Government Motors. How do you like your gov't investing your money for you?

UPDATE 1-Canada finance minister says no plans to sell GM stake

30 Nov 2012 13:58 ET * Flaherty says fire sale is not in taxpayers' interest * Ontario official says stake will be sold for best return * Canada and Ontario became GM shareholders in 2009 bailout VICTORIA, British Columbia, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Canada has no immediate plans to sell its shares in General Motors Co, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday, and the province of Ontario said it would offload its GM stake only when it can get the "best possible return" for taxpayers. Both were responding to a report in the Globe and Mail newspaper on Friday that said Ontario's finance minister believed it was time for both the Canadian and Ontario governments to shed their GM shares. "I don't think at this time it would be in our interest, the taxpayers of Canada, to engage in a fire sale of those shares, and I don't intend to do it right now," Flaherty told reporters in Victoria, British Columbia. The two governments became shareholders of GM in 2009 when they contributed a combined C$10.8 billion ($10.89 billion) to a bailout to keep GM afloat. The U.S. government provided about US$50 billion. Canada and Ontario's combined 9 percent stake, made up of around 140 million common shares and 16.1 million preferred shares, was worth C$3.5 billion at the end of September. "I was in the private sector for many years. I wasn't in the habit of selling stocks at half their price," Flaherty said. Separately, Aly Vitunski, a spokeswoman for Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan, said Ontario will sell its GM shares "when the time and circumstances are appropriate and in a judicious manner to ensure that Ontarians receive the best possible return on their investment". The Globe had quoted Duncan as saying that "the sooner we're out of the stock the better". Selling the stock would give an immediate boost to the coffers of both governments, which are both trying to reduce their budget deficits, the newspaper said. That is because the book value of the shares on the government's books is much lower than the current share price. Flaherty said he has had "continuing discussions" on the subject of the GM stake with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

If you want to know more, read Kids Before Trees https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/80505 and check back here for frequent updates.

Christmas is coming-for most of us! Millions of kids won't get a present, won't have a meal, won't even have a warm place to sleep this Christmas Eve. Help me help them, spread the word, people need food, medicine and schools, not more windmills!

If you want to know more, read Kids Before Trees https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/80505 and check back here for frequent updates.

Ethanol and Food Prices

In a recent article, ethanol producers (i.e. the people who make money producing and selling ethanol) lashed out at claims that their heavily subsidized industry inflates food prices.

This would be laughable if it wasn't so serious; 1) Biofuels take more energy to produce than they yield, so they increase rather than decrease fossil fuel consumption. If this were not true, farmers & producers would be energy self-sufficient and there wouldn't be any need for subsidies. 2) Food costs are linked to energy costs & will rise as long as we keep burning gallons of diesel to produce litters of ethanol. 3) The rise in food prices, regardless of the reason, is tiny compared to the rise in taxes & energy prices required to pay for all the renewable energy schemes that do NOT reduce CO2 emissions but Do make a small number of people extremely rich.

Wake up people! Your economy is sinking under the weight of false environmentalism. Poverty-stricken people in third world countries are hungry because of their own corrupt governments, not because of a lack of fodd in the world. If you really want to do something good for the world, divert some your billions from the over-fed environmentalists to the poor kids in the world who really need it.

If you want to know more, read Kids Before Trees https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/80505 and check back here for frequent updates.

Europe Forces Ocean Going Ships To Use "Cleaner" Fuels

Supporters feel they are immune from the costs of these unnecessary requirements. Those people think that someone else will pay for everything, but it is YOU & THEY who will pay, through higher taxes and higher prices. Change the headline to "Food And Fuel Prices Skyrocket Due To Stricter Fuel Rules" and think about how this affects you and your family. The whole European economy is sinking under the weight of UNNECESSARY environmental regulations. Yes, UNNECESSARY. The little bit of sulphur these ships emit out in the vast oceans doesn't hurt anything. Besides that, there isn't even enough diesel fuel around to meet the planned regulation!! Talk about wishful thinking! Smarten up people, before it's too late.


If you want to know more, read Kids Before Trees https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/80505 and check back here for frequent updates.