GM Bankruptcy fears

[Howard]

Health Benefits etc are part of a contract and the reality is that the huge salaries and benefits that are part of these contracts are making US Car Manafacturers Non Competitive.

How can you rationalise a High School drop out with no skill sets making $100,000 a year, Pensioned off at 55 with a pension almost equal to their salary, and payed if there is down time?

I was looking seriously to buy a new Cadillac, but it costs more than my second house, forget it, I'l drive my 15 year old Volvo(bought because at the time it was the only car with passenger air bags).

GM cannot denude the value in GMAC, that is Law Suit country, and don't forget for every car plant closed, a new condo or mall site becomes available.

 

[Howard]

honkie, there is no such thing as a Dumb Question.

 

[Brat]

Assume for a moment that large US employers and public agencies stop providing health insurance.  What then for health care in the US?  Maybe one of the reasons why we aren't addressing health care as a society is that the uninsured are poor and powerless.  Once it becomes a middle and mid-upper income problem it will be a major political issue.

Read NYT "The Next Retirement Timebom": http://tinyurl.com/a87b9

IMHO one of the reasons we don't have a national insurance plan of some type is that a large % of the middle class has it through their employer and we can't draw the line on 'enough'.  The latter is a contributing factor to Medicare expenses.  One of us kept a parent in ICU until a sibbling arrived to be present at her passing.  I can understand that, but should it have been an insured expense?

 

[ESRBob]

Read NYT "The Next Retirement Timebom": http://tinyurl.com/a87b9

Brat,
Thanks for putting in the link to this article -- we will see a lot more of this issue -- the huge unfunded cost of state and local govt employees' lifetime medical coverage-- in the years ahead. Will be very interesting to see how this plays out.-- the article figures there is a 1 Trillion dollar unfunded liability already, and it is growing.

In the same way some car buyers find they need to 'buy foreign' in order to dodge the high cost of medical benefits in every Detroit car sold, we may find that we have to 'Live Foreign' in order to dodge the high cost of medical benefits in local property taxes.

Lance, Billy -- I hope you guys are thinking about buying property out there in Thailand or Ecuador while it's still relatively cheap, because you could have a lot of company in about 20 years... 8)

 

[Chaps]

Here is a current article with an inside look at GM's situation:

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&cid=gilbert&sid=aFjM26AM_LfE

It would appear that quite a bit is hanging on their ability to spin-off GMAC but so far not many takers.

 

[Mr._johngalt]

Here is a current article with an inside look at GM's situation:

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000039&cid=gilbert&sid=aFjM26AM_LfE

It would appear that quite a bit is hanging on their ability to spin-off GMAC but so far not many takers.

Well, here is what I think. The best and quickest way to give GM some
breathing room is to spin off GMAC, which I hope happens. I also
believe this is quite likely, even though some large egos are involved
(on both sides). Selling GMAC is undoubtedly painful to contemplate,
esp. since they are so successful on a stand-alone basis. However,
I'll bet there are potential buyers aplenty. It would be a huge
(career making?) deal for someone (egos again). It's more than
just the numbers involved. Egos get involved ay all levels in
business, one of the reasons that things sometimes seem so
random and unpredictable.

JG

 

[Howard]

I sure hope they spin off GMAC, I hold a lot of their Bonds, bought when they were yielding over 12%.(Ford too).