If you are looking for more examples of how American businesses can’t take care of business, look no further than General Motors. Yes, the father of Chevrolet, Buic, Cadillac, and Pontiac just filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. And if you thought that they were just doing it to keep up with the joneses, then the Joneses must be in debt for $15,000,000,000.00 USD.
Now its not my place to say how a company spends its megabillions, or to say that the CEO already makes too much money so he doesn’t need another raise, but I can say that if I’m being asked to bail out that megabillion debacle, then I want to see the books. I want to see where the cash flows and for whom the cash-register bings. Is there a fare distribution of benefits for the employees of GM? Are they getting good health care, fair payment, and workman’s compensation? Or is this just a ploy for a company that has no regulation on the purse strings to come running to Uncle Sam crying for a handout.
The government should regulate the business for the first few years, and insure that the tax dollars that go into the bailout are being wisely invested. The government should, temporarily, force GM’s board of directors to seek congressional approval for any advances during the oversight period, and rule the corporation with an iron fist.
The time should be the same as it is for a private person who seeks bankruptcy protection. Seven years of oversight is, or should be, enough for the company to get its act together and place in measures so that it never happens again. The bankruptcy is not meant for a lessening of punishment in my opinion, but to be a learning experience for the financial gurus that run the place.
Heart to heart General Motors, this should be your last chance to screw up. You get no more tries at that safe haven of protection. You should get no more chances at a bailout from the american people’s hard earned tax dollars if your chapter 11 petition is granted. Screw up after this and you truely don’t deserve to be in business. You deserve to have your doors shut perminantly and go the way of the dodo and Circuit City.
Please let me run the company. We’ll have self-driving cars, energy efficient alternatives, and yes, cars that no better than to get themselves lost in the parking lot. I know it will be a hard job, but obviously, GM can’t handle it.