The Supremes Vs Chicago

Justice Ginsberg showed that even a very liberal justice has limits. The Chicago gang in the Administration may have met their match by puting the UAW above investors in the Chrysler bankruptcy. It is one thing to push for the change in the law and get the legislature to change it but quite another just to ignore the law when you think it is better to support one group over another. In working towards expanding the dependant class, President Obama has built a team that is choosing the winners and losers based on “fairness’ to the common guy. The problem is the common guy in this case has to be a UAW member. Other unions that had invested in bonds from the auto makers are less important and will have to take their losses. The financial markets and bankruptcy law require the bond holders will be put in the position of owning the company when it comes out.
Obama and team understand the negotiations union style (Godfather) that has been prevalent since the 1950’s. There was a time when the union and companies truly negotiated a reasonable contract for the good of all involved. For more then 5 decades the union would pick a firm to strike, get a contract and then base the other’s contracts on the first. This gives the union undue power over the process. All they do is put a contract in front of management and wait for a signature. If no signature the union just waits for the firm to lose enough money that investors force a settlement. Meanwhile, the rest of the firms continue to operate taking all the sales. Now the UAW wants to own 55% of Chrysler.
Some wonder why so many of the Chrysler bond holders agreed to the deal. Well it goes back to the way the Chicago politicians (Godfathers) negotiate. Most that approved the deal were also TARP recipients. Maybe this is like the BofA takeover of Merrill Lynch – ordered to do the deal even though Merrill Lynch had cooked the books for some $14 billion. Once again a deal was made that could not be refused. A string of activities by this administration is really starting to smell like 3 day old fish.