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.

Strategies & Market Trends : 2026 TeoTwawKi ... 2032 Darkest Interregnum -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: carranza2 who wrote (66286)	9/21/2010 2:26:41 AM
From: TobagoJack	Respond to of 219972

no mistake 2 million is the freedom premium 2 million is the levelization for tax regime 500k for the water view 300k for the privilege to good food 200k for the infrastructure :0)

To: carranza2 who wrote (66286)	9/21/2010 7:13:56 AM
From: elmatador	Respond to of 219972

China come to Detroit: General Tso's Motors?. Irony doesn't get any richer than this. The same Obama administration that bailed out General Motors at the instruction of protectionist, China-fearing, Democratic-boss Big Labor, may now sell a stake in GM to. . . China's top automaker. Elmat: Now we have to stand TJ!! General Tso's Motors? Robert Laurie / The Michigan View.com Irony doesn't get any richer than this. The same Obama administration that bailed out General Motors at the instruction of protectionist, China-fearing, Democratic-boss Big Labor, may now sell a stake in GM to. . . China's top automaker. On Sunday, Reuters reported that the U.S. Treasury Department is in talks with Chinese government-owned SAIC. Beijing, it seems, is interested in purchasing a stake in the Detroit icon, 61 percent of which is currently owned by the U.S. government - and another 17 percent by the UAW. This November, the company will hold an Initial Public Offering in hopes of paying back the federal investment. The Treasury department refused to comment specifically on the SAIC story, but did go on record late Friday, saying that investors would be sought from "multiple geographies." Advertisement SAIC, already a partner of General Motors, was not so coy. The Chinese company issued a statement via email, claiming that "Shanghai Automotive is watching GM's progress closely. As a strategic partner of GM, SAIC-GM hopes for a successful IPO." The dots are pretty easy to connect. UAW meet your business partner. Made in China. Last year, the U.S. taxpayers invested roughly $50 billion dollars in GM. The company claims it "repaid" another $6.7 billion in federal loans but, in a move widely criticized, it did so using government money, so the whole thing basically boiled down to an accounting trick. According to polls, the bailouts are deeply unpopular, and are commonly viewed as little more than payoffs made to Big Labor. Barack Obama, who famously said that he doesn't want to be in the automotive business, wants to get out of the messy venture by selling GM to whatever "geography" will pony up the cash, regardless of that region's strategic relationship to the United States. The Treasury Department claims that emphasis will be placed on finding "North American investors," but it's going to be a hard sell. Since most U.S. investors currently view GM as a long-term loser, it may be hard to overcome their skepticism -- particularly while the extent of future federal and union involvement remains unknown. So, the Obama administration has apparently decided that the best hope for our debtor nation lies with the foreign power that currently holds our purse strings. Observers have suggested that the SAIC sale will not happen, since it will doubtlessly anger U.S. voters. Still, the Treasury has said that it will "not involve itself in decisions regarding allocation of shares to specific buyers." So it would seem that, barring a change in course, this November SAIC will be free to buy as much of GM as it sees fit. Under the current administration, the United States debt has ballooned to a staggering 13.5 trillion dollars, with the lion's share held by China. Perhaps, in selling one of the Big Three to a Chinese government controlled company, President Obama has finally found a way to start paying it back. And UAW - a 17 percent owner in GM's future - might learn how China is its salvation. Robert Laurie is a Michigan-based freelance writer. Visit him at RobertLaurie.net.