AIG sells Asian unit in bid to pay back bailout

LONDON - British insurer Prudential PLC said Monday it will buy the Asian unit of bailed out American International Group Inc. in a deal worth $35.5 billion that will allow AIG to pay back some of the money it owes U.S. taxpayers.

AIG, which was kept alive by a $182.5 billion rescue by the U.S. government in September 2008, will get $25 billion in cash — $20 billion of that from a Prudential rights issue — and $10.5 billion in new shares and securities for the sale of AIA Group Ltd.

The combined group will be the leading life insurer in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as the biggest foreign life insurer in China and India, Prudential said.

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AIG sells Asian unit in bid to pay back bailout

Paying back some is good, paying back ALL is a lot better. But ALL will NEVER happen. AIG is a losing proposition. I don’t care how you look at it, AIG is bankrupting the American economy.

Don’t take me wrong, $35 Billion is a lot of money, but it’s only a stop-gap in the grand scheme of things. AIG is still bleeding money.

AIG, which is now 80 percent owned by the U.S. government, said Friday it lost $8.87 billion in the fourth quarter as its general insurance business remained weak.

As of Dec. 31, AIG’s outstanding assistance from the U.S. government totaled $129.26 billion, up 5.7 percent from the end of the third quarter due to accrued interest.

That total includes $94.76 billion in loans and interest, and $34.5 billion tied to the value of investments the government bought from AIG. As those investments pay off or rise in value, the government recoups more money.

No matter how you look at it, AIG is killing the American economy. When Obama and Company decided that AIG was ‘too big to fail’ they bought AIG, and all the accrued debt OF AIG.

These other companies buying AIG, part and/or parcel, that’s a good thing, right?

If these companies assume the debt of AIG, how do you suppose they are going to pay that debt off? Do you think they may pass the costs along to their customers with higher rates, higher costs of doing business with their particular company?

That’s how business works, if MY costs go up, I pass those increases off to MY customers with an increase in the price of MY goods and/or services.

Last month, MetLife Inc. confirmed that it is in talks with AIG to buy one of AIG’s insurance units. Media reports price the deal at as much as $15 billion. The two companies have been in discussions for months about a potential deal for AIG’s American Life Insurance Co., known as Alico.

Here’s the deal, if you are insured by MetLife, you’re going to pay a lot more money to watch Ol’ Snoopy fly along in the MetLife blimp!

Prudential estimated pretax savings of $340 million per year within three years.

To recoup their $35 BILLION investment in AIG, at this rate, Prudential should break even, if their three year estimate is correct, in something like, what? 300 years maybe?

Long term investment is one thing, but that’s a bit of a stretch in MY opinion.

AIG is, according to the financial whiz kids in the Obama administration, just too big to let fail. Those are their words.

If AIG had been allowed to fail, or do a full reorganization, not as government bailout or buyout, and IF the U.S. taxpayer hadn’t been raped for the $182.5 billion rescue by the U.S. government in September 2008, under George W. Bush, and HIS financial whiz kids, wouldn’t the American economy have been, at least, NO worse off?

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Ford earns $2.7B in 2009, first profit in 4 years

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) - Defying economic conditions that sent its U.S. rivals into bankruptcy court, Ford Motor Co. clawed its way to a $2.7 billion profit in 2009 and expects to stay in the black in 2010. It was the automaker’s first annual profit in four years.

Ford’s full-year revenue of $118.3 billion fell 14 percent from 2008, but the Dearborn-based automaker benefited from $5.1 billion in cuts to manufacturing, engineering and advertising and a $1.3 billion profit at Ford Credit. It gained market share in North and South America and Europe despite the worst U.S. sales climate in 30 years. Share in Asia was flat.

Ford CEO Alan Mulally said 2009 was “pivotal” but Ford has work to do.

“Ford’s transformation remains a work in progress and is far from complete,” he said in a conference call with analysts and media. Back in 2006, Ford was considered the weakest of the three domestic automakers.

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Ford earns $2.7B in 2009, first profit in 4 years

Maybe Ford really DOES have a Better Idea! Remember that slogan?

GM and Chrysler took federal bailout money. Have they shown a profit? Of any kind? I can’t find any data that says PROFIT made. But I did find this, a promise of profit.

DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) — General Motors Chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre promised Monday that taxpayers will make a profit on the $50 billion that Treasury has sunk into the company over the past 13 months. SOURCE

A $50 BILLION bailout from the government, and so far, we get a promise from GM?? That’s about all we’re going to get from Chrysler too I’m afraid.

On June 10, 2009, the sale of most of Chrysler assets to “New Chrysler”, formally known as Chrysler Group LLC was completed. The federal government financed the deal with US$6.6 billion in financing, paid to the “Old Chrysler”, formally called Old Carco LLC. The transfer does not include eight manufacturing locations, nor many parcels of real estate, nor equipment leases. Contracts with 789 U.S. auto dealerships, who are being dropped, were not transferred. SOURCE

Some sources are saying that IF Chrysler is able to show a profit at all, it will likely be sometime in 2010, if it happens. According to Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, “Chrysler can be profitable this year if its sells 1.1 million vehicles in the U.S. and 1.65 million worldwide.”

Those sales targets represent an 18% improvement over Chrysler’s 2009 U.S. sales and a 27% jump from last year’s global total, both tall orders given that most industry leaders say they expect U.S. sales to rise about 10% this year to 11.5 million. SOURCE

I’m not a business major, but even I know that those sales figures are unrealistic in todays down economy. Unemployment is at least 10%, that’s what the government is willing to admit to. If the truth were told, those figures are several points lower that the actual number that makes the news. Americans aren’t going to buy enough Chrysler automobiles to cause that needed spike in sales. I know that I personally wouldn’t buy a Chrysler product.

I have to wonder, if Ford is doing so well, while GM and Chrysler are still struggling, where do you suppose Ford would be if they had taken federal bailout funds? I am guessing they would still be in financial trouble with no end in sight! Bailouts were handouts, on a massive scale, and handouts rarely help the recipient past some small, but immediate relief.

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Cash for Clunkers boosts July US auto sales

DETROIT (AP) - Lured by the government’s cash for clunkers campaign, car and truck buyers started returning to showrooms last month, as Ford Motor Co. reported its first U.S. sales increase in nearly two years and other major automakers said sales showed signs of stability.

Overall, automakers are expected to turn in strong performances, most notably Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co., which may pass Chrysler Group LLC and Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. in sales for the first time in history. July sales, if converted to an annual rate, could top 10 million cars and trucks, the first month this year that sales rose above that depressed level.

As recently as 2007, U.S. car and light truck sales topped 16 million vehicles, but the recession, tight credit and a lack of consumer confidence sent sales plunging late last year and during the first half of 2009.

Ford, led by the redesigned midsize Ford Fusion, and strong sales of the Escape crossover vehicle and F-series pickup line, offered encouraging signs for industry analysts who predicted a modest improvement in the second-half of the year.

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Cash for Clunkers boosts July US auto sales

Cash for Clunkers, what a concept…

Do our elected officials think that every person in the United States is dumb enough to fall for this? Do they believe we’re dumbed down to the point of being mindless zombies that just follow along blindly and never question their intent or methods?

Yes, that is, more or less, a highly rhetorical question.

Cash for Clunkers… Can you say smoke and mirrors? I think you can.

All that cash for all those clunkers is good for the auto industry I suppose, and yeah, better fuel mileage is a good thing too, but do the folks in the Senate think WE, The People don’t know that we’re the ones paying for this somewhat different form of a well camouflaged bail out?

I don’t blame the folks that are taking advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program, they need cars, and this is a way to get what looks like a really good deal, at the moment.

In the long run, everyone that buys a car under this Cash for Clunkers program has every American taxpayer as a co-signer on their car loan. But you know, I am betting that none of them are going to come by my house and ask me to go take a ride in their nice, new, fuel efficient car. Not even to go to Sonic during Happy Hour!

Congress approved the plan early in July, but the government considered suspending it on Thursday after an overwhelming response threatened to deplete the $1 billion allocated for the rebates.

But the program continued and the House voted to allocate another $2 billion to keep the sales going. The program’s fate hangs on whether the Senate will vote to extend more funds this week.

Where, exactly, are these funds coming from? Anyone? Bueller?

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House OKs economic stimulus plan

WASHINGTON - In a swift victory for President Barack Obama, the Democratic-controlled House approved a historically huge $819 billion stimulus bill Wednesday night with spending increases and tax cuts at the heart of the young administration’s plan to revive a badly ailing economy.

The vote was 244-188, with Republicans unanimous in opposition despite Obama’s pleas for bipartisan support. Eleven Democrats voted against the measure, while no Republicans supported it.

“We don’t have a moment to spare,” Obama declared at the White House as congressional allies hastened to do his bidding in the face of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.

Full Story Here:
House OKs economic stimulus plan

So, the Republicans stood together. My Congressman, Mr. Sam Johnson, has always voted the RIGHT way, Mr. Sam is one guy I don’t worry about. He is going to vote for what’s RIGHT for America and I have never disagreed with one of his votes to date! It’s about time that ALL the Republican congressmen stuck together, I wish it had been like that back when we had a Republican controlled Congress!

Roll call vote
All Republicans voted against President Barack Obama’s spending plan. Of the Democrats, 11 voted against the measure. Among them: Allen Boyd, D-Fla., Bobby Bright, D-Ala., Jim Cooper, D-Tenn., Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind., Parker Griffith, D-Ala., Paul Kanjorski, D-Penn., Frank M. Kratovil, D-Md., Walt Minnick, D-Idaho, John E. Peterson, D-Penn., Heath Shuler, D-N.C., and Gene Taylor, D-Miss.

And it appears that not ALL of the Democrats in Congress are as convinced in the Obamanation as *The Obama* would like for them to be. I honestly don’t know how ANY self-respecting congressman could vote FOR this debacle. Uh, wait. I did it again. Rhetoric. Self-respecting, voted FOR this I’m gonna get rich off of this bill thing, I have been answering my own questions and reassuring my own doubts far too often lately.

Folks, if your Congressman is on this list, show them some love, write them a nice email, snail mail, whatever, let them know how much you appreciate their vote against this stimulus BS. If your Congressman isn’t on that list, let them hear from you too, blast em all to hell and back. These guys live and breathe for feedback, and if they KNOW that the constituency isn’t happy, next time, maybe, just maybe, they’ll actually listen to us.

Now we must hammer the Senate. And that could be a hell of a battle. Both of my Senators have proven themselves to be socialists, they BOTH voted FOR the 1st bailout bill. They BOTH claim to be Republican and Conservative, I don’t believe a word of it, but I will be sending another message to MY Senators, telling them to vote NO. We’ll see how that goes.

If you don’t know how to contact your Senators or Congressman, see the sidebar of this blog, right under the Donations Widget is a handy little tool that gives you full access to those people, and all you have to know is your own Zip Code. How easy can I make it on you??