GM=Government Motors?

First we bailed GM out with $17.5 billion last December...then an additional $6 billion in March.

At that time President Obama said "We cannot make the survival of our auto industry dependent on an unending flow of taxpayer dollars. These companies -- and this industry -- must ultimately stand on their own, not as wards of the state."

After GM declares bankruptcy today, the U.S. Government will own 70% of the company, with upwards of $50 billion in federal money being infused into the new GM.

The United States will accept stock in lieu of the cash the company owes, and Washington -- that is, you, the taxpayer -- will become the owner of 70 percent of the new GM. When might the company stand on its own, to paraphrase Mr. Obama? When would the government exit the stage? The (Washington) Post reports today that administration officials hope to depart within five years, but the truth is that nobody knows when or whether taxpayers would recover their investment. (emphasis added)

Not only that, but the deal made goes against U.S. bankruptcy rules by giving other claimants more stock/money than secured bondholders (see earlier posts). And, the Treasury Department has given GM a list of which dealerships must be closed, without ever disclosing any kind of criteria for which should be closed and which should not (profitability is not the criteria, as the list shows).

Also amazing is that the Executive Branch has engineered this entire thing without Congress, even though something like this would traditionally be handled by Congress.