Feds' Surprise GM C11 Exit Strategy: There Isn't One!

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

What do you make of this, then: “We do not have a specific target in terms of years, The mere issuance of that blueprint, we believe, would be market disruptive.” So sayeth Ron Bloom, leader of the Presidential Task Force on Automobiles and architect of Uncle Sam’s $100 billion plus GM/Chrysler bailout. Ron was testifying to the Senate Banking Committee re: the Obama administration’s timetable to extricate the government from the domestic automotive industry. But wait! That’s all! The government will divest itself of its 60 percent stake in GM “as soon as is practicable,” Bloom said, but “I certainly by no means would say that I am confident that will occur.” What? EVER?

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • "scarey" "scarey" on Jun 11, 2009

    Hey Lincoln126Mercury the cold war is over. WE Won ! You lost !

  • Jkross22 Jkross22 on Jun 11, 2009
    Yet somehow $50 billion as a hedge against the collapse of a $14 trillion/yr economy is imprudent? So you believe that without the $50B granted to GM (let's not argue about loaning v. granting now), the hedge against the collapse of the US economy would be removed and what exactly would happen??? This faulty assumption is very enlightening.
  • Long126mike Long126mike on Jun 11, 2009
    This faulty assumption is very enlightening. The fact that it's a hedge is a faulty assumption? Uh, no. Perhaps you need to reread what I said. When one is making complex decisions in the face of uncertainty, usually a great deal of analysis is performed of costs, benefits, risks, and the probability of those risks manifesting. At the end of the day, decision-makers have to weigh these things and ask themselves if they're willing to take certain risks by forgoing a certain course of action. Luckily, if the leadership entrusted to make those decisions is relatively wise, they'll tend to err on the side of caution, particularly in an already fragile situation. Like many Americans, you have no idea how fragile the world you live in is. Our elders do. Do-nothingism is the fantasy indulgence of people who don't have the responsibilities of power.
  • Patrickj Patrickj on Jun 11, 2009

    @scarey It remains an open question whether the Cold War, and the follow-on role of the U.S. as world policeman, will take down the U.S. as well as the U.S.S.R.

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