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.
Related video:
