Supreme Court Stiffs Obama - puts Chrysler sale on hold

The fact that Justice Ginsburg issued the stay is shocking. There must be some merit or I don't believe she would have considered even issuing this temporary stay, as it is absolutely a slap in the face to Obama and his fellow thugs that intimidated attorneys to force this through under Obama's terms. They disregarded bankruptcy law and hopefully the Supreme Court will make them backup and start over again. There might well be still a glimmer of hope that contract law still means something in this Country.

The Supreme Court is in place to defend our Constitution. I hope that they will live up to the purpose for their existence given to them by our founding fathers. Maybe they will be the ones to put the brakes on Obama's Administration before we experience a Constitutional train wreck.

It's been nauseating how Obama declares that everything is an emergency, that it has to be passed right now. It's intentional on his part so there's not enough time to mount a defense against what he's trying to do. Honestly, how many times did he shove something down our throats by telling us that Western Civilization would cease to exist if some massive trillion dollar budget busting bill wasn't immediately passed? Maybe this is the beginning of the end for Obama's fiscal emergencies.
Rees

from Yahoo News
June 8, 2009

High court blocks Chrysler sale to Fiat

WASHINGTON – Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Monday delayed Chrysler's sale of most of its assets to a group led by Italy's Fiat, but didn't say how long the deal will remain on hold.

Ginsburg said in an order that the sale is "stayed pending further order," indicating that the delay may only be temporary.

Chrysler LLC has said the sale must close by June 15, or Fiat Group SpA has the option to walk away, leaving the Auburn Hills, Mich., automaker with little option but to liquidate.

A federal appeals court in New York approved the sale Friday but gave opponents until 4 p.m. EDT Monday to try to get the Supreme Court to intervene. Ginsburg issued her order right before the deadline.

Ginsburg could decide on her own whether to end the delay, or she could ask the full court to decide. It is unclear when she or the court will act.

Chrysler said it had no comment until it receives further information from the court.

Chrysler claims the agreement with Fiat is the best deal it can get for its assets and is critical to the company's plan to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

But a trio of Indiana state pension and construction funds, which hold a small part of Chrysler's debt, have been fighting the sale, claiming that it unfairly favors Chrysler's unsecured stakeholders ahead of secured debtholders like themselves.

As part of Chrysler's restructuring plan, the automaker's secured debtholders will receive $2 billion, or about 29 cents on the dollar, for their combined $6.9 billion in debt. The Indiana funds bought their $42.5 million in debt in July 2008 for 43 cents on the dollar.

The funds also are challenging the constitutionality of the Treasury Department's use of money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to supply Chrysler's bankruptcy protection financing. They say the government did so without congressional authority.

Consumer groups and individuals with product-related lawsuits also are contesting a condition of the Chrysler sale that would release the company from product liability claims related to vehicles it sold before the "New Chrysler" partnered with Fiat is created.

Individuals with claims against "Old Chrysler" would have to seek compensation from the parts of the company not being sold to Fiat. But those assets have limited value and it's doubtful that there will be anything available to pay consumer claims.

The appeals come as Congress intensifies its scrutiny of the Obama administration's government-led restructuring of Chrysler and General Motors Corp. The Senate Banking Committee said it planned to call Ron Bloom, a senior adviser to the auto task force, and Edward Montgomery, who serves as the Obama administration's director of recovery for auto communities and workers, to a hearing Wednesday.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., the committee's chairman, planned to review the use of TARP funds to help the auto companies and look at whether taxpayers will receive a return on their investment.

GM and Chrysler executives faced questions last week from Congress over the elimination of hundreds of dealerships as part of the companies' reorganizations
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