Neal McCluskey wrote an op-ed on the ways that taxpayers subsidize college football bowl games. As a college football fan, it pains me that I can’t even get a respite from big government on game day. This Wednesday’s matchup between Central Michigan and Troy will be particularly insulting to taxpayers because it’s the annual GMAC Bowl.
GMAC, the former in-house financing arm of General Motors, has been sponsoring the bowl game since 2000, when it paid $500,000 for the right. More recently, the firm was battered by the collapse of GM and the housing market, and it was allowed to restructure as a bank holding company, which made it eligible for TARP bailout funds. The federal government has given GMAC $12.5 billion in return for 35.4 percent ownership stake in the company. However, the bailout just got larger. From last week’s Wall Street Journal:
The Treasury Department on Wednesday said it will provide GMAC Financial Services with an additional $3.8 billion in capital and assume a majority stake in the firm. The money, along with adjustments to existing aid already provided to the firm, aims to close a capital shortfall identified by government stress tests in May. The additional aid brings the total U.S. investment in GMAC to $16.3 billion and raises the government’s ownership interest to 56 percent from the current 35 percent. In exchange for committing more funds, the Treasury will appoint a total of four directors to the company’s board instead of two as previously planned. The company will also continue to be subject to pay limits set by U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg.
Whatever GMAC is currently paying to sponsor the bowl game, it’s not a large sum compared to the billions in billion funds it has received. Nonetheless, it is a poke in the eye to bailout-fatigued taxpayers that a government-owned corporate failure continues to blow money on a largely irrelevant football game.
People used to think of the government’s proper role in the game of business as a neutral referee between competing companies. Today, when private companies lose the game, Uncle Sam can step in to be the quarterback. Although Uncle Sam isn’t any good at the game, he’s able to change the rules to benefit his team at the competition’s expense. In addition, Uncle Sam’s team doesn’t pay his exorbitant salary –- the competition and the fans (i.e., taxpayers) foot the bill.
