…and the One won?
As the President intervenes in more and more industries, a key question is how he does it and what he is trying to achieve. Is he trying to reorganize insolvent firms while, as much as possible, preserving the rights of stakeholders as established under existing contracts? Or is he trying to achieve a “fair” outcome as he judges it, regardless of preexisting rules and agreements? I fear it may be the latter, in which case politics may start to trump the rule of law.
May?
Oh, I think that ship has already sailed, professor.
I won’t get too in depth here (having written it all before), but, briefly, I’ll offer the so-called Living Constitution and its vocal proponents as the reason why we are where we are, and note that formalism, once it surrounds itself with certain ideological assumptions about truth and language, becomes nothing more than post-structuralism with a post modernist chaser — and should we wish to end this kind of madness, we need to revisit our assumptions about language, and to insist that intention once again become the anchor for meaning.
The Constitution was never supposed to live, in the sense proponents of the Living Constitution suggest; instead, it is supposed to create the parameters of our social contract. And as such, it needs to be fixed.
But as with other contracts that the government is learning it can break at a whim, our founding contract only works when we insist on its integrity.
Without that? Well, welcome to the monkey house.
“Dyin’ ain’t much of a livin’.” – The OUTLAW Josie Wales
I take it you’re unfamiliar with the concept of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
If the One had wanted the Rule of Law to apply he could have just let the bankruptcy proceed interrupted. The fact that he’s involved at all is proof of special exemption from legal process.
The lawlessness began its recent hayride with the Treasury, Fed and Bush pushing for a wildly arbitrary Bill to fund the bailouts. Lord Unicorn supported the bill, and has doubled down, and doubled down yet again. Just make the process sufficiently arcane and complex, and no one will know what they’re doing. We have the opposite of transparency. TARP alone has what, over twenty criminal investigations going on into its own malfeasance? And that’s mere fraud. Not even the wholesale Peronism that defines this “Administration” and its approach.
There is precedent for this arbitrary sabotage of the economy. Amity Shlaes gives an example, one of many:
“Some of the worst destruction came with FDR’s gold experiment. If he could drive up the price of gold by buying it, he reasoned, other prices would rise as well. Roosevelt was right to want to introduce more money into the economy (the United States was deflating). But his method was like trying to raise an ocean level by adding water by the thimbleful. What horrified markets even more was that FDR managed the operation personally, day by day, over a breakfast tray. No one ever knew what the increase would be. One Friday in November 1933, for example, Roosevelt told Treasury Secretary Henry Morgenthau that he thought the gold price ought to be raised 21 cents. Why that amount, Morgenthau asked. “Because it’s three times seven,” FDR replied.
Morgenthau later wrote that “if anybody knew how we set the gold price, through a combination of lucky numbers, etc., I think they would be frightened.””
A nation of non-gender specific anthropomorphs, not laws.
#2 – I take it you are unfamiliar with Article, Section 8? Point to the LAW that is being followed, please
I take it you’re unfamiliar with the concept of Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
I take it you’re unfamiliar with what’s going on with GM.
My bold. There it is, an open, public plea against Executive branch lawlessness.
It is reassuring to see this stated in the affirmative. It’s something less than reassuring that it so obviously needs to be re-affirmed.
Now, excuse me, I need to delete the bookmarks from all the blogs and websites full of those too timid to call this what it is. It’s that lack of courage, cloaked in manners, that is as much to blame as anything.
Article 1, Section 8.
LTC John, I believe the laws that are being followed, and the source of Mankiw’s correspondent’s discomfort, are sections 363(b) and (f) of the bankruptcy code.
Contrary to formerly received opinion, I think we learned last night that the Constitution is in fact a suicide pact. How else to read a sitting President placing his [metaphorical] outstretched finger on the lapel of his predecessor, begin forcefully poking away at him while reciting “you and your ghastly stain on America’s character of an Administration practiced torture, you immoral cretin, all while you pretended to be saving American lives….”?
I take it that you have very limited reading comprehension.
My bold. There it is, an open, public plea against Executive branch lawlessness.
It is reassuring to see this stated in the affirmative. It’s something less than reassuring that it so obviously needs to be re-affirmed.
All the blogs and websites full of those too timid to call this what it is? It’s that lack of courage, cloaked in manners, that is as much to blame as anything.
I take it you’ve also never heard of Chapter 11, Pablo. Is there any indication that secureds and unsecureds will have the same priority?
#12 – that is what we will have to see. It is unnerving to have the POTUS rattling the sabre about “a small group of speculators” (the bondholders who didn’t roll over)… why is that necessary or desirable?
Have to share.
There’s a really great way to get rid of crabs.
If you get and infestation, shave off half of your pubic hair.
Set fire to the other half.
Stab the little sons a bitches with an icepick as they flee for their lives.
Come to think of it, that sorta sounds like some administration policies, doesn’t it?
We are well and truely f*ck’d.
The trio of Pelosi, Reid, & Obama are governing outside of the Constitution.
In an interview on CNBC, Chrysler’s chief executive, Robert L. Nardelli, said he would leave Chrysler after it emerges from bankruptcy protection. He said Chrysler would be run by a new nine-member board, including three representatives from Fiat. The board will select a new chief executive. Mr. Nardelli said that the government did not ask him to leave, but that he felt it would be appropriate to do so.
I take it he saw what happened to the top guy at GM, who waited around to be told to leave.
Perf!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s your favorite Goose-stepping Commieleftard dropping by to say hello. Glad to see you are still holding it down in the ’09 for the Clizzassical Libs. I would stay and troll, but I have been really busy. I do read you somewhat regularly (the pictures never fail to crack my shit up). Tell JD, McGehee, Al, Carin, Pablo, Happy, et al that I said hi!
— Comrade S.T.
I liked it better when Banana Republic was just a store at the mall.
Comrade – thanks for stopping by.
LISA!!!!!!!
My favorite commie/lib after Cameron Diaz! (heh)
I urged JD to E-Mail you and tell you how much we missed you. I was concerned that the whole “slavery apology” thing haD soured you ON US Reich-wingers. Your irreverent charm, humor and left wing cluelessness has been missed!
COMRADE!!!
If it’s just a routine Chapter 11, what’s Obama doing sticking his nose into it?
Crab People, I think you’re unfamiliar with the basic facts of the case. Don’t worry, it’s a common problem for people talking out their ass.
Hey Lisa! We’ve missed you!
The government is the a significant (the largest?) creditor. That’s why it’s involved. If there is cause for complaint, it’s in the initial loan.
Also, US Trustees (i.e. the government) are routinely involved in Ch. 11 reorganizations.
You know what would have been even better, crabby person? If Chrysler and GM had just gone on ahead with the bankruptcy six months ago, the way God intended, instead of draining the treasury and wasting everyone’s time.
But give Crab People props for coming in with arguments instead of ad hominems. If you’d like to stick around and make good solid arguments for your side, CP, we’d all welcome that.
By the way, this does tie in nicely with Jeff’s earlier post on the moves to register hedge and VC funds under the SEC.
The government already has it’s hooks into the TARP banks. Yet, other forms of capital still seem insistent on practicing non-Obama approved capitalism. Better stop that as quickly as possible.
Crab People, you do know that “the government” is not some giant monolithic thing, right? That there’s a difference between a bankruptcy court and the elected executive? And that bankruptcy judges don’t get to do whatever the hell they please with a company, but have a set of guidelines about who gets paid and in what order? Right? Right?
But … But … But … I was assured that the monolithic government was gonna bring me my HOPENCHANGE!!!
Where’s my free gas and t-shirt?
We can’t call it fascism though.
Too fraught. And nothing is worse than being fraught. Not even fascism.
No argument from me there, dicentra. But that doesn’t mean that there’s anything illegal/unconstitutional going on here. A bunch of creditors and the company failed to come to agreement outside of bankruptcy, so now they’ll have to do it in front of a bankruptcy judge.
broken quanta, I was speaking of the US trustee, not the bankruptcy judge. That may explain your non-responsive comment; also note my earlier reference to creditor priority.
For those worried about the Lightworker running roughshod over everyone, look for what business justification is offered for the 363 sale under Lionel Corp. and its progeny.
Hiya, Lisa.
Come back anytime!
Any possibility that AIG is on the hook for more Credit Default Swap (“CDS”) payments due to this bankruptcy filing?
And how far behind Chrysler LLC is GM (that’s Government Motors to you, pal)?
I really am a thread killer….
I suggest people read the statement from the “The Committee of Chrysler Non-Tarp Lenders”. Jeff linked and I’ll do so again.
History didn’t start with this Chap 11 filing. Previous actions have some people worried.
Not all lenders can use the money they took from the government to offset the losses the government is now asking them to take. So, the lenders are no more monolithic than the government.
We’ll see how it shakes out, but let’s not ignore the past or the different backgrounds of the different lenders.
Don’t think I won’t mock your new purchase of a piece of shit dirty socialist American automobile. Loser.
Lisa Lisa! here today gone tomorrow it’s possible but I doubt it I think but still you should visit more. Our new America is scary and gloomy and sometimes I feel like I can’t breathe cause of the air is so thick with socialisms.
Happyfeet: I’ll bet if you ask nicely, Lisa will get you armbands and flags.
Crab People, yes and no.
narrowly, you are correct. Via its role as a major convertible creditor, the USG was within its rights to dictate terms, although frankly, as you appear to know, creditors are rarely involved in the operational details of the company and simply want principle and interest repayment on a timely basis. This was a soft takeover, i would argue. I could concieve of both equity holders, who bear the risk of the enterprise, and other creditors, notionally pari-pasu, wanting to have had input into Waggoner’s replacement.
this whole “thing” is just ugly and wrong…and wrong-spirited. If the USG can start deciding (actually not the USG, but rather a media M&A investment banker cum major money donor)what business plans and what executives “it” deems effective, then something is truly and terribly wrong with both the letter and spirit of the law.
Political discourse is an unflushed toilet over the past eight years so that when we identify an over-arching governmental intrusion into private affairs, we have little outrage and imprecise verbiage to register outrage. We spent a lot of time throwing brick-brats at each other over NSA, wiretaps and telecom liability; Now, when Uncle Sam actually decides to take matters into his own hands, well, Obama’s still on the cover of People magazine.
Too fraught. And nothing is worse than being fraught. Not even fascism.
“The situation’s fraught!
Fraughter than I thought!
With horrible, impossible
Possibilities!”
so that when we identify an over-arching governmental intrusion
nice word choice
Yeah. What a pity there’s not a journalist worth an ounce of horseshit. An entire profession that — for my entire life — has preached endlessly about how critical they are to the functioning of a free society, how brave they are for standing up to the Powerful, how we’d descend into tyranny if they weren’t allowed to pursue their Journalistic Credo That Your Right to Know Supercedes Your Right to Exist…
They’re naught but lapdogs.
“over-arching”
You owe us five bucks. Rebatable if you can work in a “doggonit” in some future comment.
…their Journalistic Credo That Your Right to Know Supercedes Your Right to Exist…
Brilliantly said!
I have $5 that says you didn’t watch the interview.
Which is all but worthless since you need Daddy’s signature to pull it out of your trust.
TSI — as usual when I repeat something that brilliant, it’s the product of a better mind.
Rob, you are more right than wrong. I wasn’t a big fan of most of my colleagues in the MSM because they really shied away from the hard work and tough subjects. I have no problem with them being hard on Bush, as he was a stark incompetent, but i am livid at the fluffy love shown Obama because he is both black and liberal or, in the words of a former colleague, “Not Bush.”
Its easy to ride around Bagdad and say “things suck.” It was a lot harder when i went after a decent sized bank for being a key conduit for Hamas and Hizbollah money in the west bank, capital that was used to compensate suicide bombers, any number of whom had killed or grievoucly wounded Americans, to say nothing of thousands of Israelis.
Not a lot of love from Rob Crawford came in to my inbox those times. But i did get a email from a nice jewish girl from Long island whose lovely face is permanetly disfigured from when some suicide bomber walked into her shoe store with a nail packed bomb and blew off her nose and left eye.
Nor was there a lot of love when I waged a multi-year war on dozens of companies for sundry and various frauds. I won friends at the regulators, because I did their work for them, but I still recieve hate mail from the bagholding shareholders. The few reporters willing to do the work of lazy FBI agents and incompetent federal prosecutors, Im not even bringing up the SEC, like me got sued, subpoenaed or death threats, but probably not a lot of “Attaboy’s” from RC.
But youre right: the MSM essentially disgraced itself over the past 8 years and will continue to plumb depths you havent imagined. All that is left in most newsrooms are unionized untouchables and incompetents, as if there was a difference. Most, if not all, of the proverbial seed corn split–to flak, write books (like me), forensic research (like me), teach or whatever. Where I worked at Time Inc. they dont really break hard news anymore…everything is a feature, trend piece or profile. Truth be told, a half dozen 20 somethings do all the heavy lifting to get the issue out of the door.
They deserve the oppobrium (NB, Kelly–does the use of that word square the account?) because faced with the collapse of advertising dollars, they laid off the investigative reporters–myself included– who won them awards and got them the accolades.
Still, there were some good ones, who did hard, unpleasant digging that pissed off many and were thanked by few, the surest signs of a job well done for a reporter. Its just a shame that the platoon of good guys have to bear the shame of the regiments of douche bags.
I laughed and laughed at this joke the AP wrote today:
As part of the deal, Chrysler is signing a partnership with the Italian company Fiat. The government will be an investor in the revamped Chrysler and will help choose its new directors, but the Obama administration does not plan to help manage the company.
Looks like Frank Raines is front ‘n’ center again!
Rob, for what its worth, so you can bury the blade into me with more panache next time, please note that I had the Lichtblau/Risen SWIFT story NAILED DOWN months before they had heard of it…in 2004. I didnt write it, for my own reasons, but I didnt.
they have jobs and Pulitzers and I dont.
“Its just a shame that the platoon of good guys have to bear the shame of the regiments of douche bags.”
mcgruder – I am afraid that you may have just written what will be the epitath of the American magazine/newspaper journalist…
mcgruder…
The old saw about lawyers could apply equally to journalists: it’s the 95 jackasses that give the 5 good ones a bad name.
Section 8
I just had a Corporal Klinger flashback.
If you
YIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIP!!!
YIPYIPYIPYIPYIPYIP!
Mankiw himself brings up the rule of law as do some of the lenders.
I think we should call this the “Nothing to see here!” administration. Because I keep hearing that.
Mankiw was chairman of the CEA for a few years. The concerned lenders were able to scratch up a measly billion in capital. If they have concerns, it would seem foolish to ignore them. If that’s inconvenient, sorry.
So, how many jobs has Obama “created or saved” today? A million? A billion? A trillion?
Just keep digging. For the readers. The patriots. Not everyone wants to read how Obama & Watuzi keep their love alive.
Lawless. A good, short phrase that describes the first 100 days. Mention it though and you’re racist. Or Republican.
an over-arching governmental intrusion
What Hussein translates to in English.
Big goose egg there Spies. However unemployment is reaching an all time, post 1929 depression, high. In other breaking news; GM under the direction of the Obama administration has a whole new line of cars nobody wants. American Motors looks on from above with envy.
Oh, you will buy the cars, financed by shiny newly printed dollars, direct from the mint to you, a personal TARP. If you are the right type of people, you are the right type aren’t you?
Your papers please.
[shudder] Cut that out geoffb, you’re getting to be too goddamned good at it.
Okay, I’m not from the DC area so this is simply not an everyday occurrence, for me.
Interest rates have gone up .25% since the screwing of bondholders was announced. The world’s investors are downgrading Mr. Obama’s credit rating.
Obama is made of fail…
We are soooo fracked…
“I’ve got $5….”
The begging must have been good today.
So good to be back reading PW. Oh, why did I ever leave! Maybe it wuz all dem big, hard ta unnnerstan werds.