GM False Advertising Challenged by Watchdog Competitive Enterprise Institute in FTC Filing

Charges of False Advertising Against GM "Repaid Loan" Ad Filed With FTC
You might remember this advertisement from GM: “I’m Ed Whitacre from General Motors. A lot of Americans didn’t agree with giving GM a second chance. Quite frankly, I can respect that. We want to make this a company all Americans can be proud of again. That’s why I’m here to announce we have repaid our Government loan, in full, with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule. But there’s still more to do. Our goal is to exceed every expectation...

The GM/TARP shell game
General Motors' willingness to publicly display their penchant for image over sound business practices should surprise no one. This is, after all, a company who was cozy enough with the White House to avoid Bankruptcy by performing their part in the play perfectly: as the embattled company saved and redeemed by Government Bailout. To recap: GM recently began airing (and quickly pulled) an ad in which CEO Ed Whitacre proclaims the company recently repaid their Bailout loan "in full."

Ally (GMAC) Bank's bailout deceptions
General Motors' false advertising that it has paid back its Bailout money "in full" has prompted harsh criticism. Yesterday, Competitive Enterprise Institute Attorneys Hans Bader and Sam Kazman filed a complaint asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate these claims, noting "GM has only repaid a fraction of those funds-barely ten percent , and "moreover, GM apparently repaid its loan by using other Federal funds [emphasis in original]" As Bader wrote recently in...

Networks Fail to Expose GM's Misleading Commercial
Have you seen the new General Motors commercial ? In it, CEO Ed Whitacre highlights the Taxpayer-funded Bailout GM received and then brags: "We have repaid our Government loan, in full with interest, five years ahead of the original schedule." That advertisement (Watch it here ) gives the impression that A) GM is financially stable and able to repay its Debts B) the Government Bailout was the right decision. And that was exactly how the Obama Administration and network news...

Meredith Jessup: Freedom of Speech for Me, But Not for Thee
In response to the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission --which reaffirmed the Constitution's Freedom of Speech clause for political Contributions of corporations and unions--Democrats in the White House and on Capitol Hill pledged to work their way around the ruling.  Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., have introduced legislation attempting to reimpose the restrictions the Court overturned.  This time, however, they...

What's the Real Message from Those GM Ads?
"Whatever the State saith is a lie; whatever it hath is a theft." ~ Nietzsche There is no shortage of reporting about GM CEO Ed Whitacre's recent series of TV ads touting GM's ostensible early repayment of federal loan money.

Obama sends small-business lending bill to Congress
Washington — The Obama Administration has sent Congress a proposal to create a $30 billion program to unfreeze credit for the nation's small businesses. The $30 billion fund would provide support to small and medium-size banks with assets less than $10 billion to encourage them to increase Lending to small businesses. Obama outlined the effort in his State of the Union address in January. Initially the Administration planned to obtain the money by tapping leftover funds in the Financial...

Hijacking Democracy in Iceland and Greece: will the U.S. Be Next?
The current Administration is putting the United States on the same course. How long will it be until a picture like this and many more will gladly by played by a compliant Media? The progressive agenda must be stopped.The Media must finally decide if it's in it's own best interest to help the United States survive or continue with their known liberally biased reporting, that may very well bring the country down. In January, I celand its nearly bankrupt econom y caused the...

Dodd’s ‘financial reform’ bill is a black hole
by Josh Fulton, May 5, 2010 Chris Dodd, everybody's favorite hairdo, has introduced a " tough " Financial "reform" Bill that he claims will " limit the risk [Financial Institutions] can assume ." Of course, most people with a pulse realize that a 1565 page Bill introduced by one of the top recipients of Financial industry Lobbyist money in Congress probably will do little to 'reform' the Financial industry in the best interests of the American people. That, however, doesn't fully capture...

Bailout Europe? Come on, a few billion more won't hurt
U.S. Taxpayers in the last two years have spent hundreds of billions of Dollars to bail out Wall Street, GM, Chrysler, Fannie Mae, and Freddie Mac. Now, the American people will be helping bail out a foreign country. The EU and International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed today to lend Greece $144 billion to prop out their failed economy. The U.S. likely will shoulder most of that burden since it is one of the largest contributors to the IMF. Greece’s $144 billion Bailout might be just the ...

Can a Massive EU-TARP Buffer the World From Europe's Financial Problems?
It looks like the second wave of the Financial Crisis that began in the U.S. in 2008 is beginning to build. The European Union (EU) contains countries that may have trouble repaying the money they borrowed. And that could mean an EU Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) . If those countries were completely independent, this would not be a problem for the rest of the world. But finance crosses political boundaries, and the question facing the rest of the world is whether there's enough of a...

AIG Returns To Profitability In 1st Quarter
AIG, the Insurance giant bailed out by the Federal Government, reported net income of $1.45 billion for the first quarter as its struggling Insurance business showed signs of improvement. The company also said Friday that recovering credit markets and ongoing efforts to streamline its operations contributed to improved performance. Shares of AIG surged $1.95, or 5.3 percent, to $38.70, even as the broader market fell. American International Group Inc., which received more than $180 billion in...

Euro crisis goes global as leaders fail to stop the rot
Germany's Angela Merkel and other European leaders is under increasing pressure over the Greek Debt Crisis going Global as Markets were in turmoil. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz /Reuters The growing Crisis in the Eurozone threatened to undermine the Global Economic Recovery as Markets plunged across the world on fears that European leaders may not be able to contain the Debt contagion spreading from Greece . Stock Markets in London, New York, and Shanghai dived following criticism that much...

Recovering For Celebrating Round-Up
Apparently the lump they removed from under my arm isn't Cancer - Hooray! However, celebrating too "vigorously" does not make you feel better the next day - Boo! Every day I learn something. Sometimes it's a lesson I have to learn over and over and over. Anyways, here's today's attempt at a round-up.... President Obama Job Approval Obama biggest recipient of BP cash BP and its employees have given more than $3.5 million to Federal candidates over the past 20 years, with the largest chunk...

Faisal Shahzad Removed from Terrorist Watch List by Obama Administration
Keeping track of Terrorists isn’t at the top of the Obama Administration’s agenda. There’s an economy that isn’t quite dead, unions to pay back and foreign dictators to bow to. Priorities . CBS News : Sources tell CBS News that would-be Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad appeared on a U.S government travel travel lookout List - Traveler Enforcement Compliance System (TECS) - between 1999 and 2008 because he brought approximately $80,000 cash or cash...

California legislators lobby Washington for funds again
Dedicated to closing the $20 billion state Budget Deficit, legislators went to Washington to ask for up to $4 billion in Federal Aid before July 1. Assembly Speaker John Perez and Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg met with Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and White House officials this week. The goal was to ask the Federal leaders to help California save the safety net for citizens during the continuing economic Recession. In late January, Governor Schwarzenegger returned from the...

Obama Sends Congress Small Business Lending Bill
The Obama Administration has sent Congress a proposal to shift $30 billion from the financial Bailout fund to a new initiative to unfreeze credit for the nation's small businesses. The Obama Administration has sent Congress a proposal to shift $30 billion from the financial Bailout fund to a new initiative to unfreeze credit for the nation's small businesses. The $30 billion fund would provide support to small and medium-sized banks with assets under $10 billion to encourage them to increase...

Worries over Greek crisis wipe out year’s stock-market gains in Canada
C anada's strong Recovery from Recession is now clouded by Europe's escalating troubles and their potential impact on a still-fragile global Financial System. The worries have spooked the Markets and driven most currencies down. The biggest fear: that nervous banks will once again stop Lending to each other, triggering a new credit freeze that strangles a nascent Economic Recovery. Policy makers in Canada and other major countries have pumped billions of dollars into their economies and...

Europe tries to calm fears over Greek debt crisis
Brussels (AP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced early Saturday that the 16 Eurozone nations will set up a Financial defense plan by the time Markets open next week to shield their shared currency against further attack. With Spain and Portugal's fragile Financial systems already pounded by Markets in the wake of the Greek Debt Crisis, Sarkozy and Merkel laid out a plan to defend all euro nations against aggressive Market movement. "The euro is an...

Blood or Treasure? Obama's Crucial Choice in the Middle East
An Introduction by Tom Engelhardt: It does seem as if something may be changing, however slowly, in Washington when it comes to Policy towards Israel and the Palestinians. Rumors, for instance, are spreading in the Media that the Obama Administration is threatening to take Middle East Peace negotiations out of the hands of the Israelis (and Palestinians) and put them in the hands of an "international Peace Conference," should there be no breakthrough in Peace Talks by the fall. This...

Congress Backs Wall Street, Rejects Big Bank Break-Up
Late last night, the U.S. Senate rejected the single most important element of Wall Street Reform by a vote of 33 to 61. The SAFE Banking Act would have forced the break-up of the nation's six largest Banks, and dramatically reduced the political clout of America's Financial elite. The 61 votes against the measure are votes in favor of Wall Street's stranglehold on our economy. No matter what else is ultimately enacted in the name of Wall Street Reform, Congress has decided that it will not...

Auction of Comerica warrants brings in $181.1M
WASHINGTON— A sale of warrants of the Texas banking company Comerica Inc. has brought the Government $181.1 million in the latest move to recoup costs for Taxpayers from the $700 billion Financial Bailout fund. The Treasury Department said it sold 11.5 million warrants at a price of $16 per warrant. It said the $181.1 million was its estimate of what the net proceeds would be to the Government from the sale. Comerica is based in Dallas. Financial Institutions have been eager to cut all...

Auction of Comerica warrants brings in $181.1M
WASHINGTON — A sale of warrants of the Texas banking company Comerica Inc. has brought the Government $181.1 million in the latest move to recoup costs for Taxpayers from the $700 billion Financial Bailout fund. The Treasury Department said Friday it sold 11.5 million warrants at a price of $16 per warrant. It said the $181.1 million was its estimate of what the net proceeds would be to the Government from the sale. Financial Institutions have been eager to cut all ties to the Bailout...

Bennett Braces for Difficult Day
For those interested, Saturday's Republican convention in Utah could offer some hints about how dimly the country views both Incumbents and Washington. The reason: Senator Robert F. Bennett , who faces seven challengers in the convention, is in danger of being denied the Republican nomination. Back in late March, The Times's Jeff Zeleny examined the difficult terrain Mr. Bennett faced in his quest for a fourth term in the Senate. In short, according to Mr. Zeleny, Tea Party activists and...

Why the Greek Crisis Won't Happen Here
Greece, as anybody who has read the newspaper, checked the Internet, or watched television in the past few days has likely noted, faces a severe Financial Crisis. An EU wide Bailout package, at best, will stabilize things temporarily. Greece will have to raise taxes and cut services. As a result, it's become a popular meme, particularly on the right, to say that the United States will turn into Greece if current patterns continue. This simply won't happen. Another major Financial Crisis...