The folks over at Ford — they’re the car company that didn’t take a government bailout — have got to be loving this. Taxpayer-supported GM, which was unable to survive on its own in the marketplace, has started a blog to fend off criticism — or as the blog description puts it, to “provide perspective and context.”
Right now GM is upset that there are questions about the massively subsidized Volt. Grow up, GM, and show some respect for the American taxpayer, whose labor has kept your doors open.
For those who want the facts, here is a Feb. 16 CNN story about GM “profits.”
But while the automakers are all posting strong results, taxpayers are still on the hook for billions of dollars. Taxpayers fell $1.3 billion short on theChrysler bailout and are still waiting for $25.5 billion back on the GM deal. In total, the companies received about $60 billion between them.
And, particularly in the case of GM (GM, Fortune 500), it seems unlikely the taxpayer will be made whole anytime soon. Treasury holds 500 million shares of GM stock, those represent about one third of the company and if sold at today’s prices, they would be worth about $13 billion.
The stock would need to roughly double in price for taxpayers to break even. Analysts predict a much more modest rise in the stock price in 2012.
