Give back, auto companies
Published 8:09 pm Tuesday, June 9, 2009
On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson announced he will be co-sponsoring legislation to require the Treasury Department to distribute all of its stock in General Motors and Chrysler to individual taxpayers within one year following the companies’ emergence from bankruptcy.
This is a bold statement from the Georgia Republican, and although it will never happen, it makes sense. How can the government be allowed to own 60 percent of one of the largest companies in the country?
In the simplest of terms, the U.S. government has no place being part owner of a private business. In a system based, founded and rooted in capitalism, how can a business flourish when the president of the United States can call for the company’s president to resign—that’s not capitalism.
Before and after billions of taxpayer dollars were poured into these dying giants—it is easy to agree with Isakson’s statements regarding the matter.
“I believe it was obvious back in December 2008 that a structured bankruptcy was the correct path for GM and Chrysler to restructure their debt and contracts. By giving these companies taxpayer funds from TARP, the administration only delayed the inevitable, but worse created a situation where the government became a part owner of private business.”