[CharacterCounts]

It’s like people think “bankruptcy” equals “vanished into thin air”. Just like people, if corporations go bankrupt, they don’t cease to exist.

Even if GM shuttered its doors today and went out of business, the plant, equipment, labor, and most of all market still exist. Some other corporation would merely purchase the assets and proceed to make cars without all of the legacy costs.

[Alberta's Child]

Some other corporation would merely purchase the assets and proceed to make cars without all of the legacy costs.

I believe that's exactly what happened when Nissan began operations in Smyrna, Tennessee -- in a former Big Three plant.

[wolf78]

I guess Machiavelli was right............

Well, it has that conspiracy taste to it, doesn't it? The trick was to use policies that sounded conservative to f*ck the economy up the ass enabling a power grab by the state:

Keeping interest rates unnecessarily low (expansive monetary policy), thus creating a bubble.

Cutting taxes without cutting spending, thus creating a gigantic budget deficit.

As a result you have to raise interest rates a one point, making the bubble go "pooof" and leaving oversized companies catering to an inflated demand collapsing under the weight of their outstanding loans used to expand.

In comes the white knight and voila, behold the wonder of corporate socialism...


Even if GM shuttered its doors today and went out of business, the plant, equipment, labor, and most of all market still exist. Some other corporation would merely purchase the assets and proceed to make cars without all of the legacy costs.

Wishful thinking. There's huge overcapacity in the worldwide auto market, also who would want production lines for Hummers? GM has some things of value. The research done on the Volt. The Cadillac brand. Its overseas operations and the platforms they use there: Chevy Cruze / Opel Astra etc.

The bulk of the operation cannot be saved unless car sales go back to 17-18 million from their current 11-12. Not likely to happen over the next 2-3 years. The only hope for GM is for Chrysler to die quickly, because Chrysler is like GM minus the Cadillac brand (ok, they have Jeep), the modern research and the overseas operations and then hoping to convince investors (be it in bankrupcy or not) that while there isn't room for three, there is for two.

[WesA]

socialism restored by a Republican President...Bush is truly awful for conservatism.

[floriduh voter]

Chucky Shumer started a run on the banks. What is getting lost in “banks get but we can’t” is that banks are where people keep their money. I don’t keep money at GM or Chrysler. Bank depositors are people like us. George W. Bush might not get this either if he’s listening to Pelosi, Reid, et al.