It's Spring and Collusion Is in the Air

myecon101 Blog ^ | 05/04/09 | newshound77

[NEWSHOUND]

Chrysler is currently in bankruptcy court. Why? Well to hear the administration tell it, it was because some money-grubbing hedge fund put all the other investors as risk by refusing to go along with the solution the government proposed. And now that the whole mess has been forced into bankruptcy court, the terms may have to be changed, because unequal treatment of specific parties or investors is not permitted under bankruptcy law.

So who was getting unequal treatment? Who was trying to skim the cream off of the top of the deal? Why the Obama Administration's major contributor the UAW, of course.

But what kind of unequal treatment are we talking about here? Well the government workout would have forced the major investors to take 30 cents on the dollar for the money that they had invested in Chrysler while making the UAW whole and giving them 55% ownership in the new Chrysler. Unfair? You bet! But one investor, a hedge fund, stood firm and refused to go along with the program. So why weren't the other investor's protesting? Simple. They got TARP funds. They were intimidated into compliance.

Harsh words? Perhaps. But they are describing even harsher actions. You see when the lone holdout in this deal tried to protect its investors and couldn't be leveraged by TARP, the government boys made it clear that they had better go along or they would have them destroyed in the media (threat about how many news outlets would do their bidding, yada, yada, yada...). The fund stood firm and forced Chrysler into bankruptcy and was immediately derided by the White House in the press (albeit not by name).

But that wasn't enough. The administration needed to make an example of them in order to assure compliance by anyone who might be considering crossing the government's will in future negotiations (can you say GM?). So the name was 'leaked' to the media and now the these guys are getting death threats, etc., from union thugs who see their gravy train being threatened.

It's ironic. The investors in this fund aren't a bunch of Wall Street Raiders. What they are is people who had retirement funds, 401k's and college funds that they put into corporate bonds because they were told that this was a less risky investment than stocks. These are people who were trying to make conservative investments to protect their capital and provide for their future. But apparently all retirement funds are not equal. They are being asked to take a 70% cut in their retirement savings so that the retirement fund of the UAW can be made whole.

This is a dangerous precedent. Even as we speak the government is trying to muscle the GM investors to go along with a similar plan, and the investors (not surprisingly) are extremely reluctant. The new workout would give the investors (who have 27 billion in equity) a 10% stake in the company while giving the unions (who have a 20 billion investment through pension plans etc.) 10 billion dollars in cash and 39% ownership in the company. What? Who thinks this is even close to being equitable? If the investors stand firm they will definitely do better in bankruptcy court.

This whole mess is becoming increasingly disturbing. The political paybacks for campaign contributions are now so blatant that the Administration is no longer even trying to hide it. Any government that is so secure in its absolute power that it no longer has any qualms about acting unilaterally outside of the law is dangerous. Yet the media in general is acting like a bunch of lap dogs and won't even mention it.

Perhaps we shouldn't attribute any ulterior motives to their apathy. Perhaps it's because it's just complicated enough that these media guys figure their viewers/readers would glaze over and lose interest and they'd lose ratings. But I'm starting to get the feeling that this spring there is a whiff of collusion in the air.

[NEWSHOUND]

Of this isn't enough to make your blood boil then you're taking too many tranquilizers and anti-depressants.

[mikelets456]

It does not need to be spring for there to be collusion in the air with this administration.....only days that end in “Y” are....

[EGPWS]

But I'm starting to get the feeling that this spring there is a whiff of collusion in the air.

What took you so long in your "feeling" of the obvious?

[McGruff]

There’s an old saying. Give them enough rope and they will hang themselves. Could happen (if it hasn’t already).

[EagleUSA]

All of the big three could have avoided Obama’s government oppression by staying away from him entirely. How?

By going into bankruptcy BEFORE OBAMA WAS IN OFFICE!!!! Why did they not see the socialist oppression that was coming? Why did they not see the UNION PANDERING that was coming? Seems like everyone else who cared did. That is why the 58 MILLION did not vote for this horror story.

[GnuHere]

Enchanting,isn’t it?

[nathanbedford]

Any government that is so secure in its absolute power that it no longer has any qualms about acting unilaterally outside of the law is dangerous. Yet the media in general is acting like a bunch of lap dogs and won't even mention it.

The smart money in the media sees their own bankruptcies looming and they know that they have a choice: they can be treated like the hedge fund or they can be treated like the UAW. They can be treated like Bear Stearns or they can be treated like Goldman Sachs.

They know that if they protest the fact the administration's brownshirts have been unleashed against the officers of the hedge fund, those brownshirts will be unleashed against them when the time comes.

Of course, none of this runs contrary to the leftist culture which dominates the media so most have trouble recognizing the peril and, if they understand the implications, applaud them.

[OneWingedShark]

When will the brownshirts overstep and draw blood, that is my question.

[nathanbedford]

Who can say when this administration will move to real physical thuggery to get its way. One can only say that history tells us that the left will ultimately become authoritarian. This is the nature of a philosophy which has no root in the founding documents of our country and the sentiment which animated the Fathers. The left is instead animated by a compulsion to play God-they always describe it as a compassionate yearning to do good-and there can ultimately be no limits on the good a God player should do. This we know because the Bible tells us so. In other words, we have known this for about 6000 years.

Who can put limits on God? So the left becomes a Darwinian hell in which Trotsky is murdered by Stalin and God knows how many are murdered by Mao. There is simply no permissible check on the worldly power exercised by a God player.

As I said before the election we will be very lucky indeed if we emerge from the Obama administration (that is if we emerge in all) merely suffering from corruption, cronyism, incompetence, economic misery, and international humiliations. We shall have to count ourselves blessed if we emerge able to recover decency, representative democracy, capitalism, and the rule of law.

[OneWingedShark]

Ah, but the people are getting nervous, and rightly so... look at all the voted of “no confidence” that we have been casting by investing in weapons and ammunition.

[nathanbedford]

The irony is that the exercise of Second Amendment rights might just be the excuse of the left is seeking to loose the brownshirts.

[OneWingedShark]

True:

What’s worse is that the military men, who are sworn to defend the Constitution from foreign and domestic enemies can’t kick-ass and take names in congress, the executive branch, and the USSC... because they have to be told by their higher-ups (who are themselves embroiled and entwined with the traitors we call government) that they really are traitors. [/disgust]

[schu]

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