All posts by Rand Simberg

Business, Economics, Political Commentary

The GM Bailout

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The losses are going to be massive:

The $23.6 billion represents a 25 percent loss on the feds $60 billion direct “investment” in GM. But that’s not all that taxpayers are on the hook for. As I explained previously, Uncle Sam’s special GM bankruptcy package allowed the company to write off $45 billion in previous losses going forward. This could work out to as much as $15 billion in tax savings that GM wouldn’t have had had it gone through a normal bankruptcy. Why? Because after bankruptcy, the tax liabilities of companies increase since they have no more losses to write off.

This means that the total hit to taxpayers, who still own about a quarter of the company, could add up to $38.6 billion. That’s even more that the $34 billion on the outside I had predicted in May.

But it’s OK, ‘cuz the president’s campaign supporters got paid off.

Political Commentary

Will Inactions Speak Louder Than Words?

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We know how Kagan’s going to vote, because she essentially told us in her confirmation hearings, when she said the federal government could force us to buy brocolli. She’s a totalitarian.

Really, Wickard was one of the worst decisions in court history, not just in how awful the reasoning was, but in what a devastating effect it had on the nation. This upcoming decision is an opportunity to finally try to reverse some of the damage.