"Substantial Doubt" Clouds GM's Future

[IDemo]

Automakers' Auditors Raise Concerns In Annual Report; Cites $82B In Losses Since 2006

DETROIT, March 5, 2009

(CBS/ AP) General Motors Corp.'s auditors have raised "substantial doubt" about the troubled automaker's ability to continue operations.

The company revealed the concerns, raised by the accounting firm Deloitte & Touche LLP, in its annual report filed on Thursday.

GM has received $13.4 billion in federal loans as it tries to survive the worst auto sales climate in 27 years. It is seeking a total of $30 billion from the U.S. government. During the past three years it has piled up $82 billion in losses, including $30.9 billion in 2008.

Also revealed in the filing was GM CEO Rick Wagoner's salary for 2008, which was $5.4 million, down from $14.1 million in 2007. This year, Wagoner has vowed to work for $1.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/03/05/business/main4844282.shtml

[Egalitariat]

1. Every dollar we give them, starting before the last bailout, is a waste

The only way to save GM is for the government to take over all of their defined benefit pension plans and let them compete with companies who don't have to pay for people who don't make cars anymore.

[blue_onyx]

2. We could enact universal health

and trade policies that benefit our companies/citizens/country. These 2 things would go a long way to helping GM, Chrysler, and Ford better compete.