Comments on: GM is a Joke

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:35:31 +0000

And, generally they suspend dividend payments if they are actually losing money. Companies that continue paying dividends in lean years are companies that are still making a profit, just not as great of a profit. Dividends are a stockholders share of the profits and are suspended when a company stops being profitable or sometimes simply when profits drop below a certain level.

By: workerbee

workerbee — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 00:35:05 +0000

If you think they are joke on the outside you should see what we say on the inside.

By: AG

AG — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:24:18 +0000

Companies pay dividends in lean years because the market treats eliminating dividends as a VERY big deal. Granted most companies who do that have at least the reasonable expectation that they’ll get profitable again.

Not only is Rick Wagoner making himself look bad, not only is he making GM look bad, frankly he’s making Harvard Business School look bad. Would you trust a Harvard Business School grad? I for one wouldn’t. They’re grades are inflated and so are their egos. One of the only things it seems they’re taught is to believe success is their birthright. After all, they’re in “Harvard Business School” right?

By: seabrjim

seabrjim — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 22:52:48 +0000

50merc, you are so right.

By: 50merc

50merc — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:49:29 +0000

Sajeev Mehta: “That’s pretty funny, but totally inappropriate for a company press release.”

Oh, I think what’s inappropriate is when a company pays dividends even when it has no profits. Kind of like a bank that pays you a handsome rate of interest by subtracting it from your CD’s balance. When GM and its ilk began doing that it should have set off fire bells.

By: Sajeev Mehta

Sajeev Mehta — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:15:03 +0000

That’s pretty funny, but totally inappropriate for a company press release. But I’m sure it got more media coverage by including GM as the butt of a joke.

Sad times for GM, indeed.

By: autonut

autonut — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 20:13:06 +0000

Gentlemen, it is very entertaining reading. And we better enjoy ourselves here with jokes, because we will be forced to pay for GM entertaining value (and Chrysler and Ford).
Too much cash changed hands from unions to respected senators, for senators not reach into our pockets and return some favors to their patrons.

By: willman

willman — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:24:40 +0000

(sys ate my prev. comment??? -reposting.)

The 2.8 and their captains need to be the butt of More jokes, not less.

I like the old-timey Illustration-style of Political Cartoon Effigies, such as:

Rockefeller and Teddy

We need more like this for the current crop of idiots. Besides, they’re similar to the Robber-Barons.
-In an Idiot/Savant, standing-on-the-shoulders-of-giants,

-and then taking a big dump on things, kinda way.

By: Martin B

Martin B — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:09:48 +0000

I love Jay Leno’s comment:

“The three big domestic automakers are now saying they are working jointly on a new hybrid car. It runs on a combination of state and federal bailout money.”

By: maniceightball

maniceightball — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:06:48 +0000

Ha! I imagine you can do this a few times before it gets old, although it would be entertaining to watch GM become the baseline for perceived value (”Save up to 0.05 times the GM net value when you purchase from Acme!”)

Also, you’re right about AB’s obsession with the Mustang. It’s really not that great a car to warrant the attention.

By: argentla

argentla — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:50:20 +0000

@ Cicero: …and warm.

By: Sanman111

Sanman111 — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:42:01 +0000

It’s funny…I was recently watching an old episode of Top Gear (the used Italian Supercar Episode). When they were tallying up the total score, James had -99. Clarkson remarked “…You’d have done better if you hadn’t bought a car.” It seems GM would’ve have done better if they didn’t have a company.

Really, The Big 2.8 talking heads and the UAW failed to realize one thing. If you play chicken and nobody flinches, the result is a head collison. Now, everyone is hoping Congress has got a fire extinguisher and some bandages. Even a child knows a car crash will hurt. But, like impetuous teenagers, everyone thought they were invincible.

While this is a low blow and the grandstanding about private jets is pointless, I think everyone in Detroit needs a little more humility.

By: Cicero

Cicero — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 18:15:09 +0000

A six year-old with a proven track record managing a lemonade stand might be an improvement.

If Wagoner sold lemonade, he’d have a stand on all four corners of one intersection, the attendant would get $75 an hour, five other attendants would get the same pay for not working at the stand, there would be 18 different varieties of lemonade offered that all looked the same, every glass of lemonade would be sold for less than it cost to produce, and the lemonade would be sour.

By: jgh

jgh — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:56:05 +0000

Funny, but a pretty low blow. I wouldn’t trust this guy as a businessman any more than Rick Wagoner.

By: Mcgilligan2

Mcgilligan2 — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:28:52 +0000

GM has been a joke for a very long time

By: jaje

jaje — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:20:25 +0000

That was great. My son is 7 and I’d offer his consulting services for $50k a year. He saves his allowance and doesn’t spend it all on candy and Pokemon cards.

By: Stingray

Stingray — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:20:14 +0000

Sad, sad, very sad…

By: BlueBrat

BlueBrat — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:49:11 +0000

Since the only other alternative to NPR is Fox News, I’ll stick with NPR.

You have to wonder if GM is really that massive a company that just one head of the organization isn’t enough.

By: Bertel Schmitt

Bertel Schmitt — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:48:44 +0000

I LIKE that company.

By: TEXN3

TEXN3 — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:37:09 +0000

I wonder if your last sentence will make GM a symbol of the US as a whole. I sure hope not…are we (or will we) becoming more humble in the world? GM sure hasn’t.

Lord, I’m starting to sound like a Pinkie. I better stop listening to NPR in the AM.