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Zach - Thought you were still on spring break?? Once again, you show little knowledge of the subject. You make the snide comment "as though they haven't already" regarding losing customers through bankruptcy. Let's be clear - GM sells more cars and trucks in the US than anyone (and Toyota isn't even close). Of the top 10 countries in the world, GM outsells Toyota in eight (barely losing out in Australia) with guess who the other country is ? - that's right Japan. Now go back and study for your midterms little boy.

Oh Zac, there you go again. Tell us the truth. Your mommy and daddy never bought you the Corvette you wanted. They got you a Yugo so your mad at GM. Or maybe you went into a showroom and were such a pain (you know where) that they threw you out, and that is why you have such a hatred for GM? Grow up! Get over it! Oh, and by the way, please stop saying that Waggoner makes millions of dollars a year. Evidently the the only person that doesn't read the papers or listens to the news is you. The man works for $1.00yr.

The only thing confused here is The Wall Street Journal headline. If you read the transcript of what Wagoner said, GM's position hasn't changed. AP got this one right.

Wagoner's a real winner! He's part of the reason GM is in such bad shape! If GM does ultimately file for Bankruptcy, I hope they would give wagoner the boot! I'd like to see the government take back his bonuses!

Wagoner had it right the first time. Bankruptcy would be the END of GM for history. I wouldn't touch another GM product ever again and there are a lot of people who feel just like me. It would be like driving a AMC around shameful. I believe they need to make drastic cuts on salary head count. Ross Perot told them years ago they were top heavy. How did the board respond. I believe he was paid to keep his mouth shut. Thus it has never changed. If they do get rid of all their non-productive labor on salary I believe they could get over the hump. The have a few hot models comming out. They should get the new camaro on the lots soon also.

I think GM will file bankruptcy in the end of 2009.

Making fun of Zac will not change that.

To: G. Richard Wagoner, Chairman/CEO & General Motors Board of Directors

Re: Open Letter: A GM Shareholders Perspective

As a General Motors retired salaried employee with 38 years of service, I witnessed firsthand GM’s decline in North American market share from over 60% to less than 20% in a span of four decades. However, until last year, GM continued as the leader in total vehicle sales with steady growth in the world markets.

In the North American market, poor quality, high legacy costs, and restrictive UAW work rules resulted in this massive decline in market share. Numerous factories were closed and resulted in the loss forever of hundreds of thousands of jobs. Jobs with pay and benefits that helped form the middle class of America and fueled the economic engine of the United States.

Japanese and German expansion into the open U.S. market has been relentless. Free access to our market, the world’s largest, has been allowed despite severe restrictions these foreign nations placed on our products. What they could not do to us militarily they still attempt to do to us economically.

Even with major improvements in quality, GM was still faced with enormous legacy costs for health care and pensions that foreign auto companies do not have. Thousands of dollars per vehicle in these legacy costs have put the domestic auto firms at a competitive disadvantage they have been unable to overcome.

The historic 2007 GM/UAW agreement, however, includes major structural reductions of legacy costs beginning in 2010. And, significant quality/warranty/styling gains are converging to make GM products the best value ever. Following decades of painful downsizing, GM appeared poised to finally regain market share in the North American market, and continue to build on their success in the rest of the world markets.

A veteran of numerous consolidations over the last 20 years of my career, I remain confident of General Motors’ fundamental strengths in leadership and product. I promote GM vehicles to friends, family and news media at every chance.

Shares of GM Common and GM Retail Notes were accumulated to provide a major part of our retirement income. My advice to others considering GM as an investment was to look past the drumbeat of bad news in recent years, and focus on GM’s improving structural costs and a product line second to none in price, quality, and styling. Simply put, I believe GM has received little of the credit we deserve for the considerable efforts to reduce structural costs and improve product lines.

I firmly believed that the largest industrial corporation in the history of mankind was not going bankrupt. This position was validated numerous times by you, the GM CEO, as you assured the world General Motors had no plans for bankruptcy. You also asserted many times that bankruptcy would result in GM vehicle sales dropping to unsustainable levels and would force GM and its supplier network into liquidation.

Investors have relied heavily on your declarations that GM has “no thoughts whatsoever” of bankruptcy as they made their investment decisions on GM’s stocks, bonds and notes.

Today we find worldwide economic and financial systems on the verge of potential collapse. In this climate, the unthinkable happened as you and the other auto CEO’s went to Washington on separate corporate jets, hat-in-hand, and asked for loans with lower interest rates than the credit markets in order to survive.

Loans that are to be repaid with interest but which are now somehow labeled as “bail-outs”. We witnessed the public humiliation of the auto CEO’s getting the hell beat out of them over their request for aid by a congress that has never been able to manage or control costs for anything they have ever touched.

When federal dollars are received, a terrible price is extracted as control of the company begins to shift to the government. Repeatedly, the focus by congress has been to push GM into a “managed bankruptcy” and, as they gain control, their best “solution” for GM and it’s long-term viability becomes reality.

Most disturbing as the transfer of power and control to the government starts has been your complete flip-flop on bankruptcy. News reports now indicate that, for the first time, GM is considering governmental controlled bankruptcy. From numerous assurances by the GM CEO, that “bankruptcy was not an option” to the “managed bankruptcy” preferred by congress.

Politicians are falling all over themselves at the opportunity to take control of GM from you and the Board of Directors. And with your willing assistance they will succeed. The chance to break UAW contracts, wipe out suppliers’ debt, and force those pesky bondholders to agree that $.30 cents on the dollar is a good deal for them, was apparently too much for you and the Board to pass up.

As outraged as I am about what GM’s Board has allowed to happen under your command, the primary question of this letter is what happens to shareholders in a “managed bankruptcy”. Everything I read states shareholders are “zeroed out”. Their stock becomes worthless and new stock is issued.

How this can be allowed is beyond any test of fairness or common sense. I, and thousands like me, played by all the rules. We worked with pride and loyalty to General Motors. We paid our bills on time, and didn’t overextend on our homes or credit. We saved and planned for retirement and relied on our positions in GM stocks and bonds for retirement income.

Now, because GM has received federal funds (loans to be repaid with interest), congress will be able to insist on “managed bankruptcy” and wipe out GM Shareholders.

The shareholders and bondholders are not at fault for the current mess you and the Board of Directors managed us into. Faced with complete loss of value on our GM investments, the elimination of retirement income planned for after years of painful and patient saving is unthinkable and unacceptable.
Your agreement with the government to enter into a “managed bankruptcy” should not result in our shares being “zeroed out”.

The shareholders, the true owners of General Motors, are entitled to and ask for a full accounting from you and the Board. If you allow our GM investments to be “zeroed out”, all current investor accounts should be credited with any new GM shares or bonds that may be issued and results in full restitution and equivalent positions in the new company stock.

Dollars flowing from the federal government to financial institutions include hundreds of billions that the government cannot account for. They don’t know who they gave it to or where was sent. They also don’t know what the people they gave it to are going to do with it. With the relatively small amounts of federal dollars “given” to GM (actually loans to be repaid with interest), it ought not to be difficult for you to use some of this “bail out” money to “bail out” GM shareholders and bondholders as you allow congress to “bail out” GM.

Please consider those of us who have supported and promoted General Motors by virtue of the investment of our hard earned savings into company stock and bonds. We are a constituency that GM must not walk away from. I still very much want General Motors to succeed. I believe, still, that great days are ahead for my company. I want an equivalent position in the “New GM” so that I can share in the success I have saved and waited so patiently for.

John W. McBaine
20002 Gulf Blvd.
Indian Shores, FL 33785
jmcbaine@aol.com

Bob Stempel loses 4.5 Billion, and is giving the boot Wagoner loses 51billion and counting and keeps his job.whats wrong with this picture? Gm is my company,and i hate to see it go down like this.I had 22 yrs of service with this company