Are you the next GM/Chrysler?

Recently the government fired the GM CEO. Appalling! What Obama and his cronies will say is that they were protecting the taxpayers money that they loaned to these giant auto makers. BS! (That means baloney sandwich and it is now being taught in Finishing Schools instead of what you thought it meant! I do not want to bend to the Obama level and use those words.) What is happening is Obama is planning his next re-election bid and trying to garner brownie points if he says this. He hasn't yet, that I have heard, but he will.



Whose fault is it that government is involved with these businesses to such an extent? Is it government? Is the it the companies? Is it the CEO's. How does this effect small business?

1. It is the businesses themselves fault to the largest extent. They should have never gone to the government with their hat in hand or should I say their hat in their private jets! By borrowing from the government with President Obama at the helm, they were asking for trouble and they got it. Obama has no business acumen at all and his team is a group of government trained and funded nincompoops. I bet that Obama's first comment when looking at a P&L or Balance Sheet would be "huh!" and his cronies, who cannot do their taxes properly and were too sophisticated to hire someone and when they did hire someone they lied to them, can easily criticize GM and Chrysler because they have NO STAKE IN THEIR success. Supposedly, they are protecting our money. BS! THEIR ONLY OBJECTIVE IS TO IMPROVE THEIR POLITICAL STATUS!! There is a lesson, do not borrow from the government, die first! Who is the smartest of them all right now? FORD! Yes Ford Motor. They did not take any money, they have cut back, their CEO (through his board not the government) took and 30% pay decrease and they are doing find! FINE! Did you hear me, FINE!

2. They should have handled it themselves. I bet they thought that since Chrysler was bailed out years ago when Lee Iaccoca had government come to their aide. The difference is that Chrysler was in trouble but still viable. These guys are not viable any more and should have filed for bankruptcy under the provisions of Chapter 11. Under the provisions of Chapter 11 they would continue to operate inside the auspices of the court and all contracts and agreements would be subject to renegotiation and/or restructuring. The objective of Chapter 11 is to come out of it reorganized and ready to operate again. I have been involved in several bankruptcy situations in companies. Sometimes they made it out and are healthier and sometimes they did not and were liquidated. Either way, it is better than government intervention.

3. Sure the CEO's are partly to blame but they can only get paid what they get paid with the approval of their Board of Directors. Inside the Board of Directors, what they got paid probably had to get past a Compensation Committee of the Board and the Executive Committee of the Board and they by the full Board So are the Boards at fault! Yes they are. Are they at fault for the greed? Yes! Too many Boards are full of buddies and friends. Should some of those be on the Boards? Sure. But the Boards should contain a majority of none company people who understand business. Not necessarily the car business, but business so they can ask questions and demand answers. No one in a company should be above scrutiny, nobody!

4. From a small business perspective, how does this affect you. It effects everyone! The trickle down effect of government intervention, corporate greed and loosing track of your objective can be massive. Too many small businesses, and especially family owned businesses, do not have regular Board meetings, do not have outside Directors and have taken their eyes off the fact that without their employees they would not have much unless you are a 1 person business. Now is the time for small business to take notice of what you have. If the government has its way, they will be telling you next how you can run your business because they are putting "stimulus" money into your business. Make a decision right now. Do you want that kind of oversight?



I do not think we can have the Obama Affect for very long. It is going to demolish the Free Enterprise systems and Socialize everything we stand for and why? Because they know how to lead us better than we can lead ourselves. Not me!! What do you think?