily called news conference, GM said it would offer 0% financing on five 2008 models and 0.9% to 5.9% loans on dozens of other 2008 and 2009 models in a year-end sales push backed by GMAC. GM and GMAC had regularly offered no-interest auto loans for most of this decade but pulled back after the financial crisis forced GMAC to tighten credit standards in October. ... GMAC...

This time, I suppose, it's probably a good idea.After all, nothing brings a recession to its knees like offering more bad loans to borrowers who can't afford them, right?Just when you thought the vaults had been depleted of its stupidity reserve, here comes the latest bird-brained financier - GMAC - to tackle the cancer with a shot of typhoid.From Yahoo News: A $5 billion government bailout aimed at reviving General Motors Corp.'s ability to make car and truck loans has dealers hopeful that cash-strapped consumers will return to their showrooms.GMAC Financial Services, the automaker's troubled financing arm, on Tuesday loosened...

GMAC, the automobile financing company, said Tuesday morning that it would immediately resume financing to a wider range of car buyers, a day after the Treasury Department injected billions of dollars into the lender. GMAC said in a statement that it would modify its credit criteria to include financing for customers with a credit score of 621 or above, a significant expansion of credit compared with the 700 minimum score put in place two months ago. GMAC had significantly cut back on the number of loans it offered as it struggled to stay afloat. And General Motors said Tuesday that...

Monday December 29, 2008, 9:48 pm EST WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Treasury Department said Monday that it will provide $5 billion to GMAC Financial Services LLC, the ailing financing arm of General Motors Corp., from the $700 billion bank rescue program. The government will receive preferred shares that pay an 8 percent dividend and warrants to purchase additional shares in return for the money, the department said. Treasury also said it will lend up to $1 billion to General Motors so that the company can purchase additional equity that GMAC is planning to offer as part of its effort to...

General Motors' chances of survival improved Wednesday after its financing arm became eligible to tap into federal bailout funds. The Federal Reserve approved GMAC Financial Services' request to become a bank holding company, allowing it to apply for a portion of the $700 billion bailout fund and get emergency loans directly from the Fed. Analysts had speculated that without financial help, GMAC would have had to file for bankruptcy protection or shut down, dealing a serious blow to GM's own chances for survival. The Fed cited "emergency conditions" in justifying its decision. The move to rescue an auto financing company...

<p>GMAC, the auto financing arm of General Motors that's half owned by Cerberus Capital, is spooling up its own bid for a federal bailout. GMAC wants to mimic American Express, Goldman Sachs and others that converted to bank holding companies and then tapped the TARP.</p>

WASHINGTON – The Federal Reserve has granted a request by the financing arm of General Motors to tap the government's $700 billion rescue fund, bolstering GM's ability to survive. The Fed announced Wednesday that it had approved GMAC Financial Services' request to become a bank holding company. That designation makes GMAC eligible to receive a portion of the bailout fund and get emergency loans directly from the Fed. Analysts had speculated that without financial help, GMAC would have had to file for bankruptcy protection or shut down, dealing a serious blow to GM's own chances for survival. The Fed cited...

But this time, with better terms, lender could meet target to become bank CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- GMAC Financial Services has once more extended the deadline for its offer to buy or exchange debt notes issued by it and its subsidiaries, as it seeks to qualify for federal aid under the Wall Street bailout program. GMAC extended the delivery time to Tuesday 5 p.m. Eastern Time, in what it said was a "final" amendment to the offers. This time, however, the company said that it has an "agreement in principle reached with representatives of a substantial portion of the outstanding notes."...

The cash-strapped financier, 49%-owned by General Motors Corp. (GM), also announced offers to exchange $38 billion in notes from GMAC and its Residential Capital home-lending business for new securities with the same maturity dates and interest rates. The move would cost GMAC up to $2.5 billion in cash, it said. As a bank-holding company, GMAC said it would obtain "increased flexibility and stability to fulfill its core mission of providing automotive and mortgage financing to consumers and businesses." New avenues of potential funding include the Fed's discount window, where banks can get inexpensive, short-term emergency loans. Two weeks ago, in...

GMAC, the auto finance and mortgage company, is seeking to become a bank holding company in order to access the government's $700 billion financial rescue plan, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. GMAC spokesman Gina Proia said the finance company had no comment on the report. Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that also controls Chrysler LLC, has been discussing the matter with the U.S. Federal Reserve for over a month, the newspaper reported, quoting unnamed people familiar with the talks. As a bank holding company, GMAC could receive equity injections from Treasury Department and sharply reduce its...

<p>Email I recieved moments ago from one of our clients....</p> <p>I regret to tell all of you, my valued clients, business partners and friends that GMAC Mortgage has chosen to exit the retail side of business all together as of today. They have closed all retail branches including my Spokane branch and will set up a call center mentality somewhere on the East Coast which has eliminated over 5,000 jobs.</p>

General Motors Corp. reported one of the largest losses ever for an automotive company Tuesday as it struggled to turn around its North American business amid a weak economy. Also this morning, the company offered a new round of buyouts to 74,000 U.S. hourly workers. GM said it lost $38.7 billion in 2007. The loss largely was due to a third-quarter charge related to unused tax credits. The Detroit-based automaker also on Tuesday said it was offering a new round of buyouts to all 74,000 of its U.S. hourly workers who are represented by the United Auto Workers. The 2007...

WORST 5 STATES DEMOCRAT. BEST 5, REPUBLICAN. Failure Rates Double in 3rd Annual GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test ST. LOUIS, MO. (May 24, 2007) – Results from the 2007 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test indicate that one in six drivers on the road - roughly 36 million licensed Americans - would not pass their written DMV exam if taken today. The third annual survey by GMAC Insurance gauges driver knowledge of the rules of the road by testing licensed Americans on actual questions from state DMV license exams. According to this year's results, New York drivers ousted Rhode Island by...

Failure Rates Double in 3rd Annual GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test ST. LOUIS, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Results from the 2007 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test indicate that one in six drivers on the road -- roughly 36 million licensed Americans -- would not pass their written DMV exam if taken today. The third annual survey by GMAC Insurance gauges driver knowledge of the rules of the road by testing licensed Americans on actual questions from state DMV license exams. According to this year's results, New York drivers ousted Rhode Island by ranking last in all 50 states and the...

Sorry for not sourcing this, but I have just learned from an inside source that 51% of GMAC has been sold to a consortium including Cerberos. GM has also reached an agreement with the UAW to reduce health care costs by 25%. Hopefully this will help them recover...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - News) may announce as soon as Monday a decision to sell a controlling stake in General Motors Acceptance Corp., its financial services business, for about $11 billion, sources familiar with the situation said on Sunday. ADVERTISEMENT A consortium that includes hedge fund Cerberus Capital Management LP and the private equity unit of Citigroup (NYSE:C - News) is viewed as a front runner for the GMAC stake. Cerberus may also secure some funding to help buy the GMAC stake from its portfolio firms, including Aozora Bank Ltd. of Japan, the sources said....

Test shows 1 in 10 licensed U.S. drivers don't know basic rules. In the East, 20 percent fail quiz. --- NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - When faced with a written test, similar to ones given to beginning drivers applying for licenses, one in ten drivers couldn't get a passing score, according to a study commissioned by GMAC Insurance. The GMAC Insurance National Driver's Test found that nearly 20 million Americans, or about 1 in 10 drivers, would fail a state driver's test if they had to take one today. GMAC Insurance is part of General Motors' finance subsidiary, GMAC. More than...

When faced with a written test, similar to ones given to beginning drivers applying for licenses, one in ten drivers couldn't get a passing score, according to a study commissioned by GMAC Insurance. The GMAC Insurance National Driver's Test found that nearly 20 million Americans, or about 1 in 10 drivers, would fail a state driver's test if they had to take one today. GMAC Insurance is part of General Motors' finance subsidiary, GMAC. More than 5,000 licensed drivers between the ages of 16 and 65 were administered a 20-question written test designed to measure basic knowledge about traffic laws...

NEW YORK - Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian could care less about General Motors' new Buick LaCrosse or Hummer H3. He's got his eyes on GM's profitable mortgage and insurance business. Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. announced Wednesday that it has acquired 3.9% of GM (nyse: GM - news - people ) and has made a tender offer for an additional 5% at $31 per share, which would bring its total holdings to 8.9%. Though Kerkorian launched a takeover bid for Chrysler a decade ago, this time around, he says he's buying the GM stake solely for "investment purposes." Analysts say he likely wants...

March 23 (Bloomberg) -- At General Motors Corp.'s presentation to financial analysts in Detroit on Jan. 8, Vice Chairman Robert Lutz, 72, took the stage right after Eric Feldstein, 44, chairman of General Motors Acceptance Corp., had outlined the success of GM's financial unit in selling asset- backed bonds and refinancing home mortgages. ``I know for all of you with advanced degrees from Wharton and Harvard, that last presentation must have kept you on the edge of your seats,'' Lutz said. ``But I have to confess that a lot of it was over my head.'' He then started a slide...