Chrysler Non-TARPies Surrender, Clear Way for Fiatsler

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

The day after they were “outed” by a federal bankruptcy judge’s fiat, Chrysler’s holdout debt holders have thrown in the proverbial towel. And whom do the non-TARPies blame for their recalcitrance and capitulation. Lawyers White & Case said their clients withdrew for “various reasons . . . as a consequence of concerns stemming from publicity of these Chapter 11 cases.” In other words, they were intimidated! This despite the fact that they were unable to prove their claim that they’d been subject to death threats for their reluctance to take the government’s debt-for-equity swap—other than a few comments posted on a website (go internet!). And while they were at it, the non-TARPies’ brief cleared-up the question plaguing financially savvy conspiracy theorists everywhere. The law firm said none of their clients hold credit default swaps, which would have paid off their entire holdings if the judge had ordered a Chrysler liquidation. (Doh!) The White House said “whew!” “While there is still a lot of work to do, this development gives us further confidence that Chrysler’s bankruptcy will be quick and orderly,” White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, elucidated.

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

More by Robert Farago

Comments
Join the conversation
4 of 37 comments
  • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on May 07, 2009

    Any of you hear Howard Dean (you know, the guy that recently ran the Democratic party) and is one of Obama's close advisers (according to Dean). "I think we had quite enough capitalism in the last 8 years"

  • Robert Schwartz Robert Schwartz on May 07, 2009
    IT SHINES AND IT STINKS
  • Pch101 Pch101 on May 07, 2009
    I’m listening to Michael Barone, hardly an extremist and pretty representative of the moderate center... Er, Barone is as much a centrist as is Noam Chomsky. This is the same guy who described Obama's government as a "Thugocracy" and who blathers on about the "liberal media", while doing his gig on Fox. You have to be pretty extreme yourself if you think that a guy who tilts that far right is in the middle. It's OK if you like him, but at least be honest about what he is, and moderate it ain't. They may have something better…a President who is committing to proving that this can work. Here's the (sort of) secret about the VEBA -- it was doomed to fail from the start. The union leadership sold it to their people because they couldn't admit that their future benefits were in question, and probably screwed. The Old GM and Chrysler weren't going to fund it, and the New ones probably won't, either. The UAW heads, management and now implicitly the US government have all lied to these people. The leadership apparently lacked the courage to go back to their members and tell them that they had failed them. At this point, they're stalling. Stalling has become a common theme with anything involving this company.
  • Nick Nick on May 07, 2009

    On a less political note...whatever that rusting hulk is it must have rocked appearance-wise when new.

Next