General Motors

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And aside from a fringe group of people that won't buy anything made from a union, the majority of the public really don't care if this company has a union or that other company doesn't. The union angle just seemed forced, like an obligatory union rant to appease my readers and fill out my word count moment
What he is saying about Unions is no different than some of the people in this thread. The bailout is a payback for the people that got the Democrats elected. We all know that the bailout to people that caused the Financial Mess is asinine, they are just going to spend the money the same way they did before. But, it will keep the jobs of those Union Members. So, the Bailout just forces the company NOT to file Bankruptcy, which would cause them to re-negotiate their Contracts.
 
We are already controling their Thoughts and Emotions with "hate crimes" and "Political Correctness". Sorry, but a Crime is a Crime, a Hate Crime is Thought Crime.

Sigh.

You really don't understand the legal ramifications of hate crimes, do you?

They were originally designed to ensure that those who attacked people on the basis of skin color were actually charged for a crime, instead of being let off on lesser charges. I know this may be difficult to believe, but racists exist at all levels of government in certain parts of this country, and often, courts were lenient when it came to prosecuting a white man for brutally beating a black man. In some cases, even with the evidence in front of them, the courts would give minuscule sentences to these people... however, in other cases involving the black man as the culprit, the black man would receive the recommended sentence for the conviction...

Hate crime laws were put in place to ensure that suspects are rightfully charged and sentenced for the crimes they commit, and to ensure that the biases of the judge or jury overseeing the case were no longer an issue in such cases. Unfortunately... many courts still manage to work around hate crime laws, as evident in the Jena Six case...
 
What he is saying about Unions is no different than some of the people in this thread. The bailout is a payback for the people that got the Democrats elected. We all know that the bailout to people that caused the Financial Mess is asinine, they are just going to spend the money the same way they did before. But, it will keep the jobs of those Union Members. So, the Bailout just forces the company NOT to file Bankruptcy, which would cause them to re-negotiate their Contracts.

They've already rolled back the average pay rate from 29 dollars to 14 dollars.


:thing: :doom: :thing:
 
Things the Big 3 want....

What do the automakers want?

The automakers are asking for about $25 billion in loans to help them survive until 2010. Advocates for a bailout argue that if the Big Three can hang on until then, they'll be in position to be competitive long-term.

That's because billions of dollars in annual savings won in the 2007 labor agreement with the United Auto Workers union kick in that year, including shifting the responsibility for retirees' health care costs to union-controlled trust funds.

What's more, it's likely that car sales will pick up again by 2010 and that plant closings between now and then will bring the Big Three's capacity in line with this demand.

How many jobs are at stake?

GM (GM, Fortune 500) has about 120,000 U.S. employees. Ford (F, Fortune 500) has about 80,000 and closely-held Chrysler LLC has about 66,000.

In addition, the three automakers have about 14,000 U.S. dealerships that between them employ another 740,000 workers.

The suppliers used by the Big Three also employ an estimated 610,000 people.

Add that up and you have more than 1.6 million jobs tied to the auto industry.

What happens if there's no bailout?

GM risks running out of money later this year or early in 2009 without a bailout.

GM burned through $6.9 billion during the third quarter, leaving it with only $16 billion on hand as of Sept. 30. But it needs $11 billion to $14 billion to continue normal operations.

Ford and Chrysler have more cash relative to their needs, mostly from money they borrowed prior to the current credit crunch.

But each of those automakers could also run out of cash during 2009 without federal assistance.

What happens if an automaker goes bankrupt?

There are two types of corporate bankruptcy under U.S. law.

Chapter 11 allows a company to continue to operate as it sheds debts and contracts it can not afford.

In Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the company goes out of business fairly rapidly as its assets are sold off to try to satisfy its creditors.

What are advantages of an automaker going into bankruptcy?

Some argue that bankruptcy judges will be able to force the automakers to shed brands and dealerships as well as get the Big Three out of labor contracts they can not afford.

Other U.S. industries, such as steel companies and airlines, have used bankruptcy in the past to return to profitability without putting federal dollars at risk.

What are the arguments against a Chapter 11 bankruptcy?

Given the current credit crunch, many experts question whether automakers would be able to get necessary financing from lenders to help them during the reorganization process.

There are also doubts whether consumers would buy new vehicles from a bankrupt automaker due to concerns over their resale value and warranty. In effect, an automaker that files for Chapter 11 could eventually wind up going out of business anyway.

What are some of the other broader economic impacts if an automaker goes out of business?

Nearly 2 million Americans get their health insurance directly from one of the Big Three automakers. Most of them would lose that coverage if their company goes out of business. A failure of one of the Big Three could also cause a string of bankruptcies among suppliers.

And beyond the job losses at the automakers, dealerships and suppliers, media companies that generate a lot of revenue from auto advertising as well as retailers in towns where plants are located could also have to cut many jobs. The Center for Automotive Research, a Michigan think tank that supports the bailout, estimates that between 1.4 million and 1.7 million jobs indirectly tied to the Big Three would be lost in the first year following widespread auto failures. To top of page
 
More or less what Paulson been saying for weeks, they gave him the immense authority and now it is biting them back in the ass. Meanwhile Frank and Pelosi seem hellbent on bailing them out. I mean the big three did spend 250 million in lobbying and donations so they are "entitled to it" :whatever:. It looks like if they want to bailout the big three, it will be siphoned from the green collars job and projects fund that jmanspice been cheering about :woot:
 
I stand corrected, so they only leased it out, and to own one would have theoretically cost $80,000. I don't think that really enticed the buyer.

The $34K-$44K figures were the Manufactures Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). When the term MSRP is used this usually denoted that this was the price that the manufacturer (GM in this case) recommended to the dealer (in this case Saturn) to sell the vehicle. According to a Deparment of Energy report, this price usually includes a 2.5-8.1% profit margin. The $80K figure is just erroneous and ridiculous. The fact that a GM exec regretted canning the EV1 is proof of that. Even if it were true, it would have had no influence on the consumer's decision to buy an EV1 since they never had to pay that much for one.

And once again we are going back in circles of restating the same thing to each other over and over again. I mention Toyota, then you are going to say it was all luck.. etc.. And once again I will say prognostication and not in the immediate sense, and you will probably say it is difficult with the design cycle. In circles yet again

That is because you fail to realize that that was the reason, and a lot of it is the Bush Administration's fault, because they allowed fuel prices to triple while neglecting to regulate the trade deficit and financial institutions.

The bank bailout is done through the printing press, China shut the door on lending, and they are the world's biggest creditor. One word for you: hyperinflation. Though I expect a temporary deflationary period prior to this.

It's going to be financed through long term borrowing and classical taxation as well as inflation, but the Feds expect a rate of return on some of the investment some time in the future.

Yet again we repeat the same schtick. Chrysler's bailout worked... in the short term. Now it needs another bailout again. Then you probably going to restate this topic again later on.

There is no such thing as a forever pill and the Chrysler bailout lasted almost 30 years. That was long enough for someone to start and finish their career and many of you don't even remember it let alone knew it happened. Yes, Chrysler's bailout/loan worked and there is no reason why it wouldn't work again nor should it be limited to a one time offer. Furthermore, you are all fooling yourselves into believing that the United States has a free market economy. It is a managed economy and has been that way for more than 100 years. This is because a free market can never really be free. It is subject to tampering by those who seek to control the distribution of wealth in their favor and create monopolies in certain industries, and is why there needs to be government regulation.
 
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i dont knwo if this is a ******ed idea or makes any sense....but what if GM and ford merged?
 
I am of the mind completely now....
Let em GM and Chrysler drown......Ford should be saved, they have the best balance sheet right now that we know of (since Chrysler is private)
 
i dont knwo if this is a ******ed idea or makes any sense....but what if GM and ford merged?

No it's not ******ed. They actually did have talks according to CBS MarketWatch, but they were called off when Ford realized that they could make it on their own.
 
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I dont think they will help one but not the other....letem all go
 
Giving the Big Three bailout money (loan or not) is like giving a hemophiliac with a gaping wound a transfusion. Sure, it'll keep him going for a little while longer, but he'll just bleed out eventually.

Until the Big Three fixes the wound, they'll keep requiring the transfusions in order to stay alive.
 
Giving the Big Three bailout money (loan or not) is like giving a hemophiliac with a gaping wound a transfusion. Sure, it'll keep him going for a little while longer, but he'll just bleed out eventually.

Until the Big Three fixes the wound, they'll keep requiring the transfusions in order to stay alive.

Do you know that for a fact? History seems to say otherwise.
 
The $34K-$44K figures were the Manufactures Suggested Retail Price (MSRP). When the term MSRP is used this usually denoted that this was the price that the manufacturer (GM in this case) recommended to the dealer (in this case Saturn) to sell the vehicle. According to a Deparment of Energy report, this price usually includes a 2.5-8.1% profit margin. The $80K figure is just erroneous and ridiculous. The fact that a GM exec regretted canning the EV1 is proof of that. Even if it were true, it would have had no influence on the consumer's decision to buy an EV1 since they never had to pay that much for one.
What part of LEASE ONLY did you not understand? The 80k figure is the cost to produce a car. People didn't actually get to own it.

That is because you fail to realize that that was the reason, and a lot of it is the Bush Administration's fault, because they allowed fuel prices to triple while neglecting to regulate the trade deficit and financial institutions.
The trade deficit has to do mostly with the shift to a full on service economy. You cannot regulate people into not doing service primary businesses. The only way to address the trade deficit is not more regulation, but a hybrid economy of both service and manufacturing to drive up exports. Choking foreign competition and investors with regulation only encourages the decoupling of creditors, and retaliation. Which won't solve the trade deficit but vitiate it.

This is why I keep mentioning decoupling, because China unlike America has a huge manufacturing base, that can be used to feed and consume for itself by developing a service sector (foundations already there). While America has a service economy to "service" itself but relies on China for the manufacturing. Re-establishing a manufacturing base is much more difficult and time consuming.

It's going to be financed through long term borrowing and classical taxation as well as inflation, but the Feds expect a rate of return on some of the investment some time in the future.
It will be done primarily with inflation - that is my point. No doubt taxation will be involved and no doubt there are some creditors.... but inflation will do most of the heavy lifting. You still have so much debt, including the 43 trillion in social securities obligation, yet you want to continue to add to this, like no one will notice. If creditors stop lending, you keep spending even more, and continue taxing Americans even more, what do you think will happen to everyone?

Just wait a couple months maybe one year from now and watch the value of the dollar. Like I said, I expect deflation for prior to inflation. People are going to slowly unload the USD into hard assets while it is still good. Reality will either vindicate you or me on this issue, so the only way to argue further from this is to let this play out. I am putting my money where my mouth is and working under this premise in how I invest.

There is no such thing as a forever pill and the Chrysler bailout lasted almost 30 years. That was long enough for someone to start and finish their career and many of you don't even remember it let alone knew it happened. Yes, Chrysler's bailout/loan worked and there is no reason why it wouldn't work again nor should it be limited to a one time offer. Furthermore, you are all fooling yourselves into believing that the United States has a free market economy. It is a managed economy and has been that way for more than 100 years. This is because a free market can never really be free. It is subject to tampering by those who seek to control the distribution of wealth in their favor and create monopolies in certain industries, and is why there needs to be government regulation.
Here you are again, repeating the same god damn thing over and over again like we don't get it you think needing another bailout means you did not fail. How about companies that never got a bailout at all? Maybe we should bailout all companies that might file for chapter 11 :whatever:

And fooling myself the United States has a free market economy? Where the hell did I say that? :lmao:

I've been complaining that is not free enough since day one, I've been for freer markets for self correction. You really have a bad habit of putting words in people's mouth just to suit your argument. And please, don't go around criticizing the free market flaws of monopolies when you yourself are advocating bailouts, have you not noticed the big banks are using the bailout money to buyout small banks? What is this? Your idea of fixing the flaws of the free market is by making these flaws worse? :whatever:

You (and those alike) are arrogant to think you know how manage a highly complex and chaotic system as the free market and expect no problems. This is common sense. The more complicated and abundant a regulation is, the more problems you will incur with the laws of unintended consequence. The regulations that actually work are simple ones like anti-trust. What Obama and the Democrats are advocating are CONTRARY to this principle. But I stopped caring, like the auto companies, I am going to let Obama fail with the economy so someone else can takeover and do the right things. You can try refuting this but it is pointless since Obama hasn't done much yet, only reality will vindicate either of us.
 
dnno1 you can have the last word - I am not going to pursue anymore arguments. I am too tired to keep this going. A chunk of it has been in circles. I get it you want a bailout for GM. I know why you think the way you think, and while I disagree, I understand why. I just think it is more productive if this went into another direction to something fresh. We are both wasting each other's time.
 
Hey, I'm not a seer. Neither are you. But, look at how much they've lost and cost the average American already:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122669746125629365.html

This finance professor from NYU does a good job with this opinion piece. I agree with him.

So you expect me to believe that you get a direct deduction from your taxes when you depreciate an asset? That is not true. It gets deducted from your gross income. This guy is leading everybody to believe that the entire 182 billion was reimbursed to GM by the taxpayers. That is clearly false, and they would have only gotten a fraction of that back. Some professor he is.

Take a look what we stand to lose if we had no automobile industry here in America. According to the Center for Automotive Research, "should all of the Detroit Three’s U.S. operations cease in 2009, the first year total employment impact would be a loss of nearly 3.0 million jobs in the U.S. economy — comprised of 239,341 jobs at the Detroit Three, 973,969 indirect/supplier jobs and over 1.7 million spin-off (expenditure-induced) jobs. In economic terms, the rapid termination of Detroit Three U.S. operations in 2009 would reduce U.S. personal income by over $150.7 billion in the first year, and generate a total loss of $398.2 billion over the course of three years. The impact of this personal income loss on fiscal government operations at the local, state and federal levels include an increase in transfer payments, a reduction in social security receipts and personal income taxes paid. The net impact of all three of these categories is negative on the government balance sheet, resulting in a loss to the government of $60.1 billion in 2009, $54.3 billion in 2010, and $42.0 billion in 2011—a total government tax loss of over $156.4 billion over three years." Even if the foriegn automakers were to pick up the slack it would take 3 years or more before we saw any type of recovery here as far as jobs were concerned and in addition all the profits would be flowing out of the country.
 
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So you expect me to believe that you get a direct deduction from your taxes when you depreciate an asset? That is not true. It gets deducted from your gross income. This guy is leading everybody to believe that the entire 182 billion was reimbursed to GM by the taxpayers. That is clearly false, and they would have only gotten a fraction of that back. Some professor he is.

He didn't say anything about taxes. :huh:

What he is saying is that GM used $310 Billion in Capital to invest over this time period. Depreciation serves to 1) reduce both taxable (if it's allowable) and book net income (the "expense" or debit side of the journal entry) and 2) properly recognize an Allowance for Depreciation (the "contra-asset" or credit side of the journal entry). The depreciation expense itself only affects the Income Statement (although the Net Income will eventually be closed into Retained Earnings on the balance sheet). The Allowance for Depreciation (or whatever they choose to call it) appears on the balance sheet and serves to reduce the realizable book value of the assets being depreciated (this in turn impacts several financial ratios).

So, what he's saying is that over a 10-year period, all the capital funneled into GM when netted together with the depreciation resulted in only $128 billion addition in value to the companyh. All the while, the total value of GM didn't increase from this investment. So, he's essentially saying that they spent $310 in order to eventually recognize $128 in value.

That doesn't sound like a winning investment to me.
 
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What part of LEASE ONLY did you not understand? The 80k figure is the cost to produce a car. People didn't actually get to own it.

The reason stated as to why the car was discontinued was poor demand (it could not sell enough cars to make it profitable). The customers were leased the vehicles at $34K to $44K so $80,000 had nothing to do with it getting discontinued. That's what I understand from lease only. That $80K figure you are quoting must have been the equivalent cost per vehicle if you amortized the tooling and manufacturing costs for the 800 vehicles that were produced. The thing about it is that GM and other automakers were subsidized to the tune of about $1.2 billion to produce zero emission vehicles and that was not figured into the equation.

The trade deficit has to do mostly with the shift to a full on service economy. You cannot regulate people into not doing service primary businesses. The only way to address the trade deficit is not more regulation, but a hybrid economy of both service and manufacturing to drive up exports. Choking foreign competition and investors with regulation only encourages the decoupling of creditors, and retaliation. Which won't solve the trade deficit but vitiate it.

This so called shift has been going on for decades now, and what is even starting to happen is that our service jobs are being shipped out of the country as well. When is there going to be balanced trade (which is the way things should operate)? The only people benefiting from the trade deficit are those who are at the top ruining the businesses. This is exactly why there needs to be regulation (and yes service jobs can be regulated).

This is why I keep mentioning decoupling, because China unlike America has a huge manufacturing base, that can be used to feed and consume for itself by developing a service sector (foundations already there). While America has a service economy to "service" itself but relies on China for the manufacturing. Re-establishing a manufacturing base is much more difficult and time consuming.

It would only take as long as it would to establish a plant (either through construction or conversion) and to train the workers (which is not any more difficult than training service workers). The biggest hurdle is the equivalent working wage and benefits.

It will be done primarily with inflation - that is my point. No doubt taxation will be involved and no doubt there are some creditors.... but inflation will do most of the heavy lifting. You still have so much debt, including the 43 trillion in social securities obligation, yet you want to continue to add to this, like no one will notice. If creditors stop lending, you keep spending even more, and continue taxing Americans even more, what do you think will happen to everyone?

It will just add to the national debt in this case. It will all depend on if the U.S. Government can pay that off eventually. We almost were on that track 8 years ago.

Just wait a couple months maybe one year from now and watch the value of the dollar. Like I said, I expect deflation for prior to inflation. People are going to slowly unload the USD into hard assets while it is still good. Reality will either vindicate you or me on this issue, so the only way to argue further from this is to let this play out. I am putting my money where my mouth is and working under this premise in how I invest.

I guess we will have to wait and see.

Here you are again, repeating the same god damn thing over and over again like we don't get it you think needing another bailout means you did not fail. How about companies that never got a bailout at all? Maybe we should bailout all companies that might file for chapter 11 :whatever:

From Rick Wagoner:

[YT]NhJ7LXxShCc[/YT]

Wagoner on the Bailout:
[YT]Ag5BV_LzSE[/YT]

And fooling myself the United States has a free market economy? Where the hell did I say that? :lmao:

I've been complaining that is not free enough since day one, I've been for freer markets for self correction. You really have a bad habit of putting words in people's mouth just to suit your argument. And please, don't go around criticizing the free market flaws of monopolies when you yourself are advocating bailouts, have you not noticed the big banks are using the bailout money to buyout small banks? What is this? Your idea of fixing the flaws of the free market is by making these flaws worse? :whatever:

You have been citing so called experts (like Peter Schiff) that are saying to let the free market work as it should (as if it were), and a lot of you are foolishly repeating the mantra ("let them fail"). The truth of the matter is that this is a managed economy. No country really has a free market economy, because it would only lead to feudalism.

You (and those alike) are arrogant to think you know how manage a highly complex and chaotic system as the free market and expect no problems. This is common sense. The more complicated and abundant a regulation is, the more problems you will incur with the laws of unintended consequence. The regulations that actually work are simple ones like anti-trust. What Obama and the Democrats are advocating are CONTRARY to this principle. But I stopped caring, like the auto companies, I am going to let Obama fail with the economy so someone else can takeover and do the right things. You can try refuting this but it is pointless since Obama hasn't done much yet, only reality will vindicate either of us.

As if you really know how to. I will leave that up to the experts not simpletons like you.

I've got more reseasrch to do. We will take this discussion up tomorrow.
 
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So, let me see if I get this straight:

-We bailout the "Big Three" auto manufacturers because we're ultimately worried about massive layoffs and job losses

-If we don't bailout the "Big Three," they might go bankrupt, possibly ending the staple of American industry for over a century

-If we do bailout the "Big Three," there is no guarantee that they will change their business practices and actually realize that the reason they are going under is because they have yet to provide innovative, efficient and affordable vehicles to the American public, and could very well go bankrupt several months from now

-But we should bail them out any way because we don't want those generic plant workers to lose their jobs, even though they may lose their jobs regardless of what Congress does




Um... it seems pretty clear what we should do: NOTHING! These companies have had numerous opportunities to update their outdated business models and become a center for innovative technology in this country, yet they have failed miserably in that regard for YEARS. This is what happens in a free enterprise system: If you run a business and fail to offer any substantial products when your competitors are years ahead of you in terms of innovation and sales goals, you deserve to go out of business. This bailout isn't going to change the leadership at the top of these companies. This bailout isn't going to erase every single failure and automatically start producing successful products overnight. The bailout isn't even going to save the thousands of employees facing layoffs.

It is time that everyone faces the reality of the situation here: The Big Three are done. They have virtually no chance of rebounding from this financial meltdown. Employees should be looking for new jobs right now, they should consider going to college or maybe even retiring. I feel very sorry for the employees who will suffer from this financial disaster, I really do... but no amount of money is going to change the leadership and business models these companies refuse to get off of. All it does is buy them more time to fail.
 
He didn't say anything about taxes. :huh:

What he is saying is that GM used $310 Billion in Capital to invest over this time period. Depreciation serves to 1) reduce both taxable (if it's allowable) and book net income (the "expense" or debit side of the journal entry) and 2) properly recognize an Allowance for Depreciation (the "contra-asset" or credit side of the journal entry). The depreciation expense itself only affects the Income Statement (although the Net Income will eventually be closed into Retained Earnings on the balance sheet). The Allowance for Depreciation (or whatever they choose to call it) appears on the balance sheet and serves to reduce the realizable book value of the assets being depreciated (this in turn impacts several financial ratios).

So, what he's saying is that over a 10-year period, all the capital funneled into GM when netted together with the depreciation resulted in only $128 billion addition in value to the companyh. All the while, the total value of GM didn't increase from this investment. So, he's essentially saying that they spent $310 in order to eventually recognize $128 in value.

That doesn't sound like a winning investment to me.

But the thing that is misleading is that he is saying that it was society's capital as if we (the nation or the taxpayers) were an investor. We are actually mostly consumers and those that patronized GM got something for that capital they gave them (a car). I don't think they really care what was done with the money as long as they could get their car fixed when they needed too. This is a totally misleading article.
 
So, let me see if I get this straight:

-We bailout the "Big Three" auto manufacturers because we're ultimately worried about massive layoffs and job losses

-If we don't bailout the "Big Three," they might go bankrupt, possibly ending the staple of American industry for over a century

-If we do bailout the "Big Three," there is no guarantee that they will change their business practices and actually realize that the reason they are going under is because they have yet to provide innovative, efficient and affordable vehicles to the American public, and could very well go bankrupt several months from now

-But we should bail them out any way because we don't want those generic plant workers to lose their jobs, even though they may lose their jobs regardless of what Congress does




Um... it seems pretty clear what we should do: NOTHING! These companies have had numerous opportunities to update their outdated business models and become a center for innovative technology in this country, yet they have failed miserably in that regard for YEARS. This is what happens in a free enterprise system: If you run a business and fail to offer any substantial products when your competitors are years ahead of you in terms of innovation and sales goals, you deserve to go out of business. This bailout isn't going to change the leadership at the top of these companies. This bailout isn't going to erase every single failure and automatically start producing successful products overnight. The bailout isn't even going to save the thousands of employees facing layoffs.

It is time that everyone faces the reality of the situation here: The Big Three are done. They have virtually no chance of rebounding from this financial meltdown. Employees should be looking for new jobs right now, they should consider going to college or maybe even retiring. I feel very sorry for the employees who will suffer from this financial disaster, I really do... but no amount of money is going to change the leadership and business models these companies refuse to get off of. All it does is buy them more time to fail.
Tell that to Barney "it won't hurt to try a bailout" Frank. Paulson might not allow them to use the TARP fund but they will find a loophole. Reid and Pelosi want it, so it probably going to happen. That is all that matters.
 
As if you really know how to. I will leave that up to the experts not simpletons like you.

I've got more reseasrch to do. We will take this discussion up tomorrow.
Where did I say I knew how to? Again putting words in my mouth. The very normative idea of micro managing the economy - no one is truly qualified, that was the point. That sorta disqualifies me right off the bat. This totally doesn't make you look arrogant at all. :whatever:
 
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