Free Republic

Leader of Australia's influential Greens party, whose support the government needs to begin its carbon trading scheme, could be forced to leave parliament over a forestry court battle that threatens to bankrupt him. Senator Bob Brown accused the island state of Tasmania's government and its powerful logging industry of trying to push him out of the national upper house, where his party controls five of seven key swing votes. A letter was sent to Mr Brown last week by state-owned Forestry Tasmania demanding he pay a $239,368 (£120,000) legal bill by June 29 or face bankruptcy proceedings that would see...

The International Air Transport Association has doubled its estimates for global airline industry losses compared to its figure of three months ago. That presages another round of carrier bankruptcies similar to these in the early part of the decade. Reuters reports that the IATA expects the red ink at the world’s airlines to hit $9 billion this year. The main culprit is the same as it was last year–rising fuel costs. That is now married to a sharp drop in traffic. Most of the Chapter 11 filings during the 2008 affected small airlines, at least in America. That could change...

Hey Detroit! Get ready for your new Italian overlords. Read So much for the valiant Indiana pension fund, bravely standing up for its shareholders against the UAW-Chrysler-Fiat-White House-TARP banks juggernaut. Alas, this is the end of the road. The Supreme Court, after putting a surprise block on the deal last night, has given it a go. WSJ: The high court pulled back from the issue after granting itself additional time to consider appeals filed by several Indiana pension funds and a coalition of consumer groups. The bulk of Chrysler's assets can now be transferred to Fiat, which is set to...

Chrysler and Italy's Fiat urged the US Supreme Court late Tuesday to move quickly on Chrysler's proposed sale to Fiat, saying their government-brokered deal could still unravel if it doesn't close by a June 15 deadline. But the high court is unlikely to rule immediately on the case because the Justice Department is working on another legal brief, NBC News has learned.

(Reuters) - A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved Chrysler's motion to reject 789 dealers. The bankruptcy judge said the order rejecting dealership contracts was effective immediately.

DETROIT -- A former CEO and chairman of telecommunications giant AT&T Inc. will lead General Motors Corp.'s board after the automaker emerges from bankruptcy protection, GM said Tuesday. Edward Whitacre Jr., 67, eventually will replace Kent Kresa, who will remain GM's interim chairman until the reorganized automaker emerges as a new company that's majority-owned by the U.S. government. Whitacre was chairman and chief executive of AT&T and its predecessor companies from 1990 to 2007. During his tenure, he led the company through several acquisitions and sales. Whitacre sits on the boards of Exxon Mobil Corp. and the railroad company Burlington...

Even though city officials would prefer to avoid a public conversation, behind closed doors the Oakland City Council has discussed filing for bankruptcy protection in the midst of a $100 million budget deficit. "We have asked the (bankruptcy) question because we wanted to know the impact," said District 5 council member Ignacio De La Fuente. "In closed session, the question has been asked, and an answer was given." He would not elaborate. "It's a possibility," he acknowledged. "Things are that bad." Council President Jane Brunner was equally aloof. She ably acknowledged the city's dire financial problem while managing to avoid...

A US Supreme Court justice granted Monday a request to put on hold the sale of bankrupt automaker Chrysler to a group led by Italian carmaker Fiat. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a one-sentence order, said the orders of the bankruptcy judge allowing the sale "are stayed pending further order of the undersigned or of the court." AP Ginsburg acted as a 4 p.m. deadline from a U.S. appeals court in New York was due to expire. The appeals court order would have allowed Chrysler to proceed with its sale to Fiat, a union-aligned trust and the U.S....

Breaking on CNBC: USSC delays Chyrsler asset sale! Mourdock: USe of Tarp Funds in automotive industry was illegal Obama admin had urged USSC NOT to keep chrysler deal on hold

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg issued a stay in the Chrysler hearing, delaying its proposed sale to Fiat. The Supreme Court extended the current stay on the sale to here arguments against the merger, at the behest of groups that comprise Chrysler’s senior secured lenders. The primary opponents of the deal include three Indiana employee pension funds, the widow of a Chrysler employee and several consumer advocacy organizations who filed emergency applications to the Supreme Court Saturday.

I was shaving Friday morning in a small, unaccommodating, shared bathroom on when a stranger walked in. He said hello, I said hello, and I felt like Cary Grant, shaving in the bathroom of the train station in Chicago, in North by Northwest. Well, he wasn’t a complete stranger. I knew he was a member of the Class of 1964 from Yale University, since we were up for our 45th Reunion (yes, we are older’n dirt). Anyway, he noticed my faceful of shaving cream and said, “Still doing it the old-fashioned way?” I replied, “It lets me see where I’m...

It is patently false to claim that Chrysler has not made public the criteria that it used to determine which dealerships it would close. In a May 14th Motion, Chrysler attorneys outlined the criteria that were factored into those decisions. The criteria were initially defined in Project Genesis, which was an analytical and statistical data model developed by Chrysler in 2008 to improve its viability going forward. The following is taken from pages 17 and 18 of that motion. The Debtors' Extensive Qualitative Assessment of Each Dealership 37. Project Genesis and the selection of dealerships to be included in the...

This is nothing short of Americans asking the Judiciary Branch to step in and exercise its check and balance powers to stop an out-of-control Executive Branch. Our Republic is held together by such power, and in this instance, the Supreme Court is the last bulwark against an authoritarian president nationalizing a private company and extinguishing Constitutionally protected contract and property rights to reach his goal of giving the company to his political allies.

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A group of Indiana pension funds opposed to Chrysler LLC's sale to Fiat SpA (FIATY) on Saturday filed an emergency appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court to stay the sale while they continue their attempts to block it. The emergency stay request, filed shortly before midnight Saturday, came after the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York approved the acquisition of most of Chrysler's assets by a group led by Fiat, the Italian auto manufacturer. A U.S. bankruptcy judge early last week approved the sale. A coalition of consumer groups lodged a separate stay request early...

Opponents of Chrysler's sale to Fiat are asking the Supreme Court to block the deal. Three Indiana state pension and construction funds filed emergency papers at the high court early Sunday to put the sale on hold so they can pursue an appeal.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- Opponents of Chrysler's sale to Fiat are asking the Supreme Court to block the deal.</p> <p>Three Indiana state pension and construction funds filed emergency papers at the high court early Sunday to put the sale on hold so they can pursue an appeal.</p>

A Republican senator wants taxpayers to get their share — literally — of the federal government's takeover of two of the nation's biggest automakers. Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, is introducing a bill that would require the government to distribute stock in General Motors and Chrysler LLC to each individual taxpayer.

A U.S. appeals court conditionally approved Chrysler's sale of most of its assets to Italy's Fiat Friday, but is keeping the deal on hold until Monday to allow an appeal to the nation's highest court.

Zero Hedge covers a court hearing involving terminated Chrysler dealers with some follow-up on its previous analysis of Dealergate and possible Clinton-tied cronyism in Arkansas. Tyler Durden points to one very interesting declaration from Ethel L. Cook, a Chrysler dealer based in Little Rock. Click on his post for the PDF link to the full testimony, but here’s an excerpt: Having reviewed the pattern of assumption and rejection of dealers throughout their region, I have detected a pattern: In every market where there is a dealership connected with former Penske Automotive executive Steve Landers, or his new automotive partnership with...

The list of victims for Obama's government squeeze of auto maker bondholders is longer than anyone thinks. Not only is the story of pension funds who were stiffed when Obama wiped Chrysler's slate clean not being widely reported, but the victims of those funds - in one case, Indiana cops and teachers - remain unidentified by the media.

It is patently false to claim that Chrysler has not made public the criteria that it used to determine which dealerships it would close. In a May 14th Motion, Chrysler attorneys outlined the criteria that were factored into those decisions. The criteria were initially defined in Project Genesis, which was an analytical and statistical data model developed by Chrysler in 2008 to improve its viability going forward. The following is taken from page 17 and 18 of that motion. The Debtors' Extensive Qualitative Assessment of Each Dealership 37. Project Genesis and the selection of dealerships to be included in the...

House Republicans are finalizing their plan to overhaul the financial regulatory system, which would direct failing companies into bankruptcy instead of bailouts and would strip the Federal Reserve of its oversight authority on the financial industry, according to people close to the discussions. These people described the plan as one that “stops rewarding failure,” ensures “taxpayers are never again asked to pick up the tab for bad bets on Wall Street” and restores “market discipline.” Republican members of the House Financial Services Committee are aiming to complete their proposal with House Republican leadership by Tuesday. House Democrats and the Obama...

The Assembly today approved a union-backed bill that would prohibit cities and counties from filing for bankruptcy without state approval. ... Unions want the state to weigh in on bankruptcies because the filings could void union contracts cities and counties have with workers.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Not so fast, Chrysler. Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock is getting his day in court, again. His appeal against a ruling allowing the sale of the bankrupt carmaker's assets, filed on behalf of three Indiana state pension funds, has made its way to the U.S. Court of Appeals in New York. Arguments will be heard Friday. "Obviously, we're very pleased," said Mourdock, in an interview with CNNMoney.com. "Points of law that we have consistently raised in this debate had never been challenged. Now we're finally going to see the points of law get debated." The three Indiana...

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana treasurer's petition for a stay in the bankruptcy sale of Chrysler to Fiat has been granted. The U.S. Court of Appeals in New York has agreed to hear legal arguments on behalf of the Indiana State Police Pension Fund, Indiana Teacher's Retirement Fund and the Major Moves construction fund. The court will begin hearing arguments in the case on Friday, when Chrysler's sale had originally been set. "We are pleased the Court of Appeals has agreed to hear our arguments," said Treasurer Richard Mourdock, in a statement released early Wednesday morning. "Indiana retirees and Indiana taxpayers...

Ford shareholders should be kicking and screaming mad. America's ``free-market system'' is working against them. The only major U.S. automaker to decline federal aid and loans during the country's economic meltdown, Ford saw its competitive standing take a serious blow Monday when chief rivals GM and Chrysler drove away from bankruptcy court in debt-free, taxpayer-fueled vehicles, or what some call socialism. As much as $100 billion in tax funds could be spent on propping up these two failed auto companies, with more than half that spent already. Govt. Motors has burned through $20 billion, with another $30 billion on deck...

President Obama announced the bankruptcy of General Motors yesterday before GM's CEO even spoke, and the feds will soon own 60% of the company. But whatever you do, please don't think the government is now running GM. "What we are not doing -- what I have no interest in doing -- is running GM," Mr. Obama said in yesterday's bankruptcy announcement. "When a difficult decision has to be made on matters like where to open a new plant or what type of new car to make, the new GM, not the United States government, will make that decision." The President...

What started as a municipal bankruptcy in the city of Vallejo has morphed into an all-out fight between California's local governments and unions over the sanctity of labor contracts vs. the autonomy of cities and counties. Next battle zone: the floor of the state Assembly, where legislation requiring local governments to get state approval to file for bankruptcy protection is headed for a vote later this week. This won't be the last imbroglio spawned by the state's fiscal turmoil. But it is likely to be among the hottest. The bill by Assemblyman Tony Mendoza, D-Artesia, is sponsored by the California...

General Motors Corp. said Tuesday that it has signed a deal to sell its Hummer truck unit, just one day after filing for bankruptcy. But GM would not identify the buyer nor name a price, saying only that the deal would close by the end of September. "I'm confident that Hummer will thrive globally under its new ownership," said Troy Clarke, president of GM North America, in a press release. "And for GM, this sale continues to accelerate the reinvention of GM into a leaner, more focused, and more cost-competitive automaker." As part of the deal, some GM plants will...

As the stake holders in the Chrysler Company convened to negotiate a compromise that would allow Chrysler to avoid bankruptcy, it became clear that the hedge funds would stand in the way. They have been widely criticized all the way up to the President for acting in their own self interest. Were they the only ones?

[snip] The Bush Administration gave a Band-Aid to GM and Chrysler in the form of a bridge loan to get them through to the early days of the Obama Administration. Industry observers widely assumed that that Obama, a Democrat from Chicago, understood the manufacturing base of the Midwest and would help it. The fact that the UAW had helped deliver five states in the Midwest to Obama deepened that assumption. Obama turned to other members of his political alliance for answers. From New York, he brought in investment banker Steve Rattner, a major fundraiser, to head the government's automotive task...

Heard that little slogan over the radio today. Didn't catch who said it, as I'd just turned the radio on. But from the tone of the interview, it either came from a government-type or a union-type who favored the bailout-laden bankruptcy. I immediately asked myself, "I wonder how Ford feels about that reasoning?"Here's another slogan for you: "Buy your car from Government Motors so Ford can enjoy going bankrupt, too."Obama says his auto strategy is to "level the playing field." What could be more "level" than the entire industry bankrupt and under government thralldom? How would you like it if...

NEW YORK – General Motors filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday as part of the Obama administration's plan to shrink the automaker to a sustainable size and give a majority ownership stake to the federal government. GM's bankruptcy filing is the fourth-largest in U.S. history and the largest for an industrial company. The company said it has $172.81 billion in debt and $82.29 billion in assets. "The General Motors board of directors authorized the filing of a Chapter 11 case with regret that this path proved necessary despite the best efforts of so many," a company statement said. "Today...

The Dow Jones industrial average is adding Travelers Cos. and Cisco Systems Inc., dropping Citigroup Inc. and General Motors Corp. The announcement Monday of the changes to the 30 stocks that make up the best-known barometer of Wall Street comes as GM enters bankruptcy protection, a move that was widely expected. Dow Jones said Travelers, the property and casualty insurer and one-time division of Citicorp, would replace its former parent. Cisco, which makes computer networking gear, is filling the role left by GM after 83 years as part of the Dow. The changes take effect June 8.

Link only, per the rules of King Bloomberg I of New York City news service.

The Volt Electric Car Showcased at GM’s 100th Anniversary, September 2008. Nine months after GM’s 100th anniversary and expressed optimism by then CEO, Rick Waggoner, shares of GM fell to their lowest levels since the Great Depression on Friday, May 29, 2009. TDC asks: Why mislead Americans with optimism while taking billions of dollars in bailout funds only to file bankruptcy? Isn’t this reminiscent of Enron and other companies that believably falsified their corporations’ books to create an illusion of financial strength and stability while leaving the stockholders holding the bag?

They say history repeats itself. If you are like me and have lived two lives, you have a good chance of seeing the re-enactment with your own eyes. The current takeover of General Motors by the U.S. government and United Auto Workers makes me think back to Romania's catastrophic mismanagement of the car factories it built jointly with the French companies Renault and Citroen. I was Romania's car czar. When the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu decided in the mid-1960s that he wanted to have a car industry, he chose me to start the project rolling. In the land of the...

Many of Americans are not aware of basic bankruptcy law. GM can file in any court district in which it has an office. However, some districts are special. NJ, NY, MI, and DE are areas where there is NO CAP on lawyer fees. If the current administration is serious about saving the tax payers money, they will force GM to file in a place where the lawyers are capped My personal bet is NY

Today we will see a different General Motors. It is a sad ending to a state of affairs that should never have happened. There are many reasons for what occurred, some like union issues were truly beyond GM’s ability to resolve. But most were of GM’s own making. I’ll touch on a few. The seeds of GM’s downfall came from a management culture that was bureaucratic and averse to self criticism. But it was Roger Smith, a clueless yet arrogant Chairman and CEO, who did the most damage. Smith was an accountant who saw his role as reorganizer and a...

When United Auto Workers (UAW) union chief Ron Gettelfinger announced the end of GM's two-day strike in the early hours of September 26, 2007, it was the beginning of the end for the world's largest car manufacturer. The agreement to end the first US nationwide automotive strike in 31 years, which saw General Motors' then 73,000-strong US workforce walk out, was the final death knell in the company's 101-year history. The strike had occurred not over the future of those employees however, but rather of the fate of GM's 460,000 retired workers whose continuing eligibility for healthcare benefits had placed...

Chrysler LLC could exit bankruptcy reorganization as soon as Monday, after barely a month in Chapter 11 protection. Judge Arthur Gonzalez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan rejected arguments from some Chrysler creditors and dealers seeking to block the deal, noting in his 47-page judgment that Fiat SpA was the only viable alternative to the immediate liquidation of the company. The ruling, which came just a month after Chrysler was forced to file for protection, is viewed as a partial dress rehearsal for the more complex reorganization of General Motors Corp., which is expected to file in the same...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — General Motors, readying a massive bankruptcy filing backed by billions in public funds, faces a complex set of challenges as a virtually nationalized "Government Motors," analysts say. With the US government expected to hold as much as 72.5 percent of the new firm that would emerge from bankruptcy, analysts say a big question is whether GM can concentrate on the difficult auto marketplace. "The tricky part is to leave day-to-day management to the executives of the company," said Jeremy Anwyl, chief executive at auto research firm Edmunds.com. For the government, he said, "the temptation is to influence...

IN MARCH, we cheered President Obama when he extended a federal lifeline to General Motors and Chrysler. He was risking a fair bit of tax dollars -- $6 billion, on top of $17.5 billion in emergency loans tendered since December -- but he said he was setting tough conditions for anything beyond that. "We cannot make the survival of our auto industry dependent on an unending flow of taxpayer dollars," he said. "These companies -- and this industry -- must ultimately stand on their own, not as wards of the state."

General Motors Corp. is expected to name turnaround executive Al Koch as its new chief restructuring officer to guide the auto maker's trip through Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Koch, a managing director at the advisory firm AlixPartners LLP, will be named to the post when GM files its bankruptcy papers at 8 a.m. Monday at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York's Southern District, these people said. He will be the highest-ranking outsider in GM's officer ranks and oversee about 60 Alix employees working for the auto maker.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Lee Iacocca, the car executive credited with saving Chrysler from bankruptcy in the 1980s, is to lose a big chunk of his pension and a guaranteed life-long company car due to the U.S. automaker's bankruptcy filing two decades later. Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli told a U.S. bankruptcy court on Thursday that Iacocca's pension would be among the obligations Chrysler will no longer have to pay if it gets bankruptcy court approval to sell itself to a "New Chrysler" to be owned by its union, the U.S. and Canadian governments and Fiat SpA (FIA.MI).

Here's the lowdown. The takeaway here is don't panic. And even if GM is in bankruptcy, the company will continue to operate. Cars will still be sold, you will still be able to get parts and service. If you own a GM car, life won't change too drastically. The government has already stepped in and said it would guarantee warranties from companies in bankruptcy during the restructuring period. And GM has said it will honor warranties if it goes into bankruptcy If you own a Saturn, a Saab or a Hummer, car models that GM is trying to sell, the...

GM shares fall below $1 as deadline approaches GM stock falls below $1, lowest trade since 1933 as Chapter 11 filing appears likely On Friday May 29, 2009, 11:44 am EDT NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of General Motors Corp. fell below $1 on Friday for the first time in 76 years as the struggling automaker approached a government-imposed restructuring deadline and a likely filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. GM shares lost more than 22 percent to fall as low as 87 cents in morning trading. It was the stock's lowest trade since April 18, 1933, according to the...

(WXYZ) - The man who many credit with saving Chrysler in the 1980s is losing a big part of his pension and his life-long car because of the company's bankruptcy filing.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The latest bond exchange offer from General Motors Corp "sends a chilling message to all individual bondholders," GM Bondholders Unite, a grass-roots organization representing individual GM creditors, said on Thursday. "The 'offer' to individual GM bond investors is ridiculously lopsided because it arbitrarily favors other groups, at the expense of the legal rights, under the U.S. Constitution, of hundreds of thousands of individual GM bond investors," the group said in a statement on its website. GM earlier on Thursday said it had reached a deal with major bondholders that would give them a bigger stake in...

GM prepares for biggest bankruptcy in US history General Motors is preparing to place itself into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and put its core assets into a new company despite reaching an 11th-hour deal with approximately 20pc of its militant bondholders. By James Quinn, Wall Street Correspondent 28 May 2009 GM's total debt stands at approximately $62bn GM, whose total debt stands at approximately $62bn, is expected to file for bankruptcy on Monday as it attempts to restructure its entire operations and rid itself of its debts once and for all. The bankruptcy filing will be the biggest in US...