Chrysler sale by fiat?

Posted by Marc Hodak on April 30, 2009 under Politics | Be the First to Comment

Unfortunately for Obama, the government doesn’t control the whole financial sector yet.  If it did, then it could have forced all of Chrysler’s lenders to bend over for the country.

As of last night’s deadline, we were part of a group of approximately 20 relatively small organizations; we represent many of the country’s teachers unions, major pension and retirement plans and school endowments who have invested through us in senior secured loans to Chrysler. Combined, these loans total about $1 billion. None of us have taken a dime in TARP money.

As much as anyone, we want to see Chrysler emerge from its current situation as a viable American company, and we are committed to doing what we can to help. Indeed, we have made significant concessions toward this end — although we have been systematically precluded from engaging in direct discussions or negotiations with the government; instead, we have been forced to communicate through an obviously conflicted intermediary: a group of banks that have received billions of TARP funds.

…We have a fiduciary responsibility to all those teachers, pensioners, retirees and others who have entrusted their money to us. We are legally bound to protect their interests. Much as we empathize with Chrysler’s other stakeholders, the capital is just not ours to contribute to their cause by accepting a deal that is outside the well established legal framework and cannot be rationalized as being commercially reasonable.

This was signed:  “The Committee of Chrysler Non-Tarp Lenders”

Translation:  We know you want the capitalists to subsidize the workers.  We read Marx, too.  You might be able to get away with those kinds of demands with the banks under your control using whatever forms of financial waterboarding you’re employing on them.  But that’s not how we’re going to play this.  Our vision of what’s fair doesn’t involved screwing our investors for your politically favored constituencies.  Don’t like it?  Tell it to the judge.