Federal Government Sheds Its Investment in "Government Motors" at an Enormous Loss

As the United States government finally sheds its "investment" in General/Government Motors (GM), the final damage to the taxpayers has been calculated.  Rescuing the "too big to fail" automaker has cost us a whopping $10 billion.  If the feds had invested tens of billions of dollars in a market basket of American stocks at the time it "saved" GM, it would have made a fortune rather than to have incurred a catastrophic loss.

The bailout era began under President George W. Bush, who had not the slightest idea of how to improve an economy that began to crumble on his watch.  It has continued and accelerated under his successor, President Barack Obama.  General Motors was rewarded for years of mismanagement and bears no responsibility to excessive compensation and benefits it provided to both executive and rank and file workers.

GM has been anxious to shed government stock ownership and oversight because like any large American corporation, it wishes to return to the days of multi-million-dollar executive compensation packages, something which it is difficult to do with the government looking over its shoulder.

We taxpayers helped to preserve GM, but at what cost? Part of the cost is recognized in acknowledging that many bondholders and stockholders have been wiped out.

Soon General Motors will again be able to behave like any large corporation, providing its leaders with extraordinary compensation packages and turning billions of dollars in profit, excess revenues that it need not pay back to us suckers that were forced to breathe new life into it.  GM need not give a second thought to the immorality of having taken and wasted taxpayer money.