[MarkL]

People talk about "government funds" or money from the government (or even "Obama's Stash") but the problem is that all of the above are actually funds that have been taken from those who are productive and are spent by people who have no reason to actually care about how the money is spent. So it's no big deal to throw money into a deep, black hole, throwing in good money after bad... The prudent thing to do would be to hope Fiat could turn the company around (OK, probably wishful thinking), but then, the administration is trying to divest itself from all of the "Government Motors" escapades before the election, so it doesn't really matter how much money they lose, as long as it's for political gains. Plus, it provided the most important benefit to the administration: Using other peoples' money, the administration managed to funnel millions of dollars into the coffers of their political supporters and cronies.

Mark

[Doogle]

The U.S. government is prepare)d to provide up to $10 billion in loans to finance the development of massive hydrocarbon reserves off Brazil’s coast (08/05/09)

Billionaire investor George Soros bought an $811 million stake in Petroleo Brasileiro (Petrobras) in the second quarter(08/15/09)

The Obama administration’s six-month delay in approving new offshore drilling leases in federal waters will become a new three-year ban, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar quietly told reporters last Friday. Which means that no new oil and gas leases will be approved during President Obama’s term even though two –thirds of the American public supports such activity, according to a December 2009 Rasmussen poll.