U.S. loses $1.3 billion in exiting Chrysler

U.S. loses $1.3 billion in exiting Chrysler

money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- U.S. taxpayers likely lost $1.3 billion in the government bailout of Chrysler, the Treasury Department announced Thursday.

The government recently sold its remaining 6% stake in the company to Italian automaker Fiat, wrapping up the 2009 auto bailouts that were part of TARP.

Fiat paid the Treasury a total of $560 million for the remaining shares, as well as rights to shares held by the United Auto Workers retiree trust.

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So it's a done deal... And what did we get? A subsidiary of FIAT, a manufacturer not particularly known for it's impeccable quality (yes, I know Ferrari and Maserati are part of FIAT), but they make far more third world junk than high quality automobiles.

We the taxpayer were scammed and taken to the cleaners... All for UAW...

Thanks a lot unions, you're the tip of the spear in the onslaught to destroy this country.

money.cnn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Mirthful Me


I must be getting jaded as I am totally and completely unsurprised by this.

Please explain to me why did "we" bail these companies out? Too big to fail, or some such nonsense? Didn't make sense then and still doesn't make sense.

Treasury says it's a 'major accomplishment.' Any wonder why we're in trouble?

well..that just killed a big chunk of the so-called "job market" here...chrysler headquarters is just up the road from where i live at...and they have several plants within a few minutes drive of my house, too...i'll bet anything there won't be any mention of it on the local news, either

So they sold at a loss for what reason??? OH because it wasn't their money anyway. Chrysler ahs always had a problems with it's electrical components and it's mileage but they make real pretty vehicles. GM is much better all the way around other than looks Ford a distant 3rd

Originally posted by Mirthful Me
We the taxpayer were scammed and taken to the cleaners... All for UAW...
Thanks a lot unions, you're the tip of the spear in the onslaught to destroy this country.

Unions...the people that brought you the weekend.
I donno, man. Did the unions send the manufacturing base overseas so that the corporations could pay pennies on the dollar in labour costs? Did the price of your Chrysler come down commensurate with those savings or did the difference end up on Wall Street and get paid out to mutual funds?

The bad guys totally won if they have reduced you to blaming your unionised neighbour instead of sending suggestive lengths of piano wire to the lawmakers that destroyed your economy.

And I'm not sure, but I don't think we've taken a beating up here on our Auto bailouts...why you getting screwed? Best ask, eh?

Unions were a good thing once and brought us many worker protections and benefits, Of course the UAW went way too far when the guy who swept the shop floor was hired at $33/hr.
So these retired autoworkers get to keep their fat pensions at everyone else's expense?

And they wonder why Detroit is now called Rot City.

Edit to add: This isn't the first time Chrysler or other automakers have been bailed out either.
This makes the 3rd or 4th bailout for them I believe.

So Fiat bought Chrysler?
Hope they didn't pay in fiat currency huh!

Well i don't know about you but i expect a v12 in my next Dodge Ram for that kind of loss.
Have you seen the latest dodge commercial where George Washington is riding in a Charger with the American Flag.
I bout crapped my pants when i saw that.

I'll still blame our government. They created the Exodus with NAFTA/CAFTA and heavy taxes against those who stay here. If I owned a large company, why stay here with our oppressive regulations and taxes?
Corporations get vilified for our governments actions? Put the blame were it belongs. Our government!

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


Come on over to Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.
You can see what is left of the auto industry and its related manufacturing base.

Oh, wait, it's pretty much gone......

But you can see all the For Lease signs in the small shops, the local stores empty, the bedroom communities littered with foreclosed properties.
Greedy people: executives and factory rats played a large part here in the demise of once vibrant suburbs.

Originally posted by Asktheanimals
Unions were a good thing once and brought us many worker protections and benefits, Of course the UAW went way too far when the guy who swept the shop floor was hired at $33/hr.
So these retired autoworkers get to keep their fat pensions at everyone else's expense?

And they wonder why Detroit is now called Rot City.

The circumstances you describe cannot be handily attributed to the unions. Assembly labour costs on a car are about 10% of the price. And I would remind you that :
A) Pensions are deferred wages.
B)They are paid into by employees in good faith.
C)All collective agreements are mutually agreed upon contracts of labour...the rules of work.

The unions did not send jobs overseas...the corporations did with government complicity.

Oh and one more thing...those good union jobs fed the neighbourhoods as well as monies were spent locally.Why not blame the big guys who killed the jobs...all over the US manufacturing has gone offshore. Stop putting the blame on your neighbours.

Anyway, this is not a pro/anti union thread, it's about how you got screwed by Chrysler. Maybe you ought to work that one out.

This goes to show that the US Gov't shouldn't meddle in private enterprise..

The US taxpayers lost on this deal, yet I bet some politicians are happy new owners of Fiat automobiles... namely Ferrari's and Maserati's..

reply to post by TheLoony


Because the Unions called a favor in from Mr.O.

Chrysler is going to make a FORTUNE.

Go to a Chrysler dealer and test drive one of their automatic transmission cars. Find a slight grade and drive the car down it....stop...now try backing up the slight grade......car is shuddering like heck and having trouble backing up isn't it?

Their "Electronic Stability Program" is slipping the living pee out of the transmission and not allowing the clutches to engage fully.

Which will result in premature transmission band/clutches wearing out.....GENIOUS!

Chrysler's on track to keep making BANK!...from dumb people on parts/transmissions.

As horrible as the US Government is at everything they do, why would we imagine they would be any better at investing?

The entire bailout was nothing more then pandering to the liberal voter base that is the unions in this country anymore. While unions had their place at one time in history, they are now nothing but the right arm of the Democrat party and running this country into third world status.

Forcing pay rates that drive corporations into other countries, strong arming workers and using millions to endorse their favorite lib of the year, are the tactics they commonly utilize.

As long as the unions hold the power they do, this country will only move backwards. As long as libs take tax money and bail out companies that should be allowed to fail, we will move backwards..

Semper

Iwonder ifanybody sent Fiat( the latest ) videos of chrysler employees "toking it up" in the parking lot at lunch?

Oh and add $1.3 to "O bummers''" bill; I believe he was directly responsible for the purchase.(paying off his union buddies) while private stock holders took a backseat for payments.

reply to post by JohnnyCanuck


You're absolutely right, The majority of the fault lies in government and free trade policies that drove our industries overseas. Contracts are made in good faith but if the contracting parties go bankrupt it's not fair to put the US taxpayer on the hook, especially for folks as overpaid as UAW workers have been,
This is part of a movement to make unions look bad in this country (which the UAW needs no help with) but there are much smaller unions that still fight to protect workers wages, benefits and protections, Obviously they are on the losing side of the equation as wages have stagnated in the US.
Mine workers for example are still working in very unsafe conditions mostly due to owners who don't want to cut into profits for the sake of worker safety, How many miners have died in the last several years?

I have long studied the labor movements in the US and how they fought and died in hundreds of strikes and protests. Big business and the government have usually crushed these efforts yet conditions were so bad the workers continued their actions over and over again. Most Americans haven't a clue how bad working conditions were just 100 years ago in this country. We owe them a great debt and there should be monuments and statues to these people who gave so much for posterity. The middle class only exists because of their sacrifices.

While there is much public tribute to Lincoln for ending slavery the same could be said for unions and their effects on the lives of immigrants. They lived more or less as slaves at the companies discretion - 12 hour days, 7 day workweeks, no safety or employment protections, company script and stores and housing - I could go on.
Their contributions are ignored by education, the media, the historians, the movies. Blair mountain is in danger of being destroyed by mining interests and when you tell people about it their eyes go blank and they say "what's Blair mountain?".
No conspiracy here, right?