What has happened to a once great industry

One of the greatest problems our heavy industry have in this country is unfounded pensions and other payroll problems, such as those  in our car industry. Where else do laid off worked get most of their income to sit on their ass...then again we're paying "diversity coordinators" and "multicultural affairs" personnel, but I digress. Now last year B Hussein Obama and his idiots stopped the orderly reorganization of GM and Chrysler to save the UAWs make work jobs and pensions, screwed over the preferred bond holders and had the government purchase two of our three major auto companies. One of the results is idiots who can't put gas in a car running our major industries and spending a fortune of taxpayer money into boondoggles like Chevy's version of the Edsel, the Volt.

Now we've heard that the head of GM's is tired of being called "Government Motors" or "Obama Motors" and wants and IPO to get back into the business of being a business.  Good luck.  You screwed over the large bond holders who were your preferred investors.  And (hearing this again) the taxpayers are on the hook for billions. 

NEW YORK/DETROIT, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. government is likely to take a loss on General Motors Co [GM.UL] in the first offering of the automaker'sIPO said.

It could take more than three years for the Treasury to sell down its remaining stake in GM after the IPO, one person said. That would push a final accounting into the next presidential term.


GM plans to begin a roadshow for its IPO immediately after the Nov. 2 U.S. midterm congressional elections, paving the way for a stock debut on Nov. 18, sources have said.


GM in August filed paperwork for an IPO that could potentially be worth as much as $20 billion, making it one of the biggest IPOs of all time.


Analysts and potential investors have projected a market value for GM of between $50 billion to around $90 billion, based on projections for the automaker's cash flow, comparisons with rival Ford Motor Co (F.N) and trading in bonds in the old GM which are convertible into shares in the new company.


A market value at the high end of that range would be above the roughly $70 billion in market capitalization that GM needs to achieve for the U.S. government to break even on its $43 billion remaining investment in the automaker.


But IPOs typically price at a discount of 10 percent to 15 percent to theoretical fair value to reward investors for taking a risk on a new issue and pave the way for future stock floats. In tough market conditions, that discount can be even larger.


"You have to sell people on the notion that there is an upside to what they are buying," one of the sources said.

Good luck....the liberals have changed a rock solid investment into a junk bond rating....thanks guys.

...GOVERNMENT STAKE IN 'GOVERNMENT MOTORS'


The U.S. government pumped $49.5 billion worth of taxpayer money into the automaker and took nearly 61 percent of its common stock.


GM has paid back $6.7 billion in debt to the Treasury and returned another $700 million in interest and dividends. The U.S. government also holds $2.1 billion in perpetual preferred shares in the automaker.


That leaves the government with a roughly $40 billion investment in the GM common stock that will debut in an IPO along with a new class of preferred shares that will convert into common shares under a mandatory provision.

 I thought they paid everything back...that's what the media said four months ago...

...GM eliminated about $40 billion in unsecured debt and other obligations in bankruptcy, but the automaker still needs to address a pension shortfall estimated at about $26 billion.


A successful IPO would be a political victory for the Obama administration and would help GM distance itself from critics who dubbed it "Government Motors" after its bailout.

Finally they get to the problem...a pension shortfall that is almost half the total value of the company.  Such poor management and planning is generally only in government personnel operations but we are talking a union shop.  Until that is handled (i.e. change it from a defined benefit plan to a defined contribution plan, cleaning the payroll of people who have been laid off but still collecting paychecks, etc) this will never work.  If they had a Chapter 11 bankruptcy they could have gotten the reorganization they need at lower cost to the company and bond holders and no cost to the tax payers.  Of course, the leftist screwed this up.

Obama voters, how's that hope and change working out for your..