By Bill Wilson
America has now officially gone down the rabbit hole, following Alice into a bizarre world where words have no meaning, nothing is fixed and certain, and all the basic rules on which we all have depended simply do not apply.
Case in point, Barack Obama’s actions on the announced bankruptcy of Chrysler.
It is being widely reported that Obama showed “a flash of anger” when discussing a group he termed “a small group of speculators” who have thus far refused to give in to government demands. What was the “crime” of this group? They didn’t roll over and allow Obama and his thugs at Treasury to steal from them. How dare they! When Dear Leader speaks, don’t they know everyone is supposed to just comply?
So, while you will not get the truth or the facts from the controlled media, those outlets doing the bidding and dirty work of Obama and his henchmen, here are the simple facts of the situation.
Chrysler has been bankrupt for some time now. The company borrowed billions of dollars from the private sector in a desperate attempt to cover up their failed management and slavish subservience to the union bosses at the UAW. As the economy turned sour, they couldn’t keep the charade going. That was when the government stepped in last December and bailed them out.
But even Congress would not go along with this scam. George Bush just did it without Congressional authority. Chrysler was given until the end of the March to come up with a plan or else that was to be it, no more taxpayer money. Bankruptcy would be the only course left.
Obama and crew extended that a month to April 30. But the deal was supposedly set – either come to an arrangement with the unions, the bondholders who are owed nearly $7 billion and strike a deal with Fiat to be taken over – or else. The “or else” was supposedly the threat that they would be left to their own devices and have to face the consequences of their bad behavior and mindlessly stupid decisions.
But in the Obama-nation, friends of radical chic Left don’t have to bear the consequences of their actions. This is especially true for greedy union officials and other foot-soldiers in the Obama coalition. For them, there is endless welfare, handouts and bailouts.
As April 30 approached, the Treasury Department stepped in with a heavy jack-boot. The bondholders – people who have extended loans to Chrysler in good faith – were told to accept 33 cents on the dollar, and to be happy about it. A group of these bondholders refused. They rightly saw that to accept so little was tantamount to having their pockets picked. And, to rub salt in the wounds, the government that is supposed to uphold the law and protect citizens was on the side of the muggers, helping them steal nearly $5 billion.
Make no mistake about it, this is theft. $5 billion is being taken by force from the private sector and funneled into union pension funds and other leftist devices. Private citizens gave Chrysler loans. The government is now telling these citizens to take a huge loss. When they refuse, the President of the United States publicly rebukes, ridicules, and attacks them.
Why isn’t Obama attacking the thugs at the UAW who bear a large part of the responsibility for the company’s financial mess? The primary reason the government did not allow Chrysler to go into Bankruptcy Court was purely to keep those pension and health plans in force. A Bankruptcy Court would have put the claims of the bondholders first and made the UAW accept less. Now, with the force of the government dictating the terms, the exact opposite is about to occur. Yes, the Red Queen is on her head.
The entire financial crisis has more twists and turns than a romp along the Skyline Drive. And, the American people are justifiably angry at Wall Street for their excess and cavalier attitude. But that anger is not an excuse for allowing the government of the United States to become a thief, to imitate the worst actions of a Hugo Chavez and other Third World dictators. Unfortunately, that seems to be the course Obama has set out upon.
So, to that small band of bondholders who refused to buckle under the pressure of Obama’s threats, good for you. Stay strong and resist the demands to be patsies for a government regime that is moving ever closer to the corrupt, thuggish Third World model it seems to admire so much. Whether Americans know it or not, we all win if you win.
Bill Wilson is the President of Americans for Limited Government.
