GM Go Home

A year ago you may recall that GM was in bankruptcy, looking to sell off assets around the globe and begging for what turned out to be a $60 Billion bailout package from North American taxpayers.

When GM was on the ropes, Germany and Canadian parts manufacturer Magna put together a bid for GM's European arm, Opel. They thought they could take those facilities and brands and do better with them than GM did. That's capitalism.

But instead, GM got its $60 billion from taxpayers, and all of a sudden Opel wasn't on the block anymore. With its fresh war chest GM had no trouble telling them to take a walk, supremely confident that the same managers and management that had driven them to bankruptcy would have no trouble going forward. Who needs skills or vision when you have cash? That's corporate welfare.

Today, less than a year later, GM is asking the German government for another Billion in loan guarantees for its German facilities. To be clear, GM is asking Germany, who offered to help buy it out for the benefit of those very same facilities, but then was told to piss off when the US and Canadian taxpayers stepped in, is now being told that its national interests depend on making sure these factories keep running.

Of course, Germany and Magna had a plan for that. GM had its own plan. And now they want Germany to back them anyway.

That's capitalism, American style.

Statesman Harper

I'm just so proud of our Prime Minister who, after four years of near-obscurity on the global stage, he has finally come out of his shell to stake out and aggressively lobby for not one but two major diplomatic initiatives:

1. Fighting international co-operation on a bank tax to assist in paying down the massive debts incurred in the recent recession and bailout; and
2. Campaigning to prevent our G8 and G20 allies from embarrassing us on the issue of abortion and maternal rights for African women.

O, Canada!