Thats an inconvenient truth and we know doesn’t fit the narrative of some of these misleading posts.
Not only did GM pay it back, but paid it ahead of time. One of the few acts of Congress that actually benefited hard working people and our country in general.
In 2021 GM paid paid darn close to 2 billion dollars in USA income taxes.
In 2021 Tesla paid no USA income taxes.
It's a mixed story because the traditional bankruptcy pays BONDHOLDERS first and the GM and Chrysler deals did no such thing. So all those teacher pension funds that had automaker bonds in their portfolios were put later in the line compared to how things are done when DC doesn't step in and pick favorites.
Sure, the GOVERNMENT loans were paid back. What about the bondholders who were supposed to be first in line during a bankruptcy?
So a very mixed bag.
The reason people buy bonds is because they pay less, but have a place at the head of the line when a bankruptcy is sorted out. So the bondholders get the shaft in this special deal.
What you say is correct, but misses (glosses over) key facts in the deal.
Bankruptcy is a scary word. Yet if the automakers had value, their debt would have been restructured and they go about the business of building cars.
Instead, "new" companies were made, by government fiat so that politicians (on both sides of the aisle) can look like they are doing something and claim victory, and the automakers and the UAW get a sweetheart deal.
Meanwhile, bondholders, who should have been at or near the head of the line get the shaft.
A very mixed outcome.
Not the victory that politicians would have you believe.
But sure, the loans were repaid. That part is true, yet a very small part of the overall picture.
