As Dan brought to our attention below, Jim Lindgren relates the government writing off over $7 billion to Chrysler. A nice little gift in and of itself. That leaves the $6 billion in ongoing loans that Obama mentioned, correct? Apparently not. From Evan Newmark, at the WSJ’s Deal Journal, we learn: Perhaps, the Obama team doesn’t believe that America can handle the truth of the Chrysler bailout’s full cost. Let’s

But that’s okay. With no charges, you’ll see no public trials. Instead, the punishment will happen beneath the radar, to be doled out by state bar associations. Remind me again: to whose campaigns does the bulk of ABA contributions go again? From the NYT: An internal Justice Department inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations but that they

…this time, GOP style… Unfortunately, in an age of soundbite politics, this seems, on the surface, like a necessary evil, this march toward pre-digestion for all the baby birds living outside the Beltway. After all, we need to win over that “moderate middle” — the ones who want government to control healthcare, employing unelected bureaucrats and giving them the power to make decisions about life and death. We have to

Ethics. — Which, predictably, is a euphemism for “adopting progressive positions” — and proscribing conservative thought in the process as necessarily unethical. Unethical thought, it follows, is hateful — the practical effect of which will be that it is just, from an “ethical” standpoint, to remove conservative positions from the marketplace of ideas, ostensibly to avoid giving offense to those who are responsible for determining “hate” (or “extremism”): the serially

Underwritten by US Government. You’re In A Good Neighbor’s Hands, Who’s There, with US Government.

At Legal Insurrection, William Jacobson is tracking the scandal of the various coverups of “Just Arugula Guy” Barack Obama’s apparent addiction to dijon mustard (pronounced “Paw-kee-Stawn”). Stacy has thoughts on this subject, too. Neither of them, however, drills to the bottom of the OUTRAGE. The Andrea Mitchell video of the visit of President Macho’s visit to Hell Burger is clearly dated yesterday, Cinco de Cinco. With Mexico reeling from the

Finally! Jake Tapper (via Melissa on Twitter): The Center for Public Integrity has a new study identifying the top 25 subprime lenders that helped start this economic meltdown. Analyzing 7.2 “high interest” loans made between 2005 and 2007, CPI says the top 25 lenders were responsible for 72 percent of the high-priced loans made at the peak of the subprime market. The 25 lenders are: – Countrywide Financial Corp. (at

At Volokh, Jim Lindgren reacts to the news that Chrysler isn’t going to pay back any of the pre-bankruptcy money–your money–that it was “loaned” by the government. As you’re aware, that money was converted into shares that now belong in large part to the UAW, who will sell them post-bankruptcy to fund their pension and health benefits plans. Congratulations, America: you just bailed out the UAW. Equal protection? Don’t make

From Business Insider: Creditors to Chrysler describe negotiations with the company and the Obama administration as “a farce,” saying the administration was bent on forcing their hands using hardball tactics and threats. Conversations with administration officials left them expecting that they would be politically targeted, two participants in the negotiations said. Although the focus has so been on allegations that the White House threatened Perella Weinberg, sources familiar with the

…is ever more identity politics. From the AP, “On May 5, Mexican dominance irks other Latinos”: With mariachis, tequila and parades, Cinco De Mayo will be celebrated this week in parties across the nation, kicking off a commemoration of Mexican heritage in the United States as a pseudo-holiday that has been adopted by the general population. But for Dagoberto Reyes, a Salvadorian immigrant living in Los Angeles, May 5 is