Free Republic

Dan Lauria will play former Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill in the upcoming biopic Reagan. He’ll play opposite Dennis Quaid, who plays the 40th president. In a statement, director Sean McNamara said, “He and Dennis have the chemistry needed to portray Reagan and O’Neill as two politicians who were respectful adversaries.” In Washington, the 1980s friendship between Reagan and O’Neill has long been viewed as a contrast to recent decades, as partisan rifts have gotten more personal.

From: Tapper, Jake [mailto:Jake.Tapper@abc.com] Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 10:07 AM To: Faiz Shakir Cc: Lenzner, Emily A; Schneider, Jeffrey W Subject: Re: following up Cc: John Podesta Jeffrey Schneider Emily Lenzner Off the record Faiz -- As I told you many times off the record, both in email and on the phone, the premise of your story is just false. You nonetheless wrote it anyway, indicating quite clearly that you don't care about accuracy or the truth in your reporting. You wanted to push a narrative that I was used by the right wing media, so you wrote what...

Cliff Asness, whose firm manages some $20 billion of assets, has written an open letter blasting President Obama for his attack on the hedge fund industry in the wake of the Chrysler bankruptcy. As you'll recall, hedge funds, which hold approximately $1 billion in Chrysler bonds, refused the government's offer to take approximately thirty cents on the dollar. Obama accused hedge funds of holding out "for the prospect of an unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout." These comments have enraged many in the industry but few have spoken out publicly. Asness, whose firm doesn't hold Chrysler bonds, says the industry is genuinely afraid...

Detroit, Mich. — The scandal over White House threats to Chrysler debt holders got deeper yesterday — and its MSM cover-up more inexcusable — as two more representatives of creditors corroborated lawyer Tom Lauria’s account that the Obama administration threatened them with ruin if they did not accept Chrysler’s restructuring terms giving 55 percent of the company to the UAW. Media outlets like MSNBC pooh-poohed Lauria’s account over the weekend by noting that Perella Weinberg — the firm allegedly threatened for not taking the administration’s forced deal of 29 cents on their investment dollar — denied the allegation. Others noted...

Business Insider reports that more than one Chrysler senior creditor has corroborated Thomas Lauria’s allegation that the Obama administration threatened them with public attacks if they didn’t surrender their contractual rights. One of their sources says that the Obama team comprises some of the worst “ends justify the means” people he’s ever encountered (via HA reader Geoff A):

Just two days ago, No Quarter, a handful of blogs and a thimbleful of major media caught on to the Chrysler holdout firms' attorney, Tom Lauria, and his accusations that Obama's auto czar, Steven Rattner, threated to destroy P-W's reputation if they continued to oppose the government orchestrated sell out of Chrysler to Fiat SpA. Perella-Weinberg has a stake in Chrysler via their Xerion [Capital] Fund. Chrysler, itself, is currently owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP. Try to keep all these names straight... these players are going to continue to reappear, along with some others you may not know about....

WH issues their "not I, said the little red hen" denial "The charge is completely untrue," said White House deputy press secretary Bill Burton, "and there's obviously no evidence to suggest that this happened in any way." Mata Musing: yeah... like they're so stupid as to leave a trail of evidence of threats? But then, Pellera Weinberg, magically, is no longer in opposition and a part of the lawsuit. my my ~~~ A quiet story making it's rounds only thru cyberspace it that of Bankruptcy Attorney, Tom Lauria of White & Case. Mr. Lauria represents the Chrysler holdouts - a...