Bailout Watch 505: U.S. Treasury Amassing $40 Billion Post-C11 Bailout Fund

by Robert Farago

Published: April 23rd, 2009

bailout watch 505 u s treasury amassing 40 billion post c11 bailout fund

The Globe and Mail reports that the Canadian government is negotiating (with whom?) to provide $6 billion in post-bankruptcy financing to Chrysler and GM. It gets worse/better. The six bil represents a fixed percentage of a larger post-bankruptcy fund, currently under construction over at the US Treasury. That would be 15 percent. Which puts the size of the US fund at $40 billion. A pittance, apparently. “The companies had initially proposed that governments lend or guarantee a staggering $125 billion in bridge or long-term loans, but the number was whittled down over months of difficult negotiations led largely by Treasury officials in Washington. In recent weeks, sources said, talks shifted to a plan for the governments to provide financing and guarantees for debtor-in-possession, or DIP, loans. These are used for day-to-day operations while companies restructure their debt under the protection of court supervision.”

Robert Farago

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Mikey on Apr 23, 2009

You see folks,the Ont.Premier looked out his window today,and saw 15000 pensioners on his front lawn.Hourly/Salary union and non union.Lets not forget that us old folks vote! Find me a political leader willing to piss off seniors,and I will show you a soon to be,a former leader.

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MikeInCanada on Apr 23, 2009

mikey : I have no use for Dalton McGuinty (spineless jellyfish comes to mind) and you're right: old people are crotchety and like to bitch and vote en masse. The problem is - for them at least - who are they going to vote for if not the Liberals? Sure, they can go back to the NDP (for you American readers - these are real liberals) but all that would do is raise their minority position a few percentage points and the Conservatives (who actually aren't really conservative, despite the name; but at least they're not religious wackos)and the Liberals would take turns sharing power.

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Russification on Apr 24, 2009

audience: "how bankrupt are we?!"

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Psarhjinian on Apr 24, 2009
You see folks,the Ont.Premier looked out his window today,and saw 15000 pensioners on his front lawn.Hourly/Salary union and non union.Lets not forget that us old folks vote! As a youngster, I have to agree. You old fogeys do bitch until you get your way. It must be because you don't have toddlers any more. :) Now, I'm all for insuring these pensions because the fallout, especially in and around Oshawa, would be horrible. The amount of spending power sucked away would be significant, and the ripple effect would be felt. That said, the less forward-thinking members of my generation are looking at that protest, then looking at the utter lack of any pension coverage for us, the wage erosion, the boomers stamping down hard, and asking "Why, exactly, should we mortgage our present and future to keep these old guys and gals getting their cheques when we get zip?" Were I organizing that protest, I would have spent more time spelling out the economic fallout, and much, much less time talking about moral obligations that you're asking future generations (who will get nothing) to foot.

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