Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (35631)	5/21/2009 7:58:59 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 71588

Not before the Court there aren't. So what? The point is there are many possible choices and the one picked was a bad one. A choice doesn't have to be "before the court" to be a choice, esp. since a new choice could be before the court tomorrow if the government decided to do so.

To: DuckTapeSunroof who wrote (35631)	5/21/2009 8:06:45 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Perhaps there will soon be a different choice "in front of the court". It seems the unions, despite the government bending over backwards to put them on top, still don't like the hand they are being dealt. ---- UAW doesn't want Chysler stock By Escort81 at 5/21/2009 12:07:00 AM It seems likely that the UAW will control about 55% of the stock of the new Chrysler entity that will emerge from bankruptcy in Judge Gonzalez's court. In the case of GM, the number will be a bit lower at 38%. So overall, the union should be pretty happy, right? Well, it turns out that there is no pleasing them: "In fact, UAW president Ron Gettelfinger said the union hopes to sell its stake in both companies quickly because he is more interested in raising cash to cover retiree health care costs than having an ownership stake in GM and Chrysler. "'Let somebody else take the stock. Give us the money,' Gettelfinger said at a recent press conference. 'We are trading debt for equity, and what is the value of the equity? Let's be honest, it's zero today.'" (emphasis added) It is certainly a good thing to have one's priorities in life so clear. Somebody is actually going to have to run the company and report to a board of directors that hopefully reflects the wishes of the shareholders, assuming that somebody wants to be a shareholder. What does it say that the UAW wants to unload the stock -- at least some of which was basically given to it -- rather than working to rebuild the company and enhance the value of the equity, which of course would be to the union's long run benefit and the benefit of the other stockholders, not to mention the vendors, dealers and perhaps even customers. I suppose that we have reached the final stages of industrial capitalism when a major automobile manufacturer is regarded as nothing more than a conduit for retiree health benefits. tigerhawk.blogspot.com