Taxpayers who were told they were saving an American company are now seeing their tax dollars flowing overseas by the billions. Funny how Obama didn't mention that in his multitude of GM commercials, debate thrashing or DNC convention speech.
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REPORT: GM's Bailout Billions Head Overseas
Before the bailout of General Motors, it was well understood that the world’s largest automaker was losing huge amounts of money in the US and was staying afloat thanks to stronger performance in overseas markets. Since the bailout, however, that dynamic has been turned on its head. Thanks to a leaner manufacturing footprint, debt eliminations and steadily recovering sales, GM’s US operations have generated the lion’s share of the company’s profit since the bailout. And now, as the rest of the world economy slows, GM is spending more and more of its taxpayer-enhanced cash pile to shore up its faltering foreign divisions. In fact, according to an analysis of GM’s SEC filings, the company is likely to incur over $6.5 billion in losses and expenditures overseas in the 2011-2014 period, not counting over $1.6b in foreign potential legal liabilities or several other incalculable expenses that could add up to billions more. Not only are these expenses a challenge to GM’s overall financial health at a time when it also faces billion-dollar expenditures on pensions in the US, it shows the basic problem with national bailouts of global companies. Taxpayers who were told they were saving an American company are now seeing their tax dollars flowing overseas by the billions.
A full calculation of GM’s overseas expenditures since the bailout would be a daunting task indeed. Simply by scouring GM’s latest SEC filings, one finds no shortage of losses and one-time expenditures abroad. In fact, nearly every division of GM’s global empire has required some kind of assistance over the last year or so. These expenditures come in many forms, from tax assessments to investments, from bailouts to severance deals, and due to the complex nature of GM’s global finances they cannot be fully accounted with precision. But they all emphasize the reality that, after years of living off foreign operations, GM’s bailed-out North American division is now bailing out the rest of the world.
Without including potential liability costs or the more inevitable costs associated with Opel’s restructuring, GM has spent or lost in excess of $6.5b overseas in the last 30 months or so. With more losses and expenses coming, taxpayers can expect to see their investment in GM’s North American operations continue to support a steady flow of cash to GM’s overseas operations. Perhaps taxpayers should have been told that they weren’t simply bailing out an American automaker, but a variety of overseas operations as well.
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GM bailout song:
Some recent GM links:
- Goldman Alum Roger Altman STEALS $46 Million in GM Bailout
- RIPOFF - Taxpayers Help Fund Chevy Volt Village
- Chevy Volt Costing Taxpayers Up To $250K Per Vehicle
- GM Bailout Tracker - Not Going Well For Taxpayers
- UPDATE - Auto bailout will cost taxpayers $3.4 billion more than previously thought
- STILL WAITING FOR OUR MONEY BACK - GOV'T MOTORS Spends $600M To Sponsor Manchester United While Owing $27 Billion To U.S. Taxpayers
Personal favorite:
HILARIOUS - Obama Chevy Volt Parody