Chrysler Now Nationalized... Sort of

The sound of toilets being flushed at Queens Park and Parliament Hill today was almost deafening. The sound of all that money going down the drain to "rescue" failing automaker Daimler Chrysler. The United States government has now taken a 8% stake in the company and Canada now owns 2% of the shares. The UAW/CAW now owns more than half the company's operations while Italian automaker Fiat taking the rest. The Federal and Ontario government made a colossal mistake in forking over $2.5 billion of taxpayer money to essentially the union who continues to deny any responsibility for the collapse of Chrysler. Ah, the workers now control the means of production; Karl Marx's and Ken Lewenza's wet dream. In essence, Chrysler has been nationalized and communized, bringing my own worst case scenario to fruition. Surprisingly I don't have a lot to say on the subject other than saying the government should not expect a penny of the $2.5 billion to be repaid. All it does is reinforce the problems that led to the auto industry's downfall. Nobody will learn anything from the ordeal and it will not be long until they return looking for more handouts. It may be cutting off my nose to spite my face given that it's my money funding this, but I will never purchase a car from the Big Three as long as I live. I already knew McGuinty was a terrible premier and I expected he would do this but I'm no longer sure if I can support the Harper Conservatives. Of course the alternatives are considerably worse and would never get my vote. However, Harper is going to have to do a lot before he can win me back. I wonder if the Libertarians need any supporters.

Update May 4th: One of the top advisers overseeing Chrysler's restructuring says the automaker will likely never pay off its government loans. He made the statement during the company's bankruptcy hearing. Did they really need a so called expert to tell them that?