The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "General Motors" ...
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Profiting from the Auto-Bailout
September, 2012 the Obama campaign launched television ads blasting Romney’s November 2008 New York Times op-ed, “Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.” In an article for The Nation Magazine, funded by The Nation Investigative Fund we discovered that Ann Romney, personally gained at least $15.3 million from the bailout—and a few of Romney’s most important Wall Street donors made more than $4 billion. Their gains, and the Romneys’, were astronomical—more than 3,000 percent on their investment. It all starts with Delphi Automotive, a former General Motors subsidiary whose auto parts remain essential to GM’s production lines. No bailout of GM—or Chrysler, for that matter—could have been successful without saving Delphi. So, in addition to making massive loans to automakers in 2009, the federal government sent, directly or indirectly, more than $12.9 billion to Delphi—and to the hedge funds that had gained control over it. One of the hedge funds profiting from that bailout— $1.28 billion at the time of publication — was Elliott Management, directed by Romney supporter, Paul Singer.
Tags: Bailout; political campaign; Obama; Romney; Paul Singer
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Company's Choice Made Cars Less Safe
General Motors removed the side airbags, at request of fleet customers, from the standard package Impalas to save money for these fleet customers. In doing so, they risked the safety of thousands of people. Enterprise Rent-A-Car was one of these fleet customers, who bought “65,000 vehicles” knowing that the airbags had been removed. Enterprise not only rented these out, but also sold them online using false advertising. After this was revealed, Enterprise and many car dealerships issued apologies and bought back these vehicles above book value.
Tags: automobiles; cars; Chevy; used cars; safety feature; consumers; transportation; restraint system; build sheet; auto safety
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America's Corporate Royalty
This group of stories ran throughout all of 2008. In a year in which bad decisions by corporate leaders led the country into financial crisis, the ABC News investigative team produced a series of reports on America's corporate royalty -- the CEOs who used their company treasuries not only to enrich and pamper themselves, but to gain advantage in the courts and Congress, with scant regard for the country's democratic principles.
Tags: bailout; economic collapse; Big Three; Lehman Brothers; Wall Street; Ford; Chrysler; General Motors
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Franklin truck firm's fines among highest in industry
"Federal records show widespread disregard for safety rules at JDC Logistics, a 500-tractor trucking firm based in suburban Milwaukee. Out of more than 50,000 truck and bus companies audited over the last six years by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to check compliance with the rules governing drivers' work hours, only six were fined more than JDC."
Tags: trucking; transportation; logistics; hours; safety; tracking; JDC; drivers;
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Hitler's Carmaker: GM and the Nazis
Black attempts to prove veracity of an urban legend regarding GM's relationship with Germany. As the Nazi war machine gathered steam, General Motors was a major helper as the German military built its dominance. At the same time, GM was "perpetrating a massive criminal conspiracy to subvert clean, electric mass transit - trolleys - in 40 cities, thus helping our addiction to oil." GM had buried its past involvement with the Nazis by funding an academic inquiry, then keeping the results secret even after donating them to Yale University.
Tags: General Motors; Nazi Germany; Opel; trolleys; Adolf Hitler; oil addiction
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Slaves in Amazon Forced to Make Material Used in Cars
In Brazil, Peru and Bolivia hundreds of thousands of unemployed men and women are being recruited for slavery. The workers for the slave-camps make charcoal, while being forced to live without housing, electricity or plumbing, and without pay.
Tags: slave labor; Amazon; South America; labor camps; malaria; tuberculosis; Whirlpool; Nucor; Latin America; Ford; General Motors; Nissan; Toyota; car companies
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The Tragedy of General Motors
A look into the General Motors company and its poor financial standing. GM is facing the possibility of bankruptcy, though it is a driving force in the American economy.
Tags: banks; bankruptcy; finance; cars; automobile; stock; exchange; SEC; GM
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NewsChannel 5 Investigates: Bill Heard Chevrolet
A five-month investigation into the self- proclaimed "World's Largest Chevy Dealer." Hearing complaints from customers in Middle Tennessee after they bought cars from the Bill Heard Chevrolet dealership, an investigation found similar complaints in other states. NewsChannel 5 examined sales contracts and loan documents of customers and compared them with documents that had been submitted on their behalf to lenders by the Bill Heard company. The reporters found that the personal and financial information had been altered so loans would be granted. After the story was aired, the Tennessee Attorney General and the state's Motor Vehicle Commission regulators opened an investigation. The investigation is on going.
Tags: car sales; Chevrolet; loan; finance; automobile industry; Bill Heard, fraud
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Ford Sudden Acceleration
This story examined Center for Auto Safety records and discovered 25,000 instances of sudden acceleration since the early 1980's. Ford vehicles were involved in almost one third of all incidents and were twice as likely as General Motors vehicles to have sudden acceleration problems. Fords were connected to 69 death caused by sudden acceleration accidents.
Tags: FOIA; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; Ford; cars; car safety; sudden acceleration; accidents
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A .10 Isn't Enough
This story deals with alcohol breath analysis. The 1990 conviction rate for drivers who registered .10 or more and were prosecuted for DWI is 85.4 percent. That figure is the lowest since the Safe Roads Act overhauled drunken driving laws eight years before. The courts' treatment of DWI cases is not as consistent as the legislature hopes when it passed the Safe Roads Act. Conviction rates are also inconsistent, varying among North Carolina counties.
Tags: Safe Roads Act; DWI; DUI; Division of Motor Vehicles; Breathalyzer; Intoxilyzer; state DWI conviction rate; Department of Environment; Health and Natural Resources; alcohol concentration; Highway Patrol