General Electric Quietly Received $340 Billion Bailout Money and Pays No Taxes

[Guest Enron Ex]

Why is the media not covering the $350 billion dollars given to General Electric? In February, 2009, General Electric (GE) CEO Jeffery Immelt was appointed as a member to the president's Economic Recovery Advisory Board. His job is to provide our president with advice and counsel in fixing America's economic downturn. Jeffery Immelt is the same GE corporate leader that sold "Explosively Formed Penetrators" to Iran until whistle blowers made it public. These explosives killed American troops in Iraq. Jeffery Immelt's influence is giving the world's largest company an unfair advantage.

 

It is distressing that General Electric $350 billion bailout was never included in network news stories with Bear Stearns, Countrywide, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, AIG, GM, Chrysler, and a laundry list of banks. A little known TARP loophole was created during the Bush administration and supported in the Obama's current administration that enable General Electric be eligible participate. Since GE Capital owns two small Savings and Loan institutions in UTAH it qualified for funding. Jeffery Immelt is using his influence to make GE one of the largest beneficiaries of the Cap and Trade, also known as Cap and Tax.

 

General Electric has a powerful advantage over other corporations since owns large portion of our mainstream media:

 

NBC Universal (NBC merged with non-music entertainment assets of Vivendi Universal - GE has 80% controlling share)

NBC - National Broadcasting Company

NBC Network Television stations

WNBC 4 - New York

KNBC 4 - Los Angeles

WMAQ 5 - Chicago

WCAU 10 - Philadelphia

KNTV 11 - San Jose/San Francisco

KXAS 5 - Dallas/Fort Worth

WRC 4 - Washington

WTVJ 6 - Miami

KNSD 39 (cable 7) - San Diego

WVIT 30 - Hartford

NBC Entertainment

NBC News

NBC Sports

NBC Studios

NBC Universal Sports & Olympics

NBC Universal Television

Universal Media Studios

NBC Universal Television Distribution

NBC Universal International Television

EMKA, Ltd.

NBC Universal Digital Media

NBC Universal Cable

A&E Television Networks

A&E

The Biography Channel

The History Channel

History Channel International

The History Channel en Español

Military History Channel

Crime & Investigation Network

Bravo

Chiller (horror-themed cable channel, launched March 1, 2007) [1]

CNBC (co-owned with Dow Jones)

CNBC World (co-owned with Dow Jones)

MSNBC (co-owned with Microsoft)

NBC WeatherPlus

mun2

Sci Fi Channel

ShopNBC

The Sundance Channel

Sleuth

USA Network

Universal HD

The Weather Channel

WeatherPlus

NBC Universal Global Networks

NBC Universal Global Networks

LAPTV (Latin America) - co-owned with Paramount Pictures (Viacom), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (owned by MGM Holdings) and 20th Century Fox (News Corporation);

Telecine (Brazil) - co-owned with Globosat Canais, Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks (Viacom), MGM and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation;

Universal Channel Latin America (except Brazil

Universal Channel Brazil (co-owned with Globosat Canais);

Sci Fi Channel Latin America

NBC Universal Global Networks España.

Telemundo

KVEA/KWHY - Los Angeles

WNJU - New York

WSCV - Miami

KTMD - Houston

WSNS - Chicago

KXTX - Dallas/Fort Worth

KVDA - San Antonio

KSTS - San Jose/San Francisco

KTAZ - Phoenix

KBLR - Las Vegas

KNSO - Fresno

KDEN - Longmont, Colorado

WNEU - Boston/Merrimack

KHRR - Tucson

WKAQ - Puerto Rico

TiVo

Universal Studios (co-owned with Vivendi)

Universal Pictures

Focus Features

Rogue Pictures

Working Title Films

Universal Studios Licensing

Universal Animation Studios

Universal Interactive

Universal Pictures International

Universal Home Entertainment

Universal Home Entertainment Productions

United International Pictures (co-owned with Paramount Pictures/Viacom);

Universal Operations Group

Universal Production Studios

Universal Parks & Resorts

qubo - Qubo Venture,LLC

 

If GE's getting help from TARP funds they should have to abide by the same rules (stress test and regulation) as the banks. But, since GE controls too many politicians purse strings on both sides of the aisle, GE does not have to play by the same rules. After to you read this make a difference. Research the topic and discuss it with your family and friends. Help our country get back on track to Old Glory. Here is a little more information below.

 

*********************************************

 

http://www.gereports...rantee-program/

 

Our participation in the program is a positive development for our investors. The U.S. Government will guarantee for up to June 30, 2012 all qualifying GECC debt issued from the date GECC becomes eligible under the program through June 30, 2009. For GE Capital, this will cover debt up to approximately $139 billion, (for example LT debt and CP*)

 

FDIC Debt Guarantee Program and GE Capital

1. Why are you participating in the FDIC Temporary Loan Guarantee Program?

 

GE Capital provides critical financing for U.S. infrastructure projects, municipalities and industries including airlines, hospitals, utilities, and many middle market sectors. Our funding model has always been strong. Our participation in this program helps level the playing field with other financial services companies who are currently eligible. It is beneficial to us and to the marketplace as it ensures a stronger lending market.

 

2. Some have described GE's participation as a "bailout," why is this not true? Isn't this a bailout?

 

This program is not a bailout. Our participation simply puts GE Capital on a level playing field with other financial services companies who are eligible. We pay a market-based fee to participate in this program. It serves as an insurance program. We are not receiving a preferred equity investment in GE from the US Government.

 

3. Why does a Triple-A rated company need this program?

 

With the FDIC guaranteeing large amounts of debt issued by a wide variety of financial institutions, issuers not covered by that guarantee are placed at a competitive disadvantage, regardless of their financial strength or ratings. Our participation in this program puts us on an even playing field and it supports our Triple-A credit rating.

 

We are committed to the Triple-A. This guarantee program will further strengthen our already strong balance sheet and support our rating. The agencies fully support our participation in this program.

 

4. Won't your participation in this program cap or limit your dividend payout?

 

No, our participation in this program will not in any way affect our dividend policy. There have been some Fed programs that restrict increasing dividend amounts, but we are not participating in those programs.

 

5. How much debt are you eligible for and won't this increase your lending costs?

 

For GE Capital, this will cover debt up to approximately $139B, which includes Long Term debt, Commercial Paper, and other debt programs such as our GE Interest Plus, etc. This does not mean that GE intends to issue this amount of debt but that this is the maximum amount of debt, which the guarantee will cover. Our participation should not significantly increase costs. The program will help put us on a level playing field. We will be required to pay a fee, but the guarantee should help make our lending costs competitive with other participants and reflective of our Triple-A credit rating.

 

6. Are you planning to become a bank holding company?

 

We have no current plans to become a bank holding company but we continually evaluate the company's strategy to ensure its best positioned to compete and perform successfully in the near and long term.

 

7. Is your funding model sustainable? If so, how?

 

The debt capital markets are significantly challenged at the current time and may never return to pre-crisis levels. However, we believe the markets will recover and demand for high quality debt, such as ours, will be sustainable over the long term. We are a profitable, well run business with a portfolio of high quality assets and hold the highest long and short-term credit ratings from S&P and Moody's. Notwithstanding this, we continue to diversify our funding sources including growing deposits, reduce our reliance on commercial paper and strengthen liquidity and capital adequacy to improve our access to funding.

[Guest Ron_*]

I think you need to talk with Jeffery R. Immelt, Robert C Wright, Neal A Michael, John G Rice, and LLoyd G Trotter. Then you need to give Barclays Global Investors UK Holding Ltd, State Street Corporation, Vangaurd Group, Inc., FMR LLC, Bank of New York Mellon Corporation, Capital Research Global Investors, Northern Trust Corporation, Dodge & Cox Inc., Wellington Management Company, LLP, and Wells Fargo & Company a call.

 

Leave the following message:

 

Stop meddling in politics and start inventing new products. GE is no longer in the top 20 of new patent holders.

[Guest Ron_*]

Oh I forgot to mention that they own Google too...

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=GOOG

[Guest Enron Ex]

Great link. I should have thought about that. I think people should first examine Barcleys relationship with General Electric and other American companies.

 

In March 2009 it was reported that in 2008, Barclays received billions of dollars from its insurance arrangements with AIG, including $8.5bn from funds provided by the United States taxpayers to bail out AIG.

 

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0309/20039.html

 

In March 2009 Barclays obtained an injunction against The Guardian to remove from its website confidential leaked documents describing how SCM, Barclays' structured capital markets division, planned to use more than £11bn of loans to create hundreds of millions of pounds of tax benefits, via "an elaborate circuit of Cayman Islands companies, US partnerships and Luxembourg subsidiaries."

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/ma...-injunction-tax

 

Barclays is headed by Group Chief Executive John Varley. Within the Group CEO's office are housed the central corporate functions of Human Resources, General Counsel, Corporate Affairs, Internal Audit and Group Chief of Staff. The company has no COO or CIO. Paul Idzik, the former COO, completed an organisational redesign that saw IT functions devolved to the core business divisions - Global Retail & Commercial Banking and Investment Banking - and, following completion Idzik resigned from his post.

 

Serving alongside Mr. Varley on the Group's ExCo are:

 

Chris Lucas - Group Finance Director

Bob Diamond - President, Barclays PLC; CEO, Investment Management & Investment Banking

Frederik (Frits) Seegers - CEO, Global Retail & Commercial Banking

The Board Members are:

 

Marcus Agius - Chairman

David Booth - Non Executive Director

Sir Richard Broadbent - Senior Independent Director

Leigh Clifford - Non Executive Director

Fulvio Conti - Non Executive Director

Professor Sir Andrew Likierman - Non Executive Director

Sir Michael Rake - Non Executive Director

Stephen Russell - Non Executive Director

Sir John Sunderland - Non Executive Director

Patience Wheatcroft - Non Executive Director

Simon Fraser - Non Executive Director

 

Take a look at their portfolio...

 

http://www.j3sg.com/Reports/Stock-Insider/...0107&DV=yes

[Guest Ron_*]

Oh I forgot to mention that they own Google too...

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/mh?s=GOOG

 

This gets scarier the more I read about it.

 

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/par...ean-energy.html

 

Today we announced that we're joining forces (PDF file) with GE to use technology, information and corporate resources to drive the changes necessary to empower consumers with better energy choices. We will focus on improving power generation, transmission and distribution – a combination of technologies that could be known as the "smart grid." (It would be fair to refer to electricity technologies in common use today as a "grid of only average intelligence.")

 

The existing U.S. infrastructure has not kept pace with the digital economy and the hundreds of technology opportunities that are ready for market. In fact, the way we generate and distribute electricity today is essentially the same as when Thomas Edison built the first power plant well over one hundred years ago. Americans should have the choice to drive more fuel efficient cars – or even electric cars - and manage their home energy use to reduce costs, and buy power from cleaner sources, or even generate their own power for sale to the grid.

 

http://gawker.com/5051257/eric-schmidt-and...+ge-partnership

 

GE owns vast rights of way for the electrical grid, which could potentially aid Google's efforts to build their own Internet backbone infrastructure — even over the transmission lines themselves. And of course, less demand for electricity combined with stable supply means cheaper juice for Google's giant datacenters.

[Guest Warren]

We are our own worst enemy

[Guest ALWAYS RED_*]

Gee. I love how all you liberals called Vice President Cheney evil. Once your fantasy vision gets thrown upside down you will have to live with your choice of a phony sellout. But, I know that most of you did not understand what was coming down the road. Its a dog eat dog world. Only the strong will survive. George Bush will be looked upon as a great Patriot that he is.

[Guest Mocha]

Gee. I love how all you liberals called Vice President Cheney evil. Once your fantasy vision gets thrown upside down you will have to live with your choice of a phony sellout. But, I know that most of you did not understand what was coming down the road. Its a dog eat dog world. Only the strong will survive. George Bush will be looked upon as a great Patriot that he is.

 

Two weeks ago, the Obama administration said it would seek to eliminate the Office of Thrift Supervision and force companies like GE to focus on commerce or banking, but not both. That could require the industrial giant to spin off GE Capital.

 

Last week, Immelt said GE had no intention of doing that. “GE is and will remain committed to GE Capital, and we like our strategy,” he said in a memo to staff.

[Guest LAW_*]

The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), a bureau of the U.S. Treasury, regulates and supervises the nation's thrift industry. OTS's mission is to ensure the safety and soundness of thrift institutions and to support their role as home mortgage lenders and providers of other community credit and financial services. Here is the OTS press release for Friday, June 1, 2001.

 

GE Bank Subsidiary Granted Federal Thrift Charter

 

WASHINGTON – GE Capital Consumer Card Co., Mason, Ohio, received approval from the Office of Thrift Supervision May 31 to switch from a state bank charter to a federal savings bank charter. Upon adopting the new charter, the savings bank will change its name to GE Financial Corp.

 

The company, an Ohio-chartered credit card bank, is a subsidiary of General Electric’s General Electric Capital Services Inc. (GSCS) and General Electric Capital Corp. (GE Capital). The bank had total assets of $494.8 million and equity capital of $45 million as of December 31. The bank filed its application with OTS prior to the May 4, 1999, deadline under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999.

 

GE Financial will continue to operate primarily as a credit card bank, but adopting the thrift charter will allow it to offer additional consumer loan products. For example, the bank plans to offer a consumer installment (debt consolidation) loan product.

 

In June 1997, the bank received approval from the FDIC to engage in the credit card business in Australia through the establishment of an Australian unit. The bank currently issues general-purpose MasterCards and Shell Oil co-branded cards in Australia.

 

Upon the conversion of the bank, General Electric, GSCS and GE Capital each become savings and loan holding companies.

 

Under the terms set forth by OTS, the transaction must be completed within 120 days of the approval. GE Financial must operate within the parameters of its business plan and clear any proposed major deviations or material changes to its business plan with OTS.

[Guest tamara]

GE Capital is one of the world's largest and most diverse financial operations, lending money for commercial real estate, aircraft leasing and credit cards for stores such as Wal-Mart. If GE Capital were classified as a banking company, it would be the nation's seventh largest.

[Guest Billy]

I am a loyal watcher of News 4 here in Washington. I have lost major respect for their station when I found out they did not mention this story. I guess GE told them not to.

[Guest ProPublica]

At the height of last fall's financial crisis, GE's cash cow became a potential liability. As credit markets froze, analysts feared that GE Capital was vulnerable to losing access to cheap funding – largely commercial paper, or short-term corporate IOUs sold to large investors.

 

Company officials projected confidence. "While GE Capital is not immune from the current environment," Immelt said in October, "we continued to outperform our financial-services peers." Behind the scenes, they urgently sought a helping hand for GE Capital. One key hope was a rescue plan taking shape at the FDIC.

 

The program emerged during a hectic weekend last October as regulators scrambled to announce a series of rescue efforts before the markets opened.

 

They found a legal basis for the program in a 1991 law: If a faltering bank posed "systemic risk," then the FDIC, the Fed, the Treasury secretary and the president could agree to give the FDIC more authority to rescue a failing institution. The financial regulators applied the statute broadly, so it would cover the more than 8,000 banks in the FDIC system.

 

The FDIC hurried to approve the program.

[Guest Rabel Heidi]

How about following the bouncing lobbiests and lawyers in the GE bailout? How many lobbiests at what salaries were in Washington DC working on the GE bailout? How much money was poured into U.S. Congress campaign troughs? Which troughs received how much money, and then how did the individual representatives and senators vote or influence policy through committees? How many attornies and their law firms received how much money during the period immediately prior to the bailout decision? Which of the lobbiests and lawyers are buddies of Administration staffers?

How much more than the announced bailout is each one costing the American public?

[Guest August]

Emissions trading (or emission trading) is an administrative approach used to control pollution by providing economic incentives for achieving reductions in the emissions of pollutants. It is sometimes called cap and trade. Companies will need to obtain government-issued pollution permits. As allowable emissions drop over time, companies would have to reduce pollution or buy extra allowances. Businesses adopting clean-energy methods like wind or solar power could sell permits for a profit.

 

General Electric joined a group of large corporations to form the US Climate Action Partnership. General Electric anticipates having extra carbon credits that they can sell at high prices to major greenhouse gas emitters like coal burning utilities. In addition, General Electric also stands to make a fortune from selling wind turbines, energy-efficient products and smart grid technology. General Electric will give incentives for companies to convert over to the new digitalized grid.

 

In April 2006, the consultancy IPA Energy estimated that carbon permits granted to British and German utilities fattened their bottom lines by 1 billion euros and 6 to 8 billion euros respectively. The the American Clean Energy and Security Act "climate revenues" are expected to total over $646 billion over eight years, this line item in Obama’s budget has inspired confidence in GE Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt. As Immelt put it in a letter last month, he believes that the Obama administration will be a profitable "financier" and "key partner."

 

On June 26, 2009, the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, sponsored by Rep. Henry A. Waxman, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Rep. Edward J. Markey, Chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming.

 

 

Warren Buffett had this to say about cap-and-trade:

 

If we buy permits, essentially, at our utilities, that goes right into the bills of the utility customers, and an awful lot of people in Iowa, in Oregon, and Utah, and places where we are, very poor people are going to pay a lot more money for electricity.

 

Ben Lieberman had this to say about cap and trade:

 

…this is the most convoluted attempt at economic central planning this nation has ever attempted–the bottom line is that cap and trade works by raising the cost of energy high enough so that individuals and businesses are forced to use less of it.

 

In an interview with reporters on Sunday, the President for the first time objected to tariff provisions in the American Clean Energy and Security Act:

 

President Barack Obama said House legislation aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions represents "an extraordinary first step," but cast doubt Sunday on the bill's call for tariffs on goods from countries that don't match U.S. efforts to combat global warming.

[Guest Steve Milloy]

General Electric is getting yet more taxpayer money, possibly laundered federal money, to subsidize its business.

 

A GE press release announced that the state of Michigan will provide GE with $60 million to build a $100 million “technology & software center” — what used to be known as an “office building.”

 

While the source of the Michigan subsidy could be Michigan taxpayers, given how strapped the state is from auto industry losses, it’s quite possible that the Obama administration is funneling U.S. taxpayer stimulus money through Michigan to GE.

 

Michigan’s budget problems are so severe, after all, that the state has offered to house prisoners from California’s burgeoning prisons.

 

In May that GE received $55 million in taxpayer subsidies to build a hybrid locomotive battery plant in New York.

 

You can almost hear GE CEO Jeff Immelt, who sits on President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board, chanting to the President, “Give me the money.” In return, Immelt, the new corporate welfare queen, is helping Presdient Obama advance his global warming and health care agendas.

 

http://www.plaintruth.com/the_plain_truth/...h-michigan.html

[Guest KX]

I don’t have a problem with businesses turning big profits. I think any given individual or business should be free to be as big and successful as they want to be. I just don’t think it’s right when businesses profit not because they offer products and services people want at reasonable prices but rather because they’ve successfully lobbied the government into creating business for them.

[Guest Human_*]

Red, just enjoy it. I am. I got lawyers in all 51 states, and have already begun getting my part of the pie "Spending Bill of Obama. The one we as a country needed sooo badly that the economy could not begin to recover". lol

 

The democrats were right "The General Public ARE sheep".

 

 

 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gee. I love how all you liberals called Vice President Cheney evil. Once your fantasy vision gets thrown upside down you will have to live with your choice of a phony sellout. But, I know that most of you did not understand what was coming down the road. Its a dog eat dog world. Only the strong will survive. George Bush will be looked upon as a great Patriot that he is.

[Luke_Wilbur]

Americans are beginning to understand the pitfalls of monopolies. Both General Motors and General Electric started off as manufacturers. Both companies business model was making world class products. Both companies were so successful that they dominated their markets.

 

The problem started when GM and GE became financial institutions (quasi banks) and lost focus. Instead of putting money into research and development both companies started thinking like banks and began to invest their money with speculative markets. General Motors and General Electric thought of short term gains rather than long term strategy. Foreign competitors took advantage of this weakness and started competing with their product lines.

 

The current financial crisis caused General Motors to get dethroned and General Electric is tetering. The only difference between the two is that General Electric is also a media empire. General Motors got thrown to the media lions and General Electric was able to silence them. Although, GE voting shareholders have not been too happy with the company's direction. But, GE has been working political and media clout to their advantage. They also have a large cash flow.

 

I don't see the government halting monopolies, so I think General Electric is going to make it through this recession. I just hope the company's directors show some patriotism and bring their products back home for American workers to make. Otherwise, General Electric will start to be shunned as a foreign competitor that took money from American taxpayers and gave nothing in return. That does nobody good.

Edited July 4, 2009 by Luke_Wilbur

[Guest Murray M.]

George Bush a great Patriot? Bwahahahahaahahaha! I suppose he's also a highly educated and forward looking ... who the hell bankrupts an oil company in Texas??

Given to him by his dad no less ...

Embarassing.

 

 

We are our own worst enemy

[Guest Murray M.]

George Bush a great Patriot? Bwahahahahaahahaha! I suppose he's also a highly educated and forward looking ... who the hell bankrupts an oil company in Texas??

Given to him by his dad no less ...

Embarassing.

[Guest Bernie]

Why did GE, decide to open a plant in Mich, employing 1000 people? Did President Obama have anything to do with that decision?

[Guest Charles]

I am a GE shareholder. I am for spinning off GE Capital. GE needs to get out of the finance business.

[Guest Brian_*]

GE wants everything.

 

The European Commission cleared Thursday General Electric Co. (GE), News Corp. (NWS) and The Walt Disney Company Co. (DIS) to take joint control of Internet entertainment provider Hulu. Hulu.com is an online-video site. General Electric’s NBC Universal and News Corp. jointly controlled the company, before Walt Disney bought a stake of almost 30% earlier this year.

[Guest Candee]

General Electric prides itself on being environmentally friendly, as evidenced by the widespread ad campaign touting its "ecomagination." GE's Web site states it is "helping to solve the world's biggest environmental challenges." It should put its money where its mouth is -- by ending 30 years of combat with the government and environmental community and committing itself 100 percent to the challenge of cleaning up the PCBs that turned the once majestic Hudson river into one of America's largest Superfund sites.

[Guest tdracos]

You make an excellent point regarding GE's handling of PCBs. However just how bogus GE's 'greening' really is, is already evident by their plans to ship the Hudson River PCBs sediment to Texas were it will reside over the most important acquifer in the Western Hemisphere - the Ogallala. The PCBs are being stored at a facility owned by a billionaire Republican political operative, with the water table within 14 feet of the holding area by some measurements. The EPA has never done any geological testing of the facility - only relying on the reports of the owner as to the safety of the site. If the PCBs get into the Ogallala - which they surely will someday, it will be, according to environmental experts, the greatest eco-disaster in the history of the American West. But GE doesn't seem to care...out of sight...out of mind is just fine for the creators of 'ecoimagination.'