Sunday, June 21, 2009

Why I didn't buy a GM car

sumitted by Nathan Thompson

First, the United Auto Workers Union has strangled the life out of GM. There are too many unproductive people being kept on the payroll, and GM isn't permitted to lay any of them off unless they shell out a year or two's worth of income and benefits to the layed-off employee. Retirees receive almost full wages and benefits, even many years after having retired. The executives of GM paid themselves millions in bonuses even while the company lost money on every vehicle. They allowed the company to amass over $170 Billion in debt.

This debt was purchased by pension funds, insurance companies, and investors who believed in GM and were willing to trust their money and future incomes to this giant of American industry. Now, those investors have just had their money stolen from them, by way of the Obama administration and the bankruptcy court. Bondholders have always been first in line when a company goes bankrupt, and the bondholders get their money first. This has been true since the beginning of capitalism. But now, bondholders are toast. They were put at the END of the line (illegally), behind the UAW labor union and Uncle Sam himself. This massive theft from bondholders should be a warning to anyone who thinks free-market capitalism still works for the common man. GM ran itself just like our government does. It borrowed more and more, even while revenues and market share shrank and shrank. If you want to know how the government intends to pay off all of its treasury bond debt, look no further than how it just treated GM bondholders.

So, why didn't I buy a GM car instead of a new Kia this month? As an American shouldn't I have "rushed to the aid of fellow citizens" by supporting GM? Heck no, GM is toast, and so is the broken system of debt issuance for our government. I don't run MY business this way, and I DO NOT support a system where Peter is robbed so that Paul can continue to do the same ole' same ole'. No, in fact I'll NEVER buy another GM, even though I already own three. I'm pissed off at how they have enabled the biggest and best car company in the world to turn into a poorly run operation that doesn't honor its debts. I'm proud to be an American: I PAY my debts; all of them. If GM doesn't, then I will not support them by buying their vehicles. Nor will I continue to purchase T-Bills or treasury bonds from the US Treasury Dept. I will sell any I hold, and instead, send the money to KIA to pay for my new car, which incidentally, is thousands of dollars lower in cost than the GM, with twice the warranty. Besides the IRS, the only government agency I will voluntarily surrender my hard-earned dollars to is the US Mint. At least they will exchange your devalued currency for real money, silver and gold coins, that never lose their value and represent honest money unencumbered by debt. Wake up America! First, they screwed up the mortgage industry and housing. Then, they wrecked the banks. Then, they caused a stock market collapse. Then, they took over the auto industry. They have consistently strangled the domestic oil industry. Now, commercial real estate is collapsing, and the insurance industry is reeling. Now they want to screw up the health care industry. How much longer until they mess up the farming industry and decimate our food supply. I don't know about you, but I'm buying canned food as fast as I cash my paycheck, because I don't trust these guys anymore. I have lost faith in the ability of the American government to simply do what is right for tax-paying citizens.

Goodbye GM. You had your moment in the sun. Goodbye American economy. You killed the golden goose. Now it is time for we citizens to stand on our own and protect our own families from the excesses of our government!
Respectfully submitted,

Nathan Thompson
citizen, Fountain, CO

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