Another $800 million for GM?

[NolaMan]

Came across this story today.

White House Investing $800 Million to Revive Bankrupt GM Sites.

Can someone explain why the White House is going to spend $800 million for this? Since when has it been the government's job to buy and fix up old properties of bankrupt companies?

When will the White House announce its plan to buy all the old Circuit City locations in some vague effort to "create jobs"?

I am so sick of this "create jobs" line as it is. After a trillion dollar stimulus, billions more in "jobs bills" and apparently another $800 million to revive sites of bankrupt companies.

When is all of this spending going to end? There is always an unemployment rate, are we to assume that "job creation" will just be the line every time the government feels compelled to throw a few billion of our dollars around?

 

[Redress]

AS I read it, the money is going to the states, and not to GM. It is to be used to clean up and find new uses for old GM factories.

 

[Renae]

Came across this story today.

White House Investing $800 Million to Revive Bankrupt GM Sites.

Can someone explain why the White House is going to spend $800 million for this? Since when has it been the government's job to buy and fix up old properties of bankrupt companies?

When will the White House announce its plan to buy all the old Circuit City locations in some vague effort to "create jobs"?

I am so sick of this "create jobs" line as it is. After a trillion dollar stimulus, billions more in "jobs bills" and apparently another $800 million to revive sites of bankrupt companies.

When is all of this spending going to end? There is always an unemployment rate, are we to assume that "job creation" will just be the line every time the government feels compelled to throw a few billion of our dollars around?

The Government owns it. Perhaps they will use the money to clear out old GM factories and shops for other uses... who knows? I certainly do not and I doubt anyone else does either. More likely it's just pay offs to people that earned favors with the Gov't

 

[NolaMan]

AS I read it, the money is going to the states, and not to GM. It is to be used to clean up and find new uses for old GM factories.

Yes, perhaps my title was somewhat misleading...

That said, why are they doing it? Why not do it for every company that goes under?

 

[Redress]

Yes, perhaps my title was somewhat misleading...

That said, why are they doing it? Why not do it for every company that goes under?

They are not doing it for GM as I understand it, but for the communities that lost a large employer.

 

[NolaMan]

They are not doing it for GM as I understand it, but for the communities that lost a large employer.

So again, why not do this every time a city loses an employer? Why is it the federal government's job to do this?

 

[Redress]

So again, why not do this every time a city loses an employer? Why is it the federal government's job to do this?

Have you ever been in a GM plant? They are huge and directly and indirectly employ ungodly numbers of people each. The impact that just one plant closing can have on a community is incredibly, and some lost more than one GM plant.

 

[NolaMan]

Have you ever been in a GM plant? They are huge and directly and indirectly employ ungodly numbers of people each. The impact that just one plant closing can have on a community is incredibly, and some lost more than one GM plant.

Yes, I grew up in a city that had one that shut down... that does not mean that I want the federal government to "save the day" every time a business goes under. That is how the economy works... companies come and go.

 

[Redress]

Yes, I grew up in a city that had one that shut down... that does not mean that I want the federal government to "save the day" every time a business goes under. That is how the economy works... companies come and go.

It's not every time a business goes under. These are exceptional times, and GM is an exceptionally large employer.

 

[liblady]

Yes, perhaps my title was somewhat misleading...

That said, why are they doing it? Why not do it for every company that goes under?

it's NOT for GM.

 

[liblady]

So again, why not do this every time a city loses an employer? Why is it the federal government's job to do this?

right now, we need this.

 

[Deuce]

So again, why not do this every time a city loses an employer? Why is it the federal government's job to do this?

Providing assistance to states or cities that need a little boost strikes me as exactly what the federal government should be doing.

 

[NolaMan]

right now, we need this.

For what? More jobs? Didn't we already spend well over a trillion dollars to create jobs?

When in your opinion will we not "need this"?

 

[NolaMan]

Providing assistance to states or cities that need a little boost strikes me as exactly what the federal government should be doing.

So, we need a perpetual stimulus in your opinion?

 

[Redress]

So, we need a perpetual stimulus in your opinion?

It's not perpetual, it's one time.

 

[NolaMan]

It's not perpetual, it's one time.

One time? Like the Bush stimulus? Followed promptly by the Obama stimulus... followed promptly by a jobs bill (aka another stimulus)... followed by more government money to "create jobs" at old GM plants?

There is nothing "one-time" about this.

 

[Redress]

One time? Like the Bush stimulus? Followed promptly by the Obama stimulus... followed promptly by a jobs bill (aka another stimulus)... followed by more government money to "create jobs" at old GM plants?

There is nothing "one-time" about this.

And we are still in bad economic times with extremely high unemployment. Once things improve enough, the spending on things like this will stop.

 

[NolaMan]

And we are still in bad economic times with extremely high unemployment. Once things improve enough, the spending on things like this will stop.

What exactly is "enough" in your opinion? 4% unemployment...5%? There will always be unemployment, does that mean we must always continue to spend to "create jobs."

Spending on things like this never needs to take place to begin with.

 

[Redress]

What exactly is "enough" in your opinion? 4% unemployment...5%? There will always be unemployment, does that mean we must always continue to spend to "create jobs."

Spending on things like this never needs to take place to begin with.

Never is debatable. It is hard to argue that the stimulus did not create jobs. The worse the unemployment, the longer it takes to pull out of our economic troubles.

 

[NolaMan]

Here is another upcoming federal disaster.

Story...

Louisiana is one of seven states whose pension liabilities are so big that federal bailouts will be required in the next decade, according to a paper by Northwest University economist Joshua Rauh.

The pension funds of Louisiana, New Jersey, Connecticut, Indiana, Oklahoma, Hawaii and Illinois will dry up by 2020, the paper says.

The cycle of "people having hardships" will never end, but the government throwing money at the problem has to end.

 

[ricksfolly]

Can someone explain why the White House is going to spend $800 million for this? Since when has it been the government's job to buy and fix up old properties of bankrupt companies?

Too many people affected to let it die. Compared with the other bailouts, $800 million isn't all that much. Tiger Woods makes that in a few years.

ricksfolly

 

[NolaMan]

Too many people affected to let it die. Compared with the other bailouts, $800 million isn't all that much. Tiger Woods makes that in a few years.

ricksfolly

So...start a company, employ a lot of people, and at that point it no longer matters how you run your business, because the government will save you regardless to save jobs?

What?

Further, it is not only $800 million that has been spent on GM related issues. It is well over $50 billion.

 

[NolaMan]

Another $165 billion bailout proposed in the Senate to "save jobs" and "help people."

Story

Seems to be the new tag line...need to spend another few hundred billion? Just claim it is for the "jobs."

As I asked before...when will this end? Apparently never.