Just Say No To A Chrysler Bailout
By Doug Mataconis | Related entries in Business, CarsBeyond the general arguments against a bailout of the Big Three there are specific arguments against giving any taxpayer dollars to Chrylser:
Why is the U.S. taxpayer on the hook for Chrysler? Unlike GM or Ford, Chrysler’s rich owner, a private equity fund with multi-billions in private capital available, has $7b to invest in its portfolio company.
(…)
Cerberus should be responsible for saving its investment in Chrysler. Period. Congress doesn’t see want to see union workers out in the cold and doesn’t want to pick winners and losers among the auto makers. So Chrysler gets dollars now too. Too bad for the taxpayers, but it’s the wrong decision Ms. Pelosi. Chrysler will only come back for more. There’s no way that $7b plus Section 136 billions (that’s the Energy Department program for fuel efficiency technology) gets this company to a profitable future. That takes years, not months, and a miracle that the public will find sudden virtue in the Chrysler badges. Are you outraged yet?
If you’re not, you should be.
Cerebus, Chrylser’s owner, is sitting on billions of dollars in cash right now and they’re asking the American taxpayer to bail them out. Someone needs to tell them to shove it.
Originally posted at Below The Beltway.
This entry was posted on Sunday, December 7th, 2008 and is filed under Business, Cars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
December 7th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
You’ve got that right. Chrylser wouldn’t stand a chance of a second bailout were it not for the possibility of a GM bankruptcy.
December 7th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Yea, you’re right, Doug. I have been a proponent of the bridge loan for the U.S. Auto Industry b/c I believe in an economy that PRODUCES SOMETHING. Building things one can be proud of, for consumers who can support their local economies with products that enhance their lives, and so on and so forth. I had forgot that Chrysler is no longer a public co, but owned by a P.E.F. and therefore should not be allowed to use public tax payer money to enrich their private owners, regardless of the many workers who may lose their jobs.
BTW, extending a line of credit or a collateralize loan to a company to continue its’ operations is not a bailout, nor is it nationalizing the Co’s such as what was done for the Financial Institutions. The problem is, from what I’ve heard, that the Auto Industry doesn’t have the assets to use as collateral any more. therefore the Fed will not extend the loans.
That and the fact that their last name isn’t Goldman Sachs !
December 14th, 2008 at 8:01 am
[...] word): The merits of a “Detroit 3″ bailout has been debated here at Donklephant ad nauseum. Since I have already weighed in, I won’t repeat those arguments here. But there is one point [...]