GM

You may recall it was former hedge fund manager Harry Wilson who did the Federal government’s dirty work in turning GM into Government Motors. The big winners were the unions. Now he is representing four hedge funds elbowing his way into GM on behalf of shareholders. Really? Wilson said “General Motors Co. needs to be more transparent with investors and better address ‘shareholder frustration’ building against the company,” reports the WSJ. You can’t make this stuff up. Let’s not forget the public service he did on Rhode Island’s pension advisory board, as I wrote back in 2011:

Harry Wilson (6) worked on President Obama’s auto industry task force under lead advisor and “car czar” Steve Rattner. Mr. Wilson is the person who, according to The ProJo, is at the opposite end of the spectrum from the labor leaders. Yet he was a lead dog in the government’s bailout of GM and Chrysler, which gave the United Auto Workers a sweetheart of a deal while sticking taxpayers with the tab.

President Obama and his lead manufacturing adviser Ron Bloom throw around an estimated loss on the bailouts of $14 billion. That figure understates by billons the amounts that were lost. They forget to mention the $12- to $13-billion tax-loss gift, which, under normal bankruptcy laws, only applies to a reorganization. GM wasn’t reorganized; it was sold to a government entity, so the tax loss should not have been allowed. And what’s lost on most government bailout supporters is that the private sector was crowded out from participating in the bailout.

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.