Comments on: Chrysler Bankruptcy Exposes Dirty Politics

Declan McCullagh: Obama Calls Creditors Who Lent Money To Chrysler "Speculators," But What About the Rule Of Law?

[kstornado]

I'm posting this information everywhere I can so people will be aware.... I sold my Chrysler sebring last month and received a refund in the amount of $284.00 on the Warranty and Gap insurance that I got when I purchased my sebring in 2004. I deposited the checks in my bank and guess what....THEY BOUNCED! The checks were written on a FROZEN/BLOCKED account. ***! Isn't that illegal!!

I immediately called Chrysler because now I'm out almost $300.00 that I've already paid bills on! After 20 minutes on the phone trying to understand foreign accents I'm supposed to be receiving replacement checks (yea checks) in 10 to 14 days!! But they won't pay for the bank fees that I now have to eat. Chrysler even had the nerve to tell me to call my bank and ask them to waive the fees. Again...***. It's not my banks fault that Chrysler wrote me 2 hot checks, not my fault that Chrysler wrote me 2 hots checks....IT CHRYSLER'S FAULT!

At this time, I would be very nervous to purchase anything Chrysler. Its the little people like us who are going to suffer. Thank God I traded in my Chrysler for a Suzuki. I guess it worked out for the best that Chrysler wouldn't give me a good deal and Suzuki could. What does that say? Anyone who currently owns a Chrysler and purchased an extended Warranty and Gap insurance beware you could be screwed in the end!

[finan1]

Some of you don't get it. These funds are owned by you and me. When I invest in bonds, and the bond fund takes a hit like this, I lose. You seem to think that these funds are owned by a few rich companies. No, they are owned by the people with 401Ks and private investors. These are the people that save and are responsible for creating wealth in our economy.

So in essence what has been accomplished by a few Chrylser employees has now sent ripples throughout the entire bond market. Instead of making credit easier, now it will make it more difficult for companies struggling to get credit. Bond values are plummeting just like 401Ks and all of the equity here in the US.

The dems must get over their infatuation with the poor, or else the US is going to be an entire nation of excactly that - an entire nation of poor people.

[policywank]

What is it that Mr. McCullagh is so upset about? Congress passed no law. The President issued no executive order. What we had were opposing camps exercising their right to free speech. If the senior creditors are neither clever nor persuasive enough to craft a case that the public would find compelling, they were still free to pursue their interests in court. They freely chose not to do so. Mr. McCullagh should save his wrath for the creditors who abandoned his crusade against the workers of Chrysler.

[peekay19]

To Bouyancy101,

You did not vote for Obama, never campaign for him, and has never been a democrat. You don't have the makeup of a democrat, and you want join the party that survive on the suffering of others? The party that vehemently opposed: the civil rights movement, workers rights, financial aid to students, and subsidized student loans. Programs that offer equal opportunity to everyone, including poor people to be the best that they can be. Spare me your lies; I think you've found a party that fits your psychograph.
Do you know how many high paid lawyers are the pay rolls of these investors, if the government did anything illegal, they would have been court litigating. I bet you so closed minded so you don't how often the so call "victims" investors take advantage of the little guy. The author tried humanized the investors, trust me these are hedge funds and mutual funds who only care about their percentages and commissions.
If the government doesn't fight for the workers, who's going to fight for them?

[boyancy01]

I live in PA and was buying a 300M at Reedmans Auto Center this weekend (Was supposed to have it this Saturday, today). After reading this article, I called up the Chrysler dealer, and told them that I want to cancel. They bloated, bargained, and everything, even knocked off $1,900 off the sticker price. The guy than started talking about his family, his employees, and the American economy. I said no, absolutely no. I will not invest in a company that engages in dirty politics. It wasn't the money I was spending, it was the ethics of their business.

I voted for Obama, but I wish I hadn't. I campaigned for Obama, I wish I hadn't. I donated to the Democratic Party, I wish I hadn't. I told others to vote for Obama, I wish I hadn't.

Congrats Republicans, today I join your side. Don't mess it up this time :)

[kevsan1]

If I recall, Declan advocated not too long ago that all the auto companies should be forced into bankruptcy. Now he's saying it's a bad idea? Another moron posting on the Internet is what he is. What did he think would happen when bankruptcy occurs. Everyone takes a hit.

And he completely ignores the workers and common folks who always get the shaft from investors, banks, etc., who, we should always remember, were behind all the massive layoffs and movement of jobs to other countries just so they can see maximum earnings for no sweat investment on their part. Management often does the bidding of the investors. They are getting their reward now for our suffering. 29 cents on the dollar is really too much for them. I hope the judge says they get nothing, seizes their assets and/or throws them into jail for contempt. Wish we could throw them in for theft, too.

[peekay19]

Good, but disingenuous piece. For starters, without the government the bondholders would have been in a worse situation than the .29 that the government is offering them. One way that a party to a contract can be discharged of his or her contractual duty, is through bankruptcy. If it was unlawful for the government to put the plight of the workers above the bondholders, they would have been in court litigating. You have to be a person of low intelligence to buy into what Thomas Lauria of White & Case's bankruptcy practice, is selling. The white house has the right to defend its action as well as respond to criticism, doing just that, does not amount to destroying ones reputation. Anytime a company goes into bankruptcy, the only beneficiaries are people like Lauria. The author is making the bondholders out to be victims, no they're not. For years both hedge and mutual fund managers have been complicit to bad management decisions and unconscionable CEO salary.
The only real victims or losers here are the workers, who gave everything they've to Chrysler, only to be robbed by investors who are more concern about short term results and inefficient and selfish managers.

[brianbwb-2009]

"These creditors, by the way, represent something of a cross-section of America: the University of Kentucky, Kraft Foods' retirement fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, pension funds, teachers' credit unions, and so on."

Disingenuous attempts at heart-string tugging. Mr McCullagh, everyone knows that these creditors simply allocated funds to the fund managers based on promised returns, it was the fund managers who determined where it would go. Your use of "human shields" behind which to hide a blatantly fascist agenda fools very few at this point.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Without those greedy "vultures" and "rogues" injecting sorely-needed cash into a business they knew was risky, Chrysler might have been forced to declare bankruptcy much earlier..."

And the impact would have been less than if they declared it later, and we would now be further along the path of recovering from their demise. McCullah seems to think that wasting money trying to delay the inevitable is somehow a virtue.

" (And now that lenders know they may be demonized by the president, will they be as likely to help out next time?)"

They didn't help out this time, and there is no reason to think that they would ever "help out", their kind of "help" is not needed. They actually exacerbated the problem. McCullah might serve his point better by explaining just what "help" these hedge funds actually are.

Come on CBS, you can get better contributions than this, don't "Chrysler" yourselves by foisting this faeces upon the public as credible product.

[brianbwb-2009]

"... behaves like he is still running ACORN, he is not only screwing GM and Chryslar, he is screwing the entire credit markets." Posted by biggoofer

A few points, you are sooo afraid of the grassroots organization called ACORN, it is funny, but when was Mr. Obama actually running ACORN? I believe that comment to be a lie.

GM and Chrysler "screwed" themselves, making overpriced products that no one wanted, ignoring real trends, and laying off the core of the car buying public. You are deluded if you think that they can continue to survive making products that fewer and fewer can afford, or even want. Regardless of how much credit they might borrow against, it means nothing if no one can buy their product.

As far as credit goes, thinkers from Thomas Jefferson to Marcus Garvey, and many others knew long ago that credit was only a step towards slavery, and tried to discourage over-reliance on it, you however appear to support slavery, and posit that credit markets are something that should be allowed to prey on the public with impunity. Your entire concept is flawed, as proven by the current economic situation.