When Biden took office, one of his first acts was the elimination of our border security. Like a power-hungry dictator, Biden simply decided to ignore our immigration laws. His catastrophic border policy resulted in untold millions of unidentified foreign citizens from around the world pouring into our country. Its impact is now being felt in cities across the country. The worst is yet to come. PETER LEMISKA - AND WE'RE ALREADY THERE!!!
Saturday, May 23, 2020
THE TRUMP DEPRESSION - CAR-RENTAL GIANT HERTZ FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY
Car rental giant Hertz files for bankruptcy protection with $19BILLION of debt after share prices plummet and 10,000 staff are laid off amid the coronavirus pandemic
Hertz filed for bankruptcy protection Friday after skipping car-lease payments last month
The coronavirus pandemic has crippled the Florida-based company, which was already struggling with billions of dollars in debt
The company laid off around 10,000 North American workers amid the coronavirus crisis and their share price has plummeted more than 80% this year
That staggering amount is made up of '$4.3billion in corporate bonds and loans and $14.4 billion in vehicle-backed debt held at special financing subsidiaries'.
Florida-based Hertz began bankruptcy protection proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, in an attempt to avoid a forced liquidation of its vehicle fleet after bookings dropped off overnight due to the coronavirus pandemic.
'Today's action will protect the value of our business, allow us to continue our operations and serve our customers, and provide the time to put in place a new, stronger financial foundation to move successfully through this pandemic and to better position us for the future,' Chief Executive Paul E. Stone said.
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Car rental company Hertz filed for Chapter 11 after failing to reach a standstill agreement with its top lenders, The Wall Street Journal reports
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Hertz's Chief Executive Kathryn Marinello (pictured) was replaced on Monday by then- executive vice president Paul Stone
to death and beat her with baseball...
Hertz is the second-largest car rental company in the US, with around 770, 000 vehicles in its fleet - but they do not own the automobiles outright, and instead lease them through 'separate financing subsidiaries'
The company - which also operates the Dollar and Thrifty brands - had been holding talks with creditors after skipping significant car-lease payments due in April.
Forbearance and waiver agreements on the missed payments were set to expire on May 22. Hertz has about $1billion of cash.
The size of Hertz’s lease obligations have increased as the value of vehicles declined because of the pandemic.
In an attempt to appease creditors, Hertz has proposed selling more than 30,000 cars a month through the end of the year in an effort to raise around $5billion, a person familiar with the matter said.
Hertz’s woes are compounded by the complexity of its balance sheet, which includes more than $14billion of securitized debt.
The proceeds from those securities finance purchases of vehicles that are then leased to Hertz in exchange for monthly payments that have risen as the value of cars fall.
Hertz also has traditional credit lines, loans and bonds with conditions that can trigger defaults based on missing those lease payments or failing to meet other conditions, such as delivering a timely operating budget and reimbursing funds it has borrowed.
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Hertz is the second-largest car rental company in the US, with around 770, 000 vehicles in its fleet. Rental cars are shown parked at Los Angeles' Dodgers Stadium on Friday
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A drone photo shows hundreds of rental cars parked at Dodgers Stadium due to lack of travelers, who usually rent the cars at airports
The bankruptcy filing makes Hertz one of the most prominent US companies to default amid the coronavirus pandemic. Clothing brand J. Crew and department stores Neiman Marcus and JCPenney have also declared bankruptcy in the past month.
Hertz' international operating regions including Europe, Australia and New Zealand were not included in the U.S. proceedings, the company said.
The company had about 38,000 employees worldwide at the end of 2019.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the company has hired FTI Consulting Inc. as a restructuring advisor.
Car-rental companies have been hit hard by the COVID-19 outbreak, as travel plummets and people shelter in place. Shares of Hertz have fallen 75 per cent this year - and dropped a further 7.5 per cent on Friday.
Last month, the company laid of 10,000 North American employees amidst the crisis.
At the time, Hertz's Chief Executive Kathryn Marinello said the pandemic had caused 'a major business disruption as global travel demand dropped to almost zero and the U.S. used-car market effectively shut down.'
On Monday, Marinello - who was the third CEO since 2010 - was replaced by the company's executive vice president Paul Stone.
The firm's largest shareholder is billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who has a nearly 39 per cent ownership stake.
Hertz earlier signaled it could avoid bankruptcy if it received relief from creditors or financial aid the company and its competitors have sought from the U.S. government.
The U.S. Treasury has started assisting companies as part of an unprecedented $2.3 trillion relief package passed by Congress and signed into law.
A trade group representing Hertz, the American Car Rental Association, has asked Congress to do more for the industry by expanding coronavirus relief efforts and advancing new legislation targeting tourism-related businesses.
Even before the pandemic, Hertz and its peers were under financial pressure as travelers shifted to ride-hailing services such as Uber.
To combat Uber, Hertz had adopted a turnaround plan, aiming to modernize its smartphone apps and improve management of its fleet of rental cars.
Hertz traces its roots to 1918, when Walter Jacobs, then a pioneer of renting cars, founded a company allowing customers to temporarily drive one of a dozen Ford Motor Co Model Ts, according to the company’s website.
Hertz's history from its Ford Model-T rental beginnings to bankruptcy
-Hertz was originally called Rent-A-Car Inc, when it was founded in 1918 by Walter Jacobs.
-Jacobs started the rental car scheme in Chicago at age 22, beginning with a fleet of 12 Ford Motel-Ts.
-He sold his company to John D. Hertz in 1923. The company was renamed Hertz Drive-Ur-Self System.
-By 1925, Hertz and Jacobs were generating annual revenues of about $1million.
-Hertz then sold the company to General Motors in 1926.
-In 1926, the Hertz company released the National Credential card, an ID card that was a credit card precursor.
-Hertz opened the first airport rent-a-car facility at Chicago's Midway Airport in 1932, with the first one-way rental plan being introduced the next year.
-Hertz expansion outside of the US started with Canada in 1938, moved to Europe in 1950 and South America in 1961.
-John Hertz then bought back the company in 1953, renaming it The Hertz Company, as its known today.
-It began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1954.
-Hertz started renting heavy equipment for construction and industrial purposes in 1965. The division was renamed Herc Rentals Inc in 2016.
-In 1966, Hertz hired racing and automotive designer Carroll Shelby to develop an exclusive version of his modified Ford Mustang, leading to 1,000 GT350H Mustangs being built as rental cars.
-Hertz became a subsidiary of Radio Corporation of America in 1967 and was sold to UAL Corporation in 1985 for a cash deal of $587.5million.
-The Ford Motor Company, under its Park Ridge Corporation company, bought Hertz in 1987 for $1.3billion.
-Hertz became the first international car rental company to open in China in 2002.
-In 2005, Hertz was said to have been responsible for about 10 per cent of Ford's overall pre-tax profit.
-Despite this, Hertz was sold to private equities firms Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, The Carlyle Group and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity for an estimated $15billion, including debt, and the business itself for $5.6billion in 2005.
-The Green Collection of environmentally friendly cars was launched in 2006.
-Hertz launched subbrand Simply Wheelz in 2007, which was rebranded as Advantage Rent-a-Car in 2009.
-Also in 2009, Hertz acquired used cars dealer British Car Auctions (BCA) for about £390million.
-Hertz Global Holdings announced the purchase of Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group in 2012 for $2.3billion. It also sold its Advantage Rent-a-Car.
-Hertz moved its corporate headquarters from New Jersey to Florida in 2013, to take advantage of the state's tourism industry.
-In April 2020, Hertz announced it had missed lease payments on its fleet due to the coronavirus pandemic.
-Hertz filed for bankruptcy on May 22, 2020.
"A more cynical GOP would prioritize Trump’s reelection over denying “ice water” to “people in hell.” Unfortunately for America, actual Republicans put plutocracy before party."
Exclusive — Mike Pence: ‘Nobody Wants to Reopen This Country More than President Donald Trump’
NORCROSS, Georgia — Vice President Mike Pence told Breitbart News that he and President Donald Trump are excited to get the United States reopened and moving again as the coronavirus pandemic recedes nationwide.
Backstage after a roundtable with local business leaders here at Waffle House corporate headquarters, where Pence and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appeared to encourage the continued reopening of the country, Pence told Breitbart News that Georgia’s efforts led by Kemp to reopen aggressively have been successful and are a model for the nation. All 50 states have begun reopening in one way or another, Pence noted in the interview that aired on Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM 125 the Patriot Channel, citing Georgia and Florida—where Pence visited earlier in the week with Gov. Ron DeSantis—as examples for the country.
“It would be on April 15, 30 days into the mitigation efforts that we presented to the country—that the president directed the White House Coronavirus Task Force to publish guidelines for opening up America,” Pence said. “We believed because of what the American people were doing and continued to do over that 45 days that we would be in a position for some states and some counties around the country to begin to reopen and put America back to work. Nobody wants to reopen this country more than President Donald Trump. So we equipped governors around the country to be ready for when the 45 Days to Slow the Spread came to an end. Georgia and Florida and other states around the country evaluated the cases in their state, evaluated the data, and have been and have taken steps that are now demonstrating that we can safely and responsibly reopen our economy without putting the people of this country’s health and wellbeing at risk. I think Gov. Kemp also and Gov. DeSantis also recognize that this isn’t a choice between health and a growing economy. It really is a choice between health and health. There are serious health consequences if we were to continue indefinitely the lockdowns that we asked the American people to embrace for 45 days. I must tell you, I know the president is as grateful as I am that as we sit here today, 50 states—all 50 states—have begun the process of reopening their economies. But Georgia is leading the way and demonstrating that you can safely and responsibly reopen your businesses, reopen your restaurants, and put the people of your state back to work, and still, hospitalizations are declining, cases are declining, and, most importantly, fatalities are declining. The people of Georgia are doing it, and I couldn’t be more proud to be here.”
Asked if some Democrat governors, such as Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer and Pennsylvania’s Tom Wolf, are moving fast enough, Pence cited his close relationship with governors and noted that every state is ready to reopen. He also praised the protesters nationwide pushing for a faster reopening of their states.
“When the president tapped me to lead the White House Coronavirus Task Force, he directed me to forge a seamless partnership with governors around the country of both political parties. We’ve done that,” Pence said. “We continue to believe, whether it be on a statewide basis or a regional or county basis, that every state in America is in a position to begin the process of reopening. Fortunately, as of this week, all 50 states have begun that process. What we’re committed to doing, whether it be providing supplies for testing, whether it be providing personal protective equipment not just for healthcare workers, but for businesses that are beginning the process of reopening, we’re absolutely committed to being a full partner with states. But the president and I truly believe we [have] got to get this country open again. There are profound costs that go well beyond the economy to a prolonged shutdown. I’ve always believed this was a freedom-loving country. I’m very heartened to see people across the country letting their voice be heard, letting governors in every state know they want their freedom back. What Georgia is demonstrating is people are prepared to continue practicing the hygiene and social distancing necessary to protect their families and their neighbors and members of their community. We’ll continue to urge every state to look at the president’s guidelines to open up America again and look for ways, whether it be a portion of a state or the entire state, to get the economy moving again.”
Pence, whom Trump appointed to lead the White House Coronavirus Task Force nearly three months ago, told Breitbart News that the country has learned a lot about the coronavirus since the beginning of this whole process as well.
“It’s been a learning process every day,” Pence said. “We knew early on that the coronavirus was several times more contagious than the common flu. But there’s been hopeful developments as well. We’ve seen that because of what the American people have done and the sacrifices they’ve made that, despite the fact we’re dramatically increasing testing, cases are still going down. Positivity rates are declining. Today, more than 40 states are finding that less than ten percent of the people who are tested test positive for the coronavirus—and 22 states, less than five percent of those tested are testing positive. So we’ve learned a great deal about the impact of social distancing.”
Pence also pointed to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) scientific study that demonstrates the half-life of the virus drops off significantly with ultraviolet light, higher heat, and humidity. Such “summer conditions,” which are now here in most of the country, he said, will hopefully stop the spread of the virus even more.
“We also, the Department of Homeland Security, did a study we published a month ago that found that ultraviolet light—sunlight—and humidity, summer conditions, actually have a profound impact on reducing what’s called the half life of the virus and reducing its potential threat,” Pence said. “But, finally, I think what we’ve also learned is that this is primarily conveyed through respiratory habits. It’s the reason social distancing and hygiene continue to be important. The CDC issued guidance reiterating the threat of transmission on hard surfaces is significantly less than conveyed through respiration. So we’re understanding a great deal more about it, but I can tell you what I think we’ve learned the most is the American people will rise to any challenge when called upon to do so—when families that have put loved ones, especially the elderly’s health first, they make great sacrifices — businesses large and small. We heard today from some small businesses before they learned there was going to be any federal assistance went out and a business owner borrowed against his home so he could keep people on the payroll. I’m very proud of the CARES Act and I’m very proud through Paycheck Protection that we found a way to keep people on the payroll of businesses that were shuttered through the 45 Days to Slow the Spread and through the course of this pandemic, but businesses responded with great charity and great generosity, and I think we’ve learned a lot about the virus, but I think we’ve reaffirmed everything we always knew about the goodness and common sense of the American people.”
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