November 16, 2009

Payback Time

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According to “a source familiar with the matter,” General Motors is planning to pay off its government loan earlier than expected:

The nation’s largest automaker plans to pay $1 billion per quarter until the $6.7 billion loan is repaid, according to a source familiar with the matter.

….”This is a result of the company performing modestly above expectations,” said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation. “Obviously, the company has a long way to go and a lot of important things to execute on.”

….The $6.7 billion debt is not due to be repaid until July 2015, but the company has exceeded projections, partly by going through bankruptcy more rapidly than it thought it would, and partly by cutting costs.

Am I the only one who thinks this is dumb?  Is GM really that convinced that it’s out of the woods and won’t be running short of cash anytime in the next few years?  Why?  Has the business cycle suddenly been repealed without anyone telling me?  Are customers suddenly swooning over GM cars?  What’s going on?

WE CAME UP SHORT.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

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