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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Germany is the latest under the Obama Bus

from Don Surber
June 5, 2009

President Obama continues to praise tyrranical enemies, while scorning the democratically elected leaders of our longtime allies.

I am really beginning to wonder about this guy. He seems to hate everything this nation has stood for 233 years.

In embracing the theocracies of Arabia — Cairo was on a lockdown for his sppech on Thusday — President Obama has to lie and gloss over the decades of anti-Semitism and anti-democratic and anti-liberty actions of his new friends.

It is incredible that this man who stands up for the “rights” of terrorists in Gitmo is a silent abettor of the negation of rights for the law-abiding peaceful citizens of Egypt and all those other sand lands.

Our allies notice.

“A rift has quietly opened up between Germany and the United States, marked by official statements of harmony and private grumbling. It is not an outright crisis in relations, but there are underlying tensions and disagreements on matters ranging from the global economic crisis to the future of inmates held at Guantánamo Bay,” the New York Times reported.

Obviously if the Official State Newspaper is reporting this, the rift is deeper.

John Kornblum, a former United States ambassador to Germany, told the Times, “They’re not angry, they’re not anti-Obama or anti-American. But they’re confused by the wave of criticism which has been sent at them by the administration and people close to the administration. It’s not that they don’t like him. They just feel like things aren’t working, like the levers of government are not being engaged to make issues run smoothly.”

Obama is a likeable guy. He is just anti-Western.

Germans get it.

He should have run for president of Kenya.

The New York Times story is here.

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The Obama's decline dinner with the Sarkozys

from The Times Online
by Charles Bremner in Paris
June 5, 2009

The Obamas turn up in Paris this evening, but have declined a dinner invitation from the couple next door: the Sarkozys.

President Obama’s reluctance to spend more than minimum time with the French leader on his visit for the D-Day anniversary has come as an embarrassment to the Elysée Palace.

America’s First Family will not be dining with President Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni, even though they are staying at the residence of the US Ambassador, yards from the Elysée apartments where the Sarkozys spend their weekends.

Mr Sarkozy’s staff were trying yesterday to arrange another private moment between the couples. Mr Obama is due to fly back to Washington tomorrow night or on Sunday.

Mr Sarkozy’s dream date would be dinner somewhere spectacular such as the Jules Verne, an Alain Ducasse restaurant on the Eiffel Tower. The Obamas were reported on French celebrity websites to be planning a meal there.

A glamorous joint outing might be compared with the ones that President de Gaulle undertook with John and Jackie Kennedy in 1961. On that trip, Mrs Kennedy was such a hit that JFK presented himself as “the man who accompanied Jackie Kennedy to Paris”.

Failure to socialise with the Obamas will add to mockery that has greeted Mr Sarkozy’s attempts to stage the 65th anniversary of D-Day as a “Barack and Sarko show”. The media and Opposition have mocked Mr Sarkozy over Mr Obama’s coolness towards him, which is only partly due to his handling of the Normandy commemoration.

Mr Sarkozy has been pilloried in France for his failure to invite the Queen to the events. “The palace is fearing a snub,” Le Parisien newspaper said yesterday after the news emerged of the Obamas’ plans to keep themselves to themselves.

Yesterday the popular comedian Nicolas Canteloup did an impression of Mr Sarkozy worrying that he had “only two days to become tall, handsome and elegant”. The French leader is 5½ inches shorter than Michelle Obama.

The French were also piqued after the White House said that it was working on an invitation to Normandy for the Royal Family. Face was saved when the Prince of Wales agreed to attend with Gordon Brown. “Sarkozy has pulled off a double hit: insulting Queen Elizabeth and exasperating Obama,” the weekly Canard Enchaîné said on Wednesday.

French worries about being snubbed were matched in Germany, where media and politicians are convinced that the brevity of Mr Obama’s trip there and a decision to avoid Berlin demonstrated his disapproval of Angela Merkel, the Chancellor. Mr Obama was due in Germany last night for a visit to Dresden and the Buchenwald death camp.

Mr Obama’s irritation with his French counterpart began when Mr Sarkozy tried to grab the limelight at the G20 summit in London in April and talked condescendingly of the US President in private. Mr Sarkozy told colleagues that he found Mr Obama to be inexperienced and unbriefed, especially on climate change. Mr Obama hit back last month, telling a visiting French minister: “Please tell Nicolas that I shall do my homework, and in two months I’ll know all about climate change.”

The leaders will have lunch in Caen tomorrow while their wives meet near by. They will then all attend the ceremony at the US cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer, above Omaha Beach.

Philippe Duron, the Mayor of Caen, has minted a slogan for his town in honour of Mr Obama: “Yes we Caen!”
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Obama just can't apologize enough...

from Investor's Business Daily
by Michael Ramirez
June 5, 2009

Obama Apology Tour Cartoon

from Investor's Business Daily
by Michael Ramirez

Romney to Obama: Stop apologizing - Great Video!

from Hot Air.com
by Allahpundit
June 3, 2009

Eh. American pride is smart retail politics, especially vis-a-vis Islam — according to CNN’s latest poll, the Muslim world is viewed less favorably in the U.S. now than it was in 2002 — but even so, this is a missed opportunity. Rather than Hannitized boilerplate about America being a force for good, Mitt should have explained why, given the irreconcilable differences in the Middle East and the entrenched jihadist elements that benefit from conflict, an apology won’t accomplish much of anything except flattering the left’s dogma about “root causes.” Instead he resorts to an argument about how self-abasement projects weakness, which may be true; but it’s also true that some kids who are flirting with radicalism might think twice after hearing it. How to quantify which of the two is likelier? It reminds me of the argument over whether to use drones in Pakistan, which the left is forever telling us only breeds more terrorists (or rather, they used to tell us that when Bush was giving the orders). That may be true too — but what if the drone strikes are killing more jihadis than they’re creating? Debates about unknowable numbers aren’t terribly interesting.

If he does apologize, doubtless it’ll be in the form of a “both sides are at fault” wheeze. I’m not expecting much, and neither are Muslims:

Beirut-based analyst Paul Salem, who heads the Carnegie Middle East Centre, said he expected Arabs to be disappointed by Obama’s speech.

“What they want him to say is more than what he’s going to say,” he said.

“They want him to say that he’s going to come down hard on the Israelis, that he’s going to confront the settlement policy and that he’s going to push the Israelis to
withdraw from the West Bank.

“Of course that is what every Arab would like to hear.”

Yes, truly, the key to a new golden age of Israeli/Hamas/Hezbollah/Iran/Wahhabist relations is withdrawal from the West Bank. Just like disengagement from Gaza was a few years ago. Go for the gold, Barry. Exit question from Dick Morris: Why isn’t The One stopping in Israel during his trip?



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ROMNEY BLASTS OBAMA FOR 'TOUR OF APOLOGY'

from MSNBC
June 01, 2009
From NBC's Abby Livingston, Katelin Schartz, and Mark Murray

At a speech today in DC sponsored by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank, Mitt Romney called for increased defense spending, and also again criticized President Obama for going on a "tour of apology" while traveling abroad.

"It’s not because America hasn’t made mistakes -- we have -- but because America’s mistakes are overwhelmed by what America has meant to the hopes and aspirations of people throughout the world," he said, adding: "Britain’s Guardian newspaper noted that Mr. Obama has been more critical of his own country, while on foreign soil, than any other president in American history. That would be a most unfortunate distinction at any time."

Seeking to bolster his national security credentials, especially if he makes another White House bid, the one-term Massachusetts devoted much of his speech to calling for more defense spending. "We cannot allow the economic crisis to conceal the very real threats to our nation’s security," Romney said. "We cannot ignore the intentions of competitors who would replace America’s leadership with their own, and set back the cause of freedom."

In fact, Romney was fiercely critical of Obama's "domestic" spending at the expense of funding for national defense. "I fear ... that he will look to the military budget to find the biggest cuts and finance his domestic priorities.”

The potential 2012 presidential candidate detailed a litany of other criticisms of the Obama administration -- including its handling of North Korea. “Arrogant, delusional tyrants can not be stopped by earnest words and furrowed brows. Action, strong bold action coming from a position of strength and determination, is the only effective deterrent.”

After the speech, Romney spoke to reporters about GM filing for bankruptcy. He cited a November op-ed he penned advocating for bankruptcy and showed frustration that the action has taken so long and that the federal government has been a party to that delay. When asked if either the Bush or Obama administration were to blame for the drawn out bankruptcy, he expressed a hesitancy to "point fingers" but ultimately said, "Both."
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Romney critical of government ownership of GM

by Gordon Trowbridge
from the Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington -- The Obama administration and the United Auto Workers should immediately distribute their stock in a restructured GM to American taxpayers, former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Sunday.

"We don't want a president and the head of the UAW running General Motors," Romney, a Michigan native and son of former Gov. George Romney, said in an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."

Romney suggested that the roughly 70 percent of GM that the government could own after it emerges from bankruptcy should be immediately distributed to taxpayers, and the 17.5 percent that will go to a UAW trust fund for retiree healthcare should be handed out to UAW members.

Such a scheme is highly unlikely. The Obama administration has signaled that it wants to sell its stake as soon as possible, but wants to ensure that it recoups as much as possible of the billions of taxpayer dollars already pumped into the company. The UAW is likely to try to maximize the return it receives on its shares to boost its ability to pay for healthcare for retirees.

Romney repeated his criticism of the auto policies followed by both the Bush and Obama administrations, saying GM and Chrysler should have been pushed into a restructuring, either in or out of bankruptcy court, months ago.

A former Massachusetts governor, Romney grew up in Oakland County as his father served as a top executive at American Motors and later as governor. He won the 2008 Michigan GOP primary in a tough campaign against eventual nominee John McCain, a campaign that centered around who was best suited to help the auto industry recover.

"I'm a son of Detroit. My dad was an auto executive," Romney said. "I drive American cars, I love American cars. My heart bleeds for the people in Michigan, in Detroit, for all those auto workers.

"This is a very sad circumstance for this country, and it represents bad decisions by management, overreaching by the UAW. It's really tragic in a lot of ways, and it has not been well-played either in my opinion by the Bush administration or the Obama administration."

You can reach Gordon Trowbridge at gtrowbridge@detnews.com
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Would You Buy A Car From This Guy?

from the blog THE POWERS THAT BE

Call me inattentive to history, but I think that Obama’s speech today about the government taking over the restructure of General Motors was the first time I ever heard a president telling me what a killer warranty, service and repairs I’m going to get if I buy an automobile from him… er, I mean, from General Motors or Chrysler.

In related news, Government Motors unveiled a new logo:

Detroit Tries Muscle: The Return of the Camaro

By Joseph R. Szczesny

Saturday, Mar. 21, 2009

from Time Magazine

Few General Motors Corp. cars have ever had the mystique of the Chevrolet Camaro. A macho machine if ever there was one, the Camaro was launched in the 1967 model year in response to Ford's fabulous Mustang. The Camaro made waves quickly, because buyers had the option of muscling it up with GM's big-block V8 engines, turning a sporty 4-seat roadster into a street monster and track regular. Mustang had the name; but Camaro had the horses. Like many of Detroit's muscle cars, though, Camaro was doomed by paunchier styling and performance over the years, and the car's blue-collar fans drifted away to pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles. Slow sales doomed the car in 2002.

Now the beast is back, and Karen Rafferty, the car's marketing manager says the Camaro will appeal to both older muscle- car enthusiasts and to new generation of motorists looking for a distinctive vehicle that blends cool styling and the latest technology.
GM has already has 14,000 orders for the new Camaro since unveiling the first concept car in 2006. Never export oriented, GM is preparing to sell the car in 20 countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and Brazil. (See the 50 worst cars of all time.)

From its one-piece rear quarter panel to its independent rear-suspension, deep-dish steering wheel and comfortable interior, the new Camaro goes well beyond the old-fashioned "Detroit iron" of the 1960s and '70s. The new Camaro is powered by either by an old school, 426-hp V8 or an up-to-date direct-injection V6 engine that produces 29 miles per gallon and 304 HP in one package. (See TIME's top 10 fictional cars.)
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