Bailing out GM

[striperman36]

We always joked, when I was part of the group handling the GM benefits systems, that $1200 of every car sold was for benefits.

We had a significant problem in that GM had no way of tracking dependents of insuree's. You got family coverage with no copay, and continued with that benefit regardless of death, divorce, children over 18, etc.

We tried to get insuree's to register dependents during Annual Enrollment but, had little success in getting turnout to do so, we were hindered by the union in communicating to its constituents

[scottw]

As for bailout conditions that require any car company that gets taxpayer money demonstrate a plan for transforming every vehicle in its fleet to a hybrid-electric engine with flex-fuel capability, so its entire fleet can also run on next generation cellulosic ethanol.

There is already an auto company that does this. In addition to sedans, it offers hybrid models in even its largest SUVs. This company is also the industry’s largest investor in cellulosic ethanol production, and every model it makes is flex-fuel capable.

This company’s name? General Motors. Obviously, there’s more to profitability than being green.