CBS Cues Up GM’s CEO to Proclaim Obama Saved GM – and the Country
“Did President Obama save General Motors?” CBS’s Dean Reynolds asked General Motors Chairman and CEO Daniel Akerson as both sat inside a GM plant. On Thursday’s CBS Evening News, Akerson affirmed he did and “the Obama administration did a good job.”
Reynolds pointed out how Mitt Romney “argued the bailout was unnecessary, and that the regular bankruptcy process would have made GM and Chrysler stronger companies. Would that have happened?” Akerson rejected the notion, insisting if not for the bailout “you could have written off this company, this industry, and this country.”
“Instead,” Reynolds, hailed, “GM announced today that 47,500 blue collar workers in the U.S. will be getting profit sharing checks next month, checks of approximately $7,000 apiece.”
Anchor Scott Pelley led his newscast by championing good news on the economy, seemingly eager to advance an Obama-friendly storyline:
You’ve been telling us in poll after poll that the economy is the biggest problem facing the country. So we start tonight with new evidence that it’s getting better. The number of Americans putting in their first claims for unemployment benefits is at a four-year low, 348,000; home construction is up one and a half percent and General Motors, back from bankruptcy, reported record profits for 2011, $7.6 billion. We have three correspondents covering...
Meanwhile, Diane Sawyer was giddy about GM over on ABC, leading World News:
What a comeback, tonight, for an American giant, General Motors, announcing a $7.6 billion profit last year -- the biggest in the 103-year history of GM. And this rebound comes just two years after GM emerged from bankruptcy, with the help of that bailout by taxpayers. Today, factory workers, once afraid of getting pink slips, learned they’re getting bonus checks worth $7,000 each. ABC’s David Muir is live for us tonight, from the factory floor just outside Detroit. They must be feeling great, David.
David Muir began: “They sure are, Diane. And it’s incredible when you think about it this way. This very plant, right outside Detroit, just a couple years ago was sitting idle. The workers had been sent home, laid-off. They had no idea if they were ever be coming back...”
From Wednesday night: “ABC Showcases Chrysler Workers to Decry Romney’s Opposition to Bailout”
From the Thursday, February 16 CBS Evening News:
DEAN REYNOLDS: ...U.S. taxpayers have recovered nearly half of their $50 billion investment in GM when the U.S. Treasury took a majority stake in the company back in 2009. The government still owns 500 million shares and if it wants to sell and just break even, GM stock will have to double in value from where it is today.
DANIEL AKERSON, GM CHAIRMAN AND CEO: They’re a shareholder, just like a couple of hundred thousand shareholders we have. We’re working on their behalf and we hope they get all their money back. It will be determined by them, depending on when they want to sell.
REYNOLDS: GM has 12,000 fewer employees than it did the year before restructuring, and has cut back on pay and pension benefits. But work shifts have been added at three U.S. facilities and two plants here have been reopened.
REYNOLDS TO AKERSON: Did President Obama save General Motors?
AKERSON: Without the money, without the funding, it would have been very problematic. So at the risk of alienating a whole lot of potential customers, I would say the Obama administration did a good job.Story Continues Below Ad ↓
REYNOLDS: Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and other critics have argued the bailout was unnecessary, and that the regular bankruptcy process would have made GM and Chrysler stronger companies.
REYNOLDS TO AKERSON: Would that have happened?
AKERSON: Not in my opinion, and it would have been in bankruptcy for years, and I think you could have written off this company, this industry, and this country.
REYNOLDS: Instead, Scott, GM announced today that 47,500 blue collar workers in the U.S. will be getting profit sharing checks next month, checks of approximately $7,000 apiece.
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Comments
Pure bull. Akerson's only
Submitted by HockeyKid on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 10:43pm.
Pure bull. Akerson's only experience with bankruptcy was with XO, where he ran the company into bankruptcy, then left. He has no experience restructuring a company through the bankruptcy process, so in his experience, bankruptcy means death. Obysmal selected the perfect tool to set up as chairman and CEO.
I will never buy nor drive a Government Motors vehicle.
"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me
To paraphrase an old quote . . .
Submitted by Galvanic on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 12:16pm.
AKERSON: Not in my opinion, and it would have been in bankruptcy for years, and I think you could have written off this company, this industry, and this country.
"The government that takes from Peter to pay Paul can always count on the praise of Paul."
I would've rather heard from the CEO of the Ford Motor Company about the "auto industry fail out."
And I will never by a GM or Chrysler automobile again.
The auto bailout was signed into law by Bush, not Obama
Submitted by Dave. on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 10:44pm.
But that doesn't change the fact that it will ultimately be a major failure, as Goonion Motors won't survive for long with the UAW at the helm and government involvement.
-Dave
Vote for the American in November
Who wrote this crap?
Submitted by Galvanic on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 10:46pm.
SAWYER: "What a comeback, tonight, for an American giant, General Motors, announcing a 7.$6 billion profit last year -- the biggest in the 103-year history of GM. And this rebound comes just two years after GM emerged from bankruptcy, with the help of that bailout by taxpayers. Today, factory workers, once afraid of getting pink slips, learned they’re getting bonus checks worth $7,000 each."
So, why aren't we getting paid off? Why should employees get an extra $7000 when the compnay owes us?
Oh, yeah, I forgot. Too big to fail.
Yeah, where's MY check??? I
Submitted by HypocriteHater on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 11:40pm.
Yeah, where's MY check??? I just had my taxes done earlier today and this is just the type of story that really pisses me off right now!!
Love the media giddiness over (evil) corporate profits, by the way.
All Bailouts Do Is....
Submitted by amlaml on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 11:16pm.
tell whoever got bailed out that they don't have to be responsible and that if/when they screw up, somebody (in this case, us the taxpayers) will back them up. This leads them to take risks and make stupid decisions that they wouldn't make if we actually operated under the consequences of a free market
On the subject of fuel -
Submitted by killa37 on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 11:42pm.
On the subject of fuel - which automobiles DO run on, last I checked - I've just read some (apparantly) GOOD news from 'our' side, for a change. It appears that the House Repubs have passed a bill pushing for the Keystone Pipeline, along with expanded oil drilling............in direct contrast to Boy Barry's decision, as well as the other idiotic Dems and envirommentalists. I don't know where, or how far, this thing will go, but at least they've made a statement and made a stand - which is saying something for these clowns. It was probably the TEA Party types in the House...............who knows, maybe Bonehead and Co. will try and take them to the woodshed for being too 'uppity'.
But at least it's out there............I'll be interested to see how Boy BlahBlah, Harry the Weasel, and the MSM play this one.
Killa, you are stronger man
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 12:20am.
Killa, you are stronger man than I. I have given up on congress GOP ever standing up for any principles. I heard that a deal for the SS tax abatement was done and shook my head. Why are people OK with stealing from their future? I can see congress for years has been stealing SS funds but now the rabble are stealing them also.
I was so despondent I did not even bother myself with the other things given away in the law.
Well, Dan, I think that some
Submitted by killa37 on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 12:41am.
Well, Dan, I think that some of the 'new' TEA party people have some principles.........but since they're down on the pecking order of Republicans, I don't know how much they can do - I can only 'hope' (that poor word was WRECKED by Barry Soetoro) that they stick to their guns,and that we get more of them in there in 2012.
As for the upper echelon of the Republican Party - Bonehead and that bunch - fuggitaboutit!!!! Ball-less, clue-less, gut-less eunichs.................maybe one or two notches above any lib/progo/Dem, and that's being charitable. Actually, on second thought.............maybe BELOW the Dems - because they always seem to roll over, like cowardly dogs, and expose their teeny genitals so that the big dogs will know that they are harmless.
My first car was a Chevy
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 11:57pm.
Today, GM is dead to me.
Phil, one word CORVETTE. For
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 12:21am.
Phil, one word CORVETTE. For a corvette I might sell out.
Phil....My first car was also a Chevy. A blue 57 Chevy
Submitted by Rush Fan on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 2:11am.
Belair Convertible with a Continental wheel carrier. It looked very similar to this. My gosh, what a babe magnet that was.
Sweet ride!
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 8:49am.
My first was a blue, 67 Chevy II SS, last year before they became Novas. I see ones like it now and I could have one for around $25-$30K. Guess I can still dream. I paid $1700 for that car and my mom thought I'd gotten ripped off. There isn't a price that can be put on the fun I had in that car.
Dan, I can't even DREAM about paying insurance on a Corvette. However, when I was looking for that Chevy Deuce I had, I almost bought two Vettes in one day. The first was an ad car listed for $2400 (this was 1975). It was a 63 split window, red & white. I got to the dealer and it had a flat. I was still interested and when he finally mentioned a price, it was $4500. Oh, the newspaper ad....it must have been a misprint. Right.
Second one was on a used lot. Canary yellow, 72 convertible. It was still more than I wanted to pay, $3100. However, it was really ragged out for only being 3 years old. That was my only involvement with those cars. Never even driven one.
Phil, in 1963 a Corvette ran
Submitted by jkwtrading on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 11:28am.
Phil,
in 1963 a Corvette ran 4400, and a Rolls Royce was 17,700.
I was in a car dealer at age 12 and still remember those prices. VW's ran about 1600 then. Chevy Impala around 2800.
Phil, jkw....56 T-Bird
Submitted by Blonde on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 11:53am.
My parents bought a '56 T-Bird for $4,200. Sweet car. My first ride (home from the hospital).
Handy Reference Guide to Obama's Gaffes and Goofs ~ Currently Numbering 200 (and Counting)
Ask GM's 19,000 white collar (salaried) workers whose pensions
Submitted by Rush Fan on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 12:34am.
GM plans to freeze, if they would have preferred a standard bankruptcy. With Obama controlling approximately 25% of GM shares, and the UAW union trust funds owning 13 percent of GM stock, GM's salaried employees are between a rock and a hard place.
Meanwhile the GM bailout has taxpayers in the hole by approximately $12 Billion.
Don't forget
Submitted by Tugboat Phil on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 8:57am.
the secured bond holders that were robbed at gunpoint by the feds and then had their money given to the UAW thuggery.
Surprising and disappointed
Submitted by jon_torlin on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 9:20am.
I'm surprised there aren't some people among those bond holders who wanted to exact revenge for that. For them to bend over for this one and not feel violated is a bit mind boggling.
Has there been any action on the part of the bond holders at all on this, like some sort of lawsuit or something?
-Jon
Jon
Submitted by Radical1979 on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 9:33am.
I thought there was at least one bond holder who was going to take legal action. As a recall he was upper middle class and I'm wondering if, having lost something like 50 or 100k he could afford a lawyer. It would be a long and expensive fight.
Why isn't that profit going to the investors who were screwed by
Submitted by gobnait06 on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 1:15am.
GM?! Wonder how thrilled they must be by this news.
Yeah the tax payers are not
Submitted by Sude23 on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 11:27am.
Yeah the tax payers are not happy about it.
Idiocy. Companies that are on
Submitted by rbosque on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 1:48am.
Idiocy. Companies that are on the verge of dying should be left to die. Otherwise we create a moral hazard. Rewarding mismanagent will mean continued tax-payer bailout until the cows come home. The gov't should not be picking winners (it's NOT their job), it distorts markets and we end up with the debts.
"REYNOLDS: GM has 12,000
Submitted by robert108 on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 2:06am.
"REYNOLDS: GM has 12,000 fewer employees than it did the year before restructuring, and has cut back on pay and pension benefits."
That was what allowed the recovery, and the unionists would never have let it happen without obama's bribe, paid with our money. GM was bankrupt due to excessive labor costs, for the most part. A proper bankruptcy/reorganization would have yielded a viable company without ripping off the taxpayers.
Corporatism
Submitted by retrocon on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 10:53am.
at it's worst.
"Um, yes, I was anointed to this position by the Obama administration, but that doesn't mean that I will automatically sing the praises of our Dear Lea..., the President."
EDIT: Is the media aware of how they look? Or can they really be so dull as to be used as blunt tools?
Written off the industry
Submitted by jkwtrading on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 11:20am.
Written off the industry without the bailout! What a crock! Almost the entire airline industry went bankrupt, still flies: they didn't get a bailout. Anyone who buys a coffee and donuts from Dunkin' donuts does so without a bailout. anyone who buys from K-Mart, does so without a bailout. this list can go on and on.
Yup this is true and i think
Submitted by Sude23 on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 11:32am.
Yup this is true and i think it's funny how they label themselves 'The Auto Industry' when we have other auto manufacturers in this country. All I can say is get over yourselves and let Capitalism and Free-Market go about it's business. And for all the employees who are upset at anyone saying they should have let GM file for bankrupsty, you should be more upset with the people in charge that allowed it to get to that point.
Dan Akerson
Submitted by mmilesll on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 1:41pm.
Dan Baby admitted he didn't know anything about cars when nobama appointed him and he keeps proving it everyday. Don't kid yourself, if it weren't for Asia and European cars sales GM would still be in the tank. Asia and Europe are far enough away that the government appointed "geniuses" can't screw them up too bad. The Volt is a classic example of why GM went bankrupt in the first place. It was union and management -the bean counters- that drove GM in the ground. Everyone knows or is a person who will never buy a GM or Chrysler because of the bailout.