Now Here's a Plan!!!

Tennessee's senior senator introduced a bill Thursday that would give shares of the stock of the two automakers to each of the approximately 120 million Americans who paid income taxes on April 15.

By G. Chambers Williams III • THE TENNESSEAN • June 5, 2009

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander believes he has the best plan to get the federal government out of the car business: distribute the government's shares of stock in the reorganized General Motors and Chrysler to the American taxpayers.


The distribution would take place within a year after each company emerges from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, effectively transferring the U.S. Treasury's expected 60 percent stake in the new GM and 8 percent share in the new Chrysler to the American taxpayers in return for the $60 billion or so that the Treasury is lending the two companies as they reorganize.

"This is the fastest way to get the stock out of the hands of Washington and back into the hands of the American people in the marketplace, where it belongs," the Republican lawmaker said.

The individuals who receive the stock certificates would be free to hold onto them, pass them on to other family members, or sell them.

"Those shares might not be worth much at first," Alexander said. "But put them away and one day they might contribute something toward a college education."

With government ownership, the senator said, there is always the possibility that officials in Washington could be making management decisions for GM and Chrysler, such as "what the next model should look like" or "which plant should be closed."

Automotive marketing analyst George Peterson, president of the consulting firm AutoPacific, said he "loves the idea" of distributing the government's shares of the two companies to the taxpayers, but isn't sure Congress would go along with the idea.

"That's wild, and I can't wait for my shares," he said. "I think it's an interesting idea. Maybe they could give everyone 100 shares. The value might start out at a penny a share, but some people out there would start buying it up, and that would establish a market for it."

The idea might resonate with taxpayers as well, Peterson said, citing an AutoPacific survey concluded Thursday in which 81 percent of those polled "agreed that the faster the government gets out of the automotive business, the better."

He said 95 percent of those participating in the survey disagreed "that the government is a good overseer of corporations such as General Motors and Chrysler," and 93 percent disagreed "that having the government in charge of (the two automakers) will result in cars and trucks that Americans will want to buy."

"Clearly, they're not pumped up about having the government in charge," Peterson said.

Alexander's proposal, called the Auto Stock for Every Taxpayer Act, was filed as an amendment to the FDA tobacco regulation bill.

Any bets if this will fly??